Most recent public comments by Emily Kalafian https://nowcomment.com/users/37678 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314979 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314979 This seems to be a common trend in portrayals of women living in the inner city amongst members of the drug trade both in shows/films like the Wire and actually in many of the ethnographic readings we have done for this class. In the Wire, women like Bernard's girlfriend and Donette are portrayed as being in the relationships they are in because they are with drug dealers who make money. In Anderson's Code of the Streets we also see this theme and idea that women like dating drug dealers because they have money to buy them things. Is this oversimplifying the women that live within these realities? Though there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting the sense of security that comes with money I would think that these portrayals of women are oversimplified. Again I think this calls for the necessity of hearing more from the perspective of women coming from these situations in order to gain a better and more fully developed vision of this reality. Thu, 04 Apr 2019 00:47:51 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314962 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314962 I'm saying nothing new here when I write that we see very little of this sort of happening in the Wire. Felix here seems to be taking advantage of women and young girls who are under the influence of drugs and not even Bourgois spends much time talking about it. I also know I'm not the only one on this NowComment to state that I wish we could see some of this female experience in the drug trade through the lens of a female in this scenario. The Wire spends a great deal of time developing its drug dealer characters so that we as audience members can better understand the complexities of life as a drug dealer. Where do we turn to find out more about what it is like to be a woman living in the midst of the drug trade. Even other ethnographic work we've read such as Goffman's On the Run seem to focus more on the male experience in the inner city. I know Joelle points out in one of her comments how this is connected to the need for recognizing intersectionality, but it is so important that we are also able to hear what this world is like for the women living it too. Mon, 08 Apr 2019 09:34:07 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314950 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314950 I also agree with what you are saying and think that it is important to consider systems of oppression and how so much of this is intertwined and interconnected. As you point out, the Wire does not do the best job considering these things in its portrayal of the female characters. I think specifically about characters like Shardene who was so important for a few episodes early on in the show and then sort of completely falls off the face of the planet with only one or two brief/insignificant appearances later on. And Kima who additionally has another aspect of her identity being that she is lesbian. The show sort of presents her as being generally accepted and does little to showcase much of the complexity of her experience as a gay, black woman and how she would then be forced to navigate multiple systems of oppression in the real world. In part I'm sure the creators portray her as being so accepted to showcase a generally pleasant story, but it feels less real and lacks a certain sense of depth. Thu, 04 Apr 2019 00:21:25 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314922 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314922 I really appreciate your comment and think that you point out very interesting ideas! As I was reading your comment I also began thinking about something that Bourgois writes about later on which has to do with the realities of how much money many street level dealers actually make (91-92). I think much of the general public do not realize how many dealers really do not make as much money as we might think they do. As I was reading your comment I was wondering if media portrayals had anything to do with commonly inflated understandings of how much money drug dealers make. Thu, 04 Apr 2019 04:01:55 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314911 https://nowcomment.com/documents/136072?scroll_to=1314911 I was also struck by this segment of the reading because of the way the story is told and subsequently recorded here. It sounds like the woman was assisting in this situation by doing everything they told her to do ("'Take everything, man! Search for everything!' She found his chain..."). The woman here is so significant in their success robbing the man, yet she is treated poorly and disregarded later on as you point out. I think you raise an interesting commentary on how the Wire does not show this side of things and how that may be related to the reality of it being a story told by men. Given the lack of heavily developed female leads in the Wire and the lack of female voices in the writing room, this is frustrating. Yet it really is something that we see often in film and TV shows like the Wire which are set in the inner city (I'm thinking of films like Menace II Society and the portrayal of women there). Women in these scenarios are often only depicted as arm candy or sexual conquests of the male drug dealers or else as simplified drug addicts themselves. In the Wire this is most clear to me early on in the show when a women over-dosed at one of Avon's parties and was left lying naked on a bed until they disposed of her body. Wed, 03 Apr 2019 23:57:28 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307755 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307755 Alexander urges us to "think of the criminal justice system...not as an independent system but rather as a gateway into a much larger system of racial stigmatization and permanent marginalization" (12). I think the point you bring up here connects well with this theme of Alexander's work. Mass incarceration is detrimentally problematic because it leads to the criminalization of individuals, in her work black men. This leads to further discrimination in so many areas of life that work to isolate and keep these men separate from the rest of society. So I think you are right in stating that our current prison system is not functioning in a way that can make any sort of lasting difference in preventing crime or creating lasting change. Mon, 25 Mar 2019 20:26:39 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307750 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307750 I agree with all that each of you have to say on this topic. I think Alexander's description of how these stereotypes came to be is particularly compelling. In media studies, we talk a good deal about harmful stereotypes such as the ones Alexander describes here, but what would this discussion look like in terms of the Wire? The Wire seems to work hard to ensure that characters are well-developed and carefully constructed, but are there any instances in which we can find evidence of stereotypes at play in the Wire? Mon, 25 Mar 2019 20:12:54 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307740 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307740 I had highlighted this section as well for similar reasons as to the ones you discuss. I appreciate how you showcase how even black individuals who are deemed "exceptional" are still not equated with their white counterparts. I also think that black exceptionalism can be problematic as it perpetuates the idea that only a select few individuals of color can be successful. Additionally, I think all of these issues tie into what Alexander means when she states that "the current system of control depends on black exceptionalism". That is, the new Jim Crow she discusses depends on racial hierarchy as much as it tries to state otherwise via colorblind rhetoric. Mon, 25 Mar 2019 19:57:33 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307734 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307734 I know a consistent question asked throughout our class discussions has been surrounding how we can work towards ending these systems of discrimination that we’ve talked about and read about. And it always seems a bit daunting to think about exactly what must be done so that systems such as criminalization via mass incarceration can be dismantled without causing further harm. But I think Alexander raises a good point here that conversation and critical consciousness are required at a large scale in order to move into “effective social action”. This is why I think it is significant that we have the opportunity to think deeply about these issues before we go out into the workplace and into our future careers. Because I think for the grand scale social action that Alexander is referring to here, it will take people from different sectors of the workforce and different social spheres to increase and expand conversations like these. Additionally, as we have started to think deeply about these things, we can take that into our spheres of influence in the future to begin making a change for the better (like if you want to work in the media industry you can continue to promote fair and accurate representations of people and tell stories that may otherwise not be heard). And it really takes change in many spheres to enact a real, grand level change such as the one Alexander discusses. Tue, 26 Mar 2019 01:54:21 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307724 https://nowcomment.com/documents/134033?scroll_to=1307724 In this portion of Alexander's book, her emphasis on why conversations about race and class are so often avoided made me reflect on the understanding and view of productivity in American society. Alexander describes how it is largely held that an individual can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and find success through hard work and that if they don't, this is deemed a personal or character failure. I think the idea of productivity is highly valued in our society and has been ingrained as an American ideal over the history of this country (from pilgrims to pioneers to heartwarming "success" stories told throughout the media). Yet, these notions of productivity and the example that Alexander lays out here in her book, do not account for the fact that in many cases people may appear un-productive because of things like discrimination and oppression, not of any fault of their own. This was further evident later on in chapter one when Alexander touches briefly on vagrancy laws implemented after the Civil War (p. 28). These laws essentially criminalized those who did not hold a job, targeted particularly at black individuals. This to me further heightened the disparities between the ideal of productivity and the discrimination and oppression that keeps people from being productive. Furthermore, as Alexander's whole work showcases, this is something that is perpetuated today because of mass incarceration as those who have been criminalized face discrimination in the job market (as well as in other areas). Mon, 25 Mar 2019 22:30:06 -0400