I have managed many memories rhetorically. Most often it occurs when recalling a disappointing or a troublesome memory. I think it is only natural to want to forget or at least not want to have to remember something that is difficult to think about, so most of the time when I manage my memories I contemplate the occurrence and attempt to rationalize my actions and behaviors in the specific situation. This happens more frequently than I would like to admit. Over time it becomes difficult to distinguish between the alterative and more favorable recollection, the girl was ugly anyway for example, and what actually did happen in a particular memory, rejected!
I think the idea of expiration dates for information is very accurate. In general most information or facts are proven wrong, the world is flat, Obama can make a difference, and expire. Some information is more sensational like gossip stories about friends, acquaintances, or celebrities and expires quicker than other more serious bits of information, math theorems, and distance to the sun, which remain relevant for years.
The focus of the article was mostly about how personal information created by the person is used against them. For example Stacy Snyder the 25 year old denied a teaching certificate after allegedly lewd photos of her surfaced on the internet (Mayer-schonberger 2009). This focus area of information, personal photos and details, definitely expire. This type of information has an expiration date based on proximity, the farther away you are from Stacy, figuratively and literally, the quicker the information expires and less important it is. Even identity thieves will face problems when assuming her identity 20 years after she expires, and the fickle administrative board will no longer care about her photo when they have no position of authority.
I don’t really share much information online that I know of. There are no embarrassing photos of me on the web, but a few of my friends have some funny or embarrassing photos on their cell phones and my brother has a few, but his are in analog form and could expire soon.
When myspace first became popular I tried messaging all kinds of girls, ones I knew from school and ones I didn’t know at all, for dates and whatever. I hope these messages are not stored digitally or in the recipient’s memory. In particular the messages to girls that I knew in real life are the worst but probably won’t expire.
"Delete" Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, 2009
Monday, November 15, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Blog 10 (final blog for DTC 475!)
Final Blog
An important term used in the text by Villanueva is “Americanized.” It is used frequently throughout the reading appearing in forms like “Americanization” and in the phrase “Americanized propaganda.” The term is used by the author to describe the assimilation of American immigrants into society. In the text it is suggested that immigrants frequently take part in a type of cultural erasing (Americanization) in order to be viewed as “proper” Americans by the typical white American (Villanueva).
This term is essential to the research for project numbers two and three because it is a term that is crucial to the understanding of Villanueva’s text. In order for project two and three to be successful (academically and rhetorically) relevant phrases or terms that contribute to and help elaborate on the ideas and concepts explored must be used.
Questions for Quiz 10
According to Villanueva Americanization is
A.) The process of becoming a true and independent American citizen.
B.) The denial of one’s own ethnic heritage in favor of racelessness.
C.) The categorization of ethnic minorities as “the other.”
D.) None of the above.
In “Bootstraps . . .” Villanueva suggests that fictive-kinship is a term used to describe the harmonious and exemplary relationships between friends from different ethnic groups.
Villanueva, Victor. Bootstraps From an American Academic of Color. Urbana, IL:
NCTE. 34-50
An important term used in the text by Villanueva is “Americanized.” It is used frequently throughout the reading appearing in forms like “Americanization” and in the phrase “Americanized propaganda.” The term is used by the author to describe the assimilation of American immigrants into society. In the text it is suggested that immigrants frequently take part in a type of cultural erasing (Americanization) in order to be viewed as “proper” Americans by the typical white American (Villanueva).
This term is essential to the research for project numbers two and three because it is a term that is crucial to the understanding of Villanueva’s text. In order for project two and three to be successful (academically and rhetorically) relevant phrases or terms that contribute to and help elaborate on the ideas and concepts explored must be used.
Questions for Quiz 10
According to Villanueva Americanization is
A.) The process of becoming a true and independent American citizen.
B.) The denial of one’s own ethnic heritage in favor of racelessness.
C.) The categorization of ethnic minorities as “the other.”
D.) None of the above.
In “Bootstraps . . .” Villanueva suggests that fictive-kinship is a term used to describe the harmonious and exemplary relationships between friends from different ethnic groups.
Villanueva, Victor. Bootstraps From an American Academic of Color. Urbana, IL:
NCTE. 34-50
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Blog Post Nine
The website “Race- the power of an illusion” is fairly interactive and the overall design is pretty good. Some of the features are nice; it has a lot of flashy rollovers and graphics that make it appealing. Many pages use interactive quizzes and activities to present the information and are lot more enjoyable than the “go deeper” text pages. The modern design and interactivity helps add to the presentation of the subject matter. The target audience of the site is more than likely young(er)) adults so most of the formal and apparently scientific data is presented in a more user friendly manner than on most sites.
In “Menu-Driven Identities: Making Race Happen Online,” the author, Lisa Nakamura suggests that, “even websites that focus on racial identities and communities often possess interface designs that force reductive ways of defining race.” Nakamura believes that, “this produces a new kind of cybertyping that encompasses the user’s racial identity within the paradigm of the “clickable box”- one box among many on the menu of identity choices. When users are given no choice other than to select the “race” or “ethnicity” to which they belong and are given no means to define or modify the terms or categories available to them, then identities that do not appear on the menu are essentially foreclosed on and erased. This limits the ways that can happen in cyberspace.” (Nakamura 2002)
I think that the site does a good job of going beyond a “menu-driven” concept of race. I think the drop down menu theme is suggestive of a racial lumping that occurs online. Typically a webpage is considered diverse if it has representations of the major races, or at least the major American races. On the sorting people section only five classifications are given and the pictures used for the activity don’t really fit in that closely with the categories. After completing the activity a window informed me of how the census was previously limited to those racial categories and that everyone was lumped into one of those categories. The rest of the site wasn’t as all encompassing and focused on the African American race and the white race.
Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity and Identity
on the internet. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.
In “Menu-Driven Identities: Making Race Happen Online,” the author, Lisa Nakamura suggests that, “even websites that focus on racial identities and communities often possess interface designs that force reductive ways of defining race.” Nakamura believes that, “this produces a new kind of cybertyping that encompasses the user’s racial identity within the paradigm of the “clickable box”- one box among many on the menu of identity choices. When users are given no choice other than to select the “race” or “ethnicity” to which they belong and are given no means to define or modify the terms or categories available to them, then identities that do not appear on the menu are essentially foreclosed on and erased. This limits the ways that can happen in cyberspace.” (Nakamura 2002)
I think that the site does a good job of going beyond a “menu-driven” concept of race. I think the drop down menu theme is suggestive of a racial lumping that occurs online. Typically a webpage is considered diverse if it has representations of the major races, or at least the major American races. On the sorting people section only five classifications are given and the pictures used for the activity don’t really fit in that closely with the categories. After completing the activity a window informed me of how the census was previously limited to those racial categories and that everyone was lumped into one of those categories. The rest of the site wasn’t as all encompassing and focused on the African American race and the white race.
Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity and Identity
on the internet. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Blog 8
Blog #8
Cybertyping is a term coined by Lisa Nakamura in the text, “Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet” to describe the distinctive ways that the internet propagates, disseminates, and commodifies images of race and racism (Nakamura 2002). Cybertyping is a modern form of gender and ethnic or racial stereotyping that occurs online.
Identity tourism is when the typical white and westernized user of the internet adopts an online persona different from their own and most often based on cultural stereotypes. The user interacts with others online as the adopted persona would in order to enact gratifying scenarios.
The most notable form of identity tourism taking place in the awesome game, “Street Fighter II” is in the way that selecting a character allows the user to “become” the character. Players view an elaborate back-story that gives them the impetus to fight. Then they take control of a monstrous automaton stereotyped by their country of origin and essentially live out a horrendous life of hyper realized violence.
Cybertping happens when players take on the life of characters that fit into very easternized (Japanese) notions. All of the world’s people who are represented are done so in very stereotypical ways. Every character and even their fighting location or home turf is cybertyped. The game was produced by the Japanese so they may be given the fairest treatment in terms of character traits and back stories, but the Japanese culture is typed as well. There are cybertypes of Americans: the rich white punk and Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, who fights in his own dojo and Balrog the egregiously named black boxer from Las Vegas who has his own red carpet and legion of gambling supporters in stretch limousines. The fighters from Japan are portrayed in stereotypical ways as well. There is the karate hero who fights for honor, not fun and a fat sumo who quests for honor as well but fights in a sweaty bath house with pictures of kimono wearing people draping the walls. Even the end of fight trash talk features very typical wordings.
Works Cited
Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity
on the Internet. New York Rutledge, 2002. Print.
Cybertyping is a term coined by Lisa Nakamura in the text, “Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet” to describe the distinctive ways that the internet propagates, disseminates, and commodifies images of race and racism (Nakamura 2002). Cybertyping is a modern form of gender and ethnic or racial stereotyping that occurs online.
Identity tourism is when the typical white and westernized user of the internet adopts an online persona different from their own and most often based on cultural stereotypes. The user interacts with others online as the adopted persona would in order to enact gratifying scenarios.
The most notable form of identity tourism taking place in the awesome game, “Street Fighter II” is in the way that selecting a character allows the user to “become” the character. Players view an elaborate back-story that gives them the impetus to fight. Then they take control of a monstrous automaton stereotyped by their country of origin and essentially live out a horrendous life of hyper realized violence.
Cybertping happens when players take on the life of characters that fit into very easternized (Japanese) notions. All of the world’s people who are represented are done so in very stereotypical ways. Every character and even their fighting location or home turf is cybertyped. The game was produced by the Japanese so they may be given the fairest treatment in terms of character traits and back stories, but the Japanese culture is typed as well. There are cybertypes of Americans: the rich white punk and Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, who fights in his own dojo and Balrog the egregiously named black boxer from Las Vegas who has his own red carpet and legion of gambling supporters in stretch limousines. The fighters from Japan are portrayed in stereotypical ways as well. There is the karate hero who fights for honor, not fun and a fat sumo who quests for honor as well but fights in a sweaty bath house with pictures of kimono wearing people draping the walls. Even the end of fight trash talk features very typical wordings.
Works Cited
Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity
on the Internet. New York Rutledge, 2002. Print.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Blog 7, "It's me, Mario!"
For this blog, you are going to travel into the past and
“map the bit girl.” In other words, play Super Mario Bros. 2
and perform a gender critique. Describe how Princess, Mario,
Luigi, and Toad reflect and complicate gender stereotypes
The gender representations in Super Mario brothers 2 are generally reflective of society’s idea of gender roles but are complicated by the games limited ability to present a character in a detailed and complex manner using more than a few colors, and some form of audible dialogue. Mario and Luigi both play the stereotypical role of the Alpha male running headfirst into battle, not afraid of anything, even walking mushrooms and talking dinosaurs. They are determined to rescue whoever from wherever even at the cost of their own lives. Because they both have thick mustaches always wear their cheap work clothes, overalls, Mario and Luigi are portrayed as the working class. An integral part of the story is that Luigi and Mario are typical hard working males that, because of their male gender roles get caught up in something big. Toad complicates the gender role being that he is a mushroom from another world that acts like a male. Even though he is not human he is anthropomorphized as a type of human male. His round body and his pained expressions when digging for turnips are not usually associated with tough males who go on adventures or do battle with monsters. Further complicating the gender role is Princess. She wears a pink frilly dress that identifies her as female and plays a large part in the game by allowing the princess to fall slowly. Usually Princess is in danger but in this Mario adventure she is a trooper, she is part of the action, she is a playable character and not the stereotypical helpless princess in a castle. She is the tallest character and jumps the highest but is still depicted in a very feminine way, but doesn’t act in the traditional feminine way and this complicates the role of gender in Mario because they all look like different characters but all perform the same basic actions.
I think this game offers multiple gender subject configurations because the characters look different but perform in the same ways. The princess is both a femme fatale when she destroys bad guys in the game and also a positive role model because of the combination of her feminine appearance and tough actions.
“map the bit girl.” In other words, play Super Mario Bros. 2
and perform a gender critique. Describe how Princess, Mario,
Luigi, and Toad reflect and complicate gender stereotypes
The gender representations in Super Mario brothers 2 are generally reflective of society’s idea of gender roles but are complicated by the games limited ability to present a character in a detailed and complex manner using more than a few colors, and some form of audible dialogue. Mario and Luigi both play the stereotypical role of the Alpha male running headfirst into battle, not afraid of anything, even walking mushrooms and talking dinosaurs. They are determined to rescue whoever from wherever even at the cost of their own lives. Because they both have thick mustaches always wear their cheap work clothes, overalls, Mario and Luigi are portrayed as the working class. An integral part of the story is that Luigi and Mario are typical hard working males that, because of their male gender roles get caught up in something big. Toad complicates the gender role being that he is a mushroom from another world that acts like a male. Even though he is not human he is anthropomorphized as a type of human male. His round body and his pained expressions when digging for turnips are not usually associated with tough males who go on adventures or do battle with monsters. Further complicating the gender role is Princess. She wears a pink frilly dress that identifies her as female and plays a large part in the game by allowing the princess to fall slowly. Usually Princess is in danger but in this Mario adventure she is a trooper, she is part of the action, she is a playable character and not the stereotypical helpless princess in a castle. She is the tallest character and jumps the highest but is still depicted in a very feminine way, but doesn’t act in the traditional feminine way and this complicates the role of gender in Mario because they all look like different characters but all perform the same basic actions.
I think this game offers multiple gender subject configurations because the characters look different but perform in the same ways. The princess is both a femme fatale when she destroys bad guys in the game and also a positive role model because of the combination of her feminine appearance and tough actions.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Blog 6 Avatar
DTC 475
Blog 6
In avatar there is no clearly defined dichotomization of gender by the Na’Vi or the humans like there is in traditional American culture. In some ways there is a conventional separation of male and female. For instance the female Na’Vi gives birth and is slightly more welcoming of outsiders than her male counterparts. However the roles or duties of the Na’Vi aren’t delegated by gender, aside from the Male sovereign and female spiritual leader. Neither hunter nor warrior were gender specific, both connected to the flying creatures in the same way, had nearly the same physique, and are all given the chance to speak as equals in public forum.
The people of earth are dichotomized in a more traditional manner but some characters work against the traditional separation of gender. For example Michelle Rodriguez’s character is one of the best pilots, if not the best pilot in the marines yet is female. In addition Sigourney Weaver is playing a strong and high ranking female character.
A few of the multiple and contradictory identities being played out by Jake Sully in Avatar are his multiple identity of a low ranking Marine who is loyal to his commanding officer, the general, his country, and his employers, the corporation. And contradictory to this complex identity is his new found identity of a disabled person, his identity of a researcher united with the scientists in their cause, and his other new identity that of a Na’Vi. His role and duties as a Marine and as an employee challenge his new identities continuously throughout the movie. In the beginning his allegiances are with the corporation and the General but as the movie progresses and the Jake Sully character develops his opposing roles begin to overlap until finally he must choose a permanent identity.
I think that the avatars in the film function like and unlike personal web pages for their users in a number of ways. Both the avatar and the webpage are a space for the reflexive construction of identity. Many people use their web pages for the exploration of their identity and the re-establishing of it after troubling events that disrupt their lives. To help a person better define their sense of self, multiple, contradictory, and stigmatized identities can be explored on a webpage. In the movie Jake Sully uses his avatar in a similar fashion. His life is disrupted by the loss of his brother and the ability to walk. He uses his avatar to explore himself and then to construct a new self-narrative.
Blog 6
In avatar there is no clearly defined dichotomization of gender by the Na’Vi or the humans like there is in traditional American culture. In some ways there is a conventional separation of male and female. For instance the female Na’Vi gives birth and is slightly more welcoming of outsiders than her male counterparts. However the roles or duties of the Na’Vi aren’t delegated by gender, aside from the Male sovereign and female spiritual leader. Neither hunter nor warrior were gender specific, both connected to the flying creatures in the same way, had nearly the same physique, and are all given the chance to speak as equals in public forum.
The people of earth are dichotomized in a more traditional manner but some characters work against the traditional separation of gender. For example Michelle Rodriguez’s character is one of the best pilots, if not the best pilot in the marines yet is female. In addition Sigourney Weaver is playing a strong and high ranking female character.
A few of the multiple and contradictory identities being played out by Jake Sully in Avatar are his multiple identity of a low ranking Marine who is loyal to his commanding officer, the general, his country, and his employers, the corporation. And contradictory to this complex identity is his new found identity of a disabled person, his identity of a researcher united with the scientists in their cause, and his other new identity that of a Na’Vi. His role and duties as a Marine and as an employee challenge his new identities continuously throughout the movie. In the beginning his allegiances are with the corporation and the General but as the movie progresses and the Jake Sully character develops his opposing roles begin to overlap until finally he must choose a permanent identity.
I think that the avatars in the film function like and unlike personal web pages for their users in a number of ways. Both the avatar and the webpage are a space for the reflexive construction of identity. Many people use their web pages for the exploration of their identity and the re-establishing of it after troubling events that disrupt their lives. To help a person better define their sense of self, multiple, contradictory, and stigmatized identities can be explored on a webpage. In the movie Jake Sully uses his avatar in a similar fashion. His life is disrupted by the loss of his brother and the ability to walk. He uses his avatar to explore himself and then to construct a new self-narrative.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Blog # 5
Blog #5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRbzJ0L1Zn8&feature=related
The object I have chosen for this week’s blog assignment is the Porsche 911 sports car. The specific advertisement that I have selected, which can be found by following the link, supports what Lupton said in the assigned reading regarding a few of the different ideologies about the computer/ user relationship. The ideologies that can be transposed onto the Porsche commercial are the notions of the disembodied computer user and the humanized computer.
In the reading it is mentioned that a popular subject of debate in the computer world is the potential offered by computers for humans to escape the body, that embodiment is often represented as an unfortunate barrier to interaction and that the demands of the fleshly body compel computer users to distract themselves from their pursuit.
In the commercial a young child sits bored in a classroom. He gazes out the window catches a glimpse of the Porsche and becomes completely enamored by its sleek design. Unable to look away the car absorbs his every being. Only an event in the real world is able to bring him back. It is as if he leaves his body but because of his current embodiment, that of a small child who doesn’t own a car, is unable to interact with it. His pursuit is further hindered by the demands of the fleshly body when he is reprimanded by his teacher for not paying attention in class.
He hustles to the Porsche dealership where he is allowed to sit in the car, momentarily escaping his body. I believe this is depicted in the heavy sigh and again when he asks the car salesman for a business card and suggests he will return in 20 years (when he has a new body).
In my example the car takes the place of the computer (the hard textured object) and is depicted in a warm, pristine, almost unearthly quality. Sports cars are typically anthropomorphized as female and in this commercial it is no different. The Porsche is humanized by the child’s reaction in the commercial. He is portrayed as having an irrepressible passion for the car that leaves him basically empty, or at the least unfulfilled without his ultimate companion, the Porsche. Another viewer of this commercial, metagear89 shares my opinion as evidenced in his humorous but still informative comment of, “The kid became a drug dealer and got a Porsche in 10 years instead of waiting 20 years. Sarcastic, but it acknowledges the overwhelming desire for the car that is captured in the portrayal.
The most significant thing I have learned this semester is about the digital divide. The reading that was most informative was:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRbzJ0L1Zn8&feature=related
The object I have chosen for this week’s blog assignment is the Porsche 911 sports car. The specific advertisement that I have selected, which can be found by following the link, supports what Lupton said in the assigned reading regarding a few of the different ideologies about the computer/ user relationship. The ideologies that can be transposed onto the Porsche commercial are the notions of the disembodied computer user and the humanized computer.
In the reading it is mentioned that a popular subject of debate in the computer world is the potential offered by computers for humans to escape the body, that embodiment is often represented as an unfortunate barrier to interaction and that the demands of the fleshly body compel computer users to distract themselves from their pursuit.
In the commercial a young child sits bored in a classroom. He gazes out the window catches a glimpse of the Porsche and becomes completely enamored by its sleek design. Unable to look away the car absorbs his every being. Only an event in the real world is able to bring him back. It is as if he leaves his body but because of his current embodiment, that of a small child who doesn’t own a car, is unable to interact with it. His pursuit is further hindered by the demands of the fleshly body when he is reprimanded by his teacher for not paying attention in class.
He hustles to the Porsche dealership where he is allowed to sit in the car, momentarily escaping his body. I believe this is depicted in the heavy sigh and again when he asks the car salesman for a business card and suggests he will return in 20 years (when he has a new body).
In my example the car takes the place of the computer (the hard textured object) and is depicted in a warm, pristine, almost unearthly quality. Sports cars are typically anthropomorphized as female and in this commercial it is no different. The Porsche is humanized by the child’s reaction in the commercial. He is portrayed as having an irrepressible passion for the car that leaves him basically empty, or at the least unfulfilled without his ultimate companion, the Porsche. Another viewer of this commercial, metagear89 shares my opinion as evidenced in his humorous but still informative comment of, “The kid became a drug dealer and got a Porsche in 10 years instead of waiting 20 years. Sarcastic, but it acknowledges the overwhelming desire for the car that is captured in the portrayal.
The most significant thing I have learned this semester is about the digital divide. The reading that was most informative was:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888
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