mə-ˈsä-jə-nē

mə-ˈsä-jə-nē

a hatred of Women


Misogyny in the Gay Male Community will be discussed by a three-person panel including student, faculty, and community representation. By discussing the impact of heteronormative gender expectations, we will begin to dismantle myths surrounding identity, oppression, and misogyny. We will also identify tangible ways to become an ally.

Everyday leading up to this event, I will be sending out video clips of misogyny represented in media and pop culture through a gay male lens.

Think about it.
Talk about it.
Learn about it.

Swirlz Article

Recently I was contacted through Twitter by a new magazine called Swirlz. They had read a tweet I had posted about being multiracial, which had been retweeted by a few "heavy hitters" in the multiracial media world, like the children's author of "Amy Hodgepodge". They asked me to write a small article on multiracialness and submit it to them. If they liked it enough they were going to publish it in their magazine, and from there I would offically become a published writer.

Below is the short article I wrote from them on growing up with a multiracial identity. I will know by the end of this week if it is getting published - so keep your fingers crossed.

Enjoy!

I, myself, identify as a multiracial male that grew up in the South. Within this geographic arena I was constantly assaulted with questions about my identity. Being of a multiracial background, I fulfilled the stereotype that floats around in society that when two persons of different ethnic/racial backgrounds have children, their children will grow in a society where they will be confused and in a constant feeling of exclusion from their multifaceted background. I was constantly reminded that my brown skin marked me as Black, Egyptian, Cuban, and anything else that had a skin tone that parallels a coffee drink at a local Starbucks. And from my minority background, I always faced a constant competition of "realness" revolving around my racial identity. From this I learned that it isn’t exactly praised when one is of multiracial status.

Daily, I was confronted with the single praise that anyone of multiracial/national/ethnic background can see coming from a mile away – “What are you?” Many say that when this question is asked it is most commonly referring to ones ethnic makeup, but for the little boy of color in the suburbs of Tennessee all I heard was “You’re not a 'real' person". I became hyperaware of all my attributes that society shunned and I had to learn to love them quickly, because I thought that no one else would.

My life experiences have made me continually thankful for my multiracial background daily. It has allowed me to have a beautiful life journey, so far, where I am allowed to experience so many environments. Growing up people always worried that I and my sister were going to be "confused" about our identities and face discrimination. I will not argue that we did not face discrimination, but however I will argue that confusion isn't something I experienced, personally. Awareness is a better word for this feeling, and I am thankful for being allotted that quality. I was aware of what people truly thought of me, I was aware on how I felt about this treatment, and I most importantly became aware of what I can do to make myself happy.

Children of multiracial or biracial backgrounds should not always be spoken to with empathy and concern, because behind that beautiful skin tone is a person who is unique, beautiful, and most importantly aware, and that will take them as high in life as they can ever imagine.

Wonder Twin Power Activate: When White Privilege and Racism Made Profiling Legal in Arizona

I am upset – stomach hurting upset, break some glass, March on Washington upset. Actually, I am pissed the f#*k off. Racism has continually been the weapon of choice from our governmental systems since Christopher Columbus came across the pond and met “the savages”. It is something so engrained into European though patterns it is sickening. But what I think is pissing me off even more is that NO ONE IS DOING ANYTHING TO STOP THIS!!!!! Hey GAYS, WHITE WOMEN, ETC. you want everyone to jump on the marriage bandwagon/kitsch wagon, but you’re not going to fight for an ACTUAL civil right. Ewww, I am angry.

As you have noticed, this blog is not going to be one of my “finely” manicured articles, but yet something that will be therapeutic for moi. Let me summarize before I start yelling via keyboard again.

Today, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed one of the harshest immigration laws EVER known as SB 1070. This law will make it legal for police to detain anyone that they suspect is not a citizen. If the “immigrant” in question does not have the proper paperwork showing that they are A.) a citizen or B.) have the proper clearance to be in this country, than they are subject to deportation.

So, lets put this in laymen redneck terms – Bob the sheriff can harass any brown person that walks in his sight and if he get’s “lucky”, he can send their ass back to where they “came from” and keep America safe! (Because we all know Mexicans, which if you haven’t guess are the reason for this bill – not White Canadians, are drug pushing criminals.)

I am just confused when someone built a time capsule and transported us back to 1950. When is it ever right to stop someone who is doing NOTHING wrong and question there citizenship???? Don’t we live in some damn melting pot that has every flavor from the world, which mean’s America doesn’t theoretically have people here that can be “suspected is not a citizen”. We don’t have a poster child for citizen…OH WAIT! We do….

WELCOME TO WHITE AMERICA! HOME OF THE COLONIZERS AND THE COLONIZED! (cue Star Spangled Banner)

If someone ever asks me what white privilege means again I am going to say, “Go read SB 1070”. Why is this White Privilege one may ask – well call me when you see an Arizona police officer pull-over a White family in a Benz and then we can have a discussion on how I am wrong.

This is one of the most blatantly racist and xenophobic things that have passed through legislature in a long time. Immigration “problems” are up for debate, but this doesn’t not solve anything! Ok, so yes you find some illegal immigrants, what does that do to stop anyone from crossing the border? Nothing. Zilch. Nada.

SO let’s all engage our critically thinking skills. If this doesn’t stop people from crossing our border than what does it do? Well, it reinforces racist hegemonic ideas that Latinos are immigrants and subject to deportation because “you take all of our jobs”, and helps perpetuate the Racist/Xenophibc ideals of American Society. This is Nazism. The Republican Party tries to call Pres. Obama Hitler, but I think they need to read up on a little thing called projecting. Why is this Nazism? Well, because we are allowing State Governments to pass bills that are calling the harassment and hopeful expulsion of any brown person walking down the street. Kicking people out of country + racism – genocide = Hitler v1.2.

I am walking away from this post right now…I will come back later to do a more educated and focused attempt of articulating my dislike towards Arizona another day.

Gender Dynamics in Glee by Activist Mason Strand

Gender Dynamics in Glee

I am constantly absolutely shocked by the TV show Glee. I know people have a love-fest with this show, but is anyone actually paying attention to ANY of the messages the show is putting out there? I'll use just the episode that was on tonight to point out a few things that are ongoing in the show.

Firstly, almost every single female character in the show is painted in a negative light; most of the time as scheming and manipulative (although, they are always, inevitably, outsmarted by the men). The one exception to this is Emma, the germophobic school counselor, who is painted as pure, a fact that was highlighted tonight when we found out she's a virgin. Anvil, meet head. She also further proved her purity in her willingness to step aside and put Will's happiness in front of her own, a good, womanly quality that his bitchy wife consistently failed to show.

Contrast this with Sue, possibly one of the most complex and interesting women on the show. Yes, she is the villain, but I feel fairly confident in saying that everyone who watches the show loves her. She's offensive and outlandish and masculine to boot. She is painted as comical, and I would suspect that, given the writer (and his history of writing awful female characters), she was not meant to be likable, but she comes off as a strong and somewhat relatable female character nonetheless. In fact, I might even say that I'm beginning to hate Mr. Shue as much as she does. This doesn't make her perfect - the rape joke with the principal was decidedly unfunny (because rape jokes are always unfunny and people really need to stop making them), as was the comment she made to the boy with the ponytail which I'm not going to dignify by repeating, but her standing up to the men in the show, even though we know she can't win because the men ALWAYS win, morally and physically, on this show, is still fun and somewhat inspiring to watch

Moving on to one of the men, tonight Finn was dealing with some of the fallout from his breakup with Quinn, and was feeling rather low. Luckily, Mr. Shue was able to come to the rescue, and continue his ongoing father-figure mentorship of showing Finn how to be a man. Tonight, this included helping him to find his "inner rockstar" (which, I'm sorry but that boy is the furthest thing from Mick Jaggar I've ever seen) and, as his ensuing Rolling Stones song showed, realize that all of the girls at the school are sexually available to him, if he would just open his eyes to that fact. His masculinity thus restored, Finn felt back to his old self, and ready to dump dorky Rachael and date two cheerleaders at once. Of course, this didn't go quite as planned - this being Glee, the girls turn out to be bitchy and backstabbing toward Rachael, a fact that poor sweet Finn can't tolerate (even though he just dumped her), and has to reprimand them for. Point being, obviously women are catty to one another all the time, and can't actually be friends with one another, whereas men are cool headed, and must inform these emotional creatures of the proper way to act.

Meanwhile, Rachael had moved on to another boy, the lead singer of rival glee club, Vocal Adrenaline. This boy appreciates her talent and geekiness in a way that Finn never did, and, despite the fact that he actually introduced himself by insulting her before following it with a compliment, she seems utterly happy. Of course, when he finds out about the relationship, Finn automatically assumes that the new guy is using Rachael (a fact that she is obviously too stupid to realize herself) and tells her as much. When she refuses to break up with him regardless of Finn's opinions, he heads out to tell the entire glee club, and turn them against her. He doesn't want Rachael for himself, but neither is she allowed to have any kind of sexual autonomy. Her loyalty must be to him, regardless of the fact that he treats her like shit and doesn't have any real desire for her (his "I want to be with you, I guess" scene later in the episode is just so romantic *eyeroll*). This is a classic patriarchal move in which woman cannot be "too needy" toward their man, but are painted as a traitor if they are able to have their needs met elsewhere.

The other members of the glee club threaten to all quit if Rachael doesn't break up with her new boyfriend (in what is, I might add, their only speaking scene in the entire episode - yay diversity!). Never mind that this makes absolutely no sense, and seems to simply be persecution for persecution's sake, since all of them quitting would make them lose sectionals much more certainly than if Rachael continued to date the boy from the rival team. Thus made a social pariah, Rachael must hide her relationship, and we are left to await her eventual shaming for her indiscretions in a future episode. Meanwhile, Mr. Shue is allowed to make out with the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, thereby cheating on his new girlfriend and committing the same sin as Rachael, and still come off as the nice guy, facing absolutely no repercussions for his actions (Emma breaking up with him doesn't count, since she does this to give him room to "heal" from his ending marriage, and to "fix her crazy").

Of course, toward the end of the show we did find out that the boy from Vocal Adrenaline IS in fact playing Rachael and that, of course, his female coach is behind the plot. And therein lies the essence of the show: the women scheme or decieve, the men feel tricked, the men reprimand and one-up the women who either feel shame or slink off into the shadows, the day is saved, and everything is right with the world. I should add that by men, I primarily mean the white, straight, able bodied men, since Finn and Mr. Shue are really the only characters that are given any kind of emotional depth or heroic status on the show. And by "emotional depth" I mean that they are allowed to be sympathetic, and be redeemed from their emasculation in a way that none of the other men are.

So, yes, the show is fun, and I enjoy the singing, and the amazing guest stars, and the good-looking actors, and Jane Lynch, and the campy nature of the show (although I think the tone is pretty uneven, but that's a complaint for another time), but I think that it should be acknowledged that this show is one of the most blatantly misogynist on television, and that this is, quite simply, a really shitty message to be sending out on a show that is watched primarily by women and gay men.

Conservatives Heart Rape

Let me begin with this - I have not read the Health Care Reform Bill.... yet. This essay isn't a critic on the reform, and I will not be injecting my opinion on the bill...yet. However, what needs to be discussed is continuation of the conservative rights usage of racism and misogyny to thrash the Health Care Bill. Like many of the little metaphors and imagery Republicans’ use to shock or rile up the public, this new plow is going fairly unnoticed by the majority of society. Consistently over the past few weeks many Republicans have used rape as a metaphor for the new Health Care Reform. What has made it even more disgusting is that today, March 27th, a cartoonist took it all to a whole new level. Below, you will see the new political cartoon drawn by Darleen Click. This graphic picture depicts Pres. Barack Obama leaving the bed of Lady Liberty, having just raped her and stating “You gave all the consent I’ll ever need in November 2008.

I know, I know…breathe…just breathe. Let’s dissect the many layers of misogyny, racism, and victim blaming from this disgusting piece.

First, let’s discuss the spatial situation going on here and what this all implies. If one looks to the window, it is streaming in a sort of “morning glow,” this could imply it is early in the morning, which implies that he was there all night. In addition, him so callously walking out and stating that he will be coming back means that Lady Liberty brought him home. From here we already have two implications that this was the “victim’s fault” – morning and she brought him home. Next on the victim blaming list is the little one-liner, “You gave all the consent I’ll ever need in November 2008.” This is something that within the society at large we see continue to be echoed, “Yes means yes, and no means no.” However, we rarely say “Yes can mean NO”, and “Yes! Yes!” can still turn into a, “Get the hell off of me!” The Republicans are using this skewed and inaccurate idea around consent as a weapon against women or people who suffer from sexual assault. This is stating that when a person says “yes” once to being intimate with another person, even if they were just agreeing to one certain sexual act, this “yes” is taken to mean that it is a free for all from there. This is infinitely untrue, and is one of the trains of thought that allows for the rape culture that we live in today to flourish. Rape is NEVER okay, no matter what has happened. Rape is sexualized aggression and does not even resemble sex.

Another tool in play in this piece is racism. Racism is something that the Republican right are far too close of friends with, and they are even better friends with Racism’s brother…subtle racism. Historically, Black men have been depicted as the over-eroticized sexual beings that react animalistically in sexual arenas. This dates back to slavery, when White women would have sexual relations with Black men, and once caught would blame it on rape or sexual assault. This is not, however, stripping women of their validity within sexual assault, and also I am not perpetuating the false idea that circulates through the world that women call false rape. The historic events that I mentioned above arose from a society that did not allow for interracial relationships to occur, and people were punished greatly. People were using Black people as scapegoats for wanting to express themselves sexually. In any case, historically Black men have been painted as highly aggressive sexual beings. So, the rape analogies continually being used in reference to Pres. Obama’s Health Care reform shows an obvious reliance on racist ideals that developed through slavery. I find it disgusting and extremely inappropriate that society cannot recognize the language they are using towards a man of color and not be aware of the racist undertones. This goes back to Biden’s comments on how “well-spoken” Pres. Obama is and all of the other comments thrown around in 2007-2008. Subtle racism is something that is being thrown at the President like candy in a parade, but no one is checking to see if it is laced with anything.

At the end of this little “masterpiece” we see that the cartoonist cannot stop kicking a horse when it is down, “Get yourself cleaned up. I’ll be back ----CapNTrade, Immigration Reform, whatever. And I’ll bring friends.” Skrrrrrrrrrrr! Hold – on, what? The cartoon is threatening, no, actually, promising to come back and gang rape Lady Liberty? With the icing now on the cake, the cartoon decides to again throw in a few sprinkles of racism with the Immigration reform bill. When many Americans think of immigration, thanks to media representation and the Conservative Right, many now automatically think of “Mexicans” or Latinos. So, what the cartoonist has done is perpetuated another racist ideal about minorities being aggressive and sexually uncontrollable. Tisk. Tisk.

My question for the day is, when will people learn that sexual assault is not something to use for the butt of their jokes, or the punch line in their comedic performance to further oppress people? Rape is not funny, gang rape is not funny, and perpetuating harmful ideals about minorities is not funny. What is funny is how ignorant this cartoonist must be to think that this is appropriate or even acceptable to produce. This cartoon is just another coal in the fire of sexism, which burns just as brightly as it did before Pres. Obama “raped” Lady Liberty, and obviously before Pres. Bush destroyed our economy…but my rant on sexism and capitalism is another blog. For this to end, we as a collective need to call out the racism, misogyny, and victim blaming and bring it to the forefront of our national narrative. People need to understand that sexual assault is never the victim’s fault, and it isn’t a tool to punish someone. To play off a famous quote from feminist ideals, “The personal is political.” I would like to propose another version of this, “The personal is rape.”

William Eggleston

Yesterday, I had the chance to view the new exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago's Modern Wing, William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961 - 2008. I have been a fan of Eggleston for quite some time, but mainly in just a passing admiration. For those of you that are not familiar with this photographer, let me give you a quick background.

Eggleston is a Tennessee native that spent most of his pre-adult life living in the South. He attended various universities, including the prestigious Vanderbilt University, but never gained an actual degree. Eggleston is considered one of the most influential American Artists, and is widely accepted as the person who helped secure color photography as a legitimate artisitc medium. His saturated photos have amazed millions around the world, and his continuation of portraying the symbols of America (good or bad) continue to inspire many.

Below, is my one of my favorite pieces that he has done - Sumner, Mississippi, 1972.

The position of the driver and the "master" are so exquisite in this piece. Spacially, it is amazing. It shows the tensions with race relations during this time period. You have both men, looking un-hostile and respective of one another - equal per se. But, however, looking at this one can feel the tension, see a sort of paternalism from the White male to the Black male, and feel that the White male is dominating the Black individual. Also, I feel that the Chevy in the back laces the photograph with just the right amount of Americanism/Capitalism, but thats me just digging.

Eggleston's work stretches from the 40's till present day. His work captures a hostile and dangerous time in the South with grace and a level of poeticism. His visuals capture the past, and allow the narratives within the pieces to transcend time and become relevant in the now. I highly recommend checking his pieces out very soon.

William Eggleston Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961 - 2008.

February 27 - May 23, 2010 at the Art Institute Chicago

My Inspiration

Forever, my friends and family have been telling me to start a blog where I could voice my opinions, and not destroy the purity of my facebook by making it the political battleground. What truly inspired me to make this blog was the word "Adalah". For whatever reason I could not get it stuck out of my head today after I heard it. I am not Arabic nor do I speak Arabic, but my entire life I have always had this pull towards the culture, language, and politics that surround the Middle-East.

While viewing the short documentary "Targeted Citizens", I knew that I needed to do this blog. If not to educate and get people's minds thinking, but just for my own personal sanity.

I hope you enjoy my inspiration.

This is "Targeted Citizens"courtesy of Vimeo

Targeted Citizen - English from Adalah on Vimeo.