.jpg)
Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:
In The Sex Issue of The Words Beats and Life Journal (which you can buy here, I am on the journal staff), graphic artist and professor John Jennings says a few things about how images are used to normalize domination.
I read it in July, but its been on my mind ever since.
The first is that:
The Black body has historically been consumed by the masses in one way or another. The slave body was reduced to the slave masters whim…This practice hasn't really changed. When you can control how people are viewed–and objectify them, to a certain extent, you can control them.
The second is that:
The practice of dehumanizing the individual in order to sell products has a long history — one that naturally extends to hip hop culture. However, when you couple that practice with the history of slavery in America's development, it re-contextualizes this process even more and depictions of our bodies become materialized.
This reminds me of something that Professor Michelle Wallace says in the article An Interview:
I mean in other words, the more images are thrown at you, the less you're able to distinguish between them and filter them, make informed decisions about what you like and don't like. I guess the more you're bombarded with these images, he more passive you become. Images have histories and narratives of their own. The way not to be totally seduced by them is to keep that in mind.
People who analyze visual culture can help us make sense of the world, especially as our lives move online AND as video comes to dominate "the word."
Some of ya'll think I be putting 10 on 2 when I write about pop culture, Kanye, rappers, and the significance of images etc. But guess what?
You control how a people LOOK, you can dominate them. #yup.
Images ain't neutral.
Thoughts?
Am I wrong for "Nigger" soap? 0.O
No related posts.
Things you can do from here:
- Subscribe to New Model Minority using Google Reader
- Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites
No comments:
Post a Comment