We can all agree that whether it is an earthquake, epidemic, or elimination of human privacy by an Internet corporation, disasters aren’t fun. However, who ever said they didn’t have to be stylish? Disasters are inevitable and largely out of the public control, yet we do have agency over how we react to disasters. According to the clothing group Bosai Girls, fashion is the key to bringing the sexy back to havoc. Some of their products include friendship bracelets that can be turned into dental floss and clothing lines, backpacks that will withstand a stabbing knife (so you can keep your everyday essentials safe), and adorable shoes which have removable heels for when that ominous force is hunting you down. Similarly, one of the many reasons Mae has found peace amongst disaster and does not question the Circle is because with every human right taken from her the Circle seems to give her some cute article of clothing. Take the bracelet that the fashionable doctor gives Mae— sure it will track her and maker her personal health record public to the world, but it is just too cute! Mae instantly loves it saying, “the bracelet was beautiful, a pulsing marquee of lights and charts and numbers” (156). I mean, I want a bracelet that lights up, and a rose represents Mae’s pulse—roses are always classy. The Bosai Girls have made a bracelet for when you have lost your basic belongings to a natural disaster. On a similar note, the Circle made a bracelet that makes world domination seem less Mad Max and more District One of the Hunger Games. Sure District One is under a tyrannical dictatorship, but having some pretty hot parties too. CNN reports on Bosai Girl saying, “her generation is ‘bored’ with the ordinary disaster drills, she said: ‘So, we need to draw their attention’”. Therefore, younger generation’s attention can be drawn through what Bosai Girls describe as ‘Chic Disaster’. One difference between these two fashionable disasters is how the Disaster Chic offered by the Bosai Girl’s products costs money. In contrast, the Circle only requires a user’s review of the product or publicity of the product. In The Circle Mae gets free sneakers, Levi’s, sports bras, and phone cases from the sample room. She even is able to get changes of clothes when she stays overnight at the Circle. So perhaps world domination doesn’t have to be the end of the world. If anything, it’s the start to a fashion renaissance. https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/24/health/bosai-girls-disaster-relief-japan-intl/index.html
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While finishing The Circle an article came up on one of the many car pages I follow. A company called Reviver Auto has released a new product at the Detroit Autoshow. The product is currently only available for use in California and Arizona. The company’s website outlines the benefits as follows: “The Rplate Pro transforms the 125-year-old stamped metal vehicle license plate into a cool-looking, multi-functional digital display, and connected vehicle platform, delivering multiple efficiencies to businesses, government agencies and consumers.” However, when reading articles that outline the application of such a device and reading between the lines on the companies website, I quickly began to be reminded of The Circle. Much like Francis’ ChildTrack in which we can see the good in such a system, but we quickly realize the horrific implications. The product brags about the ability to create geofenced areas in which a car is allowed to drive, and if the driver passes such regions, the plate will change to inform drivers and the authorities.
Constant monitoring leads to more serious implications like shown in The Circle. The cost of the product goes back to the consumer, giving the consumer a false-sense of hassle-free registration. However, the potential is disturbing, what if your plate can warn people around you of things that previously wouldn’t be known, such as criminal records or other such stigmatizing announcements. I’ll plant a naysayer, “well wouldn’t this make our driving safer? Knowing where past criminals may be or violators?” On the simplistic level, yes. However, this is a form of public shaming that has been largely shown to be ineffective. Looking back at Goffman’s theory on stigma we can glean that this type of public shaming (which in turn creates stigma) is not beneficial to both the person receiving the stigma and the person/s projecting that stigma onto another. First: it dehumanizes the person receiving the stigma, may that be a positive or negative sanction; for example, someone with a disability has a stigma, but our society often gives sympathy to such a person. Then we have negative stigmas, like the process that some sex offenders must obey when they relocate to a new home. This is a negative sanctioned stigma. This stigma then degrades the person, positively or negatively. Goffman states: “Among his own, the stigmatized individual can use his disadvantage as a basis for organizing life, but he must resign himself to a half-world to do so” (Goffman 21). Goffman continues by saying these in the stigmatized group feel ostracized and then band together in a subset of the population. They become self-actualized versions of their stigma. Therefore a sex offender can never leave the societal role they play as a sex offender, much like a person with a DUI plate can never leave their role as an alcoholic. Rather than rehabilitation, we see stigmatization that pushes these individuals further to the margins of society. So what if you had a license plate that can change without your knowledge, what if adapts into something “smarter” maybe after so many times speeding or crashes, your plate will label you as a reckless driver. Perhaps, you will start to see yourself how you believe society sees you and through living in a half-world as Goffman says, never find yourself a member of the greater community. The Rplate Pro seems like a great idea, but with wrong application could have monumental effects. Much like The Circle, we see how being over connected can breed deeper issues than the ones we are attempting to solve. Relating back to ChildTrack, this license plate system could be used to track and maintain a child, what if that child is attempting to escape a harmful or abusive situation, with geofencing the child could have greater challenges when trying to leave. Perhaps I am wrong; I hope this technology will be used for good. However, on the surface level, the system appears to create more social issues than good. So I will end with a question, to what extent does our convenience and comfort outweigh our susceptibility to be watched or monitored? Does our comfort and ease justify such negative societal implications? I think I’ll be sticking with my metal plates. There’s the saying that whoever wins the war, writes the history. From the novels we’ve read this semester as well as my observations of disasters in general, it seems that those who control the media, frame the narrative of the given disaster. When considering media coverage of Hurricane Katrina, images of people waving their arms on top of their roofs immediately come to mind. Media, and increasingly social media, has the potential advocate relief and change but also has the potential to severely skew the public perception, for better and for worse. The media portrayals of Hurricane Katrina contributed to a view of the victims of the hurricane as being lazy idiots who didn’t heed the warnings to evacuate. This was clearly not the case—for many, leaving was not an option. Jesmyn Ward illustrates this in Salvage the Bones by bringing the reader into the world of a family that is representative of the situation of many families that were living in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Because she immerses the reader in the situation of Esch and her impoverished family that—who are clearly doing their best and are by no means lazy—there is never a moment of “Well why didn’t they just leave?” If there is, that is definitely not the fault of Ward. As visible in the novel, people living in the Ninth Ward were at a disadvantage from the outset—their infrastructures, especially the protective levees around the city, were more susceptible to potential storms. Beyond the infrastructure, society sets some people up to be more vulnerable than others based on other factors such as class and race. The Ninth Ward was predominately black and predominately of a lower socioeconomic status.
Similar to the residents of the Ninth Ward in the face of Hurricane Katrina, Puerto Ricans were extremely vulnerable against Hurricane Maria, which made landfall on September 20, 2017. The island was still trying to recover from Hurricane Irma which had hit two weeks earlier, and many people were still without electricity and drinking water. As a Category 4 hurricane, it was the strongest storm surge to make landfall in Puerto Rico in more than 80 years. In the days after Hurricane Maria, there was limited coverage about it in American media. The Sunday after Hurricane Maria, the front page of the New York Times had nothing about Puerto Rico and instead reported about Florida, Alabama, and Trump’s revitalized fight against NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. Approximately half as many news outlets ran stories on Maria compared to stories about Harvey and Irma. What ultimately brought more national news coverage to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the Category 4 hurricane was in response to Trump’s silence about the matter. However, at that point, it seems as if this was partly because it was a good story—something to cover for the sake of ratings. (What insensitive thing is the president today?) The focus was on Trump’s apathy and negligence as opposed to focusing on Puerto Rico. Salvage the Bones provides a helpful lens through which to view the situation in Puerto Rico—when it comes to disasters, there is always the question of who we consider worthy of aid. In many cases, distance makes it easier to stay uninvolved. We have a tendency to care more about problems that we perceive to be more immediate. However, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens—a fact which about half of Americans are unaware of. When we don’t perceive people to be part of our group, the pull to help is considerably weaker. However, that clearly does not only apply to people that we view as being foreigners (even when they’re also citizens) because we put Americans in vulnerable positions as well. We overlook faulty infrastructure and facilitate gentrification. We form our opinions and perceptions based on what we see on the media. Salvage the Bones asks us to reconcile with that and to be more vigilant consumers of media. In general, as well as in cases of disasters, we must remember what our information and perception is being filtered through and whether it represents the truth of merely the best or most convenient story. Works Cited Meyer, Robinson. “What's Happening With the Relief Effort in Puerto Rico?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 4 Oct. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/10/what-happened-in-puerto-rico-a-timeline-of-hurricane-maria/541956/. Shah, Anushka, et al. “Analysis: The Mainstream Media Didn't Care about Puerto Rico until It Became a Trump Story.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 27 Nov. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/11/27/the-mainstream-media-didnt-care-about-puerto-rico-until-it-became-a-trump-story/?utm_term=.c9279731d27d. Dave Eggers’ The Circle was written in 2013, only two years after the Egyptian revolution of 2011, in which citizens were protesting for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak. In The Circle, Eamon Bailey, the public face of the Circle’s progressive technology, reveals a camera the size of a lollipop, and references that he has had various employees discreetly place them within the streets of Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution. This camera is portrayed as a piece of new and revolutionary technology to learn more about the world around us, but the Circle is using these cameras and many of their other devices to learn as much about the world as they can. Due to the similar time frame between the writing of this book and the Egyptian revolution, I believe that the media portrayal would have been different if they had access to these cameras, and even could have kept various reporters safe, as they would no longer be required to go into the field, and would also allow for constant viewing, if desired.
During the Egyptian revolution in 2011, Egyptian citizens protested against oppression and government corruption, and to end the rule of President Mubarak, who had been in power for thirty years. Mubarak had created a web of mafia networks beneath the government, and consequently was oppressing groups across ideologies such as liberals and Islamists. Additionally, Mubarak’s connections were creating secrecy and overall government corruption for the goal of personal gain. On January 25, 2011, thousands marched into downtown Cairo, specifically in Tahrir Square and in various other places across the country, crying “Down with Mubarak!” Police officers were attempting to use tear gas and water cannons to drive the protesters from the ruling offices, but to little avail. Within this first day, three protestors and a police officer had been killed (Aljazeera.com). Day after day, furious protesters directly attacked police and their vehicles, continuing to fight for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak. On February 11, Mubarak transferred his power to the military, and protesters began to grow content with this situation. However, the connections established by Mubarak continued to hold, and therefore protesters continued to fight police forces in the streets. After this, the Muslim Brotherhood attempted to take power in this time of catastrophe, and protesters continued to fight their attempt of power. Within The Circle, Bailey asserts that “protesters on the streets of Egypt no longer have to hold up a camera, hoping to catch a human rights violation or a murder and then somehow get the footage out of the streets and online” (Eggers 65). Because of the size of these cameras, “They don’t know we see them, but we do. The world is watching. And listening”(Eggers 65). Just like with modern news media, the world is watching and listening, but this revolutionary technology introduced by Bailey will allow reporters to remain safe, but also discreetly observe happenings anywhere in the world. With the reported fluid movements of these cameras and their superb image quality, they would make for not only safer, but also more efficient field reporting on events such as this. Bailey even describes that if the journalists are removed for whatever reason, the cameras and the footage will remain. In addition, Bailey notes how any military individual committing a violent act would be recorded, allowing them to be tried in a court for his actions. Because people do not know of the exact placements of these cameras, Bailey hopes that they will prevent abuses of power. If we were able to have cameras like these installed around the world, especially in places such as Cairo during the Egyptian revolution, many of the rulers abusing their power may not have, and fewer civilians may have died due to military violence. On the other hand, the existence of these cameras would also warn the entire world, no matter where they are, or what time it is: Someone is watching. All that happens must be known. Works Cited Al Jazeera and Agencies. “Timeline: Egypt’s Revolution.” Last updated February 14, 2011. Accessed April 17, 2018. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/01/201112515334871490.html Eggers, Dave. The Circle. Knopf and McSweeny, 2013. Print. In last Tuesday’s Springfield News Sun, local downtown bar, Voodoo Moon, proposed a plan to turn its upper bar area into a gentleman’s club, called Jazzy G’s Gentleman’s Club. Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the article is the headline itself, “City warns Springfield business about opening ‘gentleman’s club.’” Looking back at Margaret Atwood’s use of Scales and Tails in her novel, The Year of the Flood, some similarities can be drawn between the two. As Atwood sets up in the novel, these clubs are similarly used for the benefit of the male customer. To my knowledge, there is not equivalent to Jazzy G’s yet in Springfield, and there was no male equivalent for a woman’s enjoyment in the novel. In the article, owner of Voodoo Moon, Renea Turner said she “is providing her establishment to test this concept, which she feels could draw new investments to downtown Springfield.” This draws an eerily similarity to Scales and Tails in the fact that these businesses, for the pleasure of men, are created as “revenue-generating” projects, in the hopes that these places will bring in more business. In Atwood’s novel, Scales and Tails isn’t necessarily viewed as “revenue-generating,” but it is customer-generating, pulling its customers from the local Painball arena. It is interesting to note that Voodoo Moon announced their plans over Facebook in February, with the Springfield News Sun article being published in early April. The city does not allow, due to the CI-1 Zoning Classification restriction, which Voodoo Moon does not have, for Voodoo Moon to operate an “adult business.” The Facebook post, now unavailable on their page, detailed some plans, which included a description of the club as including “VIP/private dances.” In this example in particular, parallels can be drawn directly to Scales and Tails. Those who came to Scales and Tails, especially those of “higher cliental,” were treated to better activities and better women. Most of these men were participants in the Painball arena, and were viewed as these higher cliental. Due to the language of the article and Turner, it seems like Jazzy G’s will be used to draw in those with differing backgrounds, like the customers of Scales and Tails, potentially with a focus on the more wealthy of Springfield. Although there isn’t a direct parallel to be drawn directly here, Voodoo Moon is directly across the street from a prison, which relates back to the potential cliental, like those from the Painball arena, that might come to Jazzy G’s. When thinking about the portrayal of the employees at Scales and Tails, it is important to point out that these women view their act as a portrayal of themselves and their talent, a.k.a. their art. Main character Ren participates in a trapeze act at Scales and Tails, and refers to herself as one of the more “respected” female workers. According to the article, there would be no nudity, and that there are bigger cities where “women are seen as ‘art’ and there are clothes performances by women.” The Facebook post also detailed a plan for its women employees to be “lingerie-fitted waitresses.” As with Scales and Tails, these women are wearing outfits for the benefit of their male cliental. Although these women at Scales and Tails outfits are also fitted for the purpose of safety against sexually transmitted diseases, they also have a focus on highlighting the female body. The article detailed an explanation of what constitutes an “adult business” in Springfield as “any sexually oriented business which focuses upon sexual activities and/or anatomical areas in conducting a business for adult entertainment.” Examples include “adult cabaret, adult arcades or adult book stores.” In the future, Voodoo Moon hopes to host “burlesque, drag shows and other performances.” Toward the end of the article, Turner said that she believed Springfield is “in need of revitalization and change.” She later goes on to say that Springfield “will bring something new to downtown.” Compared to the experiences of the main characters in The Year of the Flood, it seems like Scales and Tails was created for the benefit of bringing something “new” to the area, with a focus not only on pleasure, but art as well. The CorpSeCorps dominated the world in The Year of the Flood and the Scales and Tails establishment was one way in which to “revitalize” and “change” the area. Now, Jazzy G’s seeks to do the same, and, potentially draw a Wittenberg crowd to it. An interesting comic unpacking WWII nostalgia and 9/11 rhetoric.
Or, another way in which we've failed non-human animals.
A link to the BBC reporting on California's disastrous mudslide, as well as an illustrative side-by-side comparison of how the news of disasters is framed by different media outlets. The snip below is what came up automatically when I typed "california mudslide" into the search bar.
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Dr. PolakWrangler of the attendant ne'er-do-wells. Archives
May 2018
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