Proposal #4

I decided to incorporate my paper on feminism into a fairytale. I'm not sure which fairytale I am going to use yet but I am considering Snow White and Hanzel & Gretel. By using either of these I think I can incorporate the inequalities that women feel against men. I also think that I may be able to address the sterotypes that feminists deal with. Considering I also have to write the analysis paper these may be harder than what I anticipated and a lot more writing, but I love writing more creatively. This might be one of the more fun papers for me also. I'm going to narrow my audience down to young women because they are less likely now days to understand feminism or see the purpose it serves today. I'm not sure yet on my audience but that is my idea. My point is going to be to prove that feminism is needed and we are not post-feminism.

3 Women about Feminism

Mother-age 54-Believed that feminism is womens idea of being equal to men and being able to think for themselves. Based on her definition of feminism, yes, she considers herself a feminist, because she believes women should have equal rights and not be under the control of men. Voting is one issue she remembers happening in history that related to feminism. Man-haters is a stereotype that she categorized femimists in. She believes feiminsm is needed today because men still think it is a mans world.
Friend-age 27-Believed feminism is a movement lead by women to get equal rights. She doesn't consider herself a feminist. She believes there is still a need for feminist but doesn't see where it is personal to her. She has most commonly heard the stereotype of dikes for feminists. She also recognizes the movement of abortion from feminism.
Neice-age 16-Not to sure what feminism is but linked it to women and an action they take. She did not consider herself a feminist because she didn't fully know what it was and after I tried to explain it to her she also did not see where it was a personal enough issue to her to consider herself a feminist. She could not link feminim to any particular movement other than voting. She did not see the need for feminism today and thinks we have equal rights.

Blog Spot Female Chauvinist Pigs

What shocks me the most about this text is the detail. The issues address very "real" issues in todays society. I have read many articles and other sources about issues like porn and GGW, but the book addresses these issues in detail. Instead of just saying GGW showcases girls lifting their shirts it describes in detail how the girls act and talk. Another topic that shocked me was about the CAKE group. I didn't know what it was untill reading this book. I was shocked I have heard of things like the Playboy mansion but the parties and actions of this group was shocking. This is different from all the other text just in the way it is worded. The other books seemed to make a sentence that could be 5 words long, 15 words long and that is just confusing. The topic in this book is also very different because it hits closer to home with society. Although branding and hip-hop are very real topics I personally dont think they are as addressed now days as the issues in Female Chauvinist Pigs. I do not have any personal experiences with the text for the most part other than the knowing of it being so popular and desired.

Proposal #3

I am still not real sure what to write about. I would like to write about the issues that feminist fought for in earlier times and compare them to now but I'm not sure how to narrow it down to one topic. I have also considered writing about Hugh Hefner and his role in feminism. My problem may be with finding sources for either of these topics. The book talks about both of these subjects in the first chapter. I'm still not sure what it means to be a feminist so that may be included in my paper.

Overview and analysis of Early Femal MC's

This section covers everything about female artist. It shows how males dominate the hip-hop artistry and how women have standards based on it. It talks about women and how they should express their feminine personality. This section also describes how women like Salt n Pepa have broke through some of the barriers by expressing their sexuality and suceeded. Ogbar describes how women have a sterotype based on the jezebel. Ogbar also relates some of the female artistry to slavery days. Further it goes on to describe how women stood up to men in their lyrics by downing the men, then moving on to women who portray the image of gold diggers, lascivious vixens,and violent mob girls. In my analysis it shows how women have came face to face with the men in competition and changed their image to become successful. It also describes how some women go more towards the jezebel characteristics and some like Queen Latifa go more towards complementing theirselves and their race. Ogbar argues in this section that over time female artist have created a negative image for themselves by dressing in a provocative manner, and calling themselves bitches, hoes and sluts. He provides several examples of these types as artist such as lil kim. Ogbar also tries to make the point that you don't have to be a part of this image to do well in the industry. For example people like Queen Latifa and Lauryn Hill have won seceral awards and sold platinum albums without falling into this image.
4.Accolades-a brace or a line used in music to join two or more staffs carrying simultaneous parts
Jezebel-an offensive term for a woman regarded as sexually immoral or manipulative (insult) Lascivious-showing a desire for, or unseemly interest in, sex ; provoking lustBraggadocious-empty boasting, arrogant pretension, cockiness
Misogynistic-a hatred of women, as a sexually defined group Coterminous-next to and sharing a common boundary with something
Hegemony-control or dominating influence by one person or group, especially by one political group over society or one nation over others
Elitism-the belief that some people or things are inherently superior to others and deserve preeminence, preferential treatment, or higher rewards because of their superiority Subjugation-the act or process of bringing somebody, especially a people or nation, under the control of another, e.g. by military conquest
Touted-to praise or recommend somebody or something enthusiastically (usually passive) Anomalous-deviating from the norm or from what people expect.
Hip-hop and blackness (17-27)2. Ogbar makes the argument in this section that black artists are more credible in hip-hop and rap. He is not completely against white artists because he does make the point that they can write about drugs, prisons, gangs, and poverty as well, however, they are not credible in the sense of racism, prejudice, and discrimination.3.Ogbar is arguing that being black doesn’t mean you are stupid or a comedic image like a clown-like figure. He is saying that being black isn’t a crime, and that people should be true to their culture and not give into being something they’re not. He mentions rap artist Ice Cube, who takes a stand against all the years of being put down for being black. Ice Cube talks about the humiliation of the black people by use of the minstrel in Public Enemy’s “Burn Hollywood Burn”. Cube raps “But some things I’ll never forget… so step and fetch this shit. For all the years we looked like clowns, the joke is over. Smell the smoke from all around.” He is here challenging racism, he is showing that he is black, he is intelligent and he is proud. Ice Cube’s 1991 hit “True to the Game” hits hard on those artists who have given into the “white culture”. He mentions how they date white people, live with white people, and tolerate racist offenses. No one should try to be something they are not, they should stick to what they are and be proud of it. 4. Pernicious-causing great harm, destruction, or deathCipher-a written code in which the letters of a text are replaced with others according to a systemSalient-particularly noticeable, striking, or relevantSymposium-a formal meeting held for the discussion of a subject, during which individual speakers may make presentationsCurtailed-to reduce the length or duration of somethingPanacea-a supposed cure for all diseases or problemsVirulently-extremely poisonous, infectious, or damaging to organismsIndolent-lethargic and not showing any interest or making any effortConcomitantly-happening or existing along with or at the same time as something else (formal)Ostensibly-presented as being true, or appearing to be true, but usually hiding a different motive or meaningEsoteric-intended for or understood by only an initiated fewPretentiousness-acting as though more important or special than is warranted, or appearing to have an unrealistically high self-imageChallenging the Neo-minstrel (27-34)2. In Ogbar’s argument of the Neo-minstrel section still makes fun of African Americans but in a modern day type of way. In some cases Ogbar presents African Americans almost make fun of it as well, but at the same time they comment on how white dressing in costume and make up to look black made them look like "clowns"3. The Minstrel was a show that depicted African Americans as comedic, dumb, and primitive. Ogbar is arguing that this still exists today, just in a modernized form. A Spike Lee movie Bamboozled is mentioned. In this movie, a stiff and nerdy black man is assigned to make a T.V. show considered “racially real”. The show actually ends up being called “The New Millennium Minstrel Show”. It depicts black men sitting drinking 40.oz beers and playing with guns. This is a modern racist view of the typical black male. Flavor Flav is also mentioned here, in regards to his reality show “Flavor of Love”. In the show Flav is “a garishly dressed character whose appetite for fame is fed by a house full of women and buckets of fried chicken.” This show is depicting the black race as a funny, dumb culture. It is looked at by some as a way for white people to watch as the black culture is humiliated4. Myopic-lack of foresight or long-term planningAficionado-somebody who is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about somethingcoon-a highly offensive term for a black personColloquial-appropriate to, used in, or characteristic of spoken language or of writing that is used to create the effect of conversationVituperative-an outburst of violently abusive or harshly critical languageBuffoonish-somebody behaving in a silly wayMonolith-a tall block of solid stone standing by itself, whether a natural rock feature or a stone column shaped and erected by somebody, e.g. as a monument

Blogspot for March 3rd Hip-Hop Artist

The hip-hop artist I selected is Tupac Shakur. Tupac was born in New York City and primarily grew up in Harlem. In 1988 he moved to Oakland, California where he demographically dominated. Thus the song “California Love” Following this move, in 1991 his first breakthrough music came as he was a member of Digital Underground. That same year he also started getting individual recognition for his album “2Pacalypse Now.” Tupac was exposed to the typical hard upbringing including violence and racism. He also had a personal experience with his mother being a member of the Black Panther Party. This experience is part of his credibility in his music. During his career he also experienced more racism and prison life. Keeping it real means a rapper or artist must be able to relate to his lyrics through personal experience. This also gives them their credibility. The audience is then who determines whether or not he is real. Tupac expressed his realness through lyrics and his infamous tattoo “Thug Life” on his stomach, that he received during time he served. I do believe Tupac is creditable because of his roughly influenced past and his experiences throughout his career. He also earned authenticity and realness through his death. In one quote I read from Tupac he states that he may have grew up to be a preacher or something, instead of a rapper, if they (society) hadn’t tried to ruin him. This quote gives him more authenticity and realness of the effect his past experiences and earlier events in history affected him.

Overview and Analysis of Hip-Hop and Blackness and Challenging the Neo-Minstrel

From how I read these two sections of the book I am not to sure I can provide an accurate overview. In the section of Hip-Hop and its Blackness it pretty much discussed how black people have been portrayed through all types of the media and how it has changed. Starting with shows like Heat of the Night, then the Jeffersons, then to Bamboozled and how they have changed the image of black people. It also covered how black image and artistry is involved in a political scene and how they are portrayed. In the section Challenging the Neo-Minstrel it focused more on how blacks are portrayed in a bad way or inaccurate way. It described more in detail of black people and the image of them being referred to as coons and why. I am struggling to understand this book but in my analysis of these two sections I would say it boils down to how all black people in general want to be portrayed based on their personal experience not from the eyes of a white man. It seems to me that they(black artist) classify the image of poverty, drugs, and violence as normal within their race and if a black person is not subject to that then they to are not worthy of having an opinion that opposes theirs. I also would say that these artist feel like the image they portray says something politically about where they stand in society and how they are mistreated. I don't know if I interpretted these sections correctly but I did read it with an open mind and I just don't understand the majority of the terminology and references they make to certain movies, songs, artist, or even historical events.