W. Kamau Bell extra credit post

W. Kamau Bell’s lecture was fantastic. He brought up how when we talk about racism in America, we like to keep things safe and comfortable. I both love and hate that he approached this discussion on racism with humor. I think he's witty in his approach, but I hate that in order to feel comfortable talking about race, we need to do so with humor.  
He talked about People magazine's most beautiful people edition. I knew that people of color were under-represented in the editions, but I did find it concerning that only 2 african american males were ever featured as the "sexiest man alive". It's disgusting that people of color are often not considered beautiful. 
In the PBS series, "Black in Latin America", Professor Gates shows a news and magazine stand where no women of color are featured, despite the tremendous amount of ethnic diversity in Brazil.  This is not just a problem in the United States, but a global issue.  The idea that white is what's beautiful spread with imperialism.  
W. Kamau Bell talked about an incident where he was discriminated against because he is black. He is married to a white woman and he was accused of harassing her and her friends at a restaurant. It's really important for students in this class to have heard about this story, because it's such a common occurrence for men of color to be seen as harassers of white women. Black men used to be lynched if they were accused of looking at, talking with, harassing, or just engaging in consensual relations with a white woman.  This part of our history is still continuing in different ways and it does not benefit America to not talk about it.

It's hard to enjoy romantic comedies for me as a feminist

I recently read an article Mindy Kaling wrote in 2011 titled, “Flick Chicks: A Guide to Women in the Movies”.  The article starts with Mindy admitting that her guilty pleasure is romantic comedies. She admits to suspending her disbelief in “contrived situations that occur only in the heightened world of romantic comedies” (Kaling, 2011).  Kaling and I share a love of the ridiculously contrived and implausible worlds of romantic comedies. No matter what else is on, if “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” is on, I stop everything and allow my brain to shut off for a bit.

I enjoyed reading this article because sometimes I struggle as a feminist to watch any kind of media.  Romantic comedies are especially hard for me to enjoy the older I get and the more I learn about how society views women.  I try and comfort myself by saying, but my favorite movie is “10 Things I Hate About You” and that Kat helped to shape my own personal feminism. 

Kalings light-hearted but biting breakdown of how romantic comedies portray women has allowed me to permit myself some enjoyment again from romantic comedies.  I know that these stereotypes and portrayals of women who don’t exist in real life are harmful to society and women. Perhaps I’m looking for someone to tell me, “It’s okay to enjoy something despite the misogyny” so I can feel better about myself, I don’t know....and I'd like not to think about it too much.

The “Ethereal Weirdo” was the woman that I found most unbelievable.  The Manic Pixie Dream girl is most famously portrayed by Natalie Portman in Garden State and most of Zooey Deschanel roles. I find a lot of characteristics about this trope to be positive, these women are often self-aware and confident which I admire.  However, the fact that these (always) white and adorable women serve to make the loser-boring-mopey-cynical (always) white male feel better is troubling.  These quirky, upbeat, positive women who don’t take life too seriously would never waste their time in a relationship with these male characters. 

This class in incredibly frustrating. I was warned by friends who have taken this course before, but I clearly did not take them seriously.

The past couple class meeting have been embarrassing for me as a white woman. Another white woman asking “Can women be sexist against men?”  or “can black people be racist against white people?” is depressing. When discussing systematic and institutional racism against African Americans, several white students felt the need to share experiences where they have felt people were racist against them. How can a 4000 level student be so ignorant of their privilege? It’s inexcusable at this level of college, in an ethnically diverse state in this political climate.

This last class when discussing how women are “cut down to size” by advertising, the conversation veered into how dress codes are needed for girls and women’s protection. A few men expressed feeling uncomfortable and attacked. One man felt the need to say “not all men rape”. One woman called a man’s motivation behind enforcing a dress code for his female employees “a wonderful, wonderful thing”. What planet is this? Why are women defending patriarchy and misogyny? Why is my professor allowing this distraction?

I honestly can’t believe that these distractions from the group being discussed are allowed. Whites should not be permitted to draw the conversation on race to themselves and men should not be able to distract a class from a conversation about women’s experiences in representation.  I understand that college courses are a place for discussion, debate and disagreements. That being said, one doesn’t walk into a Biology course and say “EVOLUTION IS A LIE” and be taken seriously. Not all opinions are valid or worth hearing. This course should not be about whether African Americans live in a different America than whites. THEY DO. People should not be able to suggest that men are not privileged over women or that society doesn’t permit and encourage their dominance. THEY ARE and IT DOES. Move on.

Why are we wasting our time listening to people detract from the conversation? Why is this permitted?

In our discussion about women and advertising, we barely touched on how women of color experience this in different ways. The video talked about it briefly, but because men diverted the conversation back to them and how they felt attacked, we left out a very important part of the conversation. We didn’t even talk about how trans-gendered individuals are advertised and represented. 

My time was wasted.