Female Australian Rapper, Iggy Azalea, truly reached popular culture on
a personal level with the debut of her single, "Work." Azalea tells
her listeners where she is from and reveals all the struggles she has faced
before she reached this level of success. Lyrically, the song is rather
inspirational as it creates a motivational image that viewers can look up to
but upon watching the music video, it is not wrong to question the song's
authenticity. In the first scene of the video, we see Azalea walking through a
vast desert while talking about where she came from. Although it is clear to
visualize that she wasn't "made" in the best of communities, we see
the rapper walking through the dessert and outback community glamorously.
Looking at the clothes she is wearing while strolling around it is not hard to
spot the expensive designer pieces on her, which is rather contradictory as the
whole theme of her song is talking about everything that she didn't have
growing up. The video continues as she walks through the desolate community and
begins to as if she is "looking down" upon the community
members. She
is priding herself in coming from that background but in the music video, she
is walking around what is perceived to be her background, as she is better
and more powerful than it. It shows that she has clearly forgotten where she
came from. It disrespects people that are still living in
those communities and makes them seem like they are worthless
compared to people like her. From these observations, it is
important to ask, why was this music video directed to portray the musician
with this glamorous image in the first scene? It is believed that
product placement has a meaning to this video. By placing these distinct brands
on the musician and making her appear better than the general community, brands
are able to tell viewers that they have the power to be better than these
communities if they were able to associate with products such as the ones
Azalea is wearing. Additionally, the real controversy starts to take place when
the outback scene transitions into Azalea dancing in front of a group of men
with backup dancers behind her. Again, this is in fact contradictory as her
seductive movements disregard the real message that she is lyrically trying to
bring across. This scene creates the idea that the only way woman can succeed
is by seducing men and deceiving. So overall, not only does Azalea marginalize
the female population in the music video, it offends people in
impoverished societies. The concepts discussed in the video are ironic to the
lyrics and message that Azalea puts across, which shows that she has been
influenced by the attitudes of the music industry and popular culture. “The
industry took my innocence, too late now I’m in this.”
Monday, December 15, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
Advertisements and Culture
This advertisement is promoting a moisturizing product by Olay. It portrays a close up of a distinguishably happy woman with intentional text around her, identifying the roles she plays in life and how the facial cream can suit the needs of those roles. With he wide smile dominating the picture, the stress-free woman is described as a "shoe aficionado" "wife" and "mother." Overall, Olay makes an successful job in plugging in the product to suit this stereotypical woman's needs in the roles that she plays in her everyday life, thus objectifying the product to a universal audience. The use of gender stereotypes plays a significant role in this advertisement. In order to create a medium that is suitable, acceptable and understandable for a vast amount of targeted audience, advertisers often turn to stereotypical relations. It has been realized that the woman portrayed and the text surrounding her in the advertisement generalizes the female population in a certain way that is not necessarily true.
Generally, women are seen to be low positioned workers, loving wives and mothers, responsible for raising children and doing housework. In the ad, this stereotype in brought forward and communicates the woman as someone who is concerned with taking care of herself and meaningless concepts like shoes. It could therefore be argued that the ad values beauty and care-taking as most important for the female population. From this, it is clear that it also neglects the fact that women can have much more larger ambitions and goals. It ignores the ambitious women that are committed to making a change and impacting the world. Olay advertiser had the choice to transform the ad's theme into suiting their product in much more important aspects in a woman's life, including work. This shows that their product was promoted by focusing the message of the ad to communicate that women should focus on feeble things (like their product) rather than real and important things in life. This is vital for the placement of their product in the story that they are trying to sell. Olay creates this image of an "ideal woman" and then emphasizes the importance of their product in this.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
School Uniforms: Logos, Pathos, Egos
Should schools carry out the school uniform policy? The idea of school
uniforms seems like an antiquated concept for many. In some places throughout
the world wearing school uniforms is a norm, in others individualism is a
fundamental value. Especially in the western society, people strongly believe
in the right to express their own opinion without fear or punishment. However,
This value has been placed under pressed recently and the issue of whether or
not schools should incorporate a uniform policy has produced allot of
discussion. Personally, it is thought that uniforms are a good idea and should
be implemented throughout the
Firstly, it has been proven that Students studying in schools requiring
school uniforms generally perform very well academically and seem happy wearing
the same outfit every day.This is based on the fact students spend less time
looking at their mode of dressing, thus focusing more school work, as opposed
to a new fashion trend. Students who wear uniforms do better in school as well.
They are on task more because they aren't worrying about how they look. There
is less distraction due to uniforms. "Uniforms set a more serious tone in
the classroom that is conducive to learning and can improve student
performance." School uniforms improve student attendance. Also, by getting
of rid the extra time choosing clothes, students are able to sleep and study
more. As a result, students' grades rise.
In addition to the aforementioned point, One of the biggest
concerns in schools these days is bullying. Students are harassed
physically, verbally, and socially. The latest trend in bullying is
cyberbullying. Often, the cause of bullying stems from people being different
for not wearing the “right” clothes. If someone looks richer, most people feel
like they have a higher social status or more power. To the contrary, uniforms
allow children to learn on a more level playing field, with less judgment about
clothing choices, brands of clothing, or physical appearance. uniforms
tend to close the socioeconomic gap that exists between students as it makes
them students equal. Studies have shown that uniforms made for a safer
learning environment, and 80% of girls and 62% of boys actually liked the
uniforms
Additionally, a lot of students who wear uniforms claim that they feel more
proud of their school. School colors gives students a feeling of being more
connected to their school and classmates. If there is a sense of community and
connectedness among the students, the use of foul language, gang behavior, and
crimes like vandalism are largely eliminated. Wearing school uniforms can also
help people gain more self-confidence because they know they are a part of
something bigger. Students will not lose their personality but will merely
learn new ways to express themselves.
One of the main concerns people have about wearing school uniforms is
conformity. People fear that by making children look the same, their
individuality will be suppressed. However, this is not the case. Accessories,
such as bracelets and hair clips, can jazz up a school uniform. Besides,
students can wear their own clothing after school and during weekends. An
individual’s personality is not wholly expressed by fashion alone. Personality
is determined by the way a person moves, feels, thinks, and talks. Wearing a
school uniform neither defines a child’s personality nor erases it.
There are even more advantages to wearing school uniforms in public schools
in addition to those previously mentioned. School uniforms also have a benefit
on parents too as it means lower costs for them during back-to-school shopping
and easier mornings. When there's no debate on what a student is allowed
wear to school, then that makes mornings easier for parents and for kids.
Everyone knows exactly what the kids need to wear, their regulated school
uniform. This can lead to a decrease in morning arguments.
In conclusion, there are many well-documented benefits to implementing
mandatory school uniforms for students. Studies show that students act more
responsibly, learn better and feel better when they wear uniforms. schools
should require uniforms in order to benefit both the students and society as a
whole.
Text 1: The Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole
This article is an excerpt from the
autobiography of “The Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole". It
highlights and follows the common characteristics of a memoir. The nurse uses
direct narration. The text is a reflection, of the nurse's life. Due to
the speech used in first person, the dialogue provides her interpretation of
struggles and her reflection of past events. There are specific instances where
she offers her hindsight wisdom in context with the several personal encounters
she has had- retelling stories that express her understanding about the
perception of death. From this, it could be concluded that the text aims
to review on the nurses past experiences and thus argue on the concept of
death, based on the inclusions made in the experiences. It
does not intend to persuade an audience or have any specific influences, but
rather to be more of personal narrative.
The memoir initially talks about how
Seacole was surrounded by people infected with yellow fever which was an
epidemic in the 1850’s. The setting is the island of Jamaica. Seacole retells
of her encounters as a caretaker of the sick. The death surrounding her; she
explains as “dreadful”. Among the other stories she stays on the topic of
one young man Seacole was fond of and rather attached to. She retells of his
passing and how it brought out and made her connect it with a mother- son
relation. She then makes a statement saying that no one should be ashamed of
the fear of death. The article is solely based the idea of; on one’s perception
of death and how life revolves around how scared one is.
Relatively the tone of this article
is sad due to the deaths Seacole talks of. The content and language are used to
emphasize the sorrowful tone and serious mood. The audience is left with the heavy
and intense feeling of death as Seacole begins the article with “still
remembering an island for its suffering and gloom”. From the beginning the tone
is set driving the rest of the article to follow the same tone and mood.
The story is not objective but
rather bias since it is a memoir and offers a reflection of personal stories and conclusions. It follows a constrict structure of
self-evaluation and her perspective therefore making it hard for any
interpretation by the reader. The story uses personal pronouns such as “I” in
order to ensure the story stays very personal. The use of imagery helps set the
mood and tone also.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Written Task 1
Written Task 1
Rough Draft
Zena Agabani
Sunday October 19th 2014
Rationale. This
integrative approach of interview writing shall attempt to investigate how the
musician, Kanye West, represents a certain type of ethnicity, culture and
identity, particularly in the song, “New Slaves”, thus affecting his language used
and intended purpose in the song. West has always been the subject of ridicule, from low tabloids
to high culture publications. He has watched his public persona become slimmer
and slimmer; from the man who interrupts people on TV to the man who abuses the
paparazzi. What has realized though is that there is a clear message and
intended purpose that West is trying to convey to his target audience; this interview
shall attempt to get an insight of what that is and display how he was
influenced to create this message. I have chosen to take the integrative
response of interview writing, as I believe it will present these concepts and
depict the personal understanding of my chosen topic, Kanye West, in the
clearest way possible. My intended purpose for my response is to show the
significance and dominance of the different types of ethnicities, cultures and
identities in our lives and how they can affect our use of language and
actions. From this, it could be stated that the target audience of the
interview is possibly fans of Kanye West that would be interested in reading
one of his interviews in websites like Rolling stones or GQ.
Kanye West Talks “New Slaves”
Zena
Agabani
As I
flew over to New York City to interview the famous rapper, Kanye West, I did
not know what to expect. It was never certain how the highly publicized star
would react to certain situations, as seen before. As I walked into the lobby
of New York’s Mercer hotel, the same hotel where him and Jay-Z recorded their Watch the Throne album, I could see him
waiting in the lobby. “I hope we don’t get caught by any paparazzi today, I’m
still being criticized for those leather jogging pants. Did you ever see anyone
that wears leather jogging pants?” he said to me as I nervously tried to agree,
having no actual direct experience with paparazzi themselves.
West
has recently kicked off the public’s weekend with the debut of his new song,
“New Slaves” from his soon-to-release album, Yeezus. Instead of posting it on the internet, “New Slaves” was
premiered out into the physical universe; setting up sites and projecting
visuals in 66 world wide locations of choice. What interested me more though,
was how he reached to this certain status.
Firstly,
West started looking back, from childhood to the first events in his music
career. “I couldn’t have gotten to this
point of success in my career without my past. My background was really a
learning experience for me and it gave me the strength and inspiration to
become the powerful and influential person I am today.”
As he
continued to recall distinct memories, it struck me that West conveyed a
certain type of background and is recognizable to be parallel with the choice
of content in his music. “I was raised
in Chicago’s south side by my mother and visited my father every summer. ”
After bragging about his exceptional school performance and dominant role in
his hometown’s rap community, it was now clear to me of the different
relational and interactional identities that West carried with him throughout
his life.
I then
decided to ask him to particularly discuss his song, “New Slaves.” Aside from the
self-admiration and congratulatory finish, West’s intended message in his music
is not commonly acknowledged. “Generally, my purpose of this song was to
create the modern argument that the whips and chains used in our past has just
been transformed into material possessions today to keep black people in a
community of modern slavery. “
With the increasing amount of language and imagery associated
with the both past and present western realities, it is obvious that Kanye West
is trying to convey a message in his song; “New Slaves.” West’s lyrical range
from past song references, to issues regarding prison industrial complexes,
clarifies the diverse cultural awareness he carried. “I decided to reference Billy holiday’s term,
“Blood on the leaves” from his song Strange
Fruit to equalize the rampant custom of lynching. Lynching was an informal group execution that was performed in the south and I compared it to the
impurity of the money, our modern-day leaves, used in our communities these
days. I also included some other concepts like the concept of Chiraq; comparing
the ethnic violence and discrimination in my home town Chicago, to the problems in Iraq.”
What also interested me in the song was the thought of type of language
West used while producing the song. What made me also curious was how this type
of language connected with his identity and everyday life. West was highly
associated with the black community; his grandparents and father were once members
of the black panthers. “I identified myself with the black community in two
ways; I learnt a wide range of historical terminology from my family as they
were civil rights activists and associated with the local rap community to learn how to get my feelings and perceptions across. From this, it was easy for me to draw distinctions between past and present realities ” After describing this, I truly saw the influence his community had on his use of language.
The combination of the complex descriptive concepts with the African American
vernacular English that West had been familiar with, created a certain type of
authenticity for the artist and a form of art that the majority of his listeners
could relate to.
Finally, I asked him what he wanted his listeners to achieve
by listening to his expressed emotions and perceptions in the song.
_______________
Work Cited
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