J. Cole remains one of my favorite artists because of his ability to address many political and controversial topics in his music. His 2018 album KOD communicates the societal pressures on children and the detrimental effects that these pressures lead to. Specifically, Cole’s titles one of his biggest hits on the album “1985”, the year he was born, to break down lessons about rap’s generational growth and race while speaking from a place of experience in comparison to judgement. One of the most influential lyrics in this song is when he explains that “these white kids love that you [black rappers] don’t give a f*** ’cause that’s exactly what’s expected when your skin black. They wanna see you dab, they wanna see you pop a pill. They wanna see you tatted from your face to your heels”. J. Cole makes this statement to reveal that there is definitely a discrepancy of race in the rap world, and rappers of the current generation need to be careful in their representation, as they have a major influence over their listeners. It also reveals the identity of black people is overgeneralized and restricted to a very specific set of values, which often is assumed to consist of drugs, sex, and money. This relates back to Adichie’s concept of the single story and the fact that all black people are being placed in this implicit bias that leads to many negative stereotypes for this race. J. Cole wants to emphasize the point that black male rappers do not need to follow this generational rap trend to be successful, and it is actually harmful to the reputation of all black people. Each individual person is subject to his/her own individuality, even if others in his/her preconceived “group” may behave a certain way, even if this certain way is what is being exhibited in a larger light. I believe that J. Cole would like us all to consider the effects that our own implicit bias has on the expectations that are lied out for young black people in America. This country as a whole is predisposing their futures by not giving them a chance to reveal their true individuality among others, and forcing them to assimilate to their expected behavior.
Kelly: From Comparative Studies 1100 Columbus, Ohio, this is Kelly Vonnahme
Amber: and Amber Henderhan. Welcome to the first episode of “Yo, is this sexist?” a new segment brought to you by Vu’s Visuals.
Kelly: For our first segment, I want to speak to all the ladies out there. Ladies, I wanna know, have you ever felt out of place or uncomfortable in a seemingly male dominant place? For example, the other week, I was at the gym. Now, as a person that grew up lifting weights with my dad, I’ve never really felt intimidated or out of place in a gym setting. However, being at Ohio State now, there are some pretty hefty men throwing weights around like it’s nothing. Every time I go, I see very experienced lifters who are obviously proud of their accomplishments, and like to show it. The other day in particular, there was a man at the gym that evidently was very strong. I was using a bench press, which was what he wanted to use as well. After I finished my first set of a 75 pound bench press, which I thought made me look swole, the man came up to me and asked if I was done on the bench. I told him I had just started, but he could work in with me if he wanted. He declined, which I expected because he most likely would lift 5x the amount I was lifting. Upon his obviously frustrated departure, I overheard him say to his friend “She’s barely lifting anything I don’t know why she needs the bench for so long”… Although it doesn’t seem like a big deal, it made me feel inferior and self conscious at the time. Systemic injustices relating to women still exist today, and just because I may not have been able to lift as much as him, I still deserve to be able to use the bench to work on my own well being. Comments like his discourage people from perceived “other” standpoints from truly being able to showcase individuality and confidence. This is just an example of a micro-injustice that helped me realize the much more major injustices happening around the world for women. So ladies, I want us to take a stand and fight for our equality, much like Ruth Baden Ginsburg did with the Supreme Court. Throughout her time as a jurist, Ginsburg catalyzed numerous legal victories for women in the United States. Way back in 1996, Ginsburg used the 14th amendment and its Equal Protection Clause originally put in order to protect black citizens from discrimination and applied it to the concept of gender inequalities in our country today. When the Supreme Court rejected Ginsburg’s request to integrate the last remaining strictly male military institute due to the fact that women were quote unquote not capable of the University’s physically demanding training program, she rebutted by explaining that generalizations about the capabilities of women are unjust and unsatisfactory for the classification of every individual woman. By the end of the year, this university was officially open to both males and females. To finish off this segment, I want to encourage all you women out there to unite and spark empowerment in women across the country. It’s important for us to encourage each other and demand equality so that we can dig our way of these systemic injustices one individual at a time. We do NOT need to stand here and listen to meatball gym junkies insult our capabilities any longer.
Amber: Kelly, I have a topic that is quite similar to your topic about females and how they are viewed. Women have always been seen far different compared to men in the forms of equality and viewpoints, which is honestly quite unfair. It can range from working, to dressing and from size and race. Body positivity is just one main topic that is happening currently and there is a huge impact in how this is affecting females, I know I can relate with this topic. The term body positivity has changed over the years, and not always being used in the correct form. I read this article from Cosmopolitan written by Jennifer Savin and it stated that “‘the people that this term was created for are not benefitting from it’” (Savin). This article also includes Lizzo and how she has been influenced and an influencer in this topic of body positivity which she is now using the term “‘body normative’” (Sivan). The article included her interview from Vogue, in which she said that “ ‘inclusivity is what my message is always [been] about,’” which she refers to the term body positive.(Sivan). It’s important to make sure everyone is treated with kindness and that’s what Lizzo is working towards, making sure that change happens and that any appearance is acceptable. Anyone, let alone females, shouldn’t have to worry about what others think of them, she should be happy in the way they dress and the way they look. But, there’s always going to be that thought, “I’m too fat to wear this” or “I don’t look like that person, I shouldn’t wear this,” and I know I do this, these thoughts shouldn’t have to cross out mind. I won’t forget this time when I was in Florida with a group of friends and we were doing laundry. There were five of us, my best friend and her boyfriend, two other guy friends and myself, we were folding laundry and one of the guys, which is a mutual friend, put them on, holding them out, and saying, “look at how much weight I lost from Weight Watchers.” I know my friend and her boyfriend saw the reaction on my face and just told me to follow them. I broke down, I was always bigger and struggled with how I looked, and this didn’t help. I didn’t talk to him for the rest of the trip, I moved past it and we are friends still, it’s just something that will stick with me. Anyway, I am starting to feel better about myself and I think having movements like this and people like Lizzo who want everyone to know it’s okay to be who you are no matter what you look like. Change like this is just a step to help everyone become comfortable in their body and I believe Lizzo is the right person to help this change happen.
Kelly: Amber you brought up some amazing points and I’m so glad you have recently started feeling more confident because you are BEAUTIFUL. One final thing I would like to add before we wrap things up is that we are on a step in the right direction. As of Saturday November 7th, 2020, Kamala Harris is the FIRST woman to ever become vice president of the United States of America. This is a HUGE deal for black women, south Asian women, and women in general as we finally have some representation in the house! This is a beautiful example of how women are just as capable as men in professionalism and when it comes to making decisions for our country’s well-being. I wanted to touch on this subject really quick because it is so important for all people, not just women, to be able to look up to people of power with whom they are able to relate to on a personal level. Having more representation of all races and genders in powerful positions will better encourage more diversity in these professional fields, which may in turn reduce the amount of institutional racism and sexism that is embedded in normal occurrences throughout society every day!
Amber: Yes! Congratulations to Kamala Harris and to women across the country! To wrap things up, I would like to leave everyone listening with this: as Marie Shear, an American writer and feminist activist defines it, feminism is “the radical notion that women are people”. This simple definition unpacks so much meaning. First of all, this statement is ironic in the way that women being people is not in any way radical. Her sarcasm accentuates the idea that women being treated equally should not be a concept that is hard to accept. The fact that women are not being treated equally yet in our society today is mind-blowing, and should not be a hard belief to adopt. With that, I would like to thank everyone for listening in today on this episode of “Yo, is this sexist?”. This is your host, Amber Henderhan,
Kelly: and Kelly Vonnahme, signing off. Don’t forget to come back next week to hear about systemic injustices relating to Covid-19! We hope you all have a great day!
Works Cited
Savin, Jennifer. “Lizzo on Why She’s Moved Away from the Body Positivity Movement.” Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan, 25 Sept. 2020, www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/a34157648/lizzos-body-positivity-movement-normative-vogue/.
Vogue, Ariane. “At VMI, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Reflects on a Monumental Ruling.” CNN Politics, 13 Aug. 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/02/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-vmi/index.html
At this point in the semester, imperialism and the silencing of various groups of the perceived “other” is not a foreign concept. While Americans generally exclude themselves from negative connotations related to colonialism and their assumed dominance over other nations, American Imperialism has affected many places around the world, especially after 9/11. In Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Changez falls victim to America’s tendency to encourage people from other cultures to adopt American customs. Changez comes to America for the praised education system so that he, a foreigner, could work for an American company, which would further contribute to America’s success and prosperity. “Kidnapping” highly talented people from around the world with the promise of opportunity in America is prohibiting other countries from reaching their true potential. Not only does America force its culture and customs onto others remotely, but this country also outsources its power to other countries as well. For example, after 9/11, America’s enormous military power becomes prevalent in Pakistan: Changez’s place of origin. This military presence put Changez’s family in danger, as it led to thousands of deaths in the country as well as a drastic decline in economic success. Changez’s original love for America was slowly but surely replaced with a hatred for this country and the way it forces itself upon other nations. America’s overwhelming power led Changez to return to Pakistan to teach and assemble anti-American demonstrators instead of staying in America to delve into the opportunity he was exposed to in this country. While in some lights it may seem as though America’s imperialism has benefitted other nations, at length, it is shown to strip other nations from their culture, silence subaltern voices, and result in more prosperity for America itself than the other nations it claims to have revamped.
In this Crash Course video, John Green explains the intentions and purposes related to American Imperialism as well as the results it has on other nations.
Upon reflecting on this semester, I came across an incredibly overt example of systemic injustice that wasn’t obvious to me at first. My first week at school had been packed with online zoom interviews having to do with the Fisher Fall Career fair as well as recruitment for business fraternities on campus. Looking back, I realized that every single one of the conversations I had was with a person of my own race. I talked to men and women that were white. The fact that there were no people of power that were able to represent any other race reveals yet another example of privilege I have access to on a daily basis. As a white person in America, I ALWAYS have the ability to expect the company of a person of my race. This privilege is not available for people of other races. As young, amenable individuals, it is important for everyone to be able to have an influence that they can relate to, and a lot of times, this relate-ability depends on the comparison of gender, age, and especially race. This concept relates to Deming in Lisa Ko’s The Leavers, as he is forced to grow up in a community that was predominantly white and had little experience with diversity. Deming feels the inferiority tied to the concept of the “other”, and is unable to relate to the people around him, inhibiting him from having the motivation to become the best version of himself. Without a relatable role model, Deming was stripped from the opportunity to step up in his community without feeling like everyone around him was implicitly making assumptions and judgments about his race or appearance. The fact that people of other races don’t have a connection with someone like them proves that this institutional racism is embedded as a normal occurrence within society. Placing white people as the primary people of power may dishearten people of other races, leading to an even more prevalent disparity among races. This ongoing process truly proves how systemic this racism actually is, and reveals its ability to prevail in our society today.
This article calls attention to racial injustice in the workplace. Additionally, it provides many resources to other sources that inform about systemic racism in our country.
