Alisha Starbird
English 110 Sec. U  
Professor Owens
                                                         Hiding Behind a Computer Screen

   Malcolm Gladwell, staff writer for the New Yorker, composed an essay titled "Small Change" in which he discusses the ties that bind society, both "strong ties" and "weak ties." Gladwell takes a look at the power invested in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and compares them to the traditional social networks of the 1960s. He believes that the number of "friends" one may have online does not compare to the quality and success rate of actual human-to-human interactions in the real world.
   What bothers Gladwell the most about modern-day technology and the interactions involved is the fact that individuals are able to get acknowledged and praised without getting off the couch. One can simply sit behind a computer screen and manage to make the world surrounding them believe that they are a great person. An individual is easily able to post pictures, videos, pass on articles, etc. to their "friends" under the impression that they are doing an amazing, world changing thing. Demonstrating this type of "activism" takes very little time, effort, and commitment, thus it is considered to be low-risk activism. Considering the small amount of participation necessary to become active in the social networking, many people hop on the bandwagon and support whatever cause is popular at that point in time. Internet sites such as Facebook succeed in activism by motivating users to do the things that people are willing to do when they are not motivated enough to make a legit sacrifice.
   Another aspect of modern-day social networking that bothers Gladwell is the networking itself. The networks made online do not have a single central authority. Decisions are made by the entire group and the connections included in the group are loose and weak. There is no leadership or structure involved, thus leading to conflict and error. Unlike online activism, real life activism is usually high-risk and has no room for conflict and error. Boycotts and sit-ins were used frequently during he civil-rights movement. They required leadership, strategies, large followings, and execution. Although they were high-risk, they were extremely effective. Social media may make it easier for activists to express themselves but it makes it more difficult for the expressions to have any impact on the issue at hand.
   Dana Boyd, author of "White Flight," expresses the significance that politics and culture has on social media. Unlike Gladwell, Boyd has an understanding and acceptance for social media and expands to further discuss how it emulates the real-time-world-environments. After years of research, Boyd creates numerous hypothesis as to why specific groups of teenagers and adults migrated from Myspace to Facebook. The theory that Boyd configures that speaks to me the most in the idea of the Digital ghetto.
   Myspace was the original "hot" social media site to go to, connecting people with bands and other strangers. It allowed people to personalize their profile with flashy backgrounds and a variety of music. This was popular with the young crowd until Facebook came about. Facebook has a metaphor of the suburb because it has a higher-class outlook to it. This outlook originated because it was strictly for Harvard students only. Eventually it allowed other top tier colleges access and finally, in 2006, the rest of the world. Myspace, now the digital ghetto, had adamant users that came from the less-privileged, lower-class individuals. These people usually were of the black or latino race and did not attend these top-tier colleges that originally were allowed usage of Facebook. When Facebook became public, friends and family members of these elite college kids followed and also became Facebook users, thus moving into the suburb. Others joined the networking site because it was the latest thing and the new "fad." These types of individuals were mostly upper-class, usually white or asian. With these people came their friends who were sometimes of the same race and ethnicity. While friends of friends of friends continued to follow each other to the Facebook suburb, Myspace became almost deserted. The less-privileged individuals were left in a dirty, unrepeatable ghetto with wild street gangs otherwise known as spam.
   The comparison and transfer between Myspace and Facebook illiterates how race and class influence both social media and real-world environments. Individuals of similar race and ethnicity self-segregate and create this separation in every aspect of interaction. Both Gladwell and Boyd discuss in their essays how social media accurately depicts how individuals act in real life. People will only put themselves in high-risk situations if it benefits them, otherwise they may put little time and effort in. This shows via social media because individuals are easily able to support a cause with a touch of a couple buttons and in return they receive praise. Also depicted on social media is the segregation of individuals based on race, ethnicity, and socio-economics.
 

Alisha Starbird

ENG 110 SECTION U

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 

PROF. RICHARD OWENS

                                                             A New Race Shines

 

     Leslie Savan, a former columnist for the Village Voice, writes "What's Black, Then White, and Said All Over?" to discuss "Black language" and mainstream media. "Pop talk" is language deriving from African Americans but may not be expressed as "Black English" or "Black dialect" because those terms suggest that all Blacks speak this one type of English. The accepted and correct term is considered to be "spoken soul," a term used to describe the unique actions, styles, and dialect that African Americans created. 

    Times have changed since the late 1800's and early 1900's- for years, the white society mocked black talk. The only acceptable people to use black language were white men in blackface in front of large audiences, often insulting and imitating the language. Back then, black language was viewed as improper and seemed to make one sound uneducated. Besides African Americans, white males also spoke the black language. It was the males rather than the females to speak the language because males seemed to associate "standard speech" with femininity. Males were more worried about being masculine than obtaining social status. 

    Years when by and the black language boomed, taking over mainstream music, fashion, and music. It was finally "cool" to have the hip-hop lifestyle; unfortunately, no matter how much time and effort they put in, white individuals could never become black.

Alisha Starbird
English 110-U
9/11/14

Arwa Aburawa’s Strong Thesis

As I re-read the article “Veiled Threat: The Guerrilla Graffiti of Princess Hijab” by Arwa Aburawa, I payed particular attention to the last sentence in the introduction paragraph in hopes that there would be a perfectly constructed thesis. This is what I read, “If her claim of being a 21-year-old Muslim girl was partially true, some wondered what the real message was behind her self-described ‘artistic jihad.’” If my judgement is true and this is in-fact Aburawa’s intended thesis, then I believe that she did a good job supporting it throughout the article. She writes mostly about the work that Princess hijab displays along with her motives and intentions behind it. Aburawa makes it clear to the reader that Princess Hijab does not paint headscarves on advertisements in a religious context, but rather as a symbolic act of resistance. The thesis somewhat gives the reader a “heads-up” about Princess Hijab’s art and that there is more to it than just the Muslim religion.

A Media Takeover

Race, gender, religion, ethnicity- these are all qualities that people should be proud of. One should be confident in his/her background and beliefs, not caring what others think. Unfortunately, today's media has the power to brainwash millions and millions of people into believing that they're not good enough. You can't be a CEO of a company because you're a woman, you must be a real idiot because you drive a tractor, and you, you must lose thirty pounds because we can't see your collar bones very well. Living in American, we cannot escape the stereotypes and dehumanizing graphics; they're everywhere! You see them while driving your car down to the TD Bank Garden, in that People Magazine in the barber's waiting room, and on commercials during your favorite episode of House. According to mainstream media, no matter how "good" you are, you'll never be "good" enough.

Arwa Aburawa is a freelance journalist and blogger who writes about the connections between feminism, culter, and Islam. Aburawa Bitch magazine entry "Veiled Threat" addresses the left-wing critique of capitalism's objectification of women. 
According to dictionary.com, objectification is a verb (used with object), objectified, objectifying.

1.

to present as an object, especially of sight, touch, or other physical sense; make objective; externalize.

In 2004, France's former President Jacques Chirac passed a bill banning "religious symbols in schools. Following this bill, President Nicolas Sarkozy banned burqas and headscarves in public areas as a response to the belief that they are signs of subjugation. 

noun

1.

the act, fact, or process of bringing under control;enslavement:

So at this point we ask ourselves, "why were people mad at the French if they were sticking up for women?" Well the answer comes from a street artist in Paris, Princess Hijab: it is a symbolic act of resistance meant to reassert a physical and mental integrity against visual terrorism of advertising. She believes that publicists and advertisers have "changed" culture. The goal for her art is to convert the context of the headscarves to a symbol of empowerment and re-embodiment. 

Tyra Banks, queen bee in the contradictory and hypocritical world, dehumanizes others in hopes to "up" her ratings for America's Next Top Model. Jennifer Pozner, founder and executive director of Women in Media and News, discusses how on TV, Tyra makes herself out to be this wonderful ethnic woman, who advocates for self-worth and self-esteem for all women. It is behind the cameras and off set that Tyra shows her true colors. As the creator and producer of a popular reality television show, Tyra worries about her ratings. To soothe these worries, she has to have an extremely entertaining cast that pulls viewers in. In order for this to happen, a lot of framing and editing must take place. By means of framing and editing, Tyra and her crew are able to create any personality that they so desire for a specific individual. Videos may be added, important background information may be left out, and outfits may be required so that a stereotype and character may be fulfilled. At one point in her career, Tyra actually made a black model get down on all fours inside of a cage and pose for the camera. If that's not dehumanizing than I don't know what is!

verb (used with object), dehumanized, dehumanizing.

1.

to deprive of human qualities or attributes; divest of individuality