Social Theory - Blog Posts
The racial aspects of Sci Fi, Fantasy and other forms media
NO. 1
One of the blog posts I have written before was titled ‘Mean World Syndrome’, which talked about how race and media affects everyone on a global scale. Racial aspects of sci-fi, fantasy, and other forms of media have long been a source of controversy. From the stereotypes of aliens in Star Trek to the whitewashing of characters in movies like Avatar, Prince of Persia, etc. these issues have been a major source of discussion in the media landscape. In many cases, racial stereotypes have been used to create a sense of ‘otherness’ for the characters of color in order to reinforce a sense of white superiority. This has led to criticism from fans, activists, and academics who have called for more representation of people of color in sci-fi, fantasy, and other forms of media.
NO. 2
In the entertainment business, inclusivity is hard to come by, and in some cases, the representation of characters of color in these genres is inadequate and often offensive. Characters of color are often relegated to the sidelines and made to serve as the backdrop to white characters’ stories, or they are depicted as tokens and stereotypes. This lack of meaningful representation has led to a push for more diverse casts in sci-fi, fantasy, and other forms of media. ‘‘Like many social sciences, international/intercultural/interethnic communication and media studies are primarily an Anglo-American media images have always been critically dissected, often by scholars with some kind of privileged tie to other cultures—Most makers of these blockbusters are mostly white males with English as their mother tongue, mutli-millionaires or aspiring to become one as soon as possible. They usually internalize a mid-Atlantic view of global history and geography, its central myths and legends. So many blockbusters remain ethnocentric, even today—they tend to make non-Westerners look at the world through Western eyes.’’
NO.3
In addition to representation in the stories themselves, the casting of actors to bring these characters to life has been another source of debate. Many actors of color have argued that they are often typecast into roles that are stereotypical or that do not reflect the true diversity of the world. Films or TV shows with fantasy/sci-fi themes on Netflix, like Chambers or Raising Dion are not being properly advertised because, like Inclusive Advertising: What’s Holding the Industry Back? claims, ‘‘The industry itself is not diverse: The advertising industry — across the ecosystem and at all levels — is not representative, which is itself a barrier to creating representative and inclusive content. Only 19% of in-house and 23% of agency survey respondents reported that their leader almost always considers the demographic diversity of their team when developing content. That, and individuals (in these marketing companies) lack awareness of and access to the knowledge, skills, resources, and tools to create representative and inclusive content. Individuals are confident in their ability to create representative and inclusive content, but only if provided with adequate tools and resources.’’
NO. 4
Of course, there will always be people who dislike seeing a more diverse setting, especially against the established order of Western ‘‘whiteness’’ ideologies. Ultimately, the best way to ensure diversity in these genres is to continue to create stories that feature diverse characters and cultures. If authors, producers, and casting directors make a conscious effort to create more imaginative stories that are inclusive and reflective of the real world, then audiences will be able to experience a more authentic and meaningful experience.
The Study of Creation Stories
In every culture on Earth, people make up creation origins. I say origins because I am aware that many people still believe in their individual God, OR gods, and therefore, in their own creation origins. The purpose of these stories is is to reassure us, humans, that we are not alone, that we were created to have some purpose, and that there was a reason we are alive here today. Creation myths exist because every culture has one, and that is to say that some individuals created us for a reason. Creation myths can influence how the history of the world or society is viewed by the type of story the creation myth has originated from, based on how the society is living.
NO. 2
Some of the similarities among these creation myths are that in the beginning, the world is dark, but some deity or animal comes and sets the world with light and color. The deity sets to work and makes the world with animals, man, mountains, rivers, etc. In the Aboriginal Creation Origin, an endless tall pole is coming out from the ground and emerges from the land in the time before time. At the end of the pole, Ka-ro-ra, the Creator God was the one who was sleeping at the end of the pole. Ka-ro-ra produces sons by dreaming of them, searching for fruit. The Greeks made it so that the Earth was a battleground, devoid of life from the early battle of the gods, until the titan Prometheus created humans out of clay, modeling them in the shape of the gods. Except that leads to the horrible end for him, when he asked the king, Zeus for fire. As most people know, Prometheus was chained to a rock with an eagle to pick out of his liver for all eternity for stealing fire to give to the humans.
NO. 3
Creation stories are entertaining to hear, regardless if you believe them or not. Before modern technology, people only had their imagination and word of mouth to get them through the day. That’s why archeologists deduced early humans’ cave drawings and stories as ways that show that they were there, that they should be remembered and celebrated. Each creation's origin story is designed with each society's culture and views in mind. In the Inca myth, it mentions planting and plowing fields, which is what the men do, and the art of weaving and cooking, which is what the women do. Each person comes together, pro-creates, and teaches this to their children, and the cycle repeats.
The Birth of Unions through the Black Gaze
NO. 1
During the 1940s, the past three decades beforehand for Black Americans have been life-changing: The Harlem Renaissance in the 20s, the Great Depression in the 30s, and then the inauguration of President FDR, who would eventually lead America into WWII, at the beginning of the 40s. Then came the Great Depression, and with it, economic downfall and loss. It devasted the economy, and millions in the country could not find jobs, nor could they keep it. Black Americans suffered harsher during this time since they couldn’t make ends meet; even those who still had jobs, labored in unskilled and service fields, regardless of their actual skills. And whether from the South or the North, these economic pressures made a significant decline in incomes to a third of what they had been in before the Depression.
NO. 2
‘’Wages had fallen to roughly 60 percent of their pre-Depression level. Declining demand followed the decline in earnings, speeding the downward spiral. The economic crisis affected everyone, black and white, rural and urban, skilled and unskilled. The federal government in 1930 estimated that 17 percent of the white population and 38 percent of the black population could not support themselves without assistance. White men took jobs held by black men, and white women took jobs held by black women, while privileged black folk who were financially stable toward their businesses and homes, lost them.’’ To Ask for an Equal Chance, Greenburg, pg.1-3
NO. 3
The ideas of President F.D.R helped, called New Deal programs increased the number of public jobs. Because these new agencies had nondiscrimination provisions, black workers at all levels of skill had a better chance to obtain these jobs than those in private sectors where racial discrimination remained. And even though black workers still worked in the same menial jobs they found in private employment, many government programs—particularly in northern and western cities—also hired black skilled, clerical, and professional workers, like black social workers, nurses, teachers, office managers, architects, engineers, and administrations, which they all benefited, and had a tremendous impact on black employment. And for the first time, 1932 Section 7A of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) guaranteed workers the right to organize unions, but when the Supreme Court declared it was ‘unconstitutional’, Congress passed the Wagner National Labor Relations Act, which extended 7A’s scope.
NO. 4
Industrial union organizers sought to engage all possible workers in the struggle for union recognition; when racist whites excluded black workers, organizers pointed out that employers hired the latter as strike bearers (scabs). Only by offering union membership to all, regardless of race, could unskilled and industrial unions succeed. Therefore, unions or their leaderships sought to actively recruit African American workers alongside whites. Among these workers? Socialists and Communists. Drawn to this movement, believing that the working class was the victim of an exploitative capitalist system, which the Depression made their arguments even more convincing. Only unity among all workers could overthrow the tyranny of their bosses, the parties insisted, and bring about economic change. They considered racism a tool the wealthy used to divide the workers and dilute their power, which drew in black Americans, welcoming them in through politics and the realities of organizing unskilled workers.
NO. 5
Some unions had already begun organizing around the principles that interracial unions advanced the interests of all workers, something the elite, racists like the Southern Klans and the police were fearful of. Black and white built the United Mineworkers Union, which from its inception in 1890. Since James Ford, a black Communist leader argued that union benefited and helped desperately, and unemployed black Americans, while including them improved the chance for successful organizing, and to better achieve their goals. Ford writes, ‘‘the organization of the people’s immediate needs, better wages, unemployment, and social insurance, better wages, civil and economic, and equal rights, the Communist Party worked on a Popular Front strategy of working with liberal groups when doing so advance its common goals. Therefore, Communists embraced all progressive union activists as coalition partners.’’
NO. 6
Unfortunately, the elite, wealthy, and racists in any work, but especially the police, disliked integration. Police beat, arrested, and even on occasion shot protesters and organizers, often assisted by other angry whites. The Georgia Klan, unhappy at the advancement of black textile workers as a result of a union drive, responded with a violent anti-CIO campaign in 1939, convinced that the communist agitators they were convinced, interpreting the Communists interracial union organizing as a Soviet plot to destroy the United States by undermining traditional race relations and stirring up otherwise ‘contented black Americans to demand equality they did not deserve and even worse—sought to bring down the white race by granting black men readily access to white women. Such rhetoric was used to preserve the economic advantages for white-middle and upper, and middle-class brought anti-union violence to disastrous new heights and bringing an end to what would have been the beginning of economic equity to all.
Conspiracies: Anthropology lenses
Discovering the dreaded conspiracy theory through an anthropological lens, these notes basically ask the question of where and how people created theories based on their mistrust of systemic agencies, or unexplainable events.
Mass Media and Society
How does mass media affect our society? Is entertainment what drives our society moving forward, and if it is, what type of entertainment are we really pushing out there? These notes discuss how media relates and corresponds pre-existing themes, like ageism, racism, sexism, and the term ‘other-ism’ and explains the origin of the ‘mean world syndrome’ from a sociologist’s point of view.