Dr. Sara DiazWGST 280: Gender, Sexuality, and Popular CultureGonzaga University

Post-Race & Cultural Appropriation

Ferguson & Popular Culture

• How did J. Cole and Lauryn Hill respond to the unrest?

• How does their work resist the hegemonic ideology of post-race?

•What role does popular culture play with respect to the continuing fight for civil rights?

Cultural Appropriation• What is Cultural Appropriation?• Definitions:• “Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural

expressions, or artifacts from someone else’s culture with out permission.” Baker p. 2

• “It is harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g. sacred objects.”

• In music:• Elvis (Blues)• The Police (Reggae)• Paul Simon (South African township music)• The Beatles (Indian Raga)

Cultural Appropriation

• How is cultural appropriation obscured by “post-race” ideology?

• Cooper isn’t against all white rappers. Why does she have more of a problem w/ Iggy Azalea than Eminem?

All About that Bass

• How do we see post-racial ideology in “All about that Bass”?

• How do we see post-feminist ideology in “All about that Bass”?

•What are some of the problems w/ body positivity in the song & video?