Im a 5 Star B**CH, Harajuku Hyphen Barbie

Since we are discussing Fandom this week it was only appropriate to introduce you to Nikki Minaj. Self-Proclaimed Bi-Sexual Rapper, and more commonly known as a Barbie. This girl is the idol of girls all around the world right now. There are men getting her face tattooed on their bodies.

Under the many characteristics of fandom, we see the young female audience desiring to become Nikki Minaj, me and my friends ourselves have sang this very verse numerous times along with others songs she has that are quite catchy. Also Imitating is huge with Nikki Minaj fans, as they do her dramatic looks gestures and manner of speaking. Resembling comes in with her signature bang and pink streaks in her hair, that many people have adopted. If I see someone with bangs I'll say "Ok I like your Nikki Minaj bangs" indicating that they resemble her as a result of their hairstyle. Copying can be noted on Halloween when people want to dress up as her as their costume. Also girl's refer to themselves as barbies (Harajuku at that) which is a style of dress in Japan. So there are alot of girls going to Clubs in Tutus and other odd/eccentric looking clothing as they copy her style.

Additionally, with Nikki's openness regarding her bisexuality, there is a large increase in the number of girls who claim to like girls. This is problematic in itself because there is absolutely nothing wrong with being lesbian or bisexual but if girls are doing it because Nikki makes it look and/or sound fun then they are just imitating what they see.

Sexuality and Television

I wouldn't be too surprised if not many people have seen the show Noah's Arc. The show is about 4 main characters, all gay men and all black. Now I've never seen more than one episode myself (mainly because once I discovered it, I was here at school where Logo channel isn't readily available). Also in case you don't know Logo is a channel with mainly gay programming on it.. I've turned to Logo in the middle of the day before and came in on the end of a raunchy gay male sex scene. MID DAY!

But I would like to say that I am proud of how far television has come in its depiction of ALL people. There aren't many good shows anymore that center on African-Americans and this one happens to focus on African-American Gay males. This is a huge barrier that has been crossed by society. Although I'm quite sure there are plenty of people who do not watch this show (homophobia is rampant in the black community) and I'm sure there's plenty of Questioning males watching this show trying to find themselves. That is why a show of this nature is positive. It's something homosexual men can relate to instead of watching a show such as The Game which although it has an interraccial relationship in it, and deals with the problems a football wife may face (I mean how many problems can they really face though??!), is not comparable to being a double minority. Homosexual AND African-American.

Claps for Logo Channel and Noah's Arc.

Scopophilia in terms of Women vs. Men in Videos

Here I present you with two different videos. The more recent Ciara video feat. Ludacris (who will be at FEST by the way) called Ride, and Young Jock- I Know you See It from a few years ago. Using these two videos the concept of scopophilia is conveyed, which is the erotic look. However it varies because one song is by a woman and one is by a man.

In the Ciara video she has since we last saw her has lost a considerable amount of weight. She is dancing erotically and imitating the act of riding....well you know. Lets call it the cowgirl position. So she is gyrating and moving her body and the song speaks about how she is catering to the man "he likes the way I ride it". She never speaks about how she feels about "riding because the woman doesn't have that kind of opinion. Her one purpose is to be a sexual image, that men can look upon, therefore she is conveying to-be-looked-at-ness. Also it creates an ego ideal where women want to strive to be as fit or good at "riding" as Ciara, instead of striving to be say a business woman or a intellectual woman with integrity. It is assumed that what we watch we identify with based on our gender, but this doesn't apply for women who are just viewed as sexual images. This is demonstrated appropriately here. This video is not used to empower a woman but simply for a man's viewing pleasure.

On the contrary in the Young Jock video for I Know You See It, the man is portrayed with power. In the beginning the theme is like an episode of Cribs on MTV showing his large house and all the women half naked in the video just walking around for his pleasure. He throws money on the ground and looks generally happy.

Can women make videos to show that they too can possess power?
-Alicia Keys said I am SUPERWOMAAAAANNN.

Stereotypes in the Media, Perpetuated by Children's Movies

It may or may not be common fact that Disney has created many characters within their movies that stereotype various races, to the point that Disney could be considered racist. For example in Aladdin for the song Arabian Nights the lyrics go "Where they cut off your ear, if they don't like your face, it's barbaric, but hey it's home". This stereotypes that the Middle East is barbaric and dangerous. In The Little Mermaid the crab Sebastian is depicted as Jamaican and sings about how under the sea you can play all day instead of above ground where you have to work. It gets worse with the crows from Dumbo which are black, and speak with diction of an individual from slave times. ALSO the lead crow is named Jim Crow. WHAT DISNEY? Really. That is the worse of it, apart from the underlying ideal that each Disney Princess's lover should be of the same race (or of the superior race i.e for Pocahontas John Smith was white, the man that Arielle loved from The Little Mermaid was not a fish from the under the sea, but instead a white man named Eric. Tiana Even Nola was lighter than Simba!) Even the villain's skin tends to be darker as if to say that darker people are dangerous or villainous. (i.e Jafar from Aladdin, Scar from the Lion King, the evil guy from Princess and the Frog)

But how do these stereotypes fit into the Ramirez-Berg reading from this weak? There is no misconception made by Disney about certain races. Over the years these movies have been developed without regard or sensitivity, because they are meant to cater to children, however as I have grown up I have began to notice all the things listed above. Disney has come drastically far and the times have changed so if they were at once misinformed about Racial issues, behaviors and actions of the out-group they should not be anymore and should start creating movies that integrate many characters from across various cultures. If not just to try something different, then just to prove they're not racist after all.

Another issue I find with Disney is that each female character has to have a prince charming. Its a wonderful concept for a fairytale ending, however since these movies are geared towards a young audience, they need to show that a woman can stand on their own! The closest Disney got to showing a woman holding her on is Mulan, however that visual was tainted by her dressing up as a man. If females could be portrayed for once as not inferior to men in a Disney movie, I will be a little more happy and faithful in tomorrow youth, knowing that their main goal in life isn't to find their Hero.

*Disclaimer- There may very well be movies that don't perpetuate stereotypes or that do depict a woman as being superior, but I can't think of it right now, and when I do i will edit blog.