Tag Archives: Kim Kardashian

July 25, 2012 · 9:43 pm

How Chick-fil-A Learned about Trade-Offs

Mayor Menino

You’ve probably seen Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s letter to Chick-fil-A floating around the web today, declining the chain a location in Boston’s commercial landscape:

dsf

“There is no place for discrimination on Boston’s Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it.”

There’s also a lot of squawking about free speech on behalf of Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy, who made the homophobic comments that kicked off the shit storm. Those people, the free-speechers, are right. He can voice his opinions and beliefs, and some might even say, as a business leader and community leader, he should.

But, and this harkens back to Daniel Tosh’ internet beating last week, being free to speak your mind is not the same as being free from criticism once you do so. Would I support Chick-fil-A protesters throwing rocks through the storefront window or threatening Cathy? No, of course not. Do I think they should have their licenses revoked due to his personal beliefs? Of course not. That said, say something bigoted, and people may choose to take their business elsewhere.

There are trade-offs to be made, here, right? Between supporting our values with our dollars and living a pragmatic, practical, convenient life. I struggle with clothes shopping for this reason, but we all have to make these decisions every day. How much and at what cost are you willing to compromise?

There’s a gender studies concept called the “patriarchal bargain” in which women (and men) play into gender stereotypes for the sake of their own personal advantage, undermining the overall cause of equality. If Kim Kardashian makes millions playing a hot ditz on television, who cares if she detracts from society’s perception of women and their value? We all make patriarchal bargains any time we choose to adhere to gender stereotypes to make life easier (shaving my armpits, wearing mascara, letting a man pay for my drink), it’s just of question a degrees.

The Chick-fil-A question asks us about our willingness to make a similar bargain, an “I’m-a-real-world-consumer bargain”. If I buy a sandwich at Subway instead of Chick-fil-A today, does it matter? What percentage of my purchase would be supporting, even in the vaguest sense, anti-gay advocacy? 3 cents? 8 cents? How much do I care to not drop 3 cents in an bigotry bucket?

On the other hand, the more successful Chick-fil-A becomes, the bigger platform we give Dan Cathy from which to voice his homophobic beliefs.

Related Post: More from MA: How I wish the Brown/Warren debate had gone down.

Related Post: Kelly Ripa on gendered dating assumptions.

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November 7, 2011 · 3:20 pm

Why I Want a Kardashian to Wink at Me

Like every other unfortunate soul in the internet-connected world, my screens have seen more Kardashian Koverage than normal with the announcement of Kim’s divorce. I’ve watched bits and pieces of Channel Kardashian (aka E!), but only enough to know that I can’t actually handle a full dose of the blown-out, bedazzled, bandage-dressed ridiculosity.

My biggest issue with it, also my problem with Jersey Shore, is the complete unwillingness of the characters or the producers to throw a wink at the viewers and acknowledge the insanity and inanity of their lifestyle.

I’m reading Chuck Klosterman’s 2003 pop culture essay collection Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. As Kate (of Smart Girls, Stupid Things) explained when she lent it to me, Klosterman was one of the first to offer up this kind of academic analysis of pop culture phenomena from the perspective of someone so deeply entrenched. The novelty of this kind of commentary has since worn off, since pretty much everyone on the internet attempts it on a regular basis (self very much included).

I just finished the essay “What Happens When People Stop Being Polite” about Klosterman’s obsession with the early seasons of The Real World. This passage is sticking with me:

“The kids talk directly into the camera every single day, but they are ceaselessly instructed to pretend as if they are not being videotaped whenever they’re outside the confessional. Most of all, they never openly recognize that they’re part of a cultural phenomenon; they never mention how weird it is that people are watching them exist.”

Imagine how different a show Keeping Up with The Kardashians would be if every now and then Kim or Khloe looked straight at the camera and said “Can you believe we get paid 15K to show up at this club opening? This shit is nuts, y’all.” What would happen if one of them acknowledged that the cost of the Kim/Kris marriage (dividing wedding expenses by days they were married) is twice the national annual income of a family of four? What happens then?

Unlike the original Real World kids, who ostensibly didn’t know what they were getting into, the Kardashians are savvy media players manipulating their image in the press on a minute-by-minute basis. It makes their refusal to cop to the absurdity of their lifestyle that much more infuriating. We can still have the glitz and the glam of Kardashians and the drunken, brawling hijinks of Jersey Shore, let’s just not pretend any of this is “normal” or “real.” The entertainment value of such programming isn’t where the danger lies. The real danger is that all involved, in front of and behind the cameras, insist on propagating the preposterous conceit that the whole kit ‘n caboodle isn’t a profit-driven entertainment juggarnaut.

Speaking of Kardashians, did you guys see the SNL clip this week?

Related Post: Does “curvy” Kim Kardashian really broaden the spectrum of “acceptable” body types?

Related Post: The Kardashians schill Kotex, and other reasons you can’t trust advertising.

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· 12:10 am

Sunday Scraps 35


1. CATS: What happens when you teach your cat to IM? Shane Cyr imagines the results in ate mini “episode” called Louis vs. Rick.

2. SPORTS: Some countries are making skirts mandatory for women’s boxing. Others are strongly suggesting the outfits. Why? So that the competitors can be differentiated from men. Um… what?

3. MAGIC: New York Times does a look back on the twenty years since Magic Johnson announced he was HIV positive.

4. CELEBRITY: What does Lebron James have in common with Kim Kardashian? NYMag says they both may have pushed their fans just a little too far.

5. BIZ: Some of the world’s most powerful women like Christine Lagarde and Jill Abramsom reflect on the stereotypes of women in business (i.e. The Ice Queen).

6. BOOKS: The new University of Chicago library is the coolest thing since the printing press, even the NYT thinks so. Whattup alma mater.

Related Post: Sunday 34 = Phantom Tollbooth, Miss Represenation, inside the minds of Halloween costume models.

Related Post: Sunday 33 = Clinton’s celebrity division, Spirit Day, animals talking in all caps.

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September 11, 2011 · 8:32 pm

Sunday Scraps 27

1.TECH: A comic at Funny Junk demonstrates why we spend so much time on line in a few quick frames.

2. KARDASHIAN: I love This is Indexed for this very concise explanation of the Kardashians’ effect on society.

3. TODDLER: I think the title captures the essence: “Approximately 3 Minutes Inside the Head of my 2-Year-Old”, from Jason Good 365.

4. SENDAK: Remember Maurice Sendak? Where the Wild Things Are? He has a new story out about a pig named Bumble-Ardy. Here’s an interview he did with the Paris Review.

5. BOOKS: A visual history of how we consume the written word, from the New York Times.

6. RISK!: Ever wonder what it means when scientific studies talk about your “risk!!!!!” for certain diseases? The Boston Globe breaks down the lingo and explains how eating chocolate “lowers your risk” for heart disease.

Related Post: Sunday 26 = high heels, lesbians, reality TV, community college placement testing

Related Post: Sunday 25 = presidential venn diagrams, people as canvases, “slut” and yoga.

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September 7, 2011 · 4:22 pm

Does Kim Kardashian Really Widen the Spectrum of “Acceptable” Body Types?

I really love this photo by Spencer Tunick. I would tell you why, but Lisa at Sociological Images puts it so well that I’ll leave it to her: “It’s worth a good long look at each body; each is a precious point of push back against mass media’s representation of the female form.”

Click to enlarge

I’ve watched Nicki Minaj’ Super Bass video at least 20 times this week. I can’t get the song out of my head, but I’d be lying if I said a part of my obsession wasn’t with the ridiculous proportions of her body. It’s mesmerizing. I feel the same way about Kim Kardashian and Serena Williams, I just can’t stop staring.

I’m all about body variety, but when I’m internally celebrating a positive moment of a comparatively curvier chick on a magazine cover, it’s easy for me to forget that the “variety” offered up by a Vogue “shape” issue is still very, very  narrow. Yes, adding a Kardashian to the mix of 17-year-old 6-foot Scandinavians is a (small) step in a good direction. Including the bootylicious on the list of conventional beauties, however, doesn’t really widen the spectrum. Instead, it creates another very specific, very exclusive type of body that’s on the “good list.”

What I love about the Spencer Tunick photograph is how undeniably average these bodies are. They are unlifted, unsmoothed, un-retouched. There are wrinkles, lumps, bumps, sagging, tan lines, freckles, spots. You know, that normal shit that magazines would have you think never happens.

Related Post: Amy is in such good shape, why is she worried people wouldn’t want to train with her?

Related Post: Ugh… banning thin women from a yoga studio is so not the answer.

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