Justine Sacco Is A Prime Example of How Twitter Can Ruin Lives

Social media acts as a powerful tool to keep thousands and thousands of people plugged in to the most recent and popular trends happening worldwide. With social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Imgur, etc. that act as online platforms for modes of self presentation and sociability through sharing information, photographs, public opinions, etc., it is no surprise that they hold a lot of social power. What I mean by this is that social media interactions have the ability to make or break a person through social appraisal or social shaming.

The social media site Twitter allows for thousands to quickly share 140 character posts known as "tweets." For one tweeter, Justine Sacco, after posting several outrageous Twitter updates, she finally realized the weight that words on social media hold. While the tweet she's most publicly known for sparked outrage for seemingly glorifying white privilege, I feel it necessary to share some of her other outrageous tweets to give you all a better sense of her character, courtesy of BuzzFeed.

1. The tweet that started it all:

Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) December 20, 2013

2.

@realestSmiller Stoler says hi. We’re not into rubbing fish unless it’s masturbation
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) October 1, 2011

3.

As I sit and eat a bagel with lox, i would like to send love to my jews who are all starving themselves right now. #hungryhungryhebrews
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) October 8, 2011

4.

I don’t understand why this ugly chick from England has become such an inspiration.
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) April 18, 2009

5.

Someone get the rape kit ready for Tom Brady. Go Giants! #SuperBowl
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) February 5, 2012

6.

why is kelly osbourne giving fashion advice at the #Oscars? #notqualified #everyoneontelevisionisretarded
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) February 26, 2012

7.

Maybe what I really am, Is wanting AIDS #GIRLS
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) April 23, 2012

8.

In #NY, crazy men say “marry me gorgeous.” In #London they say “you filthy cunts” cc: @kzarem@Leigh_Barratt
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) December 4, 2012

9.

#Santa-con is completely retarded.
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) December 15, 2012

10.

I can’t be fired for things I say while intoxicated right?
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) January 30, 2013

11.

Just thanked Gov Cuomo for supporting #womensrights. Need to stop geeking out over politicians that love abortions. Cc: @Steinand2
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) June 7, 2013

12.

Thanks @GMA for the @okcupid segment. Might have to change my body type to “used up” also. http://t.co/lvX63ILPKs
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) October 2, 2013

13.

I just feel like @jimmyfallon would be such a grateful lover
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) October 3, 2013

14.

Similar to Luda, I also have hoes in different area codes. #cannes #london
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) October 7, 2013

15.

“Weird German Dude: You’re in first class. It’s 2014. Get some deodorant.” -Inner monologue as I inhale BO. Thank god for pharmaceuticals.
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) December 20, 2013

16. And the award for classiest tweet of all time goes to…

I had a sex dream about an autistic kid last night. #fml
— Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) February 24, 2012

 

Here is the link to the quotes on BuzzFeed if you'd like to check out more of their posts:

  16 Tweets Justine Sacco Regrets

 

The post we will be focusing on for the purpose of the post is the blog post about white people not getting AIDS. While some of the tweets mentioned above don't come off as offensively as this one, some seem downright ignorant. I personally feel that Justine probably intended to come off in a more satirical way, which as mentioned before is diminishing a subject by making it sound ridiculous and trying to evoke attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation. Unfortunately, the only one who was left feeling scorned was Sacco herself.

A New York Times article posted by Jon Ronson that I've just recently read primarily discusses Sacco's posts while traveling to South Africa and the backlash she received that costed her not only her job, but her life as she knew it. People responded by tweeting messages such as:

 

 “We are about to watch this @JustineSacco bitch get fired. In REAL time. Before she even KNOWS she’s getting fired,"

 And

“How did @JustineSacco get a PR job?! Her level of racist ignorance belongs on Fox News. #AIDS can affect anyone!”

In the article, Ronson interviews Sacco a couple times following the post that made her Twitter famous. Having previously been a perpetrator of people that posted highly disliked posts himself, Ronson had a change of heart and seemed to defend Sacco's position in the name of removing internet bullying. I think it's important to note first that I whole-heartedly disagree with publicly humiliated others. Justine herself suffered from PTSD, depression, and anxiety following public backlash from her post. However, I do feel that that shouldn't mean that people such as Justine should get entirely let off the hook.

For example, Alicia Ann Lynch, a woman that Sacco identified her experience with, was publicly bashed for tweeting this photo of her Halloween costume as a Boston marathon runner:

Photos and posts such as these ones posted by Lynch and Sacco are incredibly offensive. Obviously in the case of the Halloween costume, people that have a personal connection with the tragedy may be hurt or highly offended by the "joke." Ronson's article seems to let Sacco off the hook a bit too easily, claiming that she is guilty of making poorly thought-through jokes. However, a good question to ask before posting something on social media should be: is there any way that this would be perceived as offensive or hurtful? If so, I highly disagree with being able to pass it off as a joke. With social media being a public platform where boundaries are more easily pushed, I feel that it is important to educate yourself on an issue before posting about it in a way that may draw the wrong type of attention. And while I disagree with publicly shaming someone such as the cases of Alicia Lynch and Justine Sacco, I feel that it is necessary to respectful share some education in order to minimize social media catastrophes such as this one. Remember, social networking sites connect thousands of people that are sharing media instantly and simultaneously; post responsibly!

If you are interested in reading Jon Ronson's article about how Twitter ruined Justine Sacco's life you can find it here:

how one stupid tweet ruined justine saccos life

Comment with any suggestions, opinions, questions, or concerns. Thanks!

Contemporary Advertisements: Post-Racial or Racist?

In today's society a good majority of people believe that we live in a 'post-racial' society. It seems that many commercials nowadays don't fear pushing the boundaries in order to make that point. While the mass media is frequently accused of avoiding tough issues such as that of race, many commercials now seem to perpetuate racism through representing ethnic stereotypes. Multicultural media portrays racial and ethnic minorities more in commercials today due to the higher brand loyalty among minority groups and their growing buying power. While I don't acknowledge the existence of 'post-racial' advertising, as there is no way for us to ignore one's race within an interaction, these racialized commercials shared in a Huffington Post article last October seem to speak on the continuous racialization and racism occurring worldwide through the perpetuation of racial stereotypes:

Racist Stereotypes Huffington Post

Many commercials cast minority characters and play music representative of ethnic groups to portray diversity. Given this fact however, many commercials such as the six mentioned in the article posted above are perpetuating racist stereotypes such as the liquor commercials where Caucasian shoppers are shown speaking what is known as black vernacular English. Showing diversity does not provide a free pass to culturally appropriate or reinforce racial stereotypes that work to further marginalize people of color.

Below are a few magazine advertisements that show this 'post-racial' or rather racist means of trying to reach the multicultural buying group that has the highest brand loyalty: minorities.

Dove Asks Women to Be Beautiful and Not Average

Recently, Dove released a new television commercial where women were given the option to walk between two doors: one marked "beautiful," the other marked "average." Most women walked through the door marked 'average' but then towards the end of the video women decided to identify as 'beautiful' instead walking through that door. This video has caused quite a bit of controversy recently. 

Here is the video:

While some critics think that the video is 'patronizing,' others see the video as uplifting and empowering to women. One fact important to note is that since Dove has started its "Campaign For Real Beauty" that it sales have gone from $2.5 to $4 million. This makes me wonder whether or not Dove's intentions are to promote an idea of natural beauty or rather if this "campaign" isn't just a clever advertising scheme to get women to spend more money on Dove products. While I am still on the fence about the true intentions of Dove, I think it is important to discuss the role of advertising in the media.

Advertising is known as the "driver of mass media." Today advertisements have the power to influence what shows will remain on television and which ones will not. The goal of advertisements is to produce material that attracts the largest amount of viewers, rather than alienating any one group. The messages must have a high appeal and must not be controversial, unpleasant, or distressing.

The mass media is frequently accused of ignoring people of color or treating them in stereotypical ways. In this and other Dove commercials, women of various different races and ethnic backgrounds have been portrayed. The 'natural' look of the women also helps to promote the message that women look beautiful the way they are, naturally. This multicultural media aids in Dove's profits due to the fact that brand loyalty is higher among minority groups. 

So, this brings me back to the question: is Dove really trying to promote natural beauty, or is there a profit-driven motive behind these commercials? While I cannot say for sure, I think it is an interesting issue to delve into more. Here is another commercial where Dove promotes multicultural diversity in order to promote a product. 

Do you think that Dove is just promoting natural beauty and diversity for profitability? Check out the videos and this article and decide for yourself. Leave your opinions, comments, questions in the comment section!

https://fortune.com/2015/04/15/why-doves-choose-beautiful-campaign-sparked-a-backlash/

A Lack of Cultural Competence in the Media: When's Enough Enough?

 Following my last blog post about cultural appropriation, I would like to speak about cultural competence. Cultural competence is a way of behaving in light of a person or people from another group, whether it be a religious group, ethnic group, gendered group, or group based on sexual orientation. Cultural competence is the act of acknowledging differences and similarities between one's own values, norms, customs, history, and institutions and that of other groups of people. Being culturally competent involves acknowledging any comforts or discomforts between said groups, and understanding their own biases towards or against particular groups of people while recognizing the impacts of discrimination, oppression, and stereotyping. Unfortunately, our media today is not very culturally competent as I have already shown through music videos displaying cultural appropriation or the taking of elements of another cultural group without permission causing a detriment to said group.

Just recently, Kylie Jenner was under fire for what seemed to be photographs of her in "black-face." Black-face was used in minstrel shows in the pre-antebellum period (and still seen today) when Caucasian actors and actresses would paint their faces black with burnt corks, and draw on large red or white lips in order to mimic what the stereotypical African-Americans looked like at the time. This was used in order to reinforce the idea of black people as dehumanized animals, in order to maintain social inequality.

Here is the photo that Kylie Jenner posted, and later removed after heavy criticism for the elements of black-face.


While it may seem like an innocent photo-shoot, the darkened skin-tone and overly-dramatized larger lips (an element of black-face) seem to mimic the old "art" form of minstrelsy.

Another example of a lack of cultural competence is singer Katy Perry's use of cultural "costumes" in several of her music videos. This is problematic due to the fact that she is acting on behalf of a cultural group that she is not a part of, and misrepresenting it at that through stereotypical images that have been used in the US media.

Here are a few examples of Katy Perry's lack of culture competence:

In order to make sure you are being culturally competent, you should ask yourself a few questions:
1. Is there any reason to believe that my actions would be perceived as racist or discriminatory?
2. Am I displaying a racial/gender/religious (etc) stereotype?
3. Would my actions be hurtful to another group of people?

By trying to be sensitive to other groups, we can increase cultural competence and reduce negative portrayals or appropriation or other groups. This does not mean that you should not partake in learning about another cultural group, but through invitation and respectful observation, or practice, you can learn about a group of people without misrepresenting their group in the mainstream. It is their history, their culture, their voices that need to be heard, and so we should remain respectful, and let them tell their own stories. Cultural competence is key to reducing stereotypes, discrimination, and oppression. I highly encourage reflecting on your own beliefs and attitudes to make sure that you are practicing cultural competence.

Article on Kylie Jenner's Instagram Photo:
https://www.yahoo.com/tv/s/kylie-jenner-defends-questionable-instagram-165500386.html

Cultural Appropriation: Twerking, Geishas, and Harajuku Girls

 Cultural appropriation as defined by Fordham University Law Professor Susan Scafidi as:

“Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts

from someone else's culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture's dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. It's most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g. sacred objects.”

While this seems like a mouth full to remember, it is crucial to understand the importance of cultural appropriation which has been going on for decades. I must admit that I too once found cultural appropriation to be a good thing, not realizing how detrimental it was and still is to other marginalized cultural groups. With the belief that we live in a post-racial society, it seems appropriate to explore, share, and imitate (or show appreciation to) another group's culture through expressing it ourselves. However, this may not be the case. While we live in a country immersed in several different culture's from around the world, our treatment of those cultural groups is very important. Even in this day and age, many minority groups feel disrespected by Caucasian artists that have used aspects of their culture in order to express their own artistic visions. When thinking about it that way, it almost seems like theft of cultural ideas and practices. With artists such as Miley Cyrus twerking, Gwen Stefani's obsession with Harajuku Japan, and Katy Perry dressing up as a geisha, several minority groups have felt mimicked and insulted by either misrepresentations of their culture, or even worse, white artists receiving credit for an oppressed group of peoples' cultural art forms.

Below is an interesting article that briefly discusses the mentioned artists and the historical significance of cultural appropriation; for example, did you know that rock 'n roll  music began in African-American culture and was made popular without credit to the African-Americans that started the trend? Feel free to check out the article post below as well as a few videos that exhibit cultural appropriation at the hands of the dominant white artists that seem to make these disrespectful mockeries and theft of culture popular in the mainstream. Feel free to leave your own opinions, comments, questions, and concerns below.

http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/WhatIsaStereotype.htm

Latina Stereotypes in ABC's Modern Family

I have to admit first and foremost that Modern Family, which airs on ABC, is probably my favorite show. Being an avid fan and owner of most of the seasons on DVD, it is hard for me to make an argument against the show for the flaws it presents in representing marginalized groups. However, it would be against my general beliefs to ignore a misrepresentation and stereotyping of a marginalized group in our society, namely the Latino population. With the exception of Colombian character Gloria and her son Manny, the main cast of Modern Family is entirely Caucasian and heterosexual. While I won't be getting into the fairly stereotypical homosexual representation of couple Cameron and Mitchel, some light must be shed on the representation of Latinos through Gloria's family.

While Gloria is known for making jokes about her "village" from time to time on the show, it wasn't until a particular episode of the show where critics were up in arms about the overly stereotypical role of Latinos that migrate from other countries. The show seems to portray Gloria and especially son Manny as culturally assimilating into US culture-which involves giving up one's original cultural identity and moving into the full participation of a new culture. While this is seen more in Manny, Gloria, her mother, and sister Sonia seem to represent their culture back home in Colombia. Herein lies the problem for viewers of the episode 'Fulgencio' when Jay and Gloria have just had their son.

A Huffington Post article discussed the outrage as critics made statements of anger towards comments made by Sonia about washing clothes in the river, or harvesting vegetables from their garden, very stereotypical images we as Americans may image of less developed countries. Whether or not the writers have intentionally perpetrated "ignorant" stereotypes is a question that may depend of differing perspectives of audience members.

Below is a link to the Huffington Post article which includes video clips from the episode where ethnic stereotypes seem to be perpetuated. Feel free to leave any opinions, comments, or concerns in the comments.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/modern-familys-fulgencio-episode-criticized-for-perpetuating-stereotypes-of-latinos_n_2568200.html

Enlightened Racism: Overlooking PTSD in African-American Communities

According to Sut Jhalley, enlightened racism promotes the myth that African-Americans who don’t “make it” in terms of their socio-economic status have only themselves to blame. This idea is reinforced through contemporary television shows that disproportionately display middle-class families that are primarily Caucasian, as the model for the average American family in today’s society. By showing that anyone can make it, a stigma surrounding lower and working class families is created, causing the perception that families that have not transcended into the middle class, haven’t made it based on factors such as not having a taste for the finer things, being too uneducated to make it, being too lazy or careless, or not having any desire to transcend their socio-economic status. 
In the news, several stories exist that shed light on (primarily Caucasian) soldiers that have served in the military and suffer from PTSD as an outcome of their services. Specific instances of PTSD, however, are invisible from the media entirely-namely PTSD suffered in the African-American community. The irony here is that there is a disproportionately excessive portrayal of poverty in African-American households, although the majority of families living in poverty are actually Caucasian. It is very interesting that African-Americans are largely portrayed as living in poverty, but the effects of said poverty do not get mention in the media, leading the audience to believe that these people living in poverty are doing so of their own free will and through the decisions they have made.
In a blog post, it was found that African-American communities with larger amounts of violent crimes have produced an excessive number of members suffering from PTSD. While there are not adequate resources to see and treat all of the citizens that are suffering from this disorder, 43% of all patients that have been screened at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital are in need of treatment. There is a need of $200,000 that are available in the hospital budget of $450 million, but this funding has been turned down as a resource to members of the Black Community suffering from PTSD.
While there are so many American citizens pointing the finger at black communities, a disconnect in reality exists. With poverty in black communities in Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, and Philadelphia, having high rates of crime and PTSD, the portrayal of African-American families on television sitcoms sheds an inaccurate light on the average lives of African-American communities in the United States, an issue that has a long way to go.
For more information, check out the blog on PTSD in the black community:
http://www.propublica.org/…/the-ptsd-crisis-thats-being-ign…