The First Female Commander in Chief

In modern times, television has become a force that penetrates most Americans lives. The emergence of new mediums to watch television such as Netflix or Hulu has only served to increase this penetration. The televisions programs that are viewed regularly, often times  reinforce “hegemonic constructions of women as domestic, soft spoken, and dependent on men for survival.” Some shows that do this are shows such as MTV’s Teen Mom, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Dance Moms, and many others. These shows commit an injustice by reinforcing commonly held stereotypes of women. In my analysis, I used a feminist analysis to look at a show that aired in 2005 titled “Commander in Chief.” Specifically, “Commander in Chief” episode 5 titled “Do No Harm.” In a feminist analysis, it is common to focus on the roles and rules being proposed as normal and abnormal or appropriate and inappropriate for men and women. In this TV series, President Allen (first female President) is faced with her first terrorist encounter. A man is captured with a vehicle full of bombs that were intended for use in terrorist activity directly impacting the United States. President Allen is faced with the decision to allow for torture of the terrorist to retrieve information or to abide by the constitution.  President Allen decides that torture will not be used. This decision incites feelings within her cabinet that the president does not have the strength to do what is necessary. This feeling is conveyed primarily by the episode’s central antagonist Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton. In this episode, the Speaker of the House reinforces a commonly held stereotype that women are incapable of making “hard decisions” and that it takes a man to do this. This can be seen in the episode when Templeton states that if he were in the role he could make the “necessary judgment call” However, this episode serves as an oppositional reading because the president challenges these stereotypes throughout the show. Ultimately, President Allen challenges notions that women are easily susceptible to pressure from others by being stern and unyielding in her support for not straying from the constitution in regard to the central conflict. President Allen serves as a role model to young women by showing that they can break through the “glass ceiling” and achieve positions of power without bending to the will of those around them. This show can be viewed on Hulu and I encourage everyone to watch the series in its entirety.

A neo-Marxist analysis of President Bush’s 2008 financial crisis speech

 

 

The financial crisis of 2008 revealed serious and deep seeded issues in regards to class based inequalities and imbalances of power.Continuing with my theme of presidential speeches during times of tragedies and crises, I chose to conduct a neo-Marxist analysis of former president Bush’s response speech to the 2008 financial crisis. This financial crisis almost crippled the United States. By conducting a neo-Marxist analysis of Bush's speech, I was able to reveal the class based inequality issues and issues regarding imbalances of power. A neo-Marxist perspective helps expose how material conditions and economic practices shape dominate ideology regarding taken-for-granted assumptions about who should, or should not, be empowered. The neo-Marxist perspective focuses mainly on oppression, and empowerment based on materialism and economic practices. A neo-Marxist analysis has a lot to do with hegemony and artifacts as sites of struggle. Hegemony is the privileging of a dominate group’s ideology over that of other groups.  Neo-Marxist critics examine popular culture texts as sites of struggle via preferred or oppositional hegemonic arguments regarding materialism.

 

The word choices Bush uses to describe the cause of this financial crisis in his speech reveal the class based issues mentioned above. He states that a lot of people that were new to credit or had bad credit histories borrowed more money then they should have. Bush classifies these people as borrowers. He barely discusses that they borrowed this money because Congress was not regulating private investors/lenders. Because of this, these lenders/investors were able to practice unethical business practices. They sold high priced mortgages to low income people that could not afford them under false pretenses. This eventually led major investment banks to buy packaged debt from all of the people that could not afford the mortgage payments. This almost collapsed the U.S economy. Bush assigns most of the blame to the borrowers, not the unregulated organizations that practiced unethical business practices. Bush repeatedly uses words and phrases that express his disappointment of the borrowers and how  that their actions have jeopardized the U.S economy. Bush also shames the major investment organizations, but he only does this for a few minutes. This is a perfect example of neo-Marxist principles. As stated. neo-Marxist focus mainly on oppression and empowerment based on materialism and economic practices. The unethical business practices of the investors have managed to oppress many people, as well as seriously hurt the U.S economy. This is also a god example of hegemony within the united states. In this artifact, Bush focuses the majority of the blame on the borrowers. This is privileging the dominate group's ideology over that of other groups. The dominate group in this context are mainly rich and upper-class people. This analysis has revealed that there are in fact class based inequality issues in the United States. The lower-class people ,or borrowers in this context, are oppressed by more affluent individuals. It also shows that there is a serious power imbalance within the United States. A few unregulated private investors almost managed to collapse the United States economy with their unethical business practices.



A Pentadic Analysis on Gun Violence in the media

For this analysis I chose to examine the artifact of the movie, The Boondock Saints. This movie presented a unique interpretation of how guns could be used positively in order to benefit society. The benefit to society that this movie portrayed was protection. The vigilantes in the movie took it upon themselves to bring justice to the criminals of the city through executing them. The vigilantes felt that it was their duty to this because the justice system was corrupt and frequently let the most severe criminals back on the street. In this movie the vigilantes bring justice to many criminals that have committed many crimes, among these crimes, include gun violence related crime. The method for my analysis is a Pentadic analysis. I related particularly the last scene in the movie to Burke's five elements of the Pentad. The five elements of the Pentad include: act, agent, agency, scene. and purpose. After relating the final scene of The Boondock Saints to Burke's five elements of the Pentad I identified the key ratio. The key ratio in this scene was Act-Purpose. The explanation for the act was purpose driven. The act in this scene was justified because the agents purpose was to bring justice to the criminals. and also to inspire the public to speak out about crime and criminals of the city so that they get the justice they deserve. and the people are safe.  This movie presented that guns could be used in a positive way by using it to protect yourself and others. Therefore, we could prevent, or reduce gun violence related crime by using guns positively, for protection against those who choose to use them to cause harm.

Radical Feminist Perspective on LFL

I'm sure many of you have heard of the Super Bowl and have probably also had the pleasure to watch this championship. A few years back, a man from Las Vegas, Nevada decided to make an alternative half time show called Lingerie Football League where women would wear lingerie and play football. This pay per view program was watched by many, but also, as many could assume, was also disgusted by many and was finally cut from television.

Now this league has come back and has spread like a virus to eight other countries.  The players in this league wear less than half the amount of clothes than their male counter-part, the NFL,  These women wear uniforms that show off their breasts by giving them shoulder pads that don't cover their chests.  These women become just eye candy for their viewers and some might find themselves staring at their bodies instead of actually watching what these women actually do on the field.

The film I observed never once mentioned the bodies of the women, but the footage taken and edited together to again show  off these women's bodies.  The LFL is a step back from gender equality and gives these women the roll of entertainers instead of athletes by the outfits they wear.  This, in my opinion, gives us a way to justify the way waitresses and hostesses have to dress up when they work at sports bars and sports centered restaurants like Hooters and The Tilted Kilt.

Feminist Perspective on Depression-Era Advertisements

     Following the Stock Market Crash of 1929, companies were fighting to entice the public to continue buying merchandise. Any form of money was a precious commodity, so people did not want to spend it frivolously. However, every company was attempting to persuade consumers to spend any spare pennies on everyday products. Through print advertisements companies could reach the public in newspapers or magazines, but these advertisements lost their luster in the shadow of the radio. The "Golden Age of Radio" was throughout the 1930's due to the rise in the purchase of cheaper radios, and it was a quick form of communication.  

     For my analysis, I looked at the two, print advertisements (pictured above) from the early 1930's that targeted feminine roles during the Great Depression. At first, I looked at the message portrayed on the surface of each advertisement. The advertisement on the left focused on the Thor Table Ironer providing simplicity (for women) in a household. Below the description of the ironer there is a bold, low price for a weekly rent of the product. A featured low price was essential to have in a print advertisement because it drew people to look at the product and determine whether they could spend their spare money on it. The advertisement on the right was released in 1933, and features a woman stating that her body image determined whether men paid attention to her or not. The product being sold is not the woman, but Ironized Yeast tablets which were sold as dietary supplements. Each advertisement poses an issue with regards to feminist perspective, as well as, offering some positive points to uncover. 

     Feminist perspectives seek to decipher why dominant ideology favors men and masculine perspective over women and feminine perspective. The first advertisement has has strong, patriarchal undertones that are hard not to miss. The man in the advertisement, Santa Clause, is smiling down upon the woman ironing, but almost in a dominating way. Also, he overshadows her in size and dominates the top half of the advertisement. The woman is put at a lower level than the man and is the only one who utilizes the iron. Nonetheless, the advertisement does not directly call out women. The pronoun "you" is utilized in the advertisement to entice men to consider why they might need the iron. The "No More Skinny Girl" advertisement depicts women as objects for men's pleasure according to the radical feminist perspective. Also, this advertisement points out heteronormativity in this era of time. The woman is not speaking about looking good to attract a woman, but looking attractive enough for a man. Granted, during this time there were zero advertisements produced for the general public that promoted any other type of relationship. A positive of this advertisement is that it does promote women being of fuller figure and embracing a natural body type, even though the means to get the body is not so natural. 

     Altogether, these advertisements were very enticing to the public during the Great Depression. From the low prices to the instant results, it was inevitable that these products would sell. Today, I do feel like we can take a couple lessons from these advertisements. Mainly the points having to do with encouraging women to be themselves, whether that means being proud of their bodies or encouraging men to look at "women's jobs" and seeing how they can take part. 

Obesity and Poverty: A Neo-Marxist Analysis

     According to the Center for Disease Control,one-third of U.S. American adults are obese. Over the past thirty years, rates of obesity have doubled for children and quadrupled for adolescents.   In response to the alarming rise of obesity rates , HBO created  The Weight of the Nation.  The aim of the documentary series is to confront the issues (including the public health epidemic caused by obesity)  by critically examining the underlying reasons for the rise. In the installment Poverty and Obesity: When Healthy Food Isn't an Option, filmmakers investigate  the economic inequalities in  low-income areas in connection with obesity rates and the food options available to residents. Because the documentary deals mainly with income inequalities, it is well-suited for a neo- Marxist analysis.
     Neo-Marxist critiques of artifacts allow for examination of economic metaphors within the content. Money and materialism are defining components of  power in our society.  By identifying economic inequalites, viewers are offered a  clear picture of who is empowered and disempowered within our nation. In terms of food, I find this notion fascinating, Everyone has to eat, but what that person is eating has become an indicator of class and socioeconomic status. In many cases, the growing waistline is the scarlet letter of class.
     The Weight of the Nation illustrates these inequalities in blatant ways, constituting it, in neo-Marxist terms, as a subverted oppositional reading. In one illustration, the documentary uses google maps to show the differences in neighborhoods only eight miles apart. In the images of affluent sections, there are large homes, shaded streets, and nice cars parked in the driveways. The people living in these areas have near-by grocery stores and farmers markets.

Eight miles away, the scene is much different. The areas are shanties, marked by boarded up buildings and desolate streets. The only options available in these areas are the occasional corner market or fast food restaurants. This lack of grocery stores creates food deserts- urban areas where affordable, quality fresh food is hard to find. Eight miles may not seem like a far distance, but when you factor in that most residents of these urban areas do not have cars, one can see why a person would settle for the cheap calories offered at convenience stores or fast food. This method of using google maps to juxtaposition class serves to point out the deep economic inequalities regarding food and choice.

       The documentary continues with it's subverted oppositional reading of issues regarding food and class. In another scene, they are interviewing the owner of a small corner market. The market sales mostly convenience foods- chips, candy bars, and sodas. During the interview, the owner tells a poignant story of a small child who came into the store with her mother while he was eating his own lunch behind the counter. The child point at the broccoli on his plate and quizzically asks, "What's that?"
     The choice to use this story in the documentary serves a neo-Marxist purpose by shedding light on the larger economical issue at hand. These cheap foods have a high profit yield and it's how the corporations producing them and the businesses selling them make the most money.  Without exposure to healthy foods, children only use what they eat as their definition. In this case, "food" is the chips, candies, and sodas in the corner market. As a society, we rarely question that the food industry is profiting at the expense of the health of the already disadvantaged poor. From a neo-Marxist perspective, we can better understand that it is due to the accepted hegemony that  'rich' somehow  equates to good and 'poor' equates to bad.
     Viewing  Weight of the Nation: Obesity and Poverty  through a neo-Marxist lens offers heuristic value by helping viewers to understand there are larger economic forces at work that affect our obesity epidemic.   Everyone should have the right to health, not just the wealthy. 
    

Combating ISIS and Terrorism

      Even though this speech differs from what I normally write on, I chose one of President Obama's speeches because of how it relates to 9/11/2001. President Obama gave this speech on September 10th, 2014, even though his message was mostly about ISIS he focused on the lastly impression from 9/11. President Obama explains to us that even though the Twin Towers were destroyed 13 years ago if does not feel like it has been that long. President Obama talks to us and informs us about the destruction that ISIS has accomplished and how we as a nation need to realize that we are still vulnerable as a nation for attack. So it is our duty to be educated and know what is going on so that something does not happen to our great nation like it did 13 years ago.

      President Obama talks from a teleprompter so that he seems to keep eye contact and not be distracted from papers on his pulpit. The President explains that we cannot label countries because of what they have done in the past, but we still need to be aware that they are capable of destruction. We are sending troops to Iraq, along with money and supplies so that the people of Iraq can defend themselves from the ISIS regime. Again he restores our faith that we are prepared if something were to happen like 9/11, but because we are prepared and ready we do not need to worry about it happening again. 

      For my paper I have chosen this topic because even though it talks about ISIS President Obama restores our faith as Americans that we are prepared and ready so another terrorist attack will not destroy our nation. He talks on the lasting effect from 9/11 and how that day will forever live with us as American, but it will not bring us down. From the 9/11 incident we became a stronger nation, one that cannot be broken or hurt, that is why we are sending money and troops to other nations with stereotypes to prove that we are able to defend yet help others. 

Occupy Iraq









             If you have been hiding under a rock this year, one thing you need to know is that the United States is still occupying Iraq. American troops have--for the most part--been withdrawn from Iraq and the United States is using drones (an unmanned aerial vehicle)  in order to target isolated terrorist groups such as ISIL. According to PBS.org, ISIL is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that seeks civil unrest in Iraq and the establishment of a single transnational Islamic state based on Sharia.  (PBS) President Obama revealed his plan for combating ISIL on September 10, 2014, just one day shy of the thirteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. My analysis took a look at the United States' superiority through the looking glass of the neocolonialism method by analyzing the three characters of the speech: the United States, ISIL, and Iraq.

           Neocolonialism stems from the past colonialism, when settlers would take new lands for colonies, set up their culture there, and force their culture on the natives, as was the case with Native Americans in the United States. Today, there is no new land to discover in order to make colonies. Neocolonialism is more subtle than colonialism. Neocolonialism is the use of economical and contemporary ideological strategies in order to allow one culture dominate another. In the case of Obama's speech, neocolonialism would be the United States using economical and contemporary ideological strategies in order to ensure they remain superior to Iraq.

           One of the most interesting points I found while analyzing was a quote Obama gave from one of the civilians United States' troops save from a distant mountain: "We owe our American friends our lives. Our children will always remember that there was someone who felt our struggle and made a long journey to protect innocent people." I argue that Obama's uses this quote in order to depict the United States as the hero with the duty of protecting Iraq. The story refers to Americans as friends, and what do friends do for one another? They have each others' backs. That is what Obama is saying.

My other most interesting find was the ideology that the United States has a duty to spread its culture to the other ends of the world. Obama says, “Abroad, American leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world.” This is a bold statement saying that America is leading the entire world, and in turn, the whole world should follow. To read or hear more of Obama's speech, check it out here.



Mrs. Doubtfire: More than a Disguise

Mrs. Doubtfire was released in 1993 and told the story of Daniel Hillard, an impulsive actor who consistently makes ones poor decision after another. 

After his wife, Miranda, finds him throwing a party for their son after she explicitly stated that he could not have a party. Miranda decides to file for divorce due to the fact that Daniel is a poor disciplinarian. Daniel has a plan to continue to see his children daily by dressing up an elderly woman and applying for a job as their nanny.

I analyzed this paper using Burke’s pentadic cycle. Using this method means I looked at the act, agent, agency, scene, and purpose in order to understand Daniel’s motives. The act of this film was Daniel’s lack of responsibility because this is the overarching reason why Miranda is divorcing him. The agents involved would be Daniel and Mrs. Doubtfire; although they are essentially the same person, Daniel gives Mrs. Doubtfire her own personality and story. Miranda adores Mrs. Doubtfire and finds her to be everything that her and the children need. The agency is the fact that Daniel dresses up as a nanny. Without this disguise, he would not have been able to secure a position as a nanny for his children; this would not have developed the skills to make him a better parent. There is not one particular scene in this film. Many important events happen and different location. However, the most important scenes are the home that him and Miranda once shared, his apartment, and the restaurant. Finally, the purpose is that Daniel does all of this just to be closer to his children.

Now that the elements are identified the motive will be determined using a ratio. Agent/agency is an appropriate ratio for this film because Daniel only becomes a better parent after disguising as a woman. This disguise helped Daniel in a number of ways because he learned how to manage responsibilities and because stabilized by securing a job and renting an apartment. Mrs. Doubtfire tamed Daniel’s inner child and helped him become less impulsive.  In the end, Daniel and Miranda do not get back together but are able to recognize Daniel’s progress and he is reunited with his children.  

Meg the Lesbian

Family Guy is one of the most popular adult cartoons on the air. For my analysis I chose to watch Season 4, Episode 19 of this series. This specific episode focuses on Meg, the daughter of Louis and Peter, pretending to be a lesbian in order to fit in at school. This episode allowed me to use the Burkean Pentad in order to form my analysis. The Pentad consists of 6 parts: Act, Agent, Agency, Scene, Purpose, and Key ratio. 

The agent in this episode is Meg. This is shown when she is partnered with the “pretty/popular” girl in class. The act is she is making herself gay and is “coming out of the closet” to her family. This occurs at the lesbian allegiance club, where Meg pronounces herself as a “super, huge, mega-lesbian”. The agency is that to make herself believe she was gay and to appear gay she cuts her hair, starts dressing “butchy”, looks at penthouse magazines, and kisses her female classmate. The Scene is that Meg is in high school in a heteronormative society. The purpose is that Meg wants to belong and find friend along with popularity.

The most important key ratio in this specific episode is purpose-act. The purpose drives the acts. This episode is where Meg, who traditionally is called a boy and is unpopular, is given the chance to be popular by being paired with the most popular girl in school. This girl asks Meg to be a part of her club, and mindlessly Meg accepts without finding out what this club entailed. After finding out that the club was the lesbian alliance Meg decides that becoming popular and belonging was more important that being who she really is. Therefore, when she realizes that in order to be popular she need membership in this club she began to pronounce that she was in fact gay to this group of lesbians. However, she did not stop there, her purpose completely influenced her acts. Meg wants to be popular, therefore she acts like a lesbian. Meg’s pushes the limits by even “coming out” to her family at dinner. She performs “rule-breaking” behaviors for the purpose of becoming popular. If becoming popular did not require her to be gay, Meg would not have come out to her family or the club at school. However, the importance that she put on being popular actually caused her acts.

This show is widely seen across America by adults, teens, and even some children. Although I would not recommend that a child watches this show, it does happen. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) issues are very prevalent in our society and were just as prevalent when this show aired. One of the potential implications is that those who may be in a transition of becoming gay may see this over glorified view of gay groups in high school. It is not likely that you will become popular by being gay. Also, seeing a woman change herself to become popular can have a negative effect on young women, due to the fact that this is an issue in our society already. False-sense of self is a prevalent issue and this show pokes fun at that.

Everybody Hates Minimum Wage

“Everybody Hates Minimum Wage.” Some may believe workers deserve more than the current $7.25 an hour, or others believe that minimum wage is an outdated policy that needs to be thrown out altogether. “Everybody Hates Minimum Wage” is an episode of the television show “Everybody Hates Chris.” In the beginning, this episode appears to be about fighting for fair wages, but in the end it reinforces the idea that fair wages lead to bad jobs.

You can watch the full episode here!

The characters themselves stand for what they believe in. The only character that seems to change beliefs during the episode is Chris. When he reads about minimum wage in the paper, he believes he should be paid better as a matter of principal. He has a good argument, he works hard and is always on time, but he is told no. So he quits (also as a matter of principal). At first he is very confident in his decision. This would lead the viewer to believe that the message of the the episode would be that honest work deserves fair wages. If that is the message you are hoping to see, you will be very disappointed by the end of the episode.

After things begin to go wrong for Chris, other characters suddenly seem to pop up with the message that value is not only measured in money. Chris’s father and James both give Chris the idea that he made the wrong decision. Both characters embody the idea that the conditions of your employment and the benefits may outweigh the importance of pay. By now it is clear that the message is that accepting a lower wage for better working conditions is preferable. By the end of the episode, Chris has been converted to this way of thinking. He goes back to Doc’s for the same pay.
The episode places power in the hands of the employers. Even though there is a federal minimum wage, Doc refuses to pay Chris any more than he is already. This power is also held by the owner of Hoo’s restaurant. This privilege held only by the economically dominant group is called hegemony. Hegemony is assisted by the media, meaning that those who control it are usually from the privileged group and therefore can influence the ideas of those they dominate. When the media attempts to suggest what is and is not normal about this empowerment, it becomes a site of struggle.

These sites can influence the characters to believe that they are exactly where they should be and that their boss is paying them a fair wage, even if it does not meet the minimum wage requirement. This may be the reason that Chris’s dad and James believe that Chris is standing by the wrong principal.

As previously stated, this episode is about a character coming to realize that “there are more important things about a job than its wages”.  Could this not be a message from those who dominate our society? A message that aims to keep the poor in their place by reinforcing their position beneath their employers.
Overall this episode presents many interesting arguments both for and against minimum wage. It is important to be informed and to be able to decipher the messages we are subjected to when we consume media. No matter which side of the minimum wage debate you are on, it is clear that we are all influenced by the television shows we watch.