Things To Do In Shopping Centres

Behold West Edmonton Mall!
- Two pictures are needed capture this monster of a mall, which rumour has it owns more submarines, at least ones that work, than the entire Canadian military! In another article from Feminism and Cultural Studies, Meaghan Morris puts post-structuralism to use in her look at "the management of space vis-a-vis shopping malls . I'll just get out of the way the fact that this was one of the more challenging reads of the semester. Morris does not make my intellectual quest to engage with semiotics an easy one. The language she uses feels unnecessarily complicated, which frustrates me mostly because I could not understand points that seemed interesting and relevant, at least from what I could decipher. I know Morris looks at the changing functions of shopping malls. She tells us she is most interested in "looking at how particular centres produce and maintain a unique sense of identity, or a myth of identity" How she incorporates feminist analysis into this interest is confusing for me though. She seems to spend much of the article both defending, and defending herself from feminist analysis. While Morris's understanding of duality was easily conveyed either, I was reminded of Ang's, and Minn-ha's discussions of identity and double-consciousness. Miller calls the dual quality of shopping malls "a stirring and seductive tension" Though it's tempting for me to dismiss shopping malls as personifications of capitalism and alienation, Miller is quick to point out some of the ways in which malls foster community. She expands upon this this in bringing a gendered analysis of the private and public nature of women's work as well. "Things to do in Shopping Centres", is not the easiest of reads. It is a piece that I will hopefully go back to at some point with a better understanding of Miller's field. That being said, there were parallels I picked out between Miller's "Things to do in Shopping Centres" , and Ang and Minn-ha, as well as Kenway and Mullen.

On Not Speaking Chinese

In Ien Ang's "On Not Speaking Chinese:Postmodern Ethnicity and the Politics of Diaspora", Ang finds herself on a one-day tour of China's "so-called New Economic Zone". Though the experience Ang writes of is specific to her life, the experience of belonging, or not, easily cuts across language and ethnicity. Reading Ang's exploration of identity and "double-consciousness had a visceral affect on me, more so than most of the other articles we've read. Ang's heritage is Indo-Chinese. Her family's experience of having fled China to Indonesia has helped to define her sense of place and belonging. Neither Indonesian, Chinese, or Western categorically speaking, Ang's experience seems one of dislocation. She is both embarrassed for her Chinese tour guide, and a bit hurt when Ang's Chinese"ness" goes unacknowledged by her. Ang's experience of "not speaking Chinese" is obviously different than mine, but the experience of belonging, or not, is one that I, among most others can relate to. Ang's article speaks to my experience as a "middle-class" welfare recipient. Knowing that I have millionaire grandparents helped me preserve some of amount of personal dignity, in dealings with asshole case-workers, welfare officers, disapproving bank tellers, or grocery store clerks who knew it was cheque day when..., or food bank workers when it wasn't. I could always tell myself that I was better than not only others on welfare, but better than the case workers making $30,000 a year, and the minimum wage earning women at the bank and grocery stores looking down on me, and feeling sorry for my kid. This feeling superiority cultivated out of necessity I'd argue, was always turned completely on its head at fancy family dinners, which frequently ended in yelling matches between myself and family members who'd make derogatory comments about "those people". Those people that scam the system, that have no pride, that won't work, that have more babies to get more money, that take taxi cabs to the food bank... Though not steeped in language per say, there has always been a uncomfortable double-consciousness at work for me. Being in university complicated this identity even more, with my program of choice making it all the more ironic. Similar to Ang's feelings of embarrassment and rejection, my experience of being on, and getting off welfare and being university educated, has made for equal parts guilt and cynicism. It's embarrassing for me on one level, to write about welfare using concepts such as diaspora and social stratification. I resent impressing people. There's no way hell though I prefer cashing my welfare cheque with lowered eyes. This struggle for identity really is the heart of Ang's "On Not Speaking Chinese".

The Beginings of Cultural Studies

In the introduction of Feminism and Cultural Studies, Morag Shiach gives us a brief overview of the fields origins. My joint interest in cultural studies and women's studies makes sense given the parallels and backgrounds of both. That is to say that "there is no single story of cultural studies", or women's studies. Shiach does tell us however, that the field of cultural studies, in Britain at least, developed largely out of polytechnics and adult continuing education. Polytechnics according to Shiach, had "less of an investment in the sanctity of existing academic disciplines because they had less of a stake in the cultural hierarchies that supported them". She also argues that the student demographic was much more varied in terms of age and class than was typical of universities in the 70's and 80's. Does this not sound quite similar to women's studies? According to Shiach however, the field of cultural studies has been slow, and even hostile to feminism and women's studies. Given that Feminism and Cultural Studies was written close to ten years ago, an updated introduction would be interesting to read. The supposed present "crisis in women's studies", would make an update equally interesting. Given the reluctance of other fields, I should perhaps not be too surprised by the marginalization of feminist practice by cultural studies. Nonetheless, the marginalization seems odd, given the parallels. The introduction deals mainly the development of cultural studies in Britain, which is interesting given the growing popularity of cultural studies in the United Kingdom and Australia, despite the mind boggling closure of the Birmingham School (pictured above, and the declining popularity of women's studies in those countries. Almost the opposite however, can be said of cultural studies and women's studies in North America.

"The Everyday Life of Queer Trauma", "Portraits of Grief"

Ann Cvetkovich's article "The Everyday Life of Queer Trauma" was a bit of a mixed bag for me, as was illustrated in the class discussion of the piece. At many points throughout her argument, Cvetkovich convinced me that we have in fact become a trauma and wound obsessed culture. Several years ago I recall a storm of controversy over the inclusion of "PMS" in the CPS (Compendium or Pharmaceutical and Specialties). When objections over this became loud enough, which didn't take long, PMS was declassified as an illness, and taken out of the CPS. Women it seems are particularly susceptible to trauma narratives in our culture. Childbirth is a prime example. Why hospitals run at you with wheelchairs if you walk through the doors and are pregnant is beyond me. They claim insurance, liability..., but it's indicative in my opinion, of a larger cultural perception about women's bodies somehow being inadequate. I might be totally off base here, but it could be argued that the trauma narratives of pregnancy entrench traditional values and nationalism, in much the same way that the trauma narratives of "911" has translated into nationalism and traditional values. Obviously these are quite different, but the everyday trauma of our bodies performing a task for which they were designed has become a substantial trauma that requires standard medical intervention.

Few would argue that "911" was not a major national trauma. It has permeated the American identity so deeply, that it now operates at the level of trauma in everyday life. Many would argue however, as both Cvetkovich and Nancy Miller do to varying degrees, that the national trauma of "911" has been tapped for gain, whether this be for the professional purposes of journalists and reporters, the profit-driven purposes of the media, or politically driven as in the case of Rudy Guilianni's crack at the White House, or most notably by those already in the White House. Journalist Susan Faludi has written about some of these dynamics in her book The Terror Dream. She contends that national trauma of "911" and the "War on Terror" has been used to re-entrench traditional family values by way of nationalism. Nancy Miller discusses the shift in journalism, which came with the day's events and and the aftermath of "911" in her piece "Portraits of Grief". She argues in fact, that a new genre of journalism and reporting has sprung from the disaster. This new genre seeks to both grapple with and export grief. "In the face of a collective disaster , whose scale strained the imagination, the anecdote was seized upon as a form suited to rendering the familiar acts of everyday life".
The complex media narratives which came out of the sea of posters and photographs of those missing from the World Trade Center, framed trauma in terms of the everyday lives of everyday people. The juxtaposition is disorienting however. In searching for an appropriate picture to include with this post, I found myself unable to rationalize putting pictures up of the events, its aftermath, or any of the portraits of grief.

Toy Theory: Black Barbie and the Deep Play of Difference

In this particular article Ann Ducille critiques the past and present ways in which Mattel presents race and gender by way of Ruth Handler's iconic Barbie doll. Not surprisingly Barbie has come under fire by feminists for many years now. Save for Pamela Anderson or Dolly Parton, the physical image of femininity that Mattel pedals is not one that of most women, or something many even aspire to. Although I did not own any Barbies while growing up, mostly on account of my family having been unable to afford them, I have come to the defence of Barbie on more than one occasion academically. To dismiss a doll that millions of girls covet as simply "bad" however could be regarded as quite conservative. Though this tends to both piss off and perplex some of my cohorts, her potentiality as a role model, despite her ridiculous physique, warrants a least a bit of consideration. As argued in class, Barbie could be seen to represent personal and financial independence, female camaraderie, and professional success. She's been a World Cup soccer champion, an astronaut, a doctor, and even a head of state. She is an utterly distorted physical representation of a woman. I'm thinking again of Dolly Parton; an incredibly talented singer, songwriter, and guitar player. She is however, a physical caricature and as such, taken less seriously than her talent warrants. Parton hilariously says of herself however, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."

In "Black Barbie and the Deep Play of Difference" Ducille is less generous in her assessment of Mattel as company, or Barbie as one of their many products. She has many reasons to call out both however. On top of reproducing stereotypes of Caucasion hyper-femininity, Mattel wades into the African American market by first producing a Black Barbie with the identical features of white Barbie. "Coloured Francie" would be hilarious if it wasn't bizarre. During the de-segreation upheaval of the 1960's, it seems plain silly that Mattel asked consumers to embrace Coloured Francie as Barbie's younger cousin. Nothing about the doll's commercial failure is surprising. Later attempts to mass produce stereotypical African American features were no less problematic. Ducille loses tract of the fact that Mattel is gigantic company competing in a cutthroat global market however. I agree with a great many of her arguments regarding race and gender. Her discussion of "Magic Earing Ken" practically had me rolling on the floor in fits of laughter. Despite all of this however, Ducille fails to adequately situate Barbie within a Capitalist market. Although the increasing spending power of African Americans is brought into the discussion, Ducille's analysis lacks a complexity that allows her to move beyond simply faulting Mattel as purveyors of White, patriarchal, Heteronormativity. In light of our ever expanding "global village/market" however, I would be quite curious to see how Ducille would frame the African Barbie series recently created by Mattel. The fetishization of the "exotic African" as is so obviously displayed with the above doll, would no doubt add to the complexity of an analysis and discussion of the (Neo) Colonialist "White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy".

Devouring Theory

Devouring Theory looks at the beginnings and steady rise of consumerism in the West. At what point did we start buying things just for the hell of it, rather than out of necessity? According to Jane Kenway and Elizabeth Bullen, this new consumerer ideology was facilitated by the industrial revolution, the printing press,and the opening of Paris's Bon Marché in 1869 (pictured left). Bon Marché was seen as both "a reflection of an encroaching bourgeois culture and a vehicle for the construction of a modern culture of mass consumption which would increasingly affect all social classes" Department Stores and shopping malls helped to usher in era, which gives life meaning through consumable "things"

Kenway and Bullen further their discussion in elaborating over the contentious concept of high culture. While I'm unsure as to whether or not they see the concept of "high culture"as problematic, there are others, such as bell hooks who have taken issue with the term. I'd like to expand upon an earlier post I wrote on second-hand style in response to their understanding of high culture. Kenway and Bullen argue that high class is a matter of good taste. To have good taste they contend, is to move away from the body, away from things of necessity. Cultivating the fine distinctions of taste however, "is a disciplined and difficult educational process. So too is learning the unemotional and detached bodily department, which accompanies the performance of good taste."
Devouring Theory looks at the beginnings and steady rise of consumerism in the West. At what point did we start buying things just for the hell of it, rather than out of necessity? According to Jane Kenway and Elizabeth Bullen, this new consumerer ideology was facilitated by the industrial revolution, the printing press,and the opening of Paris's Bon Marché in 1869 (pictured left). Bon Marché was seen as both "a reflection of an encroaching bourgeois culture and a vehicle for the construction of a modern culture of mass consumption which would increasingly affect all social classes" Department Stores and shopping malls helped to usher in era, which gives life meaning through consumable "things"

Kenway and Bullen further their discussion in elaborating over the contentious concept of high culture. While I'm unsure as to whether or not they see the concept of "high culture"as unproblematic, there are others, such as bell hooks who have taken issue with the term. I'd like to expand upon an earlier post I wrote on second-hand style in response to their understanding of high culture. Kenway and Bullen argue that high class is a matter of good taste. To have good taste they contend, is to move away from the body, away from things of necessity. Cultivating the fine distinctions of taste however, "is a disciplined and difficult educational process. So too is learning the unemotional and detached bodily department, which accompanies the performance of good taste." Tom Wolfe and Angela Carter, argue that dressing second-hand style subconsciously/consciously patronizes the working class and poor who dress second-hand out of necessity rather than style. I can't say I disagree with Wolfe's or Carter's assessment. The discussion of high culture by Kenway and Bullen however, has me wondering what else might be at play with respect to second-hand style. If cultivating good taste is a disciplined and difficult educational process, could it be that second-hand style-middle-class-high-culture kids are trying to connect, to break out of the unemotional, detached bodily department inherited from their parents? Style is a way of constructing person hood, and maybe second-hand style is a means of trying to break out of an already constructed person hood. Kenway and Bullen go on to discuss the idea of race as style,and argue that "white culture's nostalgic insistence on Black authenticity blocks Black people's claim to the economic capital, which again has me thinking about the above. Kenway and Bullen conceptualize Black culture as more community oriented than the private practices of white culture. While bell hooks speaks forcefully about the white commodification of Blackness in her article "Eating the Other", I wonder how much the middle-class consumption of rap music has to do with also trying to break out of the restraints of high culture:isolated individualism, and unemotional detachment.

"Remembering Well": Sexual Practice as a Practice of Remebering

Kate Bride's article on sexual practice as a practice of remembering looks at the Cawthra Park AIDS memorial in Toronto's 519 district.

"The AIDS Memorial is for the naming of names. The devastations of the epidemic can get lost in statistics. The Memorial, while only listing a small proportion of the people who have died, stands as a symbol of the fight against AIDS, particularly within the communities hardest hit. The AIDS Memorial is a place for grief, healing and remembering. It counters the silencing and denial, the isolation and rejection, that so often marks the experience of People Living With HIV and AIDS."(www.the519.org)

At night, the park in which the memorial is built becomes a venue for public sex, particularly among gay men. Because of much of the public’s awareness and disapproval, the park is a heavily policed in both its design, and by police and concerned neighbourhood resident. Spotlights have been added, and trees and bushes cut down in attempts to discourage public sex in the park. Bride explores the political meanings of the AIDS memorialization, the park's policing, and the practice of the predominantly gay public sex. She explores the gay communities response to the trauma and loss of HIV and AIDS, and suggests that the practice of public sex by the gay community, and even the practice of unprotected public sex, may in fact be a way of remembering. Similar to certain critiques of memorials to the holocaust, Bride asks whether or not memorial sites diminish our memories in that they remember for us. Ultimately Bride argues that no they cannot.With respect to the AIDS epidemic, Bride asks us to ask what it is "we want to remember and how". Public sex may very well be one of these ways.

Second-Hand Dresses and the Role of the Ragmarket

Angela McRobbie takes the opportunity in chapter eight of Postmodernism: Popular Culture, to look at the cultural relevance of second-hand style or 'vintage dresses'. Naturally I was quite excited by this, given my love and dedication to vintage clothing. McRobbie contends that the act of buying and the process of looking and choosing remain relatively unexamined in the academic field of cultural analysis, and gives several convincing explanations for this. The first being that the act of shopping in and of it's self, has been seen as a feminine activity. A such it's tended to be thought of as a private activity, part of the private sphere if you will. McRobbie charges "contemporary feminism has been slow to challenge the early 1970's orthodoxy which saw women as slaves to consumerism". I'd like to come back to this in a moment. McRobbie gives attention to the "sub-cultures" that create street style, arguing that designers take their cues from the young, working class, and poor; re-package their styles and creations, and sell it back to the middle, and upper classes at exorbitant cost. Pissed off working class punk kids could not have foreseen Doc Martins selling for over $200! She references writers Tom Wolfe and Angela Carter, who both regard second-hand style as an unconsciously patronizing response to those who 'dress down' because they have to. Lord knows I roll my eyes at the sight of art stars slumming it in north end Halifax. The idea of "playing at poor" however is more complex than Carter or Wolfe concedes. McRobbie draws attention to some of the in betweens. She contends that the cross-section of those who dress second hand style is broadening, and gives rising unemployment and young single mothers as examples of this diversification. While I don’t disagree with Wolfe, Carter, or McRobbie, I'd argue that lots of poor and working class people, paradoxically dress second-hand style in order to look like they have money.

In looking for images to include with this post, I came across the Posh Girl Vintage Clothing Internet store. I found their logo and accompanying "couture to street style" slogan very interesting, and telling of my above point. Couture to street style vintage turns the criticism of street style to couture completely on its head. One of the Posh Vintage store dresses I clicked on was $945! Growing up in solidly lower/working class family, I saved up forever to buy a pair of $200 Doc Martin's; the original staple of working-class punk rock kids. When I was 13, my family had the surprise blessing and curse of moving into an upper middle class neighborhood, where everyone my age had these stupid shoes. I tore my jeans, put holes in my tights, and shopped second-hand so that I might look like I had money. I could not for the life of me understand why this upset my mother. In a sense it was like trying to beat them at their own game.

McRobbie discusses the argument that everything old is new again out of nostalgia and melancholy for the past. The future is as bleak as the present is boring. Perhaps there is truth in this, but I'd argue as McRobbie does, that youth also deconstruct and reinvent the past, and present with vintage and second-hand style. When I got a bit older my tastes in second-hand style shifted from menswear and punk, to 1930's and 1950's clothing. I'm not so much playing with poor now, as I am versions of femininity. I could probably spend days analyzing why I'm drawn consciously and unconsciously to this, but I'm not going to. I While I might not be able to fully articulate it, there is without a doubt, a deconstruction of feminity and gender at work if you happen to catch me traipsing around in a poofy pink party dress.

Dreamworlds: Desire, Sex and Power in Music Videos

Sut Jhally's educational film Dreamworlds was a hard watch for just about everone in class I'd wager. Utterly depressing really, watching half naked women have lunch meats thrown at their asses. As if I needed a reason to loath Fred Durst anymore than I already did. Jhally's assertion that the gaze of music videos is that of the standard male adolescent fantasy is certainly an astute observation that I'd not put together before. How I failed to notice is something given that I've seen the video for "Stacey's mom has got it going on" on more than one occassion. Nevertheless, the overwhelming mysogyny, which permeates music video industry is all but impossible to miss. Jhally's observations on rap videos were particularly thought provoking. It was interesting to watch a Biggie Smalls dvd the other day with these thoughts in mind. The dvd contains videos from the early 90's, when rap music really started to pick up in popularity. The videos are standard hiphop fare, it's just that they are the first of their kind, pioneers if you will. The amateur nature of them however, shows just how formulaic rap videos generally are. While I was in agreance with much of Jhally's discussion of race and capitalism in the music industry, I was left wondering to what extent rap artists like N.W.A., Two Live Crew, and 50 cent, should shoulder responsibility for this crap they make money off of. I know the people who get real paid from this stuff are rich white guys, but there's no absolving Sir Mix A Lot's "I Like Big Butts" on account of David Geffen. I'll reserve my harshest criticism however for Fred Durst and Justin Timberland, who routinely mix disturbing violence against women in their videos with regular run of the mill misogyny. In stringing together all of these images, Dreamworlds illustrates that the desire, sex, and power in musics videos is that of men, or more specifically young men and adolescent boys.

Yo Mika! What's the big idea?

If other blog postings on Mika are any indication of what I can expect by way of comments on him, I'm turning the comments option off.
Oh Mika, are you are victim of the time like the poor old Billy Brown you sing of? If you're unfamiliar with this budding U.K. pop star, turn your radio on for a bit. I've chosen to muse a bit about him here for a few reasons. Firstly, I adore him! I'm not entirely sure if I can discern this adoration of his sugary sweet music from his sugary sweet good looks though. Frankly I don't care. Of this I am sure; although a whole lot of us would like to claim Mika for our own daydreaming purposes, he does not seem to piss off "straight folk" nearly as much as he does "gay folk".

The issue: The ambiguous, campy performer has notoriously refused to confess to the world whether or not he is gay or straight. To repeated questions of his sexuality, Mika has responded that there are other ways to discuss sexuality outside the typical gay/straight dichotomy. No one seems to have considered asking him if he identifies as anything outside of this. Not that he would answer anyways. Even though Mika's ambiguity frustrates many, he has a substantial gay fan base. As a result he has been on the cover of several prominent gay magazines in the U.K. Despite this, Mika continues to insist that he owes no one an explanation about his sexuality.

On the flip side Mika's flamboyancy annoys the hell out of at least a few straight men I know. He makes gay lots of gay men down right angry though! Mika's is a cowardly closeted gay man. He's an affront to the struggles and injustices suffered by the gay community. He's a public figure ashamed of himself, who sets a miserable, and dangerous example for young closeted gay boys and men too. There are a couple of songs on his cd such as Billy Brown though, that make this "traitor to gay men"argument weak in my opinion. Songs like Billy Brown compel others however to accuse Mika of being a savvy straight musician exploiting the gay community with catchy, campy tunes, his coyness and fabulous hair, for maximum record profits. Both agree on one thing at least: this post-gay business is kind of insulting and boring. Anyhow, Mika's sexuality has never come up in class, so my choice in musing about it all might be questionable topic for this forum. I just find it interesting in light of much of the class' content on identity. I mused for a bit myself on Mika's sexuality when first hearing his music. I watched all kinds of interviews and music videos before resolving that I in fact had a shot with Mika on account of him actually being straight and misunderstood. That was before his postmodern musings on sexuality. Why does it matter anyway? We can't seem to cope with being denied the right to construct boxes for people, especially when this comes to sexuality. I don't think Mika's ashamed of his sexuality, a shrewed business man, or "post-gay". I think he's a awesomely weird musician/performer uninterested in conforming to cultural norms with either his music or sexuality. Relax, Take it Easy!

Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

"I'm trying to remember a cheeky quote for this spot"


No matter how many times I've viewed this film for various classes, and this has been no less than half a dozen times, I thoroughly enjoy both the interviews, and utterly kitchy, over-the-top acting, time and time again. It's a testament to the women's stories and the film makers' talents, and sense of humor, that Forbidden Love has become such a classic in such a short amount of time. In Montreal a short time ago, my partner and I hopelessly wandered around the city for hours trying to find the world famous St. Viateur's bagel shop. Frustrated, cranky and hungry, I kept thinking about the illusive Greenwhich Village Lesbians from the film, and laughing my head off. In a most hilarious manner Forbidden Love explores issues of identity, whether this be straight, gay, butch or femme, or Greenwhich Village lesbian. Lesbian and gay communities of previous generations garner little attention, and are mostly invisible to the majority of Canadians. Women seem to become more and more invisible as they age in our culture as well. Hearing the stories of lesbian women in Canada from the 1940's, 50's and 60's is therefore doubly illuminating. While I struggle to imagine the inhospitality of this time and place for lesbian women, those interviewed look back for the most part, with an almost mischievous fondness and sense of humor at their subversion of the norm. Several of the women discuss the police raids in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto, the general harassment, and family dynamics. There are genuinely heartbreaking moments in these interviews. There is tone however, that seems absent from much of the discussion today, at least as far as I can tell.

As I write this though, I am struck by the potential parallels of second-wave feminism and Women's Studies as discussed in the book Troubling Women's Studies. Was there more of a cohesiveness and solidarity for lesbians in the 40's, 50's and 60's? In my written response to Troubling Women's Studies I saw this largely as an idealization of history, as well as a generational gap. As Women's Studies moves farther away from the margins, defining ourselves as oppositional becomes harder and harder to do. Our identities become more fragmented, which I argue is a good thing. It would be interesting to explore literature on the parallels, and differences among shifting identities within GLBT communities as well. I have gotten somewhat of track in my discussion of Forbidden Love, but ultimately the film is also identity. Wonder where those Greenwich Village lesbians were hiding out anyways?

It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

When I was 13 the radio station called me to ask what the last song they'd played on the radio was. It was one of the familiar advertising strategies discussed in the film Advertising and the End of the World. Listen to Oz fm for tickets to Bon Jovi in L.A., Airmiles, Diner's Club, ect. As a loyal listener I knew the answer and this won me $1000. It's The End of The World As We Know It and I Feel Fine-R.E.M. When my Canadian Savings Bond matured I spent it all on a whole lot of nothing, surprisingly quick. Focusing on the bombardment of commercial images we're exposed to daily, Sut Jhally's film speaks to this overwhelming need to consume. While the film's message is inherently depressing Jhally reminds us how hard companies have to work to sell continuously their products to us. If Coca-Cola is any indication of how hard companies work, and how much money they spend to keep reinventing and selling the wheel, I'd say Jhally is right on the $$$.

Brand portfolio

Name	Launched	Discontinued	Notes	Picture
Coca-Cola	1886			Mexico
Coca-Cola Cherry	1985
Coca-Cola with Lemon	2001	2005	Still available in: American Samoa, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Korea, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Reunion, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, United States, and West Bank-Gaza
Coca-Cola Vanilla	2002	2005	Still available in: Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand (600ml and 350ml only) and Russia It was reintroduced in June of 2007 by popular demand
	2007
Coca-Cola C2	2004	2007	Was only available in Japan, Canada, and the United States.
Coca-Cola with Lime	2005
Coca-Cola Raspberry	June 2005	End of 2005	Only was available in New Zealand.
Coca-Cola M5	2005		Only available in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Brazil
Coca-Cola Black Cherry Vanilla	2006	Middle of 2007	Was replaced by Vanilla Coke in June of 2007
Coca-Cola Blāk	2006		Only available in the United States, France, Canada, Czech Republic, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria
Coca-Cola Citra	2006		Only available in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mexico, New Zealand and Japan.
Coca-Cola Light Sango	2006		Only available in France.
Coca-Cola Orange	2007		Only available in United Kingdom and Ireland

I found Jhally's discussion of the ways that advertisers use magic to sell products incredibly interesting, particularly in relation to the ways in which women's bodies are used to sell not even products, but happiness. In thinking about the articles on romance novels however, the degree to which we are affected by them, and our agency within this equation. Although Jhally shows us the great lengths advertisers must go to as proof of our resilience, he also paints a fairly bleak picture with respect to the awesome global forces of capitalism. It would seem that Jhally is using primarily Marxist media theory, whereas Light and Radway draw heavily on psychoanalytical theory. Thus they appear to come to different conclusions on the topic of personal agency and transformation.

Trashy Romance Novels?

"She wants to talk to me about "Suzy gets saved by a Cowboy" as if it were "Pride and Prejudice."

-Jane Radway's 'Romance and the Work of Fantasy', and Alison Light's 'Returning to Manderley' were really interesting rebukes to the dogmatic critiques of trashy romance novels. In a piece I recently wrote in defense of Barbi, I too challenge that fantasy can provide liberatory spaces and shifting identities, which may or may not be within our reach or best interests outside of fantasy worlds. Rather than dismiss romance novels or Barbies on ideological grounds it might be more useful to assess them from many angles, or as Light suggests left, and right-wing moralism. Both authors extensively site Daphne du Marier's 1938 novel 'Rebecca' as a precursor to the Harlequin romance novel. Having never read 'Rebecca, some of Radway's references were completely lost on me. Obviously I should have read Light before Radway. In reading Light as well as a bit of outside reading on 'Rebecca' I was struck by some of the similarities to F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby', which is quite possibly one of my all time favorite books. The above lusty cowboys and Pride and Prejudice remarks were slightly funny to me in light of the fact that I spent my Friday night last week swooning over Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy in the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice for over four hours. I love the book and movie. Either one, I prefer to absorb myself in Austin's commentary on social class, gender, and love, in my own company. Pride and Prejudice is many things encapsulated in an absolute romance novel.

It's interesting to note that neither Light nor Radway mention the wildly popular genre of pulp fiction, which precluded the Harlequin romance novel by ten to twenty years. What gives?

Colonialism and Soap

-I've always thought that Pears soap being appointed by the Queen was kind of classy and weird at the same time. The 'Soft Soaping Empire:Commodity Racism and Imperial Advertising' was a fascinating read for me in that it made obvious what I'd not been able to piece together with respect to my suspicions about this brand of aristocratic grocery store soap. Anne McClintock's take on the relationship between soap and early imperialist advertising, colonialism and the cult of domesticity is truly interesting. While her argument makes perfect sense, I could not help but notice some glaring historical omissions. In light of class conversions on the role of inter-disciplinarity in women's studies however, I'm unsure as to whether I should really taking fault with these. That being said, I just can't get past the fact that an article on imperial advertising, colonialism , and the cult of domesticity would fail to at least passingly mention religion. The Reformation bears a huge responsibility for the cult of domesticity and for the popularity of evangelical missionaries. In light of that ultimate prize both catholics and protestants were busy converting the primitives into Christians. Pictured here is the early 20th century African missionary Ora Lovelace, and a late 19th century graduating class of missionaries. Incidently the name of the website these pictures are taken from is called Global Ventures, which kind of sounds like a fun and exciting safari if you ask me.


McClintock's piece is not on religion so I'm unsure as to how to feel about what I think is a glaring historical omission. Also, in making her case for the popularity of soap McClintock makes no mention of the overcrowded British slums and factories, both of which were a threat to the ruling class' sensibilities. While an in depth exploration of these issues was not the goal of 'Soft-Soaping Empire', I remain unconvinced that they were not key factors and thus worthy of mention.

Colours of the world: Spice Up Your Life

-bell hooks' essay 'Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance' is definitely a blunt critique of white culture's continued infatuation with Blackness. Arguing that profit driven use of Black images is used to generate and satisfy our hunger for different cultural experiences, hooks regards this as modern colonialism. I have to agree with her, but this leaves me wondering what the hell I'm supposed to do with my Wu-Tang and Biggie Smalls cds? Having provided me with hours of listening enjoyment they now cause me a certain level of internal strife. Do I really like it? How would I know? On what grounds? Whether it's the "positive" intellectual hip-hop artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli or Lupe Fiasco or the slightly edgier Jay-Z, or the super ganstas, hooks is right, much to my embarrassment: I can spice it up with Black culture without ever having to engage. I love all of the above musicians though, a lot! Even if it does embarrass me to admit however, consuming rap/hip hop, and there's meaning in that distinction, does kind of add to one's hipsterishness. The same can be said for art-stars; the avant-guard falling over themselves for Jean-Baptiste Basquait is case in point. As I deconstruct my cd collection though, I'm left wondering if it's possibility of operating from the margins that draws me in. Kanye West looked straight into the television cameras during the fundraiser for victims of hurricane Katrina and said "George Bush does not care about Black people" I couldn't even believe it. Kanye West said what everyone already knew, but wouldn't or couldn't say, and this made me cry.

In honour of the Spice Girls reunion tour (insert sarcasm) I pulled up this picture. hooks' assertion of colonialism and primitivism is fairly evident. Scary Spice is looking pretty wild, what with the hair, head to toe animal print, and ...the roaring? Why is she called Scary Spice anyway?

My following of the Democrat nomination is a bit out of hand considering I'm not American, but there is something about the way it's playing out that compels me to stay up until 5am to see who wins California. My issue is not with either of the candidates per say, but with the media and cultural representations of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. For instance, what do white people mean when they say that Obama transcends race? Does he transcend his Blackness? I haven't heard any Black supporters say he transcends race? It seems to me that Obama represents a shot at redemption at home and abroad.
He presents a remarkable skin color for the rest of the world to admire." — Steve Scheibel, 51, voted for Barack Obama.
Comments such as these are abundant in the newspapers and internet, and they really do give pause in the face of hooks' theories on the commodification of Blackness.