Silenced

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/04/05/no-comment-tilly%E2%80%99s-follow-up/
This was the image that caught my eye when I was looking up images of culture jamming and women's health. This t-shirt is sold by a popular chain in the united states. I find it hard to believe that an image like that would be put up with in today's highly outspoken media world. That no one in the company's advertising department flagged this image as offensive is even more astounding.
The feminist movement which happened over thirty years ago was to irradiate the idea of women as the "silent stay at home wife and mother" that is written about in papers like Betty Freidan's "The Problem That Has No Name".  Therefore to see images today that reflect that unwelcome ideal are surprising and unwanted.
The point of this entry is to reference how feminism is still being caught, whether it is done in a positive manner or not. In this case, it is on the negative side, where males continue to hold power over women.

** the text reads "Enjoy the Silence" and in parenthesis under neath "drawing of girl with tape on mouth"
~ Rosebud

Barbie as an Elitist Figure

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2002-12-24-pregnant-doll_x.htm

Before I started this assignment, I had never learned about culture jamming, but that is not to say I had never seen it before.
The first topic that came to mind was an article that I had read in my intro to Women Studies class last year by: Susan Jane Gilman. I like where she references that; "Somewhere, somehow, a message seeped into out consciousness telling us that we weren't good enough to be a bride or model or queen or anything because we weren't pretty enough. And this translated into not smart enough or likable enough, either".
Her two points become even more clearer as she makes references to barbie dolls. The view that if your not society's idea of pretty, then you can't do anything or be anyone important and subsequently this means lack of intelligence.
On the topic of beauty her reference of Barbie as, alien, is interesting. She hits the fact that Barbie was nothing like her or her friends in looks or social standing. "We urban, Jewish, Black, Asian and Latina girls began to realize slowly and painfully that if you didn't look like Barbie, you didn't fit in".
I see that as Mattels marketing flaw. They have made Barbie into an idolized image of the 'ideal feminine beauty' that for most, if not all, of the earths population can not attain.
In a final quote she seals this ideal with; "They ultimately succeed where Hitler failed: They install in legions of little girls a preference for whiteness, for blond hair, blue eyes and delicate features, for an impossible uberfigure, perched eternally and submissively in high heels".
I think that is a powerful statement, and unfortunately far too true in the case of many products for mass consumption today. Which is why her culture jam idea's for a more relatable Barbie are so intriguing. Some of her ideas include; Dinner Roll Barbie, who is significantly larger than Barbie, Bisexual Barbie, Body Piercing Barbie, Butch Barbie, Harley Barbie and a few others. My personal favourite is the anatomiclly correct Barbie called "Our Barbies, Ourselves" which includes information about the female anatomy and the ability to be pregnant.
I like this Culture jam Barbie because she reminds me of Matels attempt of this type when they brought out Barbies friend Midge in the "Happy Family Set", who was pregnant. I was an only child and had always wanted a younger sister, so to be able to act out that scenario as a child was fun and helped my feelings of longing for something I could never have. It was mere weeks after I was gifted the doll that she was pulled from the shelves of all stores. "...some parents think she is a little too real for their children". This is a snippet from the online portion of USA Today magazine of which I have included the link. That quote in a way sums up the idea that Barbie is, literally, untouchable. That she is the perfect women that every girl should strive to be, even though it is nearly impossible to be her. Therefore, Barbie is without a doubt an elitist figure which many have culture jammed.

~ Rosebud

Sorry!!

Sorry everyone this was meant to be posted to Pop Culture!!!
Bakerella

shopdropping part 2

Here are some pics and videos in regards to Shopdropping a form of culture jamming I had trouble uploading before!

Bakerella

Ooops

I forgot to leave my name :P

-- OwlEyes

Barbie Liberation Movement : Culture Jamming for Children?

I had a Barbie when I was younger -- alright I had a lot of Barbie’s plus her horse and pink convertible.  I brushed the hair, picked out the clothes, and used my imagination to see what Barbie would do next. I never had a talking Barbie, but I think the notion of it would undermine my imagination to be free.

The Barbie Liberation Organization (BLO) is a group of artists and activists who decided that a talking Barbie was the last straw. Not only was Barbie masquerading an anorexic figure which young girls could never match and  making “make believe” into a thing of consumerism, now Barbie had a voice-box that would be giggling :

“Math is hard!”

“I love shopping!”

“Will we ever have enough clothes?”

As if Barbie was not a plastic example of our society’s skewed perfection of the “ideal” body, now she was spouting gendered, stereotypical saying.  The BLO wanted to put a stop to this.

The BLO formed in 1989, in hopes of alerting the public to question and change gender stereotypes. This organization was forming in the midst of the 1990s, in the “middle of a culture war” and when “creative dissent once again gaining popularity and artists and activists were often trying to conceive of new ways to rebel against cultural stereotypes and powerful forms like network TV”(Wikipedia). Criticism was hitting its all-time high for Barbie by 1993, as popular culture and academia were picking on the negative stereotype Barbie was portraying. As their first form of protest was to take the similar voice hardware in the Teen Talk Barbie and the G.I Joe action figure and make a swap. Though it sounds simple enough, and the BLO even posted a ‘Do-It-Yourself’ in PDA format so you could print it off and try it yourself. (I tried searching for the link, but it has since been shut down or taken off)

The result? Barbie is yelling “Vengeance is mine!” while G.I. Joe daydreams “Let’s plan our dream wedding!” The BLO placed stickers  reading “call your local news” on the backs of the boxes to make sure that the media got wind of this form of culture jamming. The organization described their action of returning the toys back to the shelves “reverse shoplifting” – the store makes money twice, making what the BLO did in some way ‘legal’.

In the ninja-like way culture jamming occurs, it was impossible to tell how many Barbies and G.I. Joes had been switched; it was also hard to tell how much of the media attention occurred from angry phone calls from consumers or if it was set up by the artists to ensure that their message was heard. It was estimated that 300 to 500 toys were hacked and then returned to the shelves; another report boasted of up to 3,000 dolls having had “surgery” preformed on them and been shipped off to Canada, France and England.

I think the BLO is effective in getting a message across to consumers, but what exactly is that message? End gendered stereotypes? Or was the actions of the BLO seen as a prank to ‘stick it to’ the consumer companies? Mattel and Hasbro brushed off the accusations of perpetuating gender stereotypes, and claimed to be “outrage by the terrorist attack on children”.

Here is a link to a news report about the BLO voice-switch protest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVT4T7OR3iQ

Though this protest happened nearly twenty years ago, it was one of the first outcries against Mattel; I do not agree that this was the best way to get their message across to the public, and that the project is more about a critique about media and television culture at the time rather than against gender stereotypes. However, by switching the overtly masculine and overtly feminine voices of the dolls, children could see through its ridiculous presentation that some things to say were “boy things” while others were “girl things”.

Did this form of protest really work? Does the BLO have feminist undertones in its form of culture jamming?

Star-Schmuck's Coffee House serving elite society coffee to start out their elitest day!

This web cartoon is pretty offensive so just to let people know before clicking!

I love the web cartoon Neurotically Yours, specifically when Foamy the Squirrel rants. When I was thinking about culture jamming, it made me think back to the episodes where the creator animated scenes at the coffee shop Star-Schmuck's Coffee House, which is parodying Star Buck's Coffee House. The videos demonstrate, in satire, that the individual can carry around their unique Star-Schmuck's coffee cup convey a meaning to others that they are trendy and loved by all. The coffee cup is totally a status symbol that you're a sophisticated person to buy a cup of coffee for $5.00! Thus, the customer is a schmuck for buying expensive coffee in which Foamy wants to fight back this coffee house propaganda.

It's funny how at a lot of stores and they offer the customer to use their special store credit card, points card or make a donation within the purchase of whatever before completing a transaction.

That huge 32 ounce coffee cup is so ridiculous. Who really needs that much caffeine? And yet...it's only $15.00!

I thought that it was sad that Foamy now has to buy Star-Schmuck's coffee in the end because they took over all of the local coffee shops within a fifty mile radius from his home.

Now the coffee clerk has to deal with the hipster, emo, punk and indie wannabes (who think they are original and unique) who hang out at the franchise.

It's unfortunate that the coffee clerk conveys the stereotypical gay persona, but yeah...

Electric Erio