bell hook- Defining Social Identity
Listening to bell hook dissect the media’s role,
especially Hollywood, in recreating racial stereotype identity was quite
fascinating and heart wrenching. Director Wayne Wang’s depiction of a black
character as a thief in a movie that didn’t have racial identification in its
original script was just disturbing. Concocting a flimsy excuse for casting a
black actor in an unacceptable role that demonizes a group of people, simply
because the director believed it would make the movie more profitable,
marketable, and stimulating was just ridiculous.
The points I’m wrestling with in the conversation
are the idea of nobody wanting to lay claim to the white supremacy method of
perpetuating itself in power, and the refusal of university students to accept
that someone is consciously creating a bias or misguided representation of
their race. It seems like the media has a constant control of our imagination
that is far from reality. The very fact that media experts are consciously and
knowingly producing images they expect would produce certain impact they desire
is troubling.
The notion of white supremacist capitalist which is
embedded in racism, gender, colonization, decolonization, and whiteness is a
challenging concept to understand. However, Ms. hook’s explanation for the
coining of the terms white supremacist and capitalist are self-explanatory. She
believes that the term racism keeps white people at the center of discussion.
On the other hand, white supremacy evokes a political world that we all frame
in relationship to. Finally, she argues that the ideology of white supremacy
allows the collusion of black people with the forces of racism.
The idea that Mass media is cunningly reversing the
gains of the feminist movement just as it did at the close of the Second World
War: removing women from the factories back to the homes is really
interesting. It also fascinating to note
that in the present time the media is still employing the same method to lure
women with the quest to cast them in white supremacist capitalist patriarchal
roles.
Additionally I think the way the media manipulates
information and present fallacies as reality is quite illuminating. How it
creates external identities that influence our self-esteem in fashion and other
facets of our daily existence cannot be underestimated. The reason why it’s
relevant to define the external factors that influence our identity is
evaluating their effects upon our lives. Are they just some social constructs
that could be eliminated without any adverse consequences? Or are they very
influential in our lives that we can’t do without them shading dark shadows on
our identity?
Frankly speaking, since my arrival in America my
identity has been intersected with white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. I
have been instructed by bosses on the job to be mean to subordinates in order
to be respected, and I have also been warned to be very assertive as a means of
perpetuating power. Even though I don’t like football because of the violence,
I’m forced to pretend that I am a fan for acceptance of my male American
counterparts at work.
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