Homework answers / question archive / Potential topics - Blackfishing - Could this be related to color blindness? Do people who participate in black fishing realize what they are doing? - Appropriation - is it admiring or not - Dehumanization of Black female artists - Pitting against each other ? Research: ? https://aquila

Potential topics - Blackfishing - Could this be related to color blindness? Do people who participate in black fishing realize what they are doing? - Appropriation - is it admiring or not - Dehumanization of Black female artists - Pitting against each other ? Research: ? https://aquila

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Potential topics - Blackfishing - Could this be related to color blindness? Do people who participate in black fishing realize what they are doing? - Appropriation - is it admiring or not - Dehumanization of Black female artists - Pitting against each other ? Research: ? https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/707/ (Ariana grande blackfishing/cultural appropriation ? https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0891241606286997 (cultural appropriation among white teens with hip hop/rap music) ? https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-59519-001 (study on cultural appropriation) ? https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cultural-appropriation-5070458 ? https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/black-creators-on-tiktok-deman ding-proper-dance-credits ? https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/03/10395976/addison-rae-jimmy-fallon-ti ktok-credit-black-choreographers-backlash Script 1. Intro: Hi, this is Elliot. I’m Tingxiao, and I’m Shikha. a. Elliot: Today we’re going to be talking about a form of privilege that exists in the media and entertainment world. b. Tingxiao: We’re going to talk about cultural appropriation and the dehumanization of Black women in the media, and how these topics are interconnected and teach us a very important lesson about privilege. 2. Shikha: To start off, it’s helpful to define these terms to really understand where and how they’re connected. Cultural appropriation “refers to the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that doesn't respect their original meaning, give credit to their source, or reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression.”. In terms of crediting sources, this is an issue that resurfaces time and time again especially on social media apps. One of the big ones right now is TikTok. A lot of the viral dances on TikTok are choreographed by Black creators, but they’re rarely given credit for their work. In my opinion, this is a form of cultural appropriation. It doesn’t always have to involve appropriating hairstyles—cultural appropriation can occur on other levels too, which might be less noticeable or more difficult to label as cultural appropriation. ? Elliot: Yes, I totally agree with you on this. On Tik Tok I have seen videos that talk about making sure to like and interact with any Black creators you come across because it will boost them in the algorithm. People have felt that Tik Tok has decreased Black creators' interaction with viewers on Tik Tok so less people will see their content. I have also heard of Tik Tok shadow banning them when they speak on matters of police brutality because its (quote) “too radical”. 3. Shikha: TikTok and its dances heavily rely on Black American culture, so when Black creators aren’t credited for their work and when white and non Black POC are remaking Black creators’ content without crediting them, they’re appropriating and reproducing the work in an inauthentic way. Moreover, they’re capitalizing off of Black creators’ content and receiving not only social recognition but sometimes even monetary compensation. This makes it so that white creators like Addison Rae make it to the top and gain fame, success, and wealth—leaving the Black creators who came up with the original content unknown by the media and entertainment industry. In terms of privilege, it’s very clear here that the white privilege of those creators leads them to fame and success on apps like TikTok. When they remake the same work that Black people have been making for longer and the work that is often engrained in Black culture for years, white people get away with reaping the benefits and profiting off of Black people’s works. 4. Tingxiao: Netflix has been accused of targeting black users with posters that replace white leads with secondary black cast members. Also, years before, Netflix began personalizing artwork based on viewing habits, but many users took issue with the idea of targeting subscribers by race. I mean, how can a website for watching movies be doing this for their members. We are not fools. We are not blind. We could see the contents besides the movies on the website. Black people have the right to watch everything on Netflix right? Therefore why are they targeted to watch the contents of “race”? Also, personal information can’t be collected on the website. I believe we go to the website for entertainment and for watching things we like. Once we know we are targeted for race thing, we get upset. I know it is kind of the dark side of marketing. Marketing should also not include race stereotypes in it. What they want black people to watch is not what black people really want to watch. For Netflix, Instagram, all the social media and entertainment websites, they can’t target anyone for race reasons to recommend what they should watch. It is so weird that black people should watch what “black people should watch”right? Stop doing it please. Target your members using their view history for recommending the things they like. Not to recommend the things you want them to see. It sucks! Don’t try to steal your customers’ interests instead of race contents especially for black people. Stop it! 5. Elliot: maybe talk about music artists + black fishing in the music industry? ? Blackfishing in the music industry is extremely common. There have been numerous female artists in hip hop and rap genres who appropriate Black culture through their fashion and their music. ? Ariana Grande is the most scrutinized for this behavior in the music industry. She tans herself, speaks with a “blaccent”, and wears big hoops to mimic her perception of Black culture. ? In her song ‘7 Rings’ she blatantly copies the rhythm “I want it, I got it, I want it, I got it” from Princess Nokia who in turn actually copied it from Kali Uchis but that's another conversation for another podcast. ? Shikha: I had no idea these lyrics came from Princess Nokia and Kali Uchis! It’s like a whole cycle of cultural appropriation in a way. I think it’s also important to acknowledge that artists of color are also problematic for taking credits for other artists’ work—it’s not always white people, though it’s definitely mostly white people. ? Elliot: ? More artists such as Soulja Boy and 2 Chainz spoke up that she stole their flows and ideas for the music video. ? The implications of this song are quite impactful because Grande fails to understand that her talking about her hair “I want it, I bought it” ignores the struggles Nokia expresses about the oppression she and other Black and Brown women face with their hair/appearances ? Grande is profiting off Black culture with these behaviors and fails to acknowledge and credit Black artists for their contributions ? Iggy Azalea is another white rapper who has been known for blackfishing and appropriating Black culture ? Every time she has been called out for cultural appropriation of Black culture she dismisses it by saying this is “her sound” and she will continue to be “larger than life” ? Azealia Banks commented on Iggy saying that “Iggy’s shit isnt better than any fucking Black girl that’s rapping today” ? Most genres in the music industry have been founded and created by Black artists throughout history but they have always been silenced or given little recognition for paving the way for new sounds. 6. Shikha: Going off of what Elliot discussed about Black fishing, this form of cultural appropriation leads us to our next topic of the dehumanization of Black women in the media, particularly the music industry. One of the first thing’s that comes to mind is how it’s always the people in your own community that are quick to speak badly of the women of a given community, culture, or ethnic group. For instance, this is true in my South Asian community—South Asian men are notorious for poking fun at South Asian women, their looks, and so much more. A lot of this occurs on social media, and that rhetoric is reinforced in the Black community too where Black men tend to speak badly about Black women and their looks. One of the instances where I saw this, and I don’t know if you two also saw this—but this happened on twitter. The r&b artist Ari Lennox posted pictures of herself or something and people were replying to her pictures and comparing her and artists like Teyana Taylor to dog breeds like bulldogs. It was horrible and just so dehumanizing. And it was mostly Black men too. They were speaking on their looks and literally comparing them to dogs. But artists that Blackfish and do anything in their power to look more Black don’t face that same hate and dehumanization for their looks. They’re able to profit off their looks, which is really just a form of privilege. 7. Tingxiao: “Black women are not supposed to push back and when they do, they're deemed to be domineering. Aggressive. Threatening. Loud." This is an explanation of the awful “ angry black woman” trope. It is a historical view and has its roots in 19th century America when minstrel shows, which involved comic skits and variety acts, mocking African Americans became popular. This is the most unfair stereotype I have ever seen in my life. As we may know, even Serena Williams, who may be one of the greatest tennis players, can’t get out of this awful stereotype. She just did what everyone else would do to protect her own rights. Though she just repeatedly jabbed her finger at the umpire demanding an apology during the game. She still got fined for her actions that showed her emotions “angrily”. This is so unfair. Everyone should have the right to show their emotions. Happy, sad and even angry. As for me, I think this is no different than those white police killed black teenagers for no reason just because they are black. People deserve the right to show their emotions. Stereotypes of black women for showing their emotions and seeing all them as angry is ridiculous.We all show our emotions everyday. Black people, Asian people, they all have the rights to show their daily emotions before anyone in the country. “Aggressive” is used to describe an action, a talk or theory. But, it never should be used to describe a black person. Shikha: I agree, terms like aggressive are over-used and they become the stereotypes associated most with Black women. This kind of language is really harmful and dehumanizing. Those images and instances are constantly the ones that the media circulates so they become associated with Black women everywhere. 8. Elliot: maybe focus on the privilege part and connect it to cultural appropriation—so maybe talking about how Black artists (like Megan thee stallion and Ari lennox) are talked about badly for their looks, but artists like Ariana Grande who blackfish get away with it because of their privilege. ? There is immense power and privilege while being a White artist in the music industry. Just as White people climb the ladder in life quickly with ease this also occurs in industries like this. Just as Grande has been called out for her plagiarism of Black artists there have been countless Black artists in the past who weren't recognized for their contributions. ? This privilege is damaging because the audiences listening to this music by Grande, Iggy, and others with similar behaviors will think that this is new and fresh coming from their creativity. When in reality most of the music people listen to has been inspired by Black artists from the beginning to now. ? Another damaging effect this privilege and power has is how it affects Black women in rap and hip/hop ? There is a double standard that occurs in rap and hip/hop where female rappers are unable to express their sexuality or sexual empowerment without being seen as trying to “push the sales” or covering up their talent with sex. Many male rappers do not have the same scrutiny while their songs can be considered degrading with how they speak about women. ? When WAP came out last summer Megan and Cardi were in the spotlight and many people were outraged and had an opinion on how women should assert their sexualities for the world to see. ? People began to make comments on Twitter that it was “too much” and that they were not presenting themselves as good role models ? To refute this comment, What male rappers have ever been remotely considered role models? Why are female rappers held to this standard? ? This scenario is similar to the experience of Salt N Pepa where Lil Kim experienced constant backlash for being too sexual and it overshaddowing her talent ? Shikha: This also reminds me of colorism and how some Black women and their image is dehumanized, while others are valued and put on a pedestal. For instance, Megan thee stallion is constantly bashed for her work and her looks. Compared to light skin Black women like Zendaya, Megan definitely faces a lot more comments on her body for its muscular build. I've seen comments about Megan and how she looks manly, but others don’t get the same comments. Those comments are extremely dehumanizing, especially when you compare it to the comments that Megan’s white counterparts or light skin Black women get. It circles back to privilege and who can thrive off of it and who can’t. 9. Outro: In closing, we touched on the cultural appropriation that takes place on social media and in the entertainment industry, how it can perpetuate the dehumanization of Black artists, and how this ultimately connects back to privilege. a. Elliot: We learn a very important message on privilege from these topics. Privilege can unfold in so many ways and through so many institutions. The world of entertainment treats White and non Black artists with more support and encouragement than they do with Black artists yet they profit off of their culture. b. Tingxiao: The people who Blackfish and culturally appropriate get away with it, and this comes with a lot of privilege—mostly white privilege. These lessons pose a question about the art versus the artist. It’s important to reflect on who and what we’re supporting. If we continue to support people who profit off of Black culture and creators, that says a lot about who we are. We can’t truly reach a place of practicing anti-racism if even our subtle actions continue to harm communities that are disproportionately affected to not receive rewards of privilege. c. Shikha: By actively not supporting people who take part in cultural appropriation and by instead supporting Black creators who came up with the original work, we can help those Black creators to continue getting credit for the work and for getting the much-needed support that they deserve. i. It’s also important to practice accountability. There really should be no excuse for forgetting to tag a Black dancer for dance credits in a re-made TikTok, or for music artists to understand that their actions are harmful. Especially when your career revolves around having an online or public personality and image, you’re expected to know right from wrong. ii. So non Black people who take part in cultural appropriation know exactly what they’re doing and it’s important to keep them accountable and ensure they face the consequences. A lot of people make excuses or try to come to conclusions about why these people do what they do. We constantly hear about how everyone was raised differently, or some might have a colorblind racial ideology. But those are ultimately just excuses for racist behavior. It’s time people to own up and fix these mistakes so they don’t keep repeating. 10. Closing Remarks: a. Elliot: Thank you for tuning in and listening to our podcast about how cultural appropriation and dehumanization of Black women in the media unlayers another aspect of privilege. b. Tingxiao:We hope you all were able to gain a different perspective to these topics and can more easily identify these issues as you engage in different forms of media for entertainment. We would like to take second to thank our sponsors, Zoom University and Dr. Garrett-Walker. c. Elliot: Thank you again for tuning into our one and only podcast, it was a blast! Create a podcast with your group members (randomly assigned by CANVAS) that engages your listeners about a specific issue, question, argument, or topic related to our course. Your podcast should be at least 10 minutes long, and it should include a balance between talking, background music, sound effects, and transitions to mimic natural pauses in conversation and to allow your audience to deeply connect to your topic. Here is an NPR guide to help get your started! https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/662070097/starting-your-podcast-a-guide-for-students (Links to an external site.) Possible styles include: interview, analysis of media, conversation about a topic between group members, and/or analysis of a contemporary issue. https://convertkit.com/podcast-formats (Links to an external site.) 5 Easy steps for making a podcast 1. 2. 3. 4. Sign up for https://anchor.fm (Links to an external site.) This website/app lets you record and construct your podcast using your phone Write a script (see below for more information) Record a podcast intro with music (you can use anchor, iphone voice memos, or garage band) 5. Record your conversation (you can use anchor, iphone voice memos, or garage band) 6. Put your podcast together! Script Format Example When you have a rough outline of what you want to discuss, structure your episode point by point like this: 1. Intro: Who you are and what you’re going to discuss (30-60 seconds) 2. Music jingle: Plays at the start of each episode so listeners can easily identify your podcast (30 seconds) 3. Topic 1: Setting up your theme and topics (5mins) 4. Topic 2: Discussing your topics in detail (10 mins) 5. Interlude: Music break or sponsor ad 6. Topic 3: Continuing discussing your topics (10 mins) 7. Outro: Summary of theme and topics with conclusion (5 mins) 8. Closing remarks: Thank the listener and talk about your next show (2 mins) Music jingle: Plays at the end of each episode so listeners can easily identify your podcast (30 seconds) https://live365.com/blog/how-to-write-a-podcast-script/ (Links to an external site.) https://www.podcast.co/create/podcast-script (Links to an external site.) Each group member must individually write a 7-10 page research paper on the topic of their group podcast. Your paper should begin with a general statement of the problem area, with a focus on a specific psychosocial research problem, and should explain why this particular issue or problem is important. What significance does it have in psychology? In humanity? You should grab your readers attention with statistics or academic research (not story telling). Your paper should: 1. Demonstrate your understanding of the theoretical and research issues related to your topic area 2. Shows your ability to critically evaluate relevant literature information. 3. Indicates your ability to integrate and synthesize the existing literature. 4. Presents the rationale of your proposed articulation and clearly indicate why it is worth doing. 5. Demonstrates your knowledge of the problem and the connection between the academic literature. 6. Provides new theoretical insights or develops a new model as the conceptual framework for your research. Remember to organize your paper by idea, not by author or publication. Make use of subheadings to bring order and coherence to your paper. Your final paper should have at least 10 academic references to support all of your claims. Final papers should be turned in on CANVAS. I do not accept late papers.