Sex Trade

Emma Baughman’s blog “Sheila Take A Bow” analyzed Andy Warhol’s film, “Flesh.” “Flesh” was a controversial film because it defied social norms, exhibited “gender-bending,” and shattered traditional gender roles, even for the 1960s. Yet, Warhol’s film not only pushes the social limits but also pushes one’s imagination. The most intricate component of “Flesh” is the plot. Joe Delesandro, who play the main character, “Joe,” is a heroine addict. Maybe that’s not so exciting. However, “Joe” is prostituting to support his heroine addiction and assist to pay for his wife’s girlfriend’s abortion. A feeling of bewilderment somewhat takes over. The notion of a male prostitute is not only peculiar, but abnormal as well. Warhol definitely pushed my imagination. I began to wonder, why can’t a man be a prostitute? However, the answer came as quickly as the question. On a social context, it is almost impossible to comprehend men being prostitutes because it defies social norms in two ways. For one, men are generally at the hierarchy of social status. On the other hand, women are categorized as “second-class” citizens. Prostitution is perceived as a “female dominated” trade. Conclusively, men shouldn’t be engaging in prostitution because it doesn’t “fit” their social status. Secondly, women are perceived as the “typical” gender to engage in prostitution. If men began to enter into prostitution, are they taking on a female role? Furthermore, are they breaking implicit gender roles? Yet, at some point in history, society’s bubble has to be burst. There are not any statistics to prove that male prostitutes do exist, but they do. Prostitution is not a specific gender based trade, and almost anyone could enter into it. Although some type of stigmatization may be felt in stating this notion, it is real. To say that there is no such thing as a male prostitute is equated to saying that there is no such thing as a male porn star. So, maybe Warhol didn’t create a gender breaking concept, but he made it possible to think outside the box on terms of sexuality and social norms.

Selling Feminism

Tania Modleski concluded a notion that mass culture is condemned as a “feminised” culture. At first thought, it sounds as if Modleski refers to “feminine” in a derogatory way. However, that is not the point of Modleski’s notion. There are different outlets of media that try to advertise to the masses: T.V., radio, movies, etc. Yet, there is one form of media that has significant exposure and influence: commericials. Commericals are common media tools used to advertise on an array of products and businesses. Yet, there is a catch: a major portion of commericials are targeted at women. The average person could probably name some of the most common commericials that are classified as “feminine” For example, make-up, fashion, feminine products, or hair products. Yet, commercials don’t just try to sell “feminine,” they also try to sell “feminism.”

So, what is selling feminine? This is quite easy to identify. As stated earlier, women are the prime candidates to advertise fashion, makeup lines, and commonly, cleaning products. However, there are other kinds of commercials targeted at women; for example, car commercials. Car commercials are infamous for trying to sell feminine. One type of car commercial that does this is the SUV commercial. These commercials explicitly and implicitly try to sell “feminine.” They explicitly sell feminine because women are usually featured; specifically, the women are actresses representing mothers. Of course, some SUV commercials feature men, but for the most part women are the stars. When one thinks of SUVs, the thought of the busy, multitasking, soccer mom is attached to this type of car. This attributes to how feminine is implicitly sold by SUV commercials. They are fit for a this type of woman(a mother) because an SUV is strong, durable, secure, and reliable, which is what a woman needs. In fact, the SUV could even be a metaphor for a man. In addition, on a social level, SUVs are generally thought as soccer mom cars. Conclusively, SUVs are characterized as feminine.

There is another side to car commercials, as well; they try to sell “feminism.” The other spectrum is sports car commercials, which feature women drivers. Obviously, the idea of a woman driving a sports car is supposed to be earth-shattering. The representation is meant to illustrate women reaching the status of men in the workplace( i e. women becoming CEOs)and in society. This type of woman is portrayed as the modern-day, independent, working woman. However, that’s not all. This woman also has to be slender, exotic, youthful-looking, sexy, and walk out of her new sports toy in stiletto heels. Maybe driving in stiletto heels is supposed to be earth-shattering.

The portrayal of women in these different types of commercials begs the question, can’t mothers be feminists, too? Do you have to be a woman in a power position to represent yourself as part of feminism or being a feminist? Overall, although commercials like these try to represent the modern woman, it fails to do so. Maybe the “new woman” is most likely a working woman who earns her own salary. However, she is not the only face of feminism. Feminists can be stay-at-home mothers; they can be young woman, older women, women of different ethnicities and backgrounds. There are no qualifications to be defined as a “feminist.” The only solid qualification to be categorized as a feminist would probably be that you must believe that women deserve equal treatment and status in society with men. That’s hardly a qualification. Maybe one day, car commercials, or commercials in general, will be more fluid in presenting women. Furthermore, maybe the mass media may evolve and not classify particular products as simply “feminine” or specifically, feminist.
　

I Want To Be A Rapper Too!

Rap has transformed into an ever-expansive forum that expresses every side of life. No longer is rap contained to its prehistoric theme of sex, money, and drugs. In fact, one “rapper” who breaks the mold is Asher Roth. His lyrics are the expression of all the college students in the world. For example:

I can't tell you what I learned from school but
I could tell you a story or two, um,
Yeah, of course I learned some rules
Like don't pass out with your shoes on
And don't have sex if she's too gone
When it comes to condoms put two on
(Trust me)
Then tomorrow night find a new jawn

Man, I love college.”

Roth reveals the other side of college. In fact, he portrays the other side of the college student: free willed, street smart(the book smarts kicks in for class time), promiscuous, and down-right careless. Furthermore, not only is his song “I Love College” just catchy, it fits perfectly with popular culture. It is a song that seems to be loved, if not liked, by the masses. It’s YouTube ratings says it all: about 8 million viewers have watched Roth’s video. Yet, Roth’s music mean more than just relating to the masses. It relates to the genre of rap. There are a great number of critics of Roth’s style of so-called rap. From one perspective, Roth is not a rapper. Not because his music doesn’t revolve around money, sex, and drugs. It’s because Roth began musical career breaking into a competitive, egocentric genre, where you have to prove yourself as a rapper. Anybody can come into the game of rap and become popular with the general public. Their music will be played and replayed in clubs, get millions of hits on YouTube, and that artist will perform on different award shows and TV shows as well.

Yet, to become a legitimate and respected rapper, your music and lyrics must earn your status. This may seem like a close-minded and limited kind of definition for rap. Yet, rap emerged and took on great popularity because it expressed the individual and collective experiences of the working class African Americans. Hip-hop and rap emerged as the alternative identity in comparison to other types of music. The criticized theme of sex, money, and drugs is not iatrogenic. This was the experience of many individuals who were in working to lower class society and the rappers and hip-hop artists as well. Through their music, these artists produced a dialogue to relate and express these experiences. Yet, rap itself has changed. It hasn’t stuck to the theme of sex, money, and drugs. It has transformed to involve other genres of music, from pop, to rock, to Indie, to classical music. It has expressed experiences such as falling in love, having conflicts with the people in one’s life, working for success, or becoming successful. It’s also utilized itself to make those popular club songs. It has expanded its meaning by addressing many social issues such as poverty, politics, social norms, etc. Rap has changed and will continue to be ever changing. In addition, it will encounter different artists who want to come into the game. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from. Asher Roth can’t be completely discredited. Another song of Roth’s called “G.R.I.N.D.(Get Ready it’s a New Day)” is about the experiences of homeless people. I guess the question becomes, why didn’t Roth begin his rap career with this song, instead of a song about always getting fucked up in college? Well, no one will ever know.

　

"Endless Flight"

“We got an original new joint from Trey Songz called “Cant Be Friends.” “I’m telling ya’ll this song is hot; it’s classy, unique, and it will be a hit!”
　
These were the words of the V103.3 radio host. At the time, I was driving home from work and I had just tuned into the radio. I found it interesting; a new song from Trey Songz. I have to admit, he’s not one of my favorite artists, but his music is feasible. If I turn on the radio and happen to hear a song by him, I don’t mind listening. So, I tuned in and awaited hear this new, “unique” song. I listened for a minute. It began with an orchestra introduction; the sounds of violas and violins were quite evident. There was a nice R&B beat and rhythm, which was characteristic of Trey Songz. The lyrics began…it was a love song about a guy who wished he had never gotten involved with a past girlfriend and couldn’t bear the thought of being “just friends” with her. Yet, something was off. It was as if I had heard the song before. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I instinctly knew it wasn’t an original song.
　
When I had finally arrived home, I felt kind of irritated. In my mind, I kept thinking of that song. It wasn’t the lyrics or the extra instrumentals that I thought about; it was just the background orchestra. The sound of the background orchestra kept constantly repeating in my mind. It didn’t take too long to figure out what the source of my solution would be; YouTube, of course! I logged into YouTube and tried to find some kind of reference to where the unoriginal song came from. My results kept coming to a dead stop. I knew somewhere, out in vast communications media of the internet, where billions of people logged into YouTube, there was one individual in the world that knew about the original song. However, the solution to my problem laid right next to my laptop. It was a movie called “Babel.” I bought it because I thought it was the greatest movie ever created. I looked on the back cover and searched for my answer. There it was! I entered the name into the YouTube search box “Gustavo Santallola, Endless Flight.” I was right; Trey Songz used a piece of Santallola’s song to make his song “Cant Be Friends.” The only difference was that Trey Songz version was up-tempo, had a R&B foundation, and had lyrics. Santallola’s song was slower and was purely made up of an orchestra.
　
Yet, I caught myself.  I had committed a crime in the popular culture world. In some way, I had become a member of aestheticism. What does this mean ? Here’s the example: I had classified one singer as a “real artist.” and  another as a fake artist. Yet, how can anyone determine who is a real artist? There is no set of rules or standards for this kind of definition. Maybe it was the fact that Trey Songz is a mainstream artist that make me think that he wasn’t a real artist. Many artists have reused other songs and many more will continue to do so. This has become a norm in the music industry. Lyrics from other songs are literally and purposely recited in other songs, with the reference of the singer attached. I don’t find it original for artists to reuse lyrics. Yet, I can't define someone as a fake artist. Although I can’t be the judge of real music, Trey Songz swayed the masses once again. His song, “Can’t Be Friends” hit number seven on the Billboard charts for the R&B and Hip-Hop category.

If you were interested, this is Santaolla's version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHUMsNRvEIs

This is Trey Songz version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9lotWzKLIY

Party Like a Rockstar

Put the words “spring break” and “college students” in a sentence and a number of sensationalized images will come to thought. Why is that? Well, the media has accomplished at portraying spring break as the most lascivious and notoriously celebrated holiday of the year. The documentary, “Merchants of Cool” successfully portrayed the existence of “mass culture” through the example of college kids and spring break. As previously noted, popular culture critic, Macdonald, described three components of mass culture: something that’s imposed from above (a powerful figurehead), something that’s fabricated, and the general public being passive consumers. The first two concepts correlate with each other. T.V. mongers, such as Viacom, are constantly looking to sell the “new trend.” In fact, the documentary exposes the lengths these companies will go through: from creating a panel of “cool” experts to observing a teenager’s life. Secondly, the notion of spring break being a week long orgy is a total fabrication in itself. It’s hard to believe that every college student has a spring break vacation that ended with a threesome or lap dances from girls wearing nothing but whip cream. Lastly, TV shows like MTV’s Spring Break, have sold a misconstrued image of the typical college student. Is it hard to believe that maybe some college students have normal, maybe even boring spring breaks? Overall, the most powerful message from the documentary aligns with Macdonald’s last point. What has resulted from the public being surrounded by mass culture is that the public has become the product of mass culture, imitating media life as if it is real life.

A Cup of Joe

In basic terms, mass customization is the concept of a notable company expanding into the global economic market. American companies, specifically fast food and U.S. clothing companies, have been infamous for following this concept since the 1980s and 1990s. What has been the result? Well, the average person living in China can enjoy a nice and juicy Whopper for a lunch break. Yet, there is one American company that has become the exception to the fast food/clothing line success: Starbucks.

Starbucks is deemed as one of the greatest success stories and this could be credited to its use of mass customization. Starbucks began as a private, coffee shop company that with only 6 retail outlets. It now stands an American icon. The company’s unique economic practice of entering into joint ventures has resulted in drive thru services, food menus, sales in grocery stores, bookstores, schools, airlines, cruise lines, and even hotels. Furthermore, it has become a prominent international icon as well. On a global scale, Starbucks operates 1,300 international outlets. The bulk of its international success is due to its market expansion into Asia.

　
So, what’s big deal about Starbucks success and its use of mass customization? Well, the fact is that both of these subjects are features of popular culture. In Starbucks utilizing mass customization, there have been cross roads in cultural, political, and economic arenas. In fact, they have been more of consequences. The cultural and political consequences go hand-in-hand. Being an international company, Starbucks faces the risk of operating in volatile political and cultural regions. It was a target of internet boycott campaigns claiming it donated profits to Israel; the country was under international scrutiny for the Gaza War. The economic consequence has been protests on its international labor practices. At one point, the company was under fire for the $2.50 daily minimum wage of its Guatemalan coffee bean pickers. The example of Starbucks gives even more evidence of the complexity of popular culture.

　

　

Works Cited

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/4279688/Starbucks-smashed-and-looted-as-anti-Israel-protests-turn-to-violence.htmlhttp://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/132354507.htmlhttp://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/662.html

Watch This!

The 2010 Super Bowl, the OHester Fest, and Miley Cyrus’s Wonder World Tour Concert. What do these things have in common? They’re all spectacles, or events, that people have indulged money and time to watch or participate in. Yet, there is a spectacle that everyone can participate in every single day and year round as well. Besides from listening to a song, watching an artist’s music video has become a spectacle in itself.

For something that is merely popular to become a spectacle, it has to take over the social context of society. Well, music videos have done this. An artist’s music video is not just a visual representation of their style. A music video seems to always bring up social debates such as whether a singer a good or bad artist, whether they are creative or typical, or if their music is relatable in any fashion. On that note, a music video doesn’t truly need to relate to life, but even the lives people dream to have. For example, having “stacks of money to blow,” according to rap artist, Drake.

With music, there is a music industry, which is the economic component to this spectacle. It is no question that music exists for the people to have some form of expression or relation. However, artists spend up to millions just to film a music video. What an artist is wearing, what kind of car is driven, what city the video is filmed in makes music videos a spectacle. Furthermore, it seems that music videos represent what people want to be. Images of wealth and power make people want to watch a music video. A music video is one that will be seen on a global scale, so image matters.

Sometimes, a spectacle can become political. For example, some of the major debates during the 2010 World Cup was that it was unfair to exclude countries from the games because of their political standing the international community. Because music videos are watched on a global scale, what an artist expresses can become a political issue. For example, Kanye West’s video “Love Lockdown” brought upon debates about the images of Africa. Some international newspapers deemed Kanye West as a disgrace to the music industry for basically stereotyping Africa and Africans.

Relating to popular culture, music videos have an affect on the social, economic, even the political aspects of our society. Maybe watching a music video is not the initial thought of something that is a spectacle. However, like other spectacles, music videos began as something entertaining and trivial. Yet, it seems that it has turned into something complex enough to be categorized as part of popular culture.