Communication 330 Portfolio Project

For two of my artifacts, I chose to use my personal intersectionality as one of my artifacts as well as my personal experience with race and culture that I uniquely grew up with in my life. In it, I explain my unique intersectionality by describing my "race" / ethnicities, my gender, my gender preference, as well as my privilege in relation to these.  I also explain my unique childhood in regards to race, ethnicity, and culture. My next artifact I look at the heteronormative narrative and oppression that goes along with not fitting into this narrative in our society. For this I used two of my friends Instagram posts about each other and one of my friends was taking a poll, asking if my other friend was "gay" for watching a tv show. Another artifact has to do with the social construction of masculinity, specifically tied to male bodies. In this artifact, I look at an Instagram add that is advertising and app that allows males to edit their pi...

This is a post that came up on my personal twitter feed. I am obviously looking at this by my own personal experiences in my own interpretations of events that have happened in my own life, however looking at the word choice of this tweet, this is very racially charged as well as clumping an entire "race" by one person's actions out of billions that this woman personally experienced. Stereotypes are an unfortunate aspect of human nature, due to the desire to always categories or explain individuals as well as groups of people. I have seen similar tweets that start off with Dear "Black people", and the response to this tweet is severely different. I understand of the systemic oppression that African Americans have faced in the history of this country, however, I don't agree with any type of racially charged conversation regardless of the race it is targeting. With the rise in social media, I have witnessed ill be it in my short life, a rise in negati...

Race Relations In this country is at an all-time low throughout the past 20 years. There is a huge rise with famous people in our society using social media as a platform to step outside of the typical medium used to conversate about issues in our country, which was typically the scholars of the day and those who held government positions and then this would be channeled to the public via forms of news media. We live in a day in age where social media has allowed for so much conversation between the majority of the United States population as well as breaking barriers allowing for conversation at the click of a button to individuals throughout the globe. With this rise in media, famous athletes have begun to use their influence to try and promote change in positive ways. “Must they run their mouths like that? Unfortunately, a lot of kids — and some adults — take these ignorant comments seriously,” Ingraham said then. “And it’s always unwise to seek political advice f...

"Bitch, best not jump in here Bitch, best not run in here talkin' crazy Get her walkin' papers See these married niggas makin' it hard for players But, see, the hardest players is too hard to play " " I tell you I love you (I tell you I love you) I tell you I need you (I tell you I need you) I say I won't leave you (I say I won't leave you) Then I get amnesia (Then I get amnesia)" These lyrics epitomize and define rap lyrics overall style. Over the past decade there has been a rise with this  type of lyrics in viewing women as objects. Rappers are glorified for the amount of women they "get" or how many women they "have" as if women are merely an object for gain for men. This is very problematic for a society that is heavily influenced by hollywood, especially the music industry side of hollywood. Since I have begun to listen to this genre, I have personally experiemnced and witnessed the growth and rise ...

Rachel:  Joey, y'know you get any mustard on that bag, you can't return it. Joey:  Why would I return it? I love this bag! Rachel:  All right, then you owe me $350. Joey:  Fine! Do you take Vasa or Mustercard? (He's holding the fake credit cards that come with the bag.) Rachel:  (glaring at him) Joey… Joey:  All right relax, look I'll pay you with the money from the acting job I am definitely gonna get thanks to you. Ross:  What's the part, Anti-man? Rachel:  Hey, don't listen to them. I think it's sexy. Joey:  (entering, with bag) Hey! I'm off to my audition. How do I look? Rachel:  Ahhh, I think you look  great ! That bag is gonna get you that part. Chandler:  And a date with a man! The Casting Director:  (stopping him) I'm sorry. Could you, could you try it without the purse? Joey:  Yeah, sure. (He takes it off and starts reading.) Well, you must be new here. Maybe we should—I'm sorry, can I ask ...

Adewunmi, B. (2014). Intersectionality: An everyday metaphor anyone can use. In P. S. Rothenberg (Ed.), Race, class, and gender in the United States: An integrated study. (pp. 171-175). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Bieler, D. (2018, August 07). LeBron James turns 'Shut up and dribble' insult into title of Showtime series. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/08/07/lebron-james-turns-shut-up-and-dribble-insult-into-title-of-showtime-series/?utm_term=.d0c8a2399c8d Goyette, Tori "White Power: An Analysis of Racial Tensions in Crash" FRESH INK: ESSAYS FROM BOSTONS'S FIRST YEAR WRITING SEMINAR https://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/freshink/article/view/1207/1580  Accessed 14 July 2018 Kimmel, M. S. (1997). Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame, and silence in the construction of gender identity. In P. S. Rothenberg (Ed.), Race, class, and gender in the United States: An integ...

Colin Kaepernick started a campaign to fight against racial Injustice. He decided to kneel for the national anthem, which was his form of protest. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color" (Wyche). Colin Kaepernick is a biracial former professional football player who is standing up for racial Injustice. When looking at statistics with the issue of mass incarceration, specifically for African - Americans, as well as the issue with Police brutality for African- Americans, Colin Kaepernick's protest is valid and proven by statistics which undoubtedly shows that white privilege was and still is an issue in the United States. For me the biggest problem with white privilege is that typically those that have this privilege, do not acknowledge it simply because they do not know anything different and hopefully are not aware of or have been fortunate to be taught about this issue. However, there is also a pa...

Racial Injustice is exemplified in multiple faucets in this country.  One way is through police brutality. There are many different claims to whether there truly is racial discrimination between police officers and black people. One claim is, more white people get killed than black people which is true if you look at the total number of white people killed versus the total number of black people killed by police. But that number doesn’t take into account the percentage of the United States population of black versus white people. When adjusted for population, “ black Americans are 2.5 times as  likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers.” (Lowery) This Chart below exemplifies one way that white privilege is seen is the United States. This unfortunate problem in our country is due to the systemic oppression of African Americans throughout the duration of the United States and can be linked back to slavery and the creation of the whi...

This is a picture of two of my friends I grew up playing basketball with. The one friend sitting on the couch is watching Gossip girl and his teammate, went out of his way ill be it in a semi-joking way, to create a poll on Instagram asking if a male who is heteronormative is "gay" for watching a tv show that is considered to be for girls or  "girly"  in our society. This post also relates to gender being socially constructed and how there is hierarchy related to gender and the belief that being masculine is better in our society compared to being feminine. This comment, unfortunately, shows signs of oppression of those who don't fit into societies preconceived gender norms. This also deals with another issue, due to the fact that this phrase is being used in a negative connotation. This guy is being bullied over social media due to the fact that he is stepping outside what he is expected to watch as a straight male in our society. This is also problematic ...

This picture is from an add that was sponsored on my Instagram feed. It was an advertisement for an app that allows you to edit your body. It's called the "manlyapp". It then played a video of a guy at the beach who didn't have a beach body. It went on to edit his picture giving him rock hard six pack abs, broad shoulders, and a bigger chest. This add is playing on the gender norms  of men's potential insecurities in what is to be considered the "perfect male body". This stereotypical form of the male body is very hypermasculine , big muscles, perfect abs, no fat. This is the body that has been socially constructed in our society as what should be the goal of man to look like. This is so much ingrained in our society that there are now apps that exploit this expectation of men to the point where companies are making profits off of individuals who feel this societal pressure to fit the norm of what the "perfect male body" should look like. Thi...

I grew up making very close connections and friendships with people of color. My best friend since birth was black. When I moved in third grade, my new best friend was also black and we were best friends from the third grade through about 8th grade. I found myself able to relate to them more than anybody I had ever met. Throughout middle school continuing to the beginning of high school, the top 10 to 15 people I hung out with were all black. Something that is extremely interesting throughout this period in my life is that I have been told by all of my black friends at different points in my life that I am “black”. The connection I felt with my friends was undeniably stronger than any other relationship in my life. I am not sure what made my connection towards African American heritage so strong but it has been since I was little and has continued through today. I grew up playing travel basketball at a very competitive level from 3rd grade all the way through my sophomore year ...

I am biracial, my father is white and my mother is Hispanic, however, I am only a quarter Hispanic so I have been identified by others as white. Therefore, I am categorized as having white privilege, which is hard for me to accept and identify with for multiple reasons those of which I will explain later on. My biological sex at birth was male and since then I have identified as male. This gives me another privilege due to the unfair expectations and treatment towards the female gender. On top of being classified as a white, cisgender male, I am also straight which gives me even more privilege in our society compared to others of different sexualities. Since adolescence, religion has been a huge part of my life, but over the years I have developed a personal view on my interpretation of religion which I will further explain. For the sake of common understanding, I identify myself as a Christian. This from my experience caused me a lot more oppression then privilege throughout my perso...