Media Shapes Identity!
I really loved the reading this week and it definitely gave me a sense of nostalgia. The stories in Red reminded me of a lot of my girlhood. The “Appeal from an Angry Emo” reminded me a lot of my high school/middle school experiences. I definitely was not emo, nor did I really have emo friends (this trend didn’t catch on until I was a senior, and mostly freshmen called themselves “emo”). I hung out with the “freaks.” It wasn’t a rigid group, but everyone knew who was a “freak.” We were the kids who were picked on, threatened, etc., and in like Moriarty’s story, the administration didn’t care (215). Events in middle and high school certainly had an impact on my identity. In an effort to fight cruel kids, I lashed out. I wasn’t mean to others, I just became a tiny badass, as I like to think of it. I refused to take abuse from anyone. In finding a voice for myself, I also stood up for those who couldn’t, such as the physically and mentally handicapped kinds in our school.
“The Depth of Depp” also reminded me of my childhood. Other girls and I had serious crushes on celebrities, we adored them, admired them, wanted to be with them and be them. The boys/men we liked were different, but always the same. From *NSYNC to Backstreet Boys to JTT, they were white, young and wealthy. And they were all straight. This set, for us, a sort of precedence for future relationships. I didn’t know any girls who liked other girls, at least not openly. Some girls in high school claimed to be bisexual, but I never knew if there was any truth to their claims. In my high school, it was popular to be bisexual, although I never met any girl who openly liked other girls until I came to college. However, I did have a few gay male friends in high school.
In Queer Girls, the importance of queer girl role models on TV becomes evident. I never watched Buffy, but found the ties between lesbianism, Wicca, magic spells and even death interesting.(77-78) Although queer girls admired the series, they wanted “passion” (78) between Willow and Tara shown on TV. (As I mentioned above, I never knew any lesbians until college…I kind of wish I watched Buffy, just to see what my young reaction would have been.)
I loved the “Play” in Red, which sums up my love of music as well. With the advent of Ipods and other technology, I can be locked in to music almost all day. As Queer Girls notes, music is less controlled by corporate industries. (197) When I discovered heavy metal music, new worlds opened to me. Some call metal sexist, but I found it empowering (and I still do). Instead of listening to bubblegum pop that is sexist, I turned to metal music, which QR typically associates with be male dominated. QR also suggests men are the dominating force in hard rock-performance, but I found a slew of strong women musicians. Although I am a photographer (which QR suggests is the role women play in hard rock music [204]), I also run my own zine, mosh every show, collect vinyl, CDs and shirts and am going to learn bass. QR focuses on music to identify with, connect with, and escape to...but I think almost all sub/countercultures feel that way.
“The Depth of Depp” also reminded me of my childhood. Other girls and I had serious crushes on celebrities, we adored them, admired them, wanted to be with them and be them. The boys/men we liked were different, but always the same. From *NSYNC to Backstreet Boys to JTT, they were white, young and wealthy. And they were all straight. This set, for us, a sort of precedence for future relationships. I didn’t know any girls who liked other girls, at least not openly. Some girls in high school claimed to be bisexual, but I never knew if there was any truth to their claims. In my high school, it was popular to be bisexual, although I never met any girl who openly liked other girls until I came to college. However, I did have a few gay male friends in high school.
In Queer Girls, the importance of queer girl role models on TV becomes evident. I never watched Buffy, but found the ties between lesbianism, Wicca, magic spells and even death interesting.(77-78) Although queer girls admired the series, they wanted “passion” (78) between Willow and Tara shown on TV. (As I mentioned above, I never knew any lesbians until college…I kind of wish I watched Buffy, just to see what my young reaction would have been.)
I loved the “Play” in Red, which sums up my love of music as well. With the advent of Ipods and other technology, I can be locked in to music almost all day. As Queer Girls notes, music is less controlled by corporate industries. (197) When I discovered heavy metal music, new worlds opened to me. Some call metal sexist, but I found it empowering (and I still do). Instead of listening to bubblegum pop that is sexist, I turned to metal music, which QR typically associates with be male dominated. QR also suggests men are the dominating force in hard rock-performance, but I found a slew of strong women musicians. Although I am a photographer (which QR suggests is the role women play in hard rock music [204]), I also run my own zine, mosh every show, collect vinyl, CDs and shirts and am going to learn bass. QR focuses on music to identify with, connect with, and escape to...but I think almost all sub/countercultures feel that way.
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