standard vs. subversive spaces

Laurel Sutton’s "All Media Are Created Equal"- get out and get some! Reading it left my brain with many ramblings I believed were worthy of sharing- in a subversive place!
As I've been getting back into blogging, I am re-realizing how important alternative media/publishing truly is, on a feminist and philosophical level. Online or hard-copy zines, weblogs, internet journals/diaries, and other new media) have opened up unconventional spaces for youth/minority/female voices to be heard. And as Sutton succinctly summarizes this idea (as it pertains to a marginalized and devalued gender): “For women, particularly adolescent women, zines may serve as one of the only public places to establish an identity.” And establishing an identity, especially as a teenager, is VERY important.

While women have historically had more access to journal and letter writing than any other medium, it makes sense that these should be the first forms to become popular among many subcultures and feminist circles. The only difference is that these reflections are now made public in our modern, high-tech era. Whether the topic is date rape, body image, oppressive school policies, drugs, alcohol, orgasms, food, pop culture, or whatever, women can make the personal/political statements they wish to make, loudly or daringly— and never worry about who wants to hear it. If no one wants to listen, it doesn’t matter, for they can put this material out there anyways, and tell their stories without a large audience. Whether it is bouncing from humor to poetry to art to other forms of self-expression, there is no need for following rules, and this gives women twice as much freedom in their craft.

Moreover, all of the content is reviewed or edited by no one but the writer, and is never censored because some advertiser threatened to pull funding. What is found in mainstream media is controlled completely by the powers that be, and all content is vulnerable to the whims or desires of a few rich old white men. Books are published based on the assumption that certain stories will be sold in record numbers, and oftentimes, even if one thinks the book may sell, authors (a la J. K. Rowling of the Harry Potter series) may be forced to alter their name, as certain genres will not sell because female authors are not highly valued. Most mainstream media has only one goal in mind, and that is to make it their business “to appeal to everyone and offend no one.”
Conversely, alternative media seeks to please the individual that is following his/her internal creative process, as well as perhaps inform like-minded people who share common interests or beliefs. It can be very therapeutic, becoming vulnerable through putting pen to paper and then perhaps making one’s feelings available for the whole world online. It can be a conversation starter, and a new way of meeting others who have also experienced what it means to be black, gay, bisexual, Cuban-American, rich, poor, shy, marginalized, angry, or whatever. At the end of the day, however, the writer is able to make her/himself happy with the artistic and intellectual pursuit, instead of worrying about how to please another company, boss, or audience.

Hearst owns Eastern magazine distributors. Time Warner is a cable company and News Corp. is a content/satellite company. ABC is owned by Disney. It does not seem right that a handful of corporations can call all the shots, so alternative voices have found ways to completely avoid the machine, through pirate radio, or public-access television, or organizing zines and other anti-establishment creative spaces. However, one is taken seriously only if he/she has a public history, or a public record of whatever he/she has published. In this way, “public” can almost be equated with “socially acceptable, recognized, and widely distributed” materials.

This idea of a public history is significant, because, for example, many Native Americans have always relied on oral story-telling to pass down traditions, wisdom, cultural knowledge, spirituality, and more from one generation to the next. Since many Natives have been killed/oppressed/silenced, the passing down of these stories is not easy to do, and more importantly, a “public history” is not possible if everything is communicated verbally. Therefore, Native voices are not going to be considered significant or credible, or taken seriously by mainstream media. Suburban teenagers of New England are just as quickly and easily dismissed in their online postings and chat room conversations, but at least their methods of communication are slightly more public, and given far more attention than any Native voice on a reservation. However, linguists and sociologists must take seriously all forms of communication, (whether through computers or zines or any other medium), because few other people will, (particularly academics).
Slang, eccentric or subversive sentence structures, run-on sentences, illustrations or cartoons, informal writing styles, and other spur-of-the-moment wordplays can alter, shape, and personalize different online journals. Sutton calls these “violations of maxims.” The maxim of Quality is violated- (although, ‘violate’ seems to be an interesting, perhaps inadequate, term to use here)- by the exclusive use of first-person pronouns. The maxim of Manner is violated by the use of ungrammatical forms that are intended to emphasize individuality, (or purposely build an identity based on as many rebellious acts as possible against what is “normal”). And, last but not least, the manner of Quantity is violated by the use of blended formats. For example, a writer can bounce from a prose style to a poetic one, or insert a haiku in a seemingly random place, or write in a conversational tone before switching to a more standard form.

Yet, I wonder, when do alternative media no longer qualify as being alternative? When does a zine become a magazine, or a blog become seen as a valid resource of information? Is the standard of measuring the value based on how many copies are sold, or how much money is earned from advertising, or how formal the writing becomes? Many have objected to the term “alternative” because it implies somewhat of a self-marginalization, when many communities are not feeling left out of public spaces by choice, but rather by force. Instead, these people like to use the word “independent,” ..Whatever word/label one uses, the question remains: What qualities make something independent or alternative, and what constitutes evolving into a mainstream space? How do we cease to support the mainstream as much, to show the value (and sometimes superiority) of alternative media? These questions deserve answers. Ultimately, our collective discourse must shift to include many backgrounds, many voices, much variety, and much open-mindedness, instead of always assuming that standard is best.

Salazar "Hears" Wampanoag Worries on Cape Wind

Salazar Hears Wampanoag Worries on Cape Wind Joe_Walsh



http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20003619-54.html


http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/04/28-6


http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/How-the-Battle-of-Little-Bighorn-Was-Won.html

  Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer found gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1874.  Six years prior, the U.S. had signed a treaty with the Sioux, agreeing that the Hills belonged to the tribe.  So the U.S. of course tried to buy the hills after learning what the land was "worth"- and of course the Sioux refused to sell.  To them it was sacred ground, and they would not give that up; so the U.S. inevitably forced the Sioux onto reservations.  What one does not surrender to the colonizers, one will have taken away by complete domination- even today, though in somewhat different forms.  Flash forward to 2010, and it's the same story repeated, this time in the shape of wind turbines and greedy politicians and businessmen, and "green" activists who always think they know best...
  Throwing these links out there for anyone who's interested in the Cape Wind controversy~ It's been busybusybusy lately so I don't have time to blog as often as I wish, but I'll be back at it as soon as possible! Peace.

systems/sexuality/psychology/suicide/silence.

  Fall is here, whether I want to resist it or not, and I've said goodbye to catching fireflies, climbing trees on warm July afternoons, running around Providence blissed-out with friends, stargazing on rooftops, etcetera.  The season of getting drunk off dancing, swimming in the sea, partying at Gay Pride events- it has passed, and Halloween is right around the corner. It's time for pumpkin spice coffee and pumpkin-carving and welcoming the inevitable hibernation that winter brings.
   Right now, however, I can't seem to access any of summer's "natural highs" with my body frozen beneath sweaters and scarves, and my mind hyper-focused on some pretty depressing topics.  2010 has provided plenty of reasons to be happy in my "personal life"...But in terms of overall outlook on the bigger picture, I cannot find any logical reason to stay calm.
   Where to begin? Progress has not been made, outrage has not been heard, and mainstream media can hardly be trusted to speak of either idea, when channels like Fox go as far as to actually defend BP.  While I blame this corporation for the spill, and while I will continue to point a finger at our government for its lack of response... I simultaneously acknowledge that we are all responsible for finding a solution and ensuring that this never happens again. We must all contribute what we can, to clean up this mess and the many others we have made over time.
  I recently argued with an acquaintance about BP's disaster; he seemed to maintain an utterly pessimistic and self-centered view of the entire debacle.  This man, (who will remain nameless out of respect for the people I know who care for him), insisted that all is hopeless, and declared that none of us should attempt to clean up or spread awareness -or assist on any level other than donating money. Moreover, he kept repeating during the course of our debate that he believes it is ridiculous to try and change our system in America.  When I argued that, with our political, social, and economic systems structured as they are, this won't be the last oil spill to take place, all he could reply was, "If people get pissed off enough, they will get off their asses and do something about it, but until then, we're screwed. And the system doesn't have to change, we just have to be less lazy and work harder for what we want."
   This, coming from an artist who has never contributed anything to a cause higher than art made by and for white men.  This, coming from someone who has no mouths to feed besides his own.  This, coming from someone with little education (traditional and non) on most subjects outside of art and music.  I guess this ignorance of our "system" of oppression and exploitation and racist/sexist/homophobic societal ladders should be expected?  It has me wondering... Is anyone, besides those interested in social justice, truly infuriated by current events?  Is anyone, besides those who are passionate environmentalists and political/social activists, deeply disturbed by what has been in the news lately? 
  I, for one, cannot sleep soundly at night, knowing what I do about the recent suicides taking place among our nation's LGBT youth.  While I would rather be queer and HERE than in most other countries at this point in time, I still cannot understand how we allow such abuse to drive teenagers to suicide; as teachers, parents, friends, classmates, etc. in America... how do we not speak up? How have we failed this many children? How did we let ourselves permit hate speech so intensely and so frequently, and not notice the homophobia in our teenage bullies?
  I have run into this idea in my personal experiences recently, and was challenged to put my beliefs into action, even in the face of potentially losing this new counselor job that I love so much.  I work in a school and residential facility for teens with behavioral and mental health disorders, who are mostly minorities coping with the effects of having suffered rape, abuse, and more.  One coworker, upon learning of a teenage client's self-identifying as bisexual, went on a rant about how "You are either born gay or straight...it's just wrong to be bisexual, it doesn't work like that."  At first, being new to this position, I was speechless.  I was afraid to speak up and afraid of causing friction between myself and this woman- And more importantly, I, too, was now afraid to come out of the closet.
  In the past couple of weeks, I attempted to play peacemaker between our client and this particular staff member.  I tried to make it clear that any client's sexual orientation was not up for debate or criticism.  It's obvious that I am looked at differently now, (for being out and proud and an advocate for a "confused" teenager who likes to be "skanky" in her dating habits), but I am not worried about losing this job anymore.  And if I do lose it for an inappropriate discriminatory reason, I will not go quietly.  Speaking out is always easier said than done- But the alternative is far worse. Losing a job or a friend or a comfort zone is a preferable outcome to possibly knowing a suicide or assault or hate crime could have been prevented but wasn't...
  And yet, I still do not feel that the Average Joe or Jane does not care about any of these pressing matters, unless it directly affects them...My questions remain: How do we engage those outside of the activist communities to care about life or death situations?  How do we convince everyday people to care about issues they either are not aware of, or don't find relevant?  And last but certainly not least: How do we teach people to care about issues of significance-- even if those issues do not at all affect them/their own privileged lives?
~*~