Pears’ Soap Ad

                                                           While I was reviewing the cards from Mixed Race In A Box one of the cards that most caught my attention was the card with the Pears’ soap advertisement from 1884. Even though this ad was made a long time ago I realized some people still have these negative attitudes about people of color. Just like the previous Dove’s ad, this old ad is trying to sell a product by using a very racist strategy. It persuades people to buy this product by telling them their complexion will improve. It is sending the message that a white person’s natural color, texture, and appearance of their skin is more beautiful. This ad is clearly making a racist comment about people of color. It is disrespectful because it is telling people that if they want to improve their complexion they need to whiten their skin. I think the companies who promoted this ad were trying to support the supremacy of whites. I believe this ad was trying to persuade parents because we can see two babies. The fact that the white baby is helping shower the black baby shows the racism of whites against blacks. Also this ad’s goal is to persuade society to believe whites are most beautiful and superior. I believe all the racist ads can badly affect people’s minds and attitudes about minority groups.  Even though this ad is not realistic we can notice how racist and offensive it is.

What do you think about this ad? Can you find ads like this one on today’s society?

Modern Family

Modern Family is a series that follows the lives of three different types of families. In the first family we see in the picture above we can see a Latin woman that married an older white man. She had a son in her previous marriage, but she is going to have a baby with her husband very soon. In the third family we can see a gay couple who adopted a Vietnamese daughter. By watching this show we can learn about the struggles family often face for not being the ‘ideal nuclear family’ that many people still want to see. Modern Family also shows that interracial marriages do succeed. This exposure to ‘modern families’ educates people about interracial families.  It encourages viewers to marry the person they love regardless of their ethnicity, gender, age, etc. This relates to what I learned in class. As Jose Vasconcelos we need to create ‘The Cosmic Race’. We need to unite and learn from others. A race that is composed of all the different ethnicities.

We need more exposure about this topics so that people (especially young generations) can have a more positive attitude about different races, cultures, and mixed-race people.

 

 

 

The Fosters — How Do You Define Family?

The Fosters is a television series that currently airs on ABC Family Network.The series follows the lives of a Foster family consisting of a interracial lesbian couple raising biological, adopted and foster children. The family is composed of Caucasian, African American, Latinos, and a mixed-race baby who is coming soon. The Fosters teaches many positive messages that viewers can learn. The best message is that love connects us all. Even though most of the members of this family do not share the same blood or the same ethnicity they all share mutual love for each other. They are a loving family. Most important, this series shows the positive American is composed of many different people. The diversity that wee see in The Fosters can teach people (especially children and teenagers) to embrace the diversity that exists in the world.

We also see that the characters from the show are searching for their identity. The characters are of a different ethnicity, have a different personality, hobbies, tastes, talents, and goals. This teaches young viewers that they should be themselves and let other be themselves as well. By doing this, they can learn to accept others because they will understand that every one is unique and different. In fact, The Fosters shows us how beautiful mestizaje is. All the characters are mestizos in a way because they all have knowledge and embrace each other’s ethnicity. For instance, Mariana one of the main characters is a 15 year-old Latina. Even though she grew up with two moms of different ethnicities — Caucasian and African American. She still embraces her latino culture. She even had a quinceanera, which many of us know it is a latino tradition and all the members of her family participated in the party. Her siblings even waltzed with her.
Moreover, this show exposes viewers to people of different people and teaches them that we can all get along, respect and love each other. In addition, the most important lesson that we can learn from the Fosters is that family does not have to be the nuclear family that many people envision. A family is a group of people who love and support each other unconditionally.

How do you define family?

What Are Movies Teaching Kids?

Times are changing. We see less subordination against minority groups but there is still work to do. More women are becoming leaders and fighting for the rights they truly deserve. However, even though men have always considered to be the leaders, men are much more likely to commit crimes and use violence. Most crimes are committed by men. Although we know men biologically are more physically strong and aggressive that should not be a reason for them to use their strength in a destructive manner.
When I was watching the speech ‘The Hidden Messages In Kids’ Movies’ by Colin Stokes I realized that technology plays a huge role in educating children. These movies teach children how to be according to their gender. By watching kid’s most girls identify princesses — those delicate, sensitive, beautiful women who wait passively for a man to rescue them. On contrast, most boys identify with the hero who uses violent to defeat the villain in order to rescue the beautiful princess. Without realizing children learn to behave this way.
As Colin Stokes states in his speech, most movies are very focused on using violence to get a reward. He also mentions that not a lot of movies that actually have female protagonists. I believe the reason for the relative low number of female protagonists is for giving preference to men and subordinating women. Colin also mentions that when watching a movie we should Bechdel test which was designed by Allison Bechdel when she was assessing the movies she saw. Colin Stokes asks us to ask these questions:
1. Are there at least two women?
2. Do they talk to each other
3. About something other than a man?

Colin Stokes also mentions that when movies do have a female protagonists they are still war movies. He then explains that Disney movies send boys that message that they are not really the target audience. On the other hand, these movies, as Colin Stokes says, ‘are doing a phenomenal job teaching girls how to defend against the patriarchy, but they are not necessarily teaching boys how they are supposed to defend against patriarchy.” He also claims, that “they are no models for them”.
You may wonder why this might be. Perhaps these movies are sending the message that boys are already capable of defending themselves or that they might indeed be the ones who are or will use violence. Women on the other hand, need to prepare themselves for the violence of men.
Later he explains that a study published by the New York Times said that “One out of five women said they had been sexually assaulted sometime in their lives.”
He then asks why the reason for this. He asks: Are they [children] absorbing the story that a man hero’s job is to defeat the villain with violence and then collect the reward, which is a woman who has no friends and doesn’t speak?
Is this how boys grow up to be? Thinking that they can use violence to get what they want. If that’s that, we should doing something about it.
He talks about ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ and says that he personally likes this movie because there is very little violence. In addition, “all of the most heroic and wise and even villainous characters are female. In fact one of the main characters Dorothy is a leader and makes friends with everybody.
He also suggests that little girls should watch cartoons such as “The Powerpuff Girls” to encourage girl power. But then Colin asks a very powerful question, he says: “Is Girl Power going to protect them if at the same time we are, actively or passively, training our sons to maintain their boy power?”. He then says ” I think it’s time we have got to show our sons a new definition of manhood”
He says that we should teach boys that “A real man is someone who trust his sisters and respects them and wants to be on their team, and stands up against the real bad guys, who are the men who want to abuse the women.” I think this is a really positive message for boys to learn, so that they can grow up respecting women.
Colin Stokes encourages parents to look out for those movies that “pass the Bechdel test and to seek out the heroines who show real courage, who bring people together, and nudge our sons to identify with those heroines and to say ‘I want to be in their team’ because they are going to be on their team.” In other words, he wants men and women to cooperate with each other, to unite, and realize that working together is better.
He also shares with the audience that when he asked her daughter who her favorite character was in ‘Star Wars’ she said Obi-Wan Kenobi and Glinda. Colins thinks these are positive models for her. He says “these are the two people in the movie who know more than anybody else and they love sharing their knowledge with other people to help them reach their potential. They are leaders.”
Lastly, Colin Stokes expresses that he likes that kind of quest for his daughter and son. He says he wants “fewer quests where his son is told ‘go out and fight it alone’ and more quests where he sees that its his job to join a team, maybe a team led by women to help other people become better and be better people like the Wizard of Oz.”

I believe that is the kind of world most of us would like to live in. A world where men and women help each other reach their full potential. A world where there are equal opportunities for both sexes. A world where there are more female leaders and less violence. So I think kids’ movies should have more female protagonists who are leaders. Little girls need to be encouraged to be intelligent, independent women.

Please feel free to comment your thoughts about this speech.
Do you agree or disagree?

Negative Stereotypes About Latinos

Take a close look at this Ad. How many times have you seen that Mexicans are portrayed in this way? What was the last movie you watched that portrayed Mexicans this way? I bet you can name a few.

As you can see in this ad the young man is holding a drawing of a “typical mexican”; a poor person who lives in a small village and uses horses or donkeys as a means of transportation. The message on the ad is: “We are a culture, not a costume. This is not who I am, and this is not ok”. This message serves as a statement that expresses disagreement in the way Mexicans are often portrayed. This statement serves to encourage people to learn about their culture, their accomplishments, and victories and thus seeks to persuade people to avoid stereotyping Mexicans.

<In addition, comedy movies often portray Mexicans like this as an attempt to make the audience laugh. They exaggerate things and represent them in a negative manner.

Mexicans and Latinos, like many other minority groups in the US, have long been victims of racial stereotyping. Some of the typical stereotypes include: immigrants, uneducated, drop-outs, gang members, maids, gardeners, wet backs, just to include a few. I believe these negative stereotypes create inequality and discrimination toward this group.

<One effective way to eliminate these negative and offensive stereotypes is by educating others and speaking up about who we really are in order to make them represent us in a more positive way.

Please post a comment with your thoughts regarding this Ad. Why do you think the media often portray Mexicans or Latinos in a negative, offensive way?

Skin Color Should Not Define Us

Take a few minutes to analyze this ad. Why do you see? Is something making you mad? Do you agree or disagree with this ad? Please post a thoughtful comment with your thoughts about this controversial Ad. What do you think this Ad is trying to convey? How does it influence our society, (especially young girls and women)?

Skin Color is one of the most important ways in which people vary. We tend to define people by their skin color.
Historically, skin color has been a contributing factor to the advantages and disadvantages of people. Unfortunately to this day some people still hold very negative and racist ideas about people of color.

Society often sees White people as being superior, more beautiful, and deserving of better opportunities and resources, while people of color often face discrimination for the color of their skin.

Some think that people of color are not as beautiful as white people. As we see in this famous advertisement, the white woman is being considered as more beautiful than the other two women who have darker skin color. If we analyze this ad, we can see that it is persuading people to buy this product by telling them that it “…improves the look of your skin”. This ad is basically telling women that the lighter their skin is the more beautiful they are. The problem with these kibd of Ads is that they create a narcissistic society. Children and young adults are easily influence and they grow up believing that beauty and looks are more important than other qualities. As a result, teenage girls and women who are not satisfied with the way the look end up suffering of depression and self-esteem.

In addition, considering white people as more beautiful creates a lack of self esteem in young girls who are not white and blonde. In some cases, this might result in girls developing a feeling of hate toward their own race. They start to feel inferior and lack confidence in themselves.

I believe these racist views that some people have about the color of our skin are mainly a product of the stereotypes, lack of knowledge, education, and discrimination that has always existed toward people of color since ancient times. As a result, the discrimination that some people face because of their skin color has resulted in fewer opportunities, more barriers, and disadvantages.

However, skin color should not by any means be a reason to discriminate people. As Jina Jabloskin asserts in her speech Skin Color Is An Illusion “the color of our skin is the product of our evolution”. Throughout her speech she explains why people have different skin tones. As she explains, it has nothing to do with our abilities, capabilities, or value as a human beings. Nina Jabloski explains why some people are lightly pigmented while other are darkly pigmented. She explains that the earliest humans lived in high UV environments in equatorial Africa, which is why that they had dark skin. Later, people moved to low UV environments and started to lose their pigmentation and their skin became whiter. In short, the evolution of their skin allowed humans to survive and adapt to different environments which is why people living in different parts of the world have different skin tones. That being said, I believe we all should love and feel proud of our skin color. And in order to end with the racism and discrimination toward people of color, we should educate the uneducated.