Scottish Gaelic A Dying Language

Scottish Gaelic

Silence As Vlience

 

  White people have the most amount of resources allocated to them. Historically white voices have silenced black voices and the voices that are suffering are not heard. This continues today with the rise of color blindness. The idea that white people do not see color, as the silence is not talking about race. Although, this seems easier as race can be a complicated topic to navigate and there is anxiety in saying something wrong. However, not seeing race contradicts the very reason why we have to acknowledge race because it has socially constructed how we go about life. White people have the privilege of staying silent because they do not actively feel the repercussions of long lasting and current racist systems or institutions. 

As important as it is to use white voices to talk about the problems that plague marginalized voices. However, it is important for white people to use their voice in a way that is not overshadowing marginalized voices. White people have the tendency to talk over people when it is not their place to talk, so there can be importance in silence but also harm.

Disclosure

 

The Codes of Gender

“Advertising takes what already exists and by concentrating it and privileging it in the culture (and ignoring other things) it creates new meanings of gender.” (The Codes of Gender: Identity and Performance in Pop Culture by Sut Jhally)

Social Constructions of Gender

The codes of gender as a film examines the differences between sex and gender. Sex a biological attribute that assigns female or male when we are born. Gender on the other hand is a social, cultural phenomenon and gender identity is largely tied to what culture you were born into. Although, western European cultures have been only two sex/two gender however it is shown to be a cultural phenomon since countries such as India have more than two offical sexes. 

Furthermore, the film analyzes how historically and now how
advertisements reproduce the codes of gender by subtly that we would view as normal. The differences in how women's hands are shown in an advertisement either caressing an object or the object simply existing in their hands. The light touch of women's hands are to code the audience into normalizing the soft touch of a woman, and the inherently defenselessness, submissness. Whereas, when men hold products it is with a strong, assertive grasp the illuminates the power of masculinity. Foucault would view the sense of power advertisements have on the general soceity as it normalizes gender codes and establishes power hierarchies of men and women or producer and consumer. Within the poses of everyday media and advertisements the There is power within knowing where subtle gender codes persist in media. From the small ways in which women are posed laying down, dazed, loss of control of emotions, and the self embracing touch that is reproduced in almost every picture continues to normalize how society views women and femininity. 

Women are gaining more and more agency and have been seen in powerful roles in society. However, even within these powerful roles there are still hints of gender roles that persist. Female superheros almost always have skimpy outfits compared to the male supers, and are still sexualized to a high degree. Such as Harley Quinn in the Suicide Squad series. There is always sexualization that happens to women characters. I would say that women now have agency to take back their sexuality and not dress or pose for the male gaze. With societal changes there are more and more people who read authors like Foucault and break away from commercial realism to question the inherent "normalness" of advertisements or media.

https://observer.case.edu/johnson-the-problem-with-female-superheroes/

Language and Power

My Relantionship to Language:

Hi all! My name is Jenna Dietl and welcome to my blog. I am a senior at Webster University and I major in International Human rights with a minor in Cultural Anthropology and a certificate in Japanese language. I have been passionate about seeing the world and culture since high school. In my free time I like to read, nap, and play with my cat Hazel! 

How do Language and Power Intersect?:

While attending Webster I had the opportunity to go on a faculty led study abroad trip to Costa Rica during fall break of 2019. I struggled in the first few days as I am not fluent in Spanish and felt powerless. However, I had to overcome my anxiety and realize that people experience that same feeling not knowing English every day in the United States. Language can bring people together but also has been a way of othering people. In the United States the government has a long history of eliminating Native American languages and forcing children to only speak English. Currently, conservative American society has outcasted Spanish speakers so much that some individuals have stopped teaching their children Spanish. 

What Would Foucault Say?:

Overall, Foucault would say the erasure of languages in the United States is the cause of normalizing power. In schools there are no history, science, literature, etc classes taught in school. On television ads there are little to none in Spanish or other languages. The power behind language reveals power and the power regarding the United States is rooted in white supremacy and using the English language is one of their strongest tools. 

https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.21-22/indigenous-affairs-the-u-s-has-spent-more-money-erasing-native-languages-than-saving-them

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/how-u-s-taught-me-spanish-was-shameful-ncna986746

https://natalia-cardona.medium.com/the-fabrication-of-the-latino-identity-and-the-erasure-of-race-a18e2d485329