Corpses are so hot: the erotization of violence towards women

To the right there is a window display featured at Barney's department store in New York. Or a window display that was featured at Barney's... before it got removed.

Congratulations Barney's, you effectively decided that a blood-strewn woman in a contorted position, falling off a chair (being thrown off a chair?) isn't the best angle to sell your clothing to women. Nothing like women and violence to sell an A.L.C gown.

And yet does this surprise me? Hell no. Shit like this is seen all the time and women posed in provocatively violent positions are eroticized over and over again. Nothing like a woman beat into submission to speak sex appeal. It is the very same reason that the latest Lady Gaga video for "Paparazzi" completely creeped me out. It can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQJ9Vi8GLok

The first opening scene shows Lady Gaga thrown off a balcony where she ends up in a contorted position on the pavement with blood seeping from her skull. Sexy. But this disturbing image (or storyline) is followed up by countless other nearly subliminal flash shots of contorted dead women. And I'm talking gruesome: we have a nurses with bullet wounds to the head, Seran-wrapped asphyxiated bodies dumped in the woods, hangings, and apparent death by shovel-beating. If you don't want to subject yourself to the entire video check out the 45 seconds following the 4:20 mark. If you want to see what I mean even more clearly, cut the sound (your ears will thank me too). These one-second (sometimes less) shots are laced through this video while supposedly ending with a "rah rah girl power!" message at the very end when the Lady herself announces "I killed my boyfriend". Again, nothing like murder to show who means business.

Lady Gaga is currently one of the biggest pop stars around. Millions of pre-teen girls and boys are eating this shit up on MTV without the slightest clue of the inherant violence contained within its 8 minutes. Sure, I could use my degree in English to argue that the video actually calls attention to the effects of the sexualization of women in the first place (via the paparazzi), but unfortunately even that argument would have to avoid addressing the constant eroticization of violently murdered female corpses found within the video itself... I don't think you can really argue with those. And why are these images only a second long? Well because if they were any longer, parents (and people) would probably give a shit.

White privilege: it's real my friends!

I have been taking part in a facebook battle for the last 30 hours or so. A facebook battle you ask? Yes, a facebook battle, prompted by a status of a friend of mine. I am not going to go into the details, because it would be too painful. But I have chosen to take an excerpt of one response and perhaps we can go from there in building how ignorant some people can be.

Here it is...

Are you ready?

"Caucasians are the most socially suppressed population in north america and thats a fact".

You've heard it friends! White people are socially suppressed. In fact white people are the most socially suppressed of all races. I know this is a fact because someone on facebook said so. Oh wait, sorry, no, we can't say white people. We should say caucasian (makes white people feel more comfortable after all). Dear god almighty, I don't know what planet this person lives on but I am going to guess that it isn't Earth.

Look, white privilege is complicated business. It is so complicated that it works its magic in such an exceptional way that it exists without white people even realizing it! And then what results? Comments like the above. Look, no one is going to come up to you and say "Hey, congratulations! You are white, that is why you got the job!" and no one is going to say "Wow, you are so beautiful because you are white". It is not that simple. Rather, it is a power system that is deeply entrenched in the way Canada was built and founded (exterminating indigenous populations, for example). It is so entrenched that most of the time people don't even realize they are doing it.

I could go on and on here, but to be honest, I don't really have the the energy to dismantle racist structures of Canadian society in one blog post. Rather, I will post a few points that were written by Peggy McIntosh, an educator who wished to "unpack" what she terms the "invisible knapsack" of white privilege. They are privileges that she is granted as a white person.

The full article can be found here: http://www.nymbp.org/reference/WhitePrivilege.pdf

* I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented
* When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization", I am shown that people of my color made it what it is
* I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race
* I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them
* I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes or not answer letters without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race
* I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
* I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having coworkers on the job suspect that I got it because of race
* I can be sure that if I ask to talk to "the person in charge" I will be facing a person of my race

These are just a few examples of a larger list McIntosh has compiled, but I think they make the point. So in response to my facebook battler who claimed I am "one of those self hating apologetic whiny caucasians just because I feel sorry that my parents were able to pay my way through university", no, that is not the case. I am simply claiming my own implication in a societal structure that benefits me every day arbitrarily. I never chose to be white and did not choose to gain these privileges, much like one does not choose to be a person of colour and be faced with racism. However, that does not eradicate me from the responsibilities I have in being a more ethical person to ensure the next generation moves in a more loving and fair direction.