my senior thesis: raced performances.

as a women, gender, & sexuality studies concentrator, i am required to write a senior thesis. i am doing it loosely on gender, race, and performativity. below is my research question & my argument to be delineated in 70 or so pages.

My research question is as to whether the meaning of raced performances (“black queerness” and “black femininity”) change when mapped onto a white body? Why does Madonna use black images in her artistic project particularly during her early 1990s career? What is the tension between Madonna and the communities “she speaks” to? How are these tensions delineated to the end that gender, racial, and sexed hierarchies are exposed?

My research argument contends:Re-inscribing raced articulations on a white female body (in this case, Madonna) compromises the integrity and characterizations of non-normative sexual communities. Further, appropriation of raced performances is not an innocuous winner take-all game of re-inscription & representation rather a disruption of “urban sexuality.”

...in the east.

my new it city: berlin.

escape from japan.

so, the new york times ran a sunday times article (10/15) about japanese youth -- you know, punky club kids and the like -- finding "liberation" in new york city. (i admit that today is saturday and yes the "sunday" times pieces are published on saturday). according to the times, an enclave down on st. mark's is known as little tokyo. i lived 3 blocks from st. mark's this summer and can attest to the fact that 4 japanese restaurants does not an ethnic enclave make. nevertheless, the article details these japanese kids and their preoccupation with hip-hop, deejaying, and white American boyfriends.

OUT magazine.

two nights ago, russ and i headed over to macy's in downtown crossing for a "fashion show" of men's clothing. the event, sponsored by patron and OUT, was to be fair, a happily campy event. russ and i shared in the company of mario, a 66 year old puerto rican gay man obsessed with flirting with the male models. the drinks were free (and good), the clothes were underwhelming, and every detail feed this "mexican" motif.

interesting....

tower records files for bankruptcy.

check, check, check, check it out.....

tower records is going out of business says the neon green sign outside the harvard square establishment. for shame considering fewer and fewer establisments in the square are direct to consumer services -- ie: shops and stores of universal importance. yes, there's zinnia a niche jewelry store that serves the middle-aged and hippie subset. then, there's american apparel which only resonants with those who shop as a hobby (myself included).

in the digital age of dowloading, analog pasttimes seem tired. i, however, love the tower records if for nothing more than each section of the 2 story super store adds another X in its "deceny" rating. indeceny isn't bad, indeceny is good.

first section: standard lupe fiasco and the killers plus a sprinkling of maxim, FHM, and king
second section : unsure at the moment (i hope it doesn't sacrifice the joke)
second level (or first if this were europe): suicidegirls & anal teasers.

in the last few years, i have dedicated myself to a healthy helping of analog music. just recently i purchased, justin timberlake, christina aguilera, mary j. blige, and beyonce. i am going to mill through the store in the hope of heavily discounting finds.

the great wall of china.

top ten sources.

i am officially a paid blogger at top ten resources in charge of the hip-hop page and another yet to be determined category. i will be updating the page a couple times a day. check back back for the news.

my last days en la ciudad...

i spent the final night in mexico city in the company of a man named ricardo and a couple mexican poets and artists who gave me walt whitman poetry in spanish. walking among the protestors, i met the acquaintance of a man whose name i forget who encouraged passersby to paint their image of the demonstrations. below is mine.

at the booth, i spoke at length with a mentally challenged young man from chiapas. the language barrier was difficult enough coupled with the mental one. i similarly talked to a young man who caught my attention simply by the way he walked. he was different from the rest. he swaggered about, up and down the lane of protestors. he was american in town visiting his family. i could detect his californian sensibility simply by his gesturing.