LAyered underneath it all!

Here in my unusual post!

So i was in bed just now thinking about putting on some clothes in the washing machine and in the smae thought I was thinking about how as "we" get older we become more aware of the pointless money we spend on "things" [meaning me] ... just because of societal pressure and becuase of the fear of what others may think!

--> Ok, so we (my family) had to buy a new clothes washing machine a couple years ago and so we went into Sears and instantly I saw the red washing machine. It was a good brand with a good reputation and had a great approval rate. Well it was more money because of the colour. BUT it was so COOL!! ...

WELL as i was laying in bed just minutes ago with many thoughts/about what i need to be doing/ school/ washing clothes? ... I think about how we got duped by the colour "RED"!!

GAH!--> Duped again by the marketing ploys aimed at women! .. And well (i/we) fell for it!! Good one boys! good one~! wish I thought of that .. "Lets colour our washing machines and then women [because they are the ones running them ;)...] will be so in love with them they will pay more money for them .... MOO AHHH (insert evil voice here!)

Well i am returning to my bed that has carefully marketed sheets and pillows on it aimed just for us "women" ;) Have a good night ...

~Freddie Mercury~

This culture jam exudes the idea of the upper/middle class male as "suffering" from the guilty conscience which is associated with being in the seat of power and therefore oppressing the masses...must be a hard days work! I love this idea of the sale of ethic supplement, just in case you were short due to your classist upperhand.....This culture jam really illustrates the appropriation of certain groups pain and oppression by the dominant cultures....how does this fit into feminism? In what way do men appropriate the work and oppression that women experience? Is it fair to say that white, middle to upper class males have a reason to feel guilty even though they were born into that social position.....?

Miss Frizz

World-Wide Togetherness?

https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

One World-wide day that everyone stops shopping??

--> Wouldn't that be a great idea of how we as a society could fight back against the multi-billion dollar business that take advantages of everyone. All of the consumers that are constantly ripped off and taken advantage of. "We" could show these huge media/marketing/purveyors of westernization and pop culture would listen to what we have to say and what our needs are.

While this sounds like a great idea. It is kind of a pipe dream. The reality of Everyone gathering/banding together to do this is delusional. The reality is that people will buy regardless. Even if there is a community or whatnot that decides to do this, there will always be a link in the chain that will deviate from the plan or not agree with this. In this case, while this idea promises of great change, it is filled with holes that are not realistic.

~Freddie Mercury~

This very public form of culture jamming explodes the idea of the binary oppositions that cohorse ourselves into everyday! Women and men....seperate washrooms, seperate behaviours, which are understood to each ideal. What about those who don't fit into one of those two options....there's an Ani Difranco quote, in which she talks about school and how "they tried to teach me different was bad." How does mandatory conforming neglect, exclude and at the same time support the hegemony that is present in society? Is it possible to not conform?

Miss Frizz

Do They??

So True!! .. But Really? .. do they pay her less?
Does anyone know? I would really like to know!

If she doesn't get equal pay then what are we supposed to do!

http://www.savetheshirts.com/causes/hillary/

~Freddie Mercury~

Introducing Mary g

I came across this culture jam when I simply typed in “culture jams”. I found this image among others by a fellow blogger, Martin Krzywinski. There is a series of culture jams with a similar thread of the woman being controlled by a game controller which would be controlled by a man. The product in this advertisement is the woman, and is titled “mary.g” which is a modification of marriage. This advertisement is considered a culture jam in that it plays on the idea of the latest electronics, a product of SONY. This culture jammer, indicates to the viewer that in our modern society, in which new technologies are being created and distributed to make our hectic lives easier, men would prefer to go back to the 'old days' when women's roles were clearly defined within marriage.
Even though women have moved so far forward in breaking those limiting roles of being a woman (or so we thought?). Women still have certain expectations of them within marriage, in a dual working households women still have the majority of responsibilities of cleaning, organizing and managing the home. So really, have we moved that much farther than we were 20, 30, 40 years ago? In terms of whats expected of women, these expectations and attitudes about women and marriage have been so embedded into society that one wonders when will it change? Will it ever change? So something like the use of culture jamming helps to stimulate the thoughts of the people and to acknowledge the longstanding outdated views on woman's roles in marriage and society.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/fullaperture/559219647/


~ Cedar

'I'll say anything to sell this crap.'

As I was sifting through a variety of culture jams on the internet, I stumbled upon this form of a culture jam:


(Image from here)

I have heard of these stickers before; you can buy them, or make your own, and slap them on a public wall, advertisement, poster, etc and voila! Instant culture jam. This one came from http://www.mixthemessage.com.

However, when I was looking at this one, I slowly began to question the message given out by a culture jam such as this one. Could it create a positive message for one person, while another person may find it creates a negative message?

For instance, my first thought of course was that this is a culture jam against large corporations, advertising companies, big brand names, and in this case, against the beauty industry. A simple sticker to represent the idea that advertisments and corporations will sink to any level to up their sales and get as many people using their product.

However, I started wondering... Could this imply other messages? Instead of advocating against mass media and the big corporations, could it at the same time be creating another message?

The sticker is placed so that the woman in the advertisement is saying it. From this I find it starts to feel less like it's the companies and the beauty industry that are giving the message of “I'll say anything to sell this crap” and more like it's the woman in the advertisement that is saying it. Instead of the corporations using whatever means to get what they want, it's the model – the woman – who will do anything to get what she wants. This idea plays into certain cultural stereotypes: the shop-a-holic who loses control and can't keep track of her own spending, the spoiled girlfriend who always gets things her way, the high-class office woman who will sabotage anyone in her way to stay on top – it's the woman who always gets what she wants.

This reminds me of the discussion we had in class about individual interpretation. Depending on your social location, the messages perceived in popular culture and culture jams will reflect your own personal experiences and beliefs.

In terms of feminist social justice, the effectiveness of certain culture jams really depends on the creator, the audience and the individual interpretation. I think that in some contexts, culture jamming could actually work against the idea of feminist social justice. If a difference is made from culture jamming, who gets the 'social justice'? Does this mean that at the same time it may be oppressing or reinforcing stereotypes about another group of people?

-Cyoinea

Can "we' Do it?

ok, got everything working right now and my first post...
So was peruzzing (sp?) the internet and came across a very cool website called crackunit.com
which was/is a link from the website adbusters.com. (Also very cool website) Anyways, it challenged it's readers to a week os using anything that is technology (ie: computers, texting etc.. you get the point) But you could use a phone. It is a counter against the corporate companies that pretty much rule over us little ants that comply and use their gadgets. Our reliance on technology is amazing. Reading over this guys blog about how he got through the week was pretty interesting. While I think it would be an effective tool if EVERYONE was to do it worldwide, i don't think this could really effect corporate companies. And, while this would be a great counter against coporate companies that pretty much own/run our lives with their technology, it is a very elitist idea. NOT everyone has a computer, not everyone has a cellphone .. AND some people need these technologies to make ends meat. So overall i think it would be effective if everyone banned together against Huge conglomerates, however, not everyone has that luxury

guess it would be good if i gave you the link ;) -->http://www.crackunit.com/2008/04/30/10-things-i-learned-from-mental-detox-week/

~Freddie Mercury~

Thank you, Corporate America!

This culture jam excellently illustrates the power of the male ruled society. Especially how news is presented to us, by networks owned and run by white upperclass males, which is sure to present them in the best light and keep everyone else in their tidy little cliches.....which is perpetuated by the idea of the woman behind the typerwriter. (She's in her place doing women's work!) The overall idea in this culture jam is focused on the idea of money = power and the ability to therefore control the media and the country as the media is the source of information in society, so the idea of coorporations ruling and controlling the people is cleary articulated in the messages proscribed in the culture jammer. The WWII propoganda style of the jammer alludes to the misrepresentations that are projected by this overly bias coorporate news and how the media/ news misleads the population to favour their beliefs....never mind what's actually happening.....this is all you need to know, kind of coverage. The idea that the less we, as society, know the better off we are.

Miss Frizz

image from: http://www.insanereagan.com/images/culture_jammers.jpg

Getting started...

In terms of feminist socialist justice, is culture jamming making a difference? Is it too elitist to make a difference, or is guerrilla art - or civic art - an underground movement that 'speaks to the people'? Is culture jamming an effective feminist tool?

The Doctor

In class teaching stuff

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Checking the Blog

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