Shortly after the attacks on September 11th 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney portrayed the "terrorist" to the American people during in interview with Tim Russert. In this interview Cheney talks about what happened, why it happened and how future stops can be prevented. 
  During the interview Cheney uses class to describe the "terrorist". When talking about Osama Bin Laden, Cheney says that the reason that Osama led the attacks was because of the way he was raised and that he was raised in a wealthy family. Even though Osama lives a poor part of the world he uses his wealth to control the poor.  Cheney also identifies the "terrorists" as "Islamic Extremists" who have dominated over the surrounding people making them a higher class. 
Within the interview gender is displayed through Cheney's answers. Along the line of "Islamic Extremists" there is a theme of dominance and violence which are both masculine traits. At another point in the interview Cheney describes the "terrorists" as "barbarians". Barbarians are associated with violence, destruction and being uncivilized, which are all signs of masculinity. Cheney does not only compare "terrorism" to barbarianism, it is also compared to Fascism, Nazism and Totalitarianism. All three of these "isms" took complete dominance and control over countries and the need for dominance is one of the biggest sign of masculinity.   
During the interview Cheney tried very hard not to make September 11th about race but in doing so he actually made it about race. Throughout the interview he would say things about the people who committed the attacks are extremist Muslims and that we should not blame Muslims. The way it is said though sounds more like, "Even though these people are Muslim and look Muslim and sound Muslim they are not the same Muslim so don't blame Muslims blame these people who are almost the same thing". This is very confusing and is complete and racial stereotyping because he drills it into repeatedly that Muslims did not do it but it was "Muslims". Due to this confusion our country ends up with a massive amount of racial stereotyping. For example if you were to go into an airport and talk to a TSA officer and ask if they are more suspicious of people that look Muslim they are going to say no. In reality there are more people that look Muslim stopped out of suspicion in airports than any white males. Vice President Dick Cheney's attempts to not create racism toward Muslims completely backfired and ended up causing racism. 
Vice President Dick Cheney's interview with Tim Russert did a few things. It insured the American people that something would be done about the horrendous attacks on September 11th, 2001. It also identified the enemy that America would soon be fighting through gender and class. It also racial identified that enemy causing a massive amount of confusion to many people. Very recently a man went a shot up a Zeke temple thinking they were Muslim. Even if they were Muslim it still is not right to kill innocent people just because this crazy man thought they were terrorists. 

"The Player"

Timbaland’s recent music video for the song “Carry Out” featuring Justin Timberlake displays the myth of the “player”.  This myth is displayed through gender and sexuality. This video shows Timbaland and Justin Timberlake just chilling in the middle of the shot as women in skimpy outfits keeping rolling by. The women are just rolling by rather than walking by is because they are suppose to depict a 1950s waitress. They are dressed as waitress because Timbaland is comparing women to carry out food service. Through out the video Timbaland and and Justin just sing about women and what they are going to do to women and what they want women to do to them. 

Gender is by far the largest social identity that helps with the myth of the “player”. The music video shows both masculine traits and feminine traits and the women are doing the feminine things while the men are doing the masculine things.  

Masculinity is displayed through many different details in the music video. Camera angle, placement of men and women in the shot, the interaction of men and women, and setting.  First there is the camera angle. Both men are always in the middle of every shot. If there is a women in the shot with the men they are off centered or just off to the side completely. By having the men in the middle of the screen it portrays a sense of dominance because they are obviously the most important thing there if they are smack dab in the middle. Next there is the placement of men and women. If the women was not off centered in a shot with the men they were behind them. This also displays dominance because the first thing that one would see would be the men and than the women. Essentially all the women in this music video are serving men. Whether they are waitresses, maids, or back up dancers they are all serving men. In all societies waitresses and maids serve people which is obviously but even back up dances are serving the lead singers because they are making them look better with their dancing. While there is not much of a physical setting in the video, but the clothes, signs and cars set one up. All the women in the beginning are wearing some sort of reviling waitress outfit and rollerblades making them look like they are from a 1950s diner. The car that the men are sitting in look like it could also be from the 1950s and lastly the signs that are in the background look like diner signs from the 1950s. The setting that is being made here is obviously the 1950s. During this time period men were superior and women were very submissive and men were clearly dominant.  Dominance and 

masculinity go hand and hand and they are a huge part of the myth of the “Player”.

One can not have masculinity without femininity. The cloths that the women wear and the way they act really show off femininity. All the women in the video are wearing some sort of skimpy article of clothing, showing off their buttocks or breasts. Showing off skin is a feminine trait and this video has every women showing a lot of skin. The women in the music video act as if the only thing they want to do is please men. For example there is a scene with Justin Timberlake sitting in a chair and one of the maids leans over Justin so that the viewer can see up her skirt and then looks at the camera as if she wants to show off her body and please Justin. 

Gender is not the only social identity in this video. Sexual orientation is also right in you face. This music video is a very clear representation of a heterosexual fantasy. The entire video screams the heterosexual fantasy. A combination of the lyrics and the women in general help create this fantasy. They lyrics just yell sex, 

“I have you open all night like an iHop, 

I take you home baby let you keep me company

You gimme some of you, I give you some of me

You look good, baby must taste heavenly”. 

Everyone watching this music video has to notice the women because there is such a large focus on them. If this video were not trying to portray a heterosexual fantasy all the women would be fully clothed wearing winter jackets and not be sexually attractive. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRdHsuuXxfk

Racism in STAR WARS

While looking for a cultural artifact that would constitute a stereotype regarding racial identity I found tons of movies and television shows all showing different stereotypes. When I came across the new “Star Wars” trilogy it stood out compared to the rest of the movies that had been accused of having hidden racial stereotypes. These movies were accused of having four different characters that all stood for a different race and degraded them all in some way. 

First there is Watto, some may remember him as the pot belled, green, bug thing who owned the pawn shop that Anakin worked for. Many believe that he can be seen as trying to be represented as Jewish but not in any good or neutral way. Instead he is seen as avery greedy man, with a long hooked nose. If those two traits do not scream the stereotypes that are used for Jews they also gave him a thick middle eastern accent. In the second in the trilogy they gave Watto a beard and a hat that makes him look like he is a hasidic Jew. By doing this George Lucas has created a character that is supporting the stereotype that Jews are greedy. In order to make sure the audience realized that Watto was portraying a Jew they gave him a big nose which is also another stereotype people use when they are stereotyping Jews. 

That was not the only stereotype that the movies show. The movies also makes references towards the Arabs. They have a group of people known as the Sand People. They are a group of people that live in the desert, wearing robes and keeping their faces covered and wearing long pale robes. At a point Anakin goes and slaughters an entire village of sand people. After slaughtering women and children Anakin goes and confesses what he had done to Padme and all she can say is so what. Essentially the movie is saying that it is okay to just slaughter them they are just animal, showing a stereotype about Arabs and the stereotype of them being animals. 

The biggest stereotype in the trilogy has to be the character Jar Jar Binks and the Gungans. They live underground and do not understand technology, while there is a very sophisticated race that lives above ground with gorgeous palaces and a royal court. The Gungans can be seen as a stereotype for blacks. Jar Jar can hardly speak English, he speaks a very hard to understand simplified version of English. Some may think English is not his first language and thats why he speaks like that but later they learn that is how he speaks to his king and that is the only language they have. This points to a stereotype that black people are illiterate and can not speak proper english. They also give the Gungans huge lips which is another stereotype of black people. These two stereotypes are both used when stereotyping blacks and George Lucas uses them to create a dim witted character. 

Now the movie does not always refer to the obvious stereotypes but it does make fun of another race and mentions a little stereotype. It makes fun of Asians with the Neimoidians, which are a race who ran the Trade Federation. They are dressed as Chinese emperors and all their colony planets have Japanese sounding names . They also mix up their “R” and “L” sounds which is a stereotype that many asian people do when they speak English. 

When looked at closely the the movies reinforces stereotypes of, Jews, Arabs, Blacks, and Asians. The movie was rated PG so the target audience was young kids, so they either did not pick up on the messages or subliminal picked up on them and believed certain things about people because of the movies, maybe kids believe that people with big noises and middle eastern accents are greedy because thats what Watto was. 

Bass Pro Shop Ad

While looking for ads to break down I came across hundreds and hundreds of ads all promoting different products. Of all the ads I found one stood out the most. It was an ad for the Bass Pro Shop. This advertisement seemed to have a massive amount of thought and detail and put into it. 

Bass Pro Shops ad reinforces a stereotype about gender identity. It shows a man out on the water fishing, not at home with the kids or helping out. He is out on the water enjoying himself. The advertisements is almost saying that men belong out in the wild fishing and having fun, not at home with their families. Any fisherman, with a family,that were to see this advertisement would immediately wish that they were on that boat, with that fish in their hand. Not at home taking care of a child. The ads goal is to set up an amazing fantasy world for men so they can see themselves in a gender role that they would prefer and not the role they are currently in. 

This ad not only said something about social identity and gender roles, but also about about masculinity and femininity. While the ad does not say much about femininity it says a bit about masculinity. First there is the pose of the man, the photo is taken while the man in the photo is in an action shot, which is generally more masculine than if he were modeling. The man in the picture is also very spread out, he is standing with one arm holding a fishing rod out in one arm and a fish out in another. Then there is the clothing. The fisherman is wearing looser clothes, while it is hard to see exactly what he is wearing, one can tell that he is defiantly wearing a fishing vest of some sort and those are very loose fitting clothes. Lastly there is dominance, the fisherman is presenting a certain amount of dominance over the fish by holding its mouth he has complete control over it. All of these things together give this image a certain masculine feeling. 

This advertisement seemed to have a massive amount of thought in and effort put into it, in order to create a fantasy world. The image uses a combination of lighting, poses, angle, and setting to create a magical world. 

First there is the lighting and setting. The setting is on a lake in some reeds but it is the lighting and time of day that stand out the most. It seems to be dawn, which as all fisherman know is the best time to fish, and the sun has just risen. The lighting causes a silhouette over the fisherman, almost in a way that any one that looked at it could see themselves in the place of the fisherman on the boat. The way the sun is also breaking through the clouds, gives off an almost paradise feel to the lake. The combination of these two elements start off the real feeling of a fantasy world. 

Next there is the pose that the fisherman is in. He is holding a fish, just pulled out of the water. You can tell by the way the water comes of the fish, which also helps with the fantasy world because it immediately draws your attention to the fish so its the first thing you notice, and all fisherman love a nice picture of a fish. But back to the pose, the fisherman also has a fishing rod in his hand, and has some fishing gear on him. Fishing rods to fisherman are equivalent to, shoes to women. So having a fishing rod in the hand brings any fisherman into a a fantasy world. 

The last detail in the ad that really stands out is the angle from which the picture is taken. The picture is taken from the same level as the water. It almost looks as if you are looking up at the fisherman. By looking up at the fisherman it makes the viewer of the picture almost feel as if it is somewhere that would like to be but can not quite grasp it but its implied that if they go to bass pro shop they can become that fisherman. 

This ad had one main goal, and that was to get people to come buy things at the Bass Pro Shop. It did not do this by showing how low their prices were or even by showing their products. Rather the company decided to take a picture and use it to provoke the consumer. It is able to do this by convincing fishermen that they belong out on that lake rather than at home. 

American Dreams Blog

American television programs can be seen as a cultural artifact that end up affecting the way social identities are perceived. When Kevin Jennings was a young adult television programs completely changed his beliefs on his own class. Growing up Jennings was taught to believe many horrible things about many different types of people; jews, blacks, gays, communists, liberals, and yankees. At no point growing up did he ever see his social class as poor, ignorant hicks. Before he was able to leave his bubble that he was living in, Jennings ideals of society were completely skewed by his families ideals therefore shaping his outlook on society. 

As Jennings was preparing to go to school he tried to model himself after the image of a successful person, based of television. What he learned from television was that being from the south was not social acceptable. In T.V. whenever someone had a southern accent they were generally depicted as i stupid and illiterate. Very rarely, at the most, was there ever a smart southerner displayed on television. After seeing this Jennings believed that he would not be able to succeed in life if he acted like a southerner. 

Jennings began mimic the television newscasters in order get rid of his southern accent. He did not apply to any southern schools just so he could get as far away from the south as possible and distinguish himself as successful person. Once in school Jennings did not bring his friends home so that they would never know that he was from a family of “worthless ignorant hicks” with inconsiderate values.

Jennings felt ashamed by this family and background. With members in the family belonging to the K.K.K and being extremely racist, prejudice, homophobic, confederates it was understandable for him to not agree with their values. It also did not help that he himself was gay. Therefore he also felt exiled from his home and southern background, because he grew up learning that being gay was wrong.

Many television shows depict southerners in a very negative light. Even today’s television shows southerners, not so much as ignorant hicks but rather as crazy Christians or crazy conservatives. For example MAD TV did a skit about a crazy Christian car sales man who sounds like he is from the south. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J__T2dvaWww. While shows are still making fun of southerners many people are trying to smash stereotypes regarding southerners, http://cornellsun.com/node/21713 

Television shows were not the only cultural artifact that affected Jennings views of social identity. Langston Hughes’ poem “I, Too” had a  considerable impact on Jennings outlook on gays and Americans. This poem helped Jennings realize he could both be a gay and be a successfully as an American. This concept is illustrated by the television hostess Ellen DeGeneres who successfully broke the barrier of homosexuals on television.  

When Jennings first realized he was gay he felt that he would not be able to continue his American Dream if he was gay. Due to the environment that Jennings grew up in he believed that there was no chance of living out the American Dream if he was gay, so in response he attempted to end his own life. After his failed suicide attempt he decided to continue on to Harvard where he met a professor who helped him realize that he should not let his goal of achieving the American Dream control his life because it led him to reject his family, cultural and himself. It was the words in Hughes’ poem that helped Jennings final realize that could demand his freedom as a gay man, which was actually the most American thing to do.