On the Very Idea of a [micro]Blog

Words from Tim Brown—Ph.D. Student in Philosophy @ UW.

Who is this guy? What is this blog for?

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Yesterday, a friend and I were watching a show called Toddlers and Tiaras—a reality series that follows young beauty pageant contestants and their parents. One child, when asked why they want to win a particular pageant, claimed they wanted the $1000 prize.

My friend muttered, with a sassy you-go-get-it-girl tone in her voice, “That’s right…if you’re worth it.” The implication was that the child was worth every penny.

“But that’s the way we used to talk about women…” I tried to say, “…as if the only value of a woman is monetary.”

She tried to say I equivocated between different senses of the words “value” and “worth.” She was talking about compensation for people with integrity where I was thinking of slaves auctioned at a marketplace…and my thinking was wrong.

What I tried to say was that the pageant may look like empowerment, but it may not be. It may be a way to teach girls how to be—how to give “value” to themselves through their looks. The pageant contestant’s “value”…may not be in integrity of character but in the ability to display themselves for a cash purse.

I’m not sure if she understood me. I’m not sure I understand me. I’m probably out of line.

transkari:

dreamchasingwindie:

OK. I think some folks are completely missing the point. What I mean is that if you like something, anything, especially culturally significant things, you should learn about it first and know what you’re doing. You should understand why it’s important to other people.

Also, It really doesn’t matter if you spent X amount of years researching a culture and now you feel entitled to practice what you’ve learned. That’s appropriation. These cultures are embedded into people since birth (and for generations), and the fact that their histories, ancestors, and practices are not only being erased (colonized, murdered, altered, etc.), but appropriated as well to someone’s liking? That’s just fucked up.

Always check yourself. If you find a place that allows you to practice their cultural practices, that’s fine. But, the moment that someone of that culture/community tells you that you’re racist/an appropriating asshole, back off and don’t fight them. They’re an expert in their culture, not you.

Does no one else find the title “expert on/in their culture” the least bit suspicious? I suppose this is why caucasians always designate me their de facto ambassador to black culture—especially at parties, when they’re drunk, and they want to hear a Bill Cosby impression.

(All of our reactions to race are ridiculous.)

Yep.

(Source: insomniaticthoughts)

A Police Report’s Omitted Details

In an email from publicaffairs@ucsc.edu with the subject line: “Information from UCSC Police”:

On Sunday, April 24, 2011 at approximately 1:00 A.M, four UCSC students were robbed by a group of men near the corner of Laurent and King streets on westside Santa Cruz. Three male students and one female student were walking to a bus stop on Bay Street when they were approached by four males. One man showed a knife and demanded their money. The robbers took an iPod from one victim and a wallet from another.

The robbers were described as a black male, a Hispanic male and two white males. The black male was approximately 6’ tall with a backward cap, muscular build and a thin mustache. The Hispanic male was about 5’8” tall with a medium build, long hair and a gray hat. The two white males were between 5’10” and 6’ and weighed between 150 and 160 lbs. The suspects fled in a mid-size gray 4-door sedan with a loud exhaust. It is unknown at this time if this robbery is connected with other recent robberies.

Notice how the black and hispanic males are described with more detail. Something about that makes me a little nervous… Do people notice more about their non-white assailants? Is it possible that the people who wrote this report thinks the information about the ethnic assailants is more important? Am I making too much of this? Am I the only one who noticed? Who knows.

Posted 9 months ago

Philosophical Word of the Month: April, 2011

anscombe (v.)

(1) To gather for safe-keeping. “She anscombed with all the notes and letters.”

(2) To go over carefully, with a fine-tooth comb, in an oblique direction.

Posted 9 months ago

“ Despite the cultural prominence of video games and technology-based art, philosophical aesthetics has completely ignored the area. Scholars in other disciplines, such as film, have taken the lead in the conceptual debate. This is unfortunate, since seldom are there questions in the philosophy of art that have direct, real world consequences. ”

Aaron Smutts, “Are Video Games Art?”