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I chose to make by cultural artifact the University at Buffalo. The main reason that drove me to pick this was that I could encompass so much into my paper. I was able to include al kinds of examples of people, food, and places.  My experience at UB is amazing I really feel like I am part of the cultural experience at UB.  There was a point in the essay where I was struggling to fill in the space required. I was out of thing to say about my identity. But with some great suggestions about finding my new identity at UB as my Italian American self I was about to change my thesis. This was especially interesting because in each paragraph I proved something different about my social identity until I proved I was an Italian American.  So my thesis slowly changed thought the paper.  While I was writing this I was also sitting home alone and I was feeling very home sick. I was in buffalo for the first summer on my own. This was also the first summer I have spent away from my parents. So much while I was writing I was subconsciously writing about my fond memories of home.  This is why I also made such a big deal about the sauce in the paper. It was just something that has always comforted me and that I was thinking about when I was wringing away from my folks back home.  While I was writing this paper I also included many of my friends because they left Buffalo for the summer so I haven’t been able to see them. Writing about them enabled me to encapture the memories we shared during the school year, which will share, again come September. I also included many references to my family because it was that week when I found out that my job at Lowe’s would not allow me to take the July 4^th weekend off. Now usually this wouldn’t have been a big deal but, this was going to be a large family gathering of the family on my Italian side. So I felt that by not going I was going t loose touch with my roots in some sort of absurd way. To make up for this I needed to assert my Italian into my paper to almost prove it to my self sense I was not going to be in Jersey celebrating it with my family.  

Blog 6 (That 70's Show)

The Show “That 70’s Show”

Role of Mrs. Forman-Femininity, class, sexuality, race

Role of father Mr. Forman-masculinity, class,

Role of Jackie-femininity, sexuality, class

Role of kelso- Masculinity, sexuality

Vista Cruiser-Class,

Leo-class

Fez-Race, sexuality,

When I began to look into detail about how stereotypes are portrayed each character represents something in a stereotypical manner.  Eric’s Father Red represents all the major faucets of social identity.  His masculinity is defined by his aggression as he always is threatening to “Shove a foot into someone’s ass”. He also has stereotypical bad relationships with his son, as he is the “discipliner” as his job in child rearing.  His image of male pattern balding further leads to his masculine identity.  He is a retired military man that works as a manager at a local grocery store.  These occupations are remarkably middle class. This with his house in the suburbs makes him even more identifiable with the middle class.  At the time in the 70’s only white people were able to purchase homes in the suburbs, this and the location of the house in rural Wisconsin makes his white social identity unmistakable. 

            Mrs. Forman also exhibits many stereotypical qualities of femininity.  Her occupation as a nurse is very stereotypical of a middle classes woman.  She also does all the domestic work around the house like cooking and cleaning.  She also is seen as the sexual toy for Red as she is always ready to perform for him, which relates to Devor’s ideas about femininity.  She is also the more favored parent because she does not do the disciplining and she is very nurturing of the situation giving to her.  Her overall appearance is rather feminine; she is always depicted in house dresses and has classic 1950’s mom hair. 

            Jackie is viewed as the stereotypical spoiled daddy’s girl through out the show. Her femininity is expressed in the way she dressed by wearing very tight fitting or revealing clothing, which makes her appeal more to men by asserting her heterosexuality.  By shopping so much she also asserts her femininity, as this is a very stereotypical feminine thing to do.  And by purchasing these extravagant clothes she shows that she has the extra cash to spend so that makes her associated with the upper middle class. 

            The Vista Cruiser station wagon is a symbol for the class of the Forman family.  During the 70’s it was extremely popular for every middle class American family to own a station wagon. It was seen as the mini van of the 70’s.  The wagon also defines the white nature of the Forman’s.

            The character Fez is the only character of foreign influence in the entire show. Interestingly his nationality is never expressed on the show.  Further he is never stereotyped by any of the other characters towards any particular race.  This makes his foreign image extremely vague and just generally stereotyped foreigners.  His accent is unidentifiable with any particular race, which just makes it sound like he is a generic foreigner.  Like other foreigners they often do not get American humor Fez is no exception as on many occasions he “doesn’t get it”. 

            

Carry on with Blog 5

The carry out video asserted many examples of both racial stereotypes and gender stereotypes.  The video depicts Justin Timberlake, a white hip-hop artist, and a larger black gentleman singing to “Carry Out” a few females into their car and ultimately fornicate with them.

The black gentleman exhibits many qualities that are very stereotypically seen as black.  He is in the typical dress that African Americans are depicted in.  He is wearing a flat brimmed baseball cap that makes him look like a thug.  He is also sporting the stereotypical gangster bling.  One could say that he is defiantly “Ghettoized”.  The shaved head haircut is one that is worn by many black men.  His lyrics and notions also make him seem “ Sexually Aggressive” as Omi points out.  Omi defines sexual aggression as stereotypically black in the shows from the 1970’s, but these views from the past often linger.  Ironically he is always wearing black clothing while Justin Timberlake is always wearing white. This is a definite statement to separate the two even thought they are singing the same lyrics. 

Interesting the white Justin Timberlake is mimicking the same type of behavior that is usually by stereotypical black people.  He is also wearing a flat brimmed baseball cap with plenty of bling.  His tracksuit is also something that people of this race would defiantly find high fashion.  He also speaks of degrading women and also seems sexually aggressive which further adds to the black stereotype being broadcasted on a white individual.  Many black comedians like Cat Williams even comment on how white folks copy the style and attitude of black people in America. 

Just like how rock and roll made black music appeal to white people during the 1950’s Hip-Hop music does the same thing today.  Elvis Presley copied similar song lyrics, and dance moves from unpopular black groups and performed them to the white public where he instantly became huge. From Elvis blacks eventually worked there way into the musical norm of our country.  Eminem is today like Elvis, His white rapper attitude opened up rap to white audience that later spread among other black rappers.  R&B and rap are often regarded as stereotypical “black” music, but the integration with a white performer makes for a broader audience and thus making this music video a segway to end racial segregation in the music world. 

The car seen to “carry out” women is defiantly ghetto in fashion and gives off a stereotypical black image.  Cat Williams does a stand up routine where he jokes that black men would spend their unemployment check on fancy car rims.  The car pictured in the music video had very large chrome rims that would be desired by those in the black community.  The car also has an exotic paint job and probably has many other features that would be installed in the hit show Pimp my ride.  Ironically all the people that work on the cars on the show are black and produce cars that look like the one in the video. 

The women in the video have many qualities that are part of a modern sexually degrading stereotypical view of women.  As Devor points out, femininity can be expressed in the readiness to perform sexual service.  Each of the women in the video are degraded to look like sexual objects.  The women were wearing very little clothing for the duration of the commercial which made them appear in a way that men would find sexually attractive.  Further they are dancing in a sexual fashion that would also invoke arousal amongst men.  The scene where the women are dancing tin the French maids outfits further suggests that they being viewed as a sexual object.  Maids are also made out to be stereotypical females as they do a great deal of domestic tasks.  So by dressing the women in the maids’ outfits they are suggesting a feminine obedience towards men.  Another domestic role that women are stereotypically seen to portray is one of cooking.  Although there is no actual cooking going on, the video takes place at a fast food restaurant. Perhaps they are suggesting that instead of cooking food for the men they are preparing themselves to “carry out”. The food is a domestic metaphor for sexual favors demonstrating their femininity.  Devor usually describes feminine characters as being small and keeping there extremities close to their bodies. However this is not the case in this video do to the over whelming sexual role they play in it.  By keeping their limbs away from the body it leaves them more exposed and thus giving off an image of ready for sexual service. 

The men in the video look very masculine according to Devor’s stereotypical notions.  The men always have their limbs far away from their bodies making themselves seem physically large and more aggressive leaving them with a more masculine look. This is especially noticeable when the black gentleman is sitting in the chair with his legs sprawled out on the floor and his arms over the back of the chair. It makes him appear as large as he could physically make himself out to be.  The lyrics they use have an assertive nature to them. They are demanding of the girls to come out with them.  The facial expressions they have are threatening because they are uninviting towards the viewer. They look stern and almost ready to pick a fight.  The men are in control of the “conversation” that is happening there are females in the video but none are present in the lyrics suggesting the male dominance and thus stereotypical male attitude.  The fancy dress and jewelry the performers possess suggests their high status and success. These traits are one of the four traits that define masculinity. 

            

Christian Mingle

We have all seen the commercial on TV that asks us if we are Christian and then asks if we are single.  For me these two things really perked my interest saying what the heck could they possibility be advertising for.   Turns out it’s a dating website exclusive towards Christians.  The commercial oozes with what we see today as stereotypical “whiteness”

            We all know that anyone of any race can be whatever religion it is that they choose.  Notably the Christian faith is one of the most encompassing religions on our earth.  In the United states Christianity has a large following of minorities including blacks as well as Asians.  But despite this the commercial shows no people of color.  All the couples seen are white, out of the five couples shown, not one was interracial or would even give one the hint that they are non-Arian.  This suggests that they are trying to appeal to a white audience by providing stereotypical examples of white couples.  They all have brown or blonde hair and were fair in complexion.  None of the models even had darker skin.  Further the commercial showed a sample screen shot of potential matches the site would give; there were approximately 30 individuals shown. None of them were non-Caucasian based on my interpretation, which is probably that of the average viewer on television. 

            The lack of non-white influence in the commercial could be an interpretation of the us vs. them attitude in the racial world.  By excluding other races they instantly make the other races the “them”. And by only including the whites in the commercial they are the “us”. But interesting by establishing these politics they exclude a potentially large portion of their market.  But at the same time they may want to create a spot where only whites would be able to mingle amongst themselves in a very old fashioned “us” manner.  This would create a “racial homogenous” structure in which to date. 

            One scene from the commercial depicted a young female being twirled around on the shoulders of a man on a beach.  The female was wearing a skirt and a spaghetti strapped shirt, which indeed as Devor would say, “made her seem attractive to males”, which in turn would make her the stereotypical female.  The male also facial hair, which does make an individual seem more masculine, he was also broad in the shoulders, which made his physical appearance seem large and in turn masculine.  The beach is often regarded as a stereotypical vacation spot for white families to go.  This was brought to my attention while I was viewing a standup routine by the black Chris Rock.  He also noted that more blacks are showing up the beach because they recently discovered that it was free.

Skyy Advertisement (Blog 3)

I would first like to say that Skyy vodka is the choice I make when am purchasing vodka.  But my reasons for purchase are different from the ones the advertisement may suggest.  I chose skyy for its good quality and decent price.  The advertisement gives one a feeling of a social identity of a top shelf lifestyle and it also appeals to a "sexy social identity.
When one thinks of a top shelf vodka the fist name that comes to mind is probably grey goose.  Goose is easily twice as expensive as skyy is which suggests that they are at two very different levels as far as class is concerned.  But the advertisement gives a vibe that Skyy vodka is just as sophisticated as other top shelf vodkas like grey goose.  One example of how high class is shown are the black floors in the photo.  While watching HGTV one of the designers said that black floors instantly make a room feel sophisticated while white floors make the room feel casual.  Because this ad has black floors it has an upper class feel.  The outfits the models are wearing are also of high class.  Her long flowing black dress speaks of a black tie party one would attend.  You can only see the sleeve of the mans outfit but one could assume that he is wearing a tuxedo which is naturally the most classy of suits a man can wear.

The ads sexual identity is clear in the sophisticated feel of the room as well as in the models appearance.
The black features of the room instantly give a sexy appearance because of its sleekness. The model is presented in a way that Devor would call feminine.  She is dressed in a manor that men find attractive. She is also positioned in a very seductive fashion.  which further adds to her femininity and the sexual identity in the advertisement. Her posture over the man can lead one to assume that they are going to in-gage in sexual relations which in turn makes the man seem more masculine and also gives a sexual identity to the advertisement.

Wrangler Jean advertisment

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This commercial focuses primarily on the social identity of the typical working class mans man from the ages of 25-50.  The ad identifies most strongly with the working class folk as well as the masculine identity. 
There are many cues that hint at the social identity of the common working man.  The first indication of this is the music playing in the background. It's classic late 70's soft rock, with classic guitar rifts that defiantly appeals to the blue collared worker.  Another example of how it appeals to the working class is the use of late model pick up trucks.  Bret Favre is seen sitting on the tail gate of two different but older pick up trucks. these trucks are seen as something that you average "joe the plumber" would drive on his daily commute.  This sends a strong message of we are just like you and this is what the average joe needs to wear.  Also they make many references to how comfortable the jeans are.  The use of this word defiantly applies to the average person. The hard working, blue collared folk do not care about how their butt looks in the jeans. They only really care about comfort. In fact that is probably what drives this consumer the most is price as well as comfort.  Furthermore, the men pictured were wearing simple everyday t-shirts which is what average people would wear whenever they are off the clock.  The dogs in the advert are also your average american family dogs. The lab family of chocolate,yellow, and black labs are all dogs that your average american families usually tend to own. This reminds one of the emotional connection one may have with their own dog.
Interestingly many of the same features that define the blue collared worker also make up the same cultural identity of men.   The use of Bret Favre is a clear indication of manliness. This commercial was made during the peak years of Favre's career. I cannot think of much more masculine thing than being an all star quarter back in the national football league.  Bret Favre in appearance is rather masculine. He is scruffy faced, tall, and muscular.  All of which are manly traits to possess.  The use of football in the commercial also adds to the masculine identity of the advertisement.  Football is seen today as an extreme example of a male dominated sport.  Men are known to physical compete for dominance amongst other men.  The display of competition was just a demonstration of masculinity thus proving the male identity of the advertisement.