Author: robbins.391

POSE

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Pose (FX, 2018-) is a TV drama revolving around the lives of Black and Latine transgender women and gender-nonconforming gay men in New York City’s 1980s Drag Ball culture. The series follows Blanca Rodriguez as she breaks away and forms her own “House” (a group that competes in Drag Balls, but also a surrogate family for those who have no other home.) The series grapples with difficult topics, including the plight of the subaltern, and the relative benefits of assimilation, both on the personal level- “passing” for the transgender characters- and the macro level- the struggle for acceptance, or even survival, in a world that would rather pretend that they didn’t exist.

The characters featured in Pose can be identified as subaltern because, while they are living in one of the most prosperous cities in the world, they are, almost entirely, confined to its underbelly. Because of hiring discrimination on the basis of their race and transgender status, they are confined to low paying or under the table jobs- Blanca works in a nail salon, but many of her “children” and peers survive off sex work, stripping, and being sugar babies (receiving money and shelter in exchange for a, mostly carnal, relationship.) Even the highly-marginalized (white) gay men of the 1980s, will not let Blanca into their bars and establishments.

Season 1 features a B plot that follows the relationship between Angel, an Afro-Latina transgender woman, and Stan, a white middle class married father of 2. Stan is a foil to the other, subaltern, characters- he has social status, and “prospects,” but still he is not happy. He describes Angel as the first “real” and “authentic” experience in his life, and says to her, ‘’I’m no one. I want what I’m supposed to want, I wear what I’m supposed to wear, and I work where I’m supposed to work… I don’t live. I don’t believe. I accumulate. I’m a brand – a middle-class white guy.” Eventually, Angel brings Stan to a Drag Ball, where he is overwhelmed and panics. He expresses that that is not the life for him- he tries to “rescue” Angel from this life- her life- but she refuses.

The biggest question Pose raises is in relation to assimilation and mainstream acceptance. Obviously, we are meant to sympathize with Blanca and her struggle to be accepted by the mainstream gay/queer community, but scenes like Stan trying to “save” Angel, and other smaller parts involving characters being discouraged from participating in balls in favor of more “acceptable” activities raises questions about what queer culture has lost since the 1980s in return for mainstream acceptance. Stan is a complicated character, but he is sympathetic at times, especially for a queer person in 2018/2020- I’ve felt the pull to cut my hair, through out my skirts, get a job as a lawyer doing something safe and profitable, because that’s now something obtainable for a transgender person- but what part of myself would I lose?

Yo, is this racist?: Length of sentencing and “three strikes” policies

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Julian Robbins

The equal protection clause of the 14th amendment is, ostensibly, meant to ensure that all citizens of the United States, regardless of skin color, are equally protected under the law, meaning that they should be equally protected from both crimes against them and unfair prosecution. When you look at the statistics regarding prison population and sentencing though, it doesn’t appear that the 14th amendment has actually been respected.

Continue reading Yo, is this racist?: Length of sentencing and “three strikes” policies →

Sontag Context- The Disasters of War

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One of the works highlighted in Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others (and, indeed, featured on the cover of most of the editions of the book) is a series of etchings by Francisco Goya, entitled Los desastres de la guerra or The Disasters of War. The Disasters of War is a series of 81 prints, reflecting on the horror’s Goya witnessed during the Spanish revolutionary war against the French and the following years of famine (Bouvier. 2011). The Disasters of War wasn’t published until 35 years after Goya’s death- 55 years after the war itself had started (Tomlinson, 1989).

Etching is a process in which grooves are carved into metal, either with a tool or acid compound. The metal plate is then inked and wiped, so ink only remains in the grooves, before being pressed to paper. This process is not all that different from how photographic prints would eventually be produced, just manual, with a piece of metal, the artist’s eyes, and a scratching tool.

Goya’s etchings from The Disasters of War are very small- ranging from 5.6 × 6.6 in to 6.4 × 10.2 in (Connell, 2004). Connell cites material shortages, but I recall my printmaking teacher telling us that another reason for their small size was to make them easier to conceal, as their material was too critical of the reinstated French powers to be published.

The images in The Disasters of War deeply evocative- they are beautiful in their rendering, but horrific in their content, which depicts rape, the mutilated corpses of soldier and civilian alike, and people wasting away from starvation. The image that features on the cover of Regarding the Pain of Others is plate number 36, entitled [translated from Spanish] “Not [in this case] either.” I recommend you view the whole series here, but another plate that has stood out to me since I took printmaking in high school is plate 64, “Cartload to the cemetery.”

 

Bouvier, P. (2011). ‘Yo lo vi’. Goya witnessing the disasters of war: an appeal to the sentiment of humanity. International Review of the Red Cross, 93(884), 1107–1133. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1017/S1816383112000379

Connell, E. (2004) Francisco Goya: A Life. Counterpoint, 2004. ISBN 1-58243-307-0

Tomlinson, J. A., Goya, F., & Wallach Art Gallery. (1989). Graphic evolutions: The print series of francisco goya. New York: Columbia University Press.

Diary of Systemic Injustice- “Three Strikes”

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CNN headline "Black man serving life sentence for stealing hedge clippers granted parole in Louisiana." A Smiling black man walks out of louisiana state penitentiary (click photos to visit original news stories) A story in the headlines this week highlights one of the US Justice System’s worst perpetrator of systemic injustice and upholder of the prison-industrial complex- the three strikes/“habitual offender” system. The dramatic headline reads “Black Man Serving Life Sentence for Stealing Hedge Clippers Granted Parole in Louisiana.” Fair Wayne Bryant was given a life sentence in 1997 for the crime of, as mentioned, stealing a pair of hedge clippers. The reason why he was able to be sentenced for a life term- the punishment we normally reserved for murderers and rapists- is that Louisiana has a “habitual offender” system, giving judges the ability to hand down life sentences for proportionally light crimes. Bryant had previously been convicted in 1979 for attempted armed robbery, in 1987 for possession of stolen goods, in 1989 for forgery of a check worth $150, and in 1992 for simple (unarmed) home burglary. The Louisiana Supreme Court voted 5 to 6 in favor of upholding his sentence this August. It is also important to note that “released on parole” is very different from “freed.” Bryant lost 23 years of his life, and is still not free.

Fair Wayne Bryant stands outside prison after release. Source: The Advocate

28 states have some variation of this “three strikes” “habitual offender” system, that allows for, and sometimes requires, a life sentence on the commission of a third felony, regardless of how much time has passed since the previous conviction. In most cases, only “violent” offenses count as a “strike” but some states have expanded what counts as a strike to include unarmed robbery, drug possession, and in California, even some misdemeanors (“Three Strikes Law”). The ACLU states that nearly 80 percent of those convicted as “habitual offenders” are Black. This is systemic injustice because it is being perpetrated by the government, in this case, the Louisiana state government, against its Black citizens- especially those living in poverty. When this fact is fed into knowledge of the prison industrial complex as a whole, the picture is even more sinister. At the bare minimum, punishments should fit the crime. In the bigger picture, abolishment of the for-profit prison system and crime prevention programs that focus on eliminating the underlying poverty that motivates property crime should be explored. Sources Continue reading Diary of Systemic Injustice- “Three Strikes” →