Author: smith.12948

Text Review-Jessica Smith

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The film "Moxie" is currently streaming on Netflix.

https://www.netflix.com/title/81078393

I recently watched the Netflix movie, Moxie. In the movie, Vivian starts a feminist movement at her school after observing the unfair treatment that girls have to endure from the administration and their male peers. She creates an anonymous magazine highlighting the injustices she sees, calling on her classmates to help solve the problems. The group is eventually banned by the principal, and as the subaltern, they struggle to find their voice to cause change.

 After a classmate gets sent home for wearing a tank top, Vivian instructs everyone to wear one to class the next day. She is trying to tackle the injustices of school dress codes, which primarily prohibit clothing items that girls might typically wear. Dress codes like this are harmful because they normalize girls being the object of the male gaze. It shows that boys’ education is more important than girls’. It perpetuates rape culture, by blaming the victim for what he or she was wearing, rather than holding people accountable for their actions. Many schools implement dress codes that seem to target girls, and have a negative impact on them.

Vivian also helps to campaign for a female athlete to win the athlete ambassador position and scholarship, which in the past has always been given to a male student. Male athletes are continuously given more recognition and resources than female athletes, despite them constantly proving that they are just as capable as their male counterparts. This year the NCAA gave the female basketball teams fewer accommodations than the men, despite having the means to give them more. The US women’s soccer team wins more and brings in more money than the men, yet they are paid less. Women are continuously underrepresented and recognized in sports from high school to the professional level.

Though Moxie provoked some thought about gender inequality in schools, I thought it could have been more intersectional. Though everyone is invited and encouraged to join the movement, not everyone could benefit from it in the same way. It addressed injustices that are common to many women, but did not seem to include other identities, such as lesbian, transgender, or women of color. This movie could have done a better job at examining the injustices that affect women belonging to more than one identity. 

Context Research Presentation: Black Panther

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Throughout the film Black Panther, many examples of body art are displayed. Body art is used as a form of representation and expression in many cultures, including many African tribes. Body art often takes form through the practices of scarification, tattoos, and body painting. The earliest archaeological evidence of scarification and tattooing  dates back to 30,000 BCE.(Rush 3) Scarification involves intentionally carving the skin so that it scars and leaves behind an intricate design. Early forms of scarification likely served as identification markers of individual valor or jeopardy. In the film, Killmonger also uses his scars as a form of identification, with each scar representing a kill he has made. Various cultures use body paint to protect their skin, or to decorate as they celebrate or mourn something. They make the paint from natural ingredients like chalk, oil, and clay. In Black Panther, body paint is worn on special occasions, such as the crowning of a new king, and also can identify the tribe that one belongs to. Tattoos are used as “signifiers for tribal affiliation and markings of progress within one’s own society and culture”.(Amplifyafrica.org) In Black Panther, lip tattoos are used to indicate that someone is from Wakanda.

Although these forms of art are common in many African cultures, they often differ in their meanings and uses. The Shilluk in Sudan use scarification to make raised dots on the forehead that indicate tribal heritage.(Blauer 144) Tribes in Chad, Ethiopia, and Nigeria use scars to document important life events, like puberty or childbirth. Body paint is also used to document events like courting or marriage through the use of different colors. Women in Northern Africa paint their hands and feet with henna paint for their weddings. Men aged between seventeen and thirty who belong to the Nuba tribe of southern Sudan wear paint to indicate their age, and use it as a daily form of dress. Recent cultures have been combining tattooing and scarring into the process called cicatrization, where scars are made and ash or soot are used to create pigment.

Works Cited

Blauer, Ettagale. African Elegance. 1999. pp. 144-150

Winters, JD. “A Brief History of African Body Markings” Feb, 8, 2021. https://www.amplifyafrica.org/post/a-brief-history-of-african-body-markings

Rush, John. “Scarification and Tattooing: A Cultural History of Pain”. Spiritual Tattoo. 2005.  pp. 3-14

Diary of Systemic Injustice Showcase- Jessica Smith

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Since the start of the pandemic, Asian Americans have been facing an increase of discrimination and hate crimes, due to the false belief that they are the cause of the pandemic. The fact that the virus originated in China is being used to blame Asian Americans and normalize racism. Terms like the “kung flu” are being used to drive the idea that they are diseased and harmful, which dates back to the 1800’s. White workers created and spread this idea to prevent Chinese immigrants from being hired and taking jobs. Even wearing a face mask, which was often associated with Asia in the past, has provoked racism and harassment. In the past year Stop AAPI Hate, an incident reporting center has received over 1,800 reports of violence or harassment towards an Asian American. An article from Time magazine features ten Asian Americans and their stories of racist and fearful confrontations. Photographer Haruka Sakaguchi has been gathering photos of the victims and displays them at the sites where they were harassed or assaulted.

Photograph of Justin Tsui, taken in Harlem, Manhatten

Justin Tsui, a Chinese American, recalls a man telling him to go back to his country, citing the Covid-19 and the SARS virus as the reason he should not be here. Tsui felt so threatened he questioned getting off the train for fear he would be followed. The recent murders in Atlanta were racially motivated, and are just another example of the increase of hate and discrimination Asian Americans are facing. Now more than ever, they are constantly living in fear of what may happen to them, their friends, and their family. These events promote Adichie’s concept of the single story. Over two hundred years ago a perception of an entire group of people was created. This assumption was made specifically towards Chinese immigrants, but has now been used against any person of Asian descent. Back then people claimed the immigrants were diseased, a belief which is currently still being used to fuel hatred and violence. We have allowed a harmful and incorrect story to represent a large group of people, creating more racism towards them and causing them to live every day with fear.

The rest of the photographs and stories can be viewed here.

https://time.com/5858649/racism-coronavirus/

Works Cited:

Kambhampaty, Anna. ” I Will Not Stand Silent”. 10 Asian Americans Reflect on Racism During the Pandemic and the Need for Equality”

Time Magazine, June 25,2020

https://time.com/5858649/racism-coronavirus/