The Underground Fall 2013 by The Underground

THE

Underground ____________ A Peer Reviewed Academic Journal of Undergraduate Research Fall 2013 Volume 3, Issue 2

ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSIT Y CANTON, NY

EDITORIAL POLICY

THE UNDERGROUND is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes the work of students whose creative endeavors reflect issues in mediums of representation identity, culture, communication, and performitivity discourse (e.g. PCA, Film, Gender, Fine Arts, Art History, Sociology, Government). The goal of this journal is to provide an outlet which allows St. Lawrence students to share the results of their work with the rest of the academic community. All submissions must be original and reflective of the learning goals in the social science or humanities fields and of St. Lawrence University academia. The journal will be published online once a semester. Submissions may include but are not limited to written pieces (plays, research papers, creative pieces) and multimedia (photography, art, video of performances, spoken word). Each submission will undergo a rigorous editorial process based on series of blind peer reviews and may be subject to a series of revisions. Each submission must be solicited by a faculty sponsor. Professors can either recommend works directly to the journal, or individual authors may earn sponsorship by asking professors with whom they produced the work that they would like to submit. All submissions must reflect the critique and feedback of the faculty sponsor before they are submitted. All work must be submitted in an electronic copy. Students are limited to submitting up to two pieces of their work per semester. It is recommended that submissions be sent in by the time determined and announced by the editorial board and should be addressed to Juraj Kittler (jkittler@stlawu.edu) and Jessica Prody (jprody@stlawu.edu).

ON THE COVER

An adaption of Corey Hahnlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Being Human. One attribute of being human seems to stem from the tensions inherent in the simultaneous awareness of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s internal world of personal flaws and traits which often stand in opposition to ideal perceptions, projections and performances of self. This work extends beyond personal revelations and attempts to unify the less-discussed nature of human experience.

LETTER TO THE READER Welcome reader! The Underground is back again this fall with its sixth volume. This semester we have decided to expand the scope of our journal even further to include pieces from all areas of study within the social sciences and humanities disciplines that are concerned with issues of representation. We are excited with the expansion of the journal and the incorporation of pieces from departments of Performance and Communicative Arts, Film and Representation Studies, Art History, Fine Art, Gender and Sexualities Studies, Sociology, Government and History. Tiara Davis leads this issue with her compelling article on the history African American hair and its use as a political statement throughout history. Brandon Studler follows with his two poems titled “Culture” and “Anxiety” dealing with issues of societal pressures and norms. Morgan McNeal analyzes the hyper-sexuality and objectification of women in Italian perfume ads created by designer Tom Ford. Jamie Caroccio reflects on the public response to the killing of Travon Martin and discusses the matters of racism and white privilege in America. Darion Ambrosino conveys the silence of those who struggle with gender and sexual identity through her series of photographs. Emily Baldwin analyzes the use of emoticons in digital conversation and the effects on modern communication. Tzintzun Aguilar Izzo’s film performance provides commentary on the rapidly evolving media and its interactions with society. Jacqueline Ashley Grey provides inquiry to the self representation in Frida Kahlo’s portraitures and the ways in which they represented Mexicanidad, mestizaje, feminism, and communism. Suncica Habul concludes with our first Spanish submission, examining the relationship between the Spanish Gypsies and the origin of flamenco in Spain. On behalf of all of us at The Underground, we hope you enjoy this fall edition. Sincerely,

Renee Lavigne ‘14

DON’T TELL ME TO RELAX P. 1 “For some cultures, yes, hair is just hair. But a Black woman knows that her hair has the power to shape her destiny. Black women have lost their careers historically and presently because of hairstyles they’ve chosen to wear.”

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Renee Lavigne ’14 EDITORIAL BOARD Alexis “Lexi” Beckwith ‘14 Alie Mihuta ‘14 Amanda Green ‘17 Emily Baldwin ‘16 Geneva Pond ‘14 Hannah Kinsey ’14 Jennifer Brown ‘14 Josh Cameron ’15 Karen Mullen ‘14 Katie Greene ‘ 14 CREATIVE DIRECTOR Corey Hahnl ’14 FACULTY ADVISORS Juraj Kittler, Ph.D. Jessica Prody, Ph.D.

CULTURE P. 11

resent “Culture; past p degrading” , g n i g n a h c er v E ANXIETY P. 11 “Rockin g back a nd forth Teetering on the e dge” STAND YOUR GROUND P. 17 “I stare at the screen, imagining the parents of this young boy seeing their son reenacted by a group of collegeaged students, his final moment on earth mocked so carelessly. I think to myself, what happened to the day of witches, fairies, and superheroes?,,

OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN P. 13 THE ANONYMOUS VOICE P. 20

:) EMOTICONS P. 25

FRIDA KAHLO P. 33

ROBOT’S DREAM P. 29

“Para mucha gente, sobre todo para los que no han tenido contacto con las poblaciones gitanas, este grupo se representa a través de estereotipos que los mistifican y muestran como adivinos con ojos oscuros que manejan vagones de muchos colores”

FLAMENCO PHENOMENON P. 43

CONTENTS Don’t Tell Me to Relax Tiara M. Davis 1 Culture Brandon Studler 11 Anxiety Brandon Studler 11 Objectification of Women, a la Tom Ford Morgan McNeal 13 Stand Your Ground Jamie Caroccio 17 The Anonymous Voice Darion Ambrosino 20 The Effects of the Digital Age Emily Baldwin 25 Robot’s Dream Tzintzun Aguilar Izzo 29 “Painting Completed my Life” Jacqueline Ashley Grey 33 Flamenco and the Integration of Gypsies in Spain Suncica Habul 43

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Tiara M. Davis

DON’T TELL ME TO RELAX Natural Hair as a Political Statement

ABSTRACT: During the era of the Black Panther Party, many African-Americans, specifically women, rejected white standards of beauty by abstaining from hair straightening practices. Prominent civil rights leaders wore their hair naturally as a political statement of Black solidarity and rejection of Eurocentric standards of beauty. Before this time period, the African aesthetic was viewed as distasteful. Black skin, hair, and physical features were considered inferior to whiteness. In regards to hair, men and women would subject themselves to harsh chemical relaxers to “remove” their blackness and gain social acceptance, however, the Black Liberation Movement changed the perceptions of blackness. There was a tremendous shift towards acceptance of blackness. The afro became the symbol for the Black Liberation Movement. Within the last decade natural hair has re -emerged among African-American women. Despite the time period, natural hair continues to be a political statement based on the history and interpretation of ethnic hair in contemporary America. Keywords: Autoethnography, Natural Hair, Relaxed Hair, Good Hair, Nappy Hair, Contemporary Black America

THE UNDERGROUND JOURNAL OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FALL 2013

Foreword: It’s Just Hair When I began my research endeavors on the Black woman’s hair experience, a lot of my peers didn’t understand the purpose of my study. “You’re doing a project on hair? But why? What is there to study? It’s just hair!” The scholarship of Black women’s hair is vast and dynamic. One has to live the experience to truly understand the relationship a Black woman has with her hair. For us, it will never be “just hair.” Hair is embedded in our culture and identity. We are introduced to perceptions of hair as early as birth when asked, “Well, does the baby have good hair?” Rather than the individual’s biological orientation or health standing, emphasis is placed on the individual’s hair texture because of the social capital and privilege associated with good hair. Because of these cultural stipulations, Black women learn to “deal with” their hair through excessive use of chemicals and hair straightening tools. We want our hair to, “oh yes,” as the Herbal Essences Commercials suggest because that’s what we’ve been conditioned to believe is beautiful; long, straight good hair that indicates beauty and acceptance. For some cultures, yes, hair is just hair. But a Black woman knows that her hair has the power to shape her destiny. Black women have lost their careers historically and presently because of hairstyles they’ve chosen to wear. Women, as a collective, are bombarded with images of beauty through magazines, commercials, and other social mediums that determine what a woman should resemble. Western ideology and cultural norms outline the ideal size for a woman to be accepted as attractive. However, Black women are judged by this same standard that disregards the African-aesthetic. Black skin, Black physicality, and naturally textured afro hair were not meant to fit the dominant images associated with beauty. The title of my project, Don’t Tell Me to Relax, symbolizes the denunciation of chemical relaxers and hair strengthening tools used to “relax” a Black woman’s hair. Within the context of hair, I define relax as a weakening, lessening, or reducing of one’s self for the acceptance of others. My goal is to analyze natural hair as a political statement through representations in contemporary and historical America. I will highlight the history of African hair, how it has evolved to become a political statement, and provide evidence through current accounts. This project is ongoing as I

continue to analyze the narratives of women plagued by discriminatory practices. Despite its portrayal, I am certain that afro-textured hair is one of the most beautiful and unique aspects of a Black woman. We can manipulate our hair in ways that other women attempt to emulate. My project is a love letter to my hair and Black women’s hair. It is a manual to understanding why we are the way we are when it comes to our hair and why it’s important. For me, it will never be “just hair” so don’t tell me to relax when you try to touch it, when I get defensive about it, when I don’t want to answer your questions, when you make backhanded comments or when you want me to change because you’re not comfortable. That’s your issue not mine. I simply will not relax. This is my cry for acceptance. A Message from the Author, Tiara Marie Davis My Hair Story My hair. My hair has never really been mine. When something is yours, when it really belongs to you, you cherish it. You take care of it, nurture it, and make sure it gets the best possible care. My hair was something that needed to be fixed. Even the language I’m using in this narrative holds a negative connotation. I liked it every now and again, but it was never something that I owned or accepted. It was something that I just had. It’s probably ‘cause I didn’t have that good stuff! You know the kind of hair that forms nice ringlets when it’s wet. The kind that all the little black girls wanna touch but hate you for. The kind grown men and women fawn over. That powerful lustrous hair that opens doors and paves the way for opportunity. You know, that good stuff. The hair that’s a lil black, a lil white, that just right hair. That’s what I always wanted, what I prayed for every night. “Please, please, please God give me good hair and... thankyouformyfamily.” I knew one day I was gonna’ walk into school and people would fawn over me and my pretty hair. I just had to be patient. However, I seemed to be stuck with them dang nappy roots despite all of my endeavors. My hair was tough, solid, like steel, made to withstand the forces of nature. Combing my hair was literally like going to war. My momma had to bring out the tools to prepare for battle! My fortress was so tough that she would take breaks after each section. Like I was sayin’, my hair belonged to someone else. I simply tolerated it because I had to. How can you love something you don’t know? How can something really belong to you when you

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know nothing about it? I keep saying that my hair didn’t belong to me because I really didn’t know my hair. I never learned to love it. I didn’t even know how to take care of it. No one showed me that kinky hair was beautiful. Good hair was beautiful and anything else was just ugly. I grew up around conversations that rejected anything that wasn’t straight or ‘good’. “Do something with this nappy hair, please.” “I can’t go home to my husband with this slave hair.” “If you put a lot of gel on it, you won’t be able to tell it’s time for a perm.” Every six to eight weeks I would sit between my mother’s legs as she slathered Just for Me’s: Children’s Super Relaxer. A children’s perm that advertises “gentle super strength” seems a bit contradictory but I digress. My mother would cover every inch of my head with “revolutionary cream” that promised to make little black girls beautiful because of course we were ugly without it. Words fail to describe the feeling or loss of feeling associated with getting a relaxer. The burning felt like my scalp was being ripped open over and over again. Just know that anytime my mother or hairdresser relaxed my hair, they wore gloves to protect their hands against the corrosive lye. The relaxer burned my hair straight! Despite my mother’s best efforts, I would often suffer terrible chemical burns that singed my hair and scalp leaving open wounds. At school, other black girls my age would recognize the scar from their own experiences, “You got a really bad burn didn’t you?” The relaxer had to sit on my scalp for at least twenty minutes to straighten all the kinks. I did anything I could take my mind off the burning. I drank cold water, stood outside in the cold, sat in front of the fan, and finally made empty promises to God to obey if he would stop the burning. As I pleaded with God, my mother would remind me, “Chocolate Chip, it hurts to be beautiful. Beauty don’t come easy for us! You want it to be straight don’t you? Don’t you want to look pretty?” Knowing that I would be “pretty” after the process was complete, I irritably burned. Before I even began school, I understood that straight hair meant beautiful hair. When my relaxer began to wear off, instead of petitioning God for its removal, I was praying that my mother would have time to hook me up. Acclimated to the burning, I would leave the cream on for as long as possible so it would really “take hold.” I needed the perm to erase any trace of “nappy hair” because I wanted to be beautiful. The perms and harsh hair dressing succeeded in stripping me of any and all hair!

Based on my understanding of beauty, I knew that I would still be considered pretty if I continued to wear my relaxer and extensions. The motto at the beauty shop was, “What I can’t grow, I’ll sew.” And so I went from relaxing my own hair to wearing weaves of all variations. I had short ones, long ones, curly ones, and straight ones. The transition to weaves was effortless because the majority of the African-American women in my immediate community wore their hair relaxed. By the end of my senior year of high school, Black women in my community began transitioning from relaxed to natural hair. My decision to go natural wasn’t because of some life changing revelation. I didn’t develop a racial consciousness nor did I read the autobiography of Malcolm X, who once avidly relaxed his hair. After the summer ended, I was going to a school in upstate New York where the population of black people was less than one percent. I wouldn’t have access to black hair salons and relaxers were no longer feasible. I also ran outta’ hair to abuse. My decision to go natural was a means to an end. Had I been blessed with good hair, I would have never worn my hair naturally. I cut the relaxed ends of my hair August 14, 2010 and loved it! It was the first time I really saw myself as just me and I was head over heels for myself. Imagine falling in love with yourself for the first time, really seeing yourself without falsifications. That’s how I felt after my hair cut! I was so proud of my new found beauty! Why didn’t I know this before? Why didn’t I do this sooner? However not many people shared my sentiments. I received some of the nastiest comments from people that were the closest to me. I think what was most shocking was facing disdain from men and women of color. My black community was always a safe haven for me. Men and women of color understood what it meant be marginalized. After I stopped relaxing my hair I was robbed of my safety net. My people, my community discriminated against my natural hair. “What are you gay now?” As if a hairstyle corresponded to an individual’s sexual orientation. “What the hell happened to your hair” “You look like a man in women’s clothing?” “I never thought I would meet Celie from The Color Purple.” “How do you expect to find a man in college if you look like one?” “Girl you brave for wearing your hair like that! Cause I couldn’t do it! I love Black men!” “Naw T, I don’t really like that,” and my absolute favorite, “Doesn’t the Bible say something about hair being a woman’s glory? See even God doesn’t like your hair.” I was now ugly. Naturally textured afro hair and beauty could not coexist. Ashamed, embarrassed, and preparing for my first semester of college I installed braid extensions to hide my mistake.

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Of course I couldn’t keep the braids in forever and I eventually had to take them out. Nothing would prepare me for the rejection I received from African-American males. As a senior who has taken a myriad of critical race theory courses, I understand why Black men rejected me. However, at the time, I was a freshman that just wanted to be liked by the opposite sex. I often felt overlooked and underappreciated. Just like Black women, Black men had also been taught to accept one image of beauty. I presented an image that was associated with unattractiveness and they treated me accordingly. In less than two months I learned to be ashamed of something I once loved. My experiences consistently reminded me that I deviated from the norm. I began wearing jackets with hoods and hats to hide my mistake. One day a guy I liked removed my hood. I’m not sure what prompted his actions but I will never forget the look of disgust that crossed his face once he saw my hair. I searched his face hoping I had been mistaken but the repugnance was beyond evident. I waited until he returned to his study carrel and cried until my eyes burned. What have I done? Who will love me? Instead of questioning his ignorance, I questioned myself. I learned what was ugly through experience. When I had straight hair, people always reassured me that I was a beautiful chocolate princess or something of that variation. Without the relaxer I was nothing, a nobody. I could tell myself I was beautiful everyday but my beauty was validated through the perception of others. In my despair, I turned away from mirrors. There was nothing that looked back at me that was beautiful. I’ve been natural for almost three years now and I’m slowly redefining natural beauty. However, decades of inherited oppression are hard to erase. I “say” natural hair is beautiful and I “proclaim” to love myself naturally but subconsciously I’m still working to deconstruct preconceived notions of beauty. Social and Cultural History of Black Hair The history of natural began with the forced migration of African people to the Americas. Before slaves were sent to their final destinations, their heads were said to be shaved for “sanitary reasons.” Slave traders purposefully removed hair to strip the slaves of their African ethnic identity. Assembled with Africans of different ethnic origin, “…Mandingos, Fulanis, Ibos and Ashanti entered the New World, just as the Europeans intended, like anonymous chattel.”1 In traditional West African cultures, hairstyles 1 Byrd, Ayana D., and Lori L. Tharps. Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. New York: St. Martin’s, 2001. Print. ( PG. 11 )

represented an individual’s position in society or their place among a particular tribe. For example, Senegalese girls who were not of marrying age shaved their heads to make themselves undesirable to men. Older women dressed their hair intricately to attract men and distinguish themselves from other prospects. However, many of these traditions were forgotten, lost or considered impractical during slavery. Slaves were able to meet the demands of the slave owner by toiling in the sun for long hours. The living conditions prevented slaves from practicing their normal grooming routines. Without the necessary tools or time to invest in proper hair care, slaves began to use non- traditional items to groom their hair. The sheep fleece carting tool was frequently used to detangle matted hair. In an interview of a former slave, Jane Morgan concludes, “We carded our hair cuz we never had no combs, but the cards they worked better…”2 The teeth of the card were made of steel, originally used to separate the strands of sheep hair. The steel teeth often tore the scalp causing infection and scarring. The list of innovative techniques used to maintain hair during slavery was extensive. From pig’s fat to wagon wheel oil, men and women used what was available to make their hair acceptable. Frustrated with their current hair predicament, slaves escaped their maltreated hair by adopting the head scarf. Fashioned from leftover clothing scraps, men and women hid the sores and evidence of disease with scarves. Scarves were generally a trademark of dark-skinned field workers. House slaves were not allowed to dress their hair with rags, adopted the styles of their superiors, and often had more time to devote to their physical appearance. House slaves were generally fair skinned, straight haired offspring of the plantation owner. Because of their blood relation, they had access to more opportunity and were treated better than their darker counterparts. The division of fair skinned, straight haired slaves from their darker, kinky textured brethren marked the beginning of racialized oppression and the glorification of white beauty. The preference for light skin, straight hair formed the basis of the good and bad hair hierarchy. Men and women with good hair received preferential treatment because of their connection to whiteness. Hair was a fundamental aspect of social acceptance. Straight hair and fair skin allowed some black people to pass as white. Of course this image increased their opportunity and access immense2 Byrd, Ayana D., and Lori L. Tharps. Hair Story: Untangling the

Roots of Black Hair in America. New York: St. Martin’s, 2001. Print. ( PG. 13)

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ly. Light skinned individuals with kinky hair could not evade color discernment with ease. Men were known to shave their heads to avoid being ousted for their true heritage. Overtime beauty became synonymous with whiteness. Historically, it was important for slaves to pass down these beliefs to their children and future generations to keep black people oppressed. Understanding the privileges associated with good hair, African-American women worked hard to “train” their hair to remain straight. A black woman would train her hair in a number of ways. One technique required the hair to be wrapped around the head tightly. Because hair straightening tools had not yet been invented, women would heat steel rods in stoves and slide it down their hair to loosen the kink. Irons used for pressing clothes were also a popular hair straightening tool. As the images of whiteness were touted as superior, African-Americans worked to alter their African-ness and embody a European standard of beauty. The Chemical Process: Relaxing, Weakening, Lessening, Reducing Blackness In 1917, an accidental chemical spill changed the lives of African-Americans and revolutionize black hair care. Garret Morgan, inventor of the gas mask and traffic light, was working to create lubricating oil for needles. After completing the day’s work, he wiped his hand on a wool cloth and returned to find the cloth completely straightened. He tested the chemical mixture on curly haired dogs and received the same results. Before marketing the product to the public he experimented with the product on his own head. Realizing the importance of his invention, he began to mass produce his invention and named it “hair refining cream.” Black women were unable to change the color of their skin, which often granted individuals special privileges, but with invention of the relaxer, they could change the texture of their hair. Both men and women could finally have straight hair in a matter of minutes; however, relaxers were generally reserved for women. Men preferred to use a similar process called “the conk”. The conk was a combination of lye, eggs, potatoes, and die. Because the lye was corrosive, the individual applying the cream had to protect his skin from being burned by the lye. The cream would literally burn the hair straight. If left on too long, the individual could suffer chemical scalp burns. African-Americans inevitably inherited the language and ideas regarding natural hair from their ancestors. “If its nappy, I’m not happy,” many would

say and rushed to relax or transform their natural hair to long, flowing, straight hair. African-American women understood the privileges and economic advantages associated with straight hair. Historically, light skinned Black women with fine hair would pass as white people to escape the hardships of blackness. Relaxers broadened the spectrum and permitted darker skinned women with afro textured hair access to more opportunity. Straight hair made Black women more desirable to the opposite sex, granted them access to better jobs, and even a greater opportunity for an advanced education. For decades, African-American women obeyed the lies perpetuated by the dominant culture. An ad in the 1940’s for a relaxer read, “ [ Black] men and women may easily have straight, soft, long hair by simply applying Plough’s Hair Dressing and in a short time all your kinky, snarly, ugly, curly hair becomes soft, silky, smooth, straight, long and easily handled, brushed or combed.” 3 The hair care industry pushed products that would change the appearance of African-American women rather than complement their existing beauty. Skin lightening creams and hair straightening creams dominated the black beauty market. Racial oppression and white superiority poisoned the black community. Black men and women were unable to escape the aftermath of white superiority and internalized these notions which were reflected within the community. The most prominent example relates to the glorification of light skin as compared to dark skin. Hair was also used as a marker to develop a hierarchy among African-Americans. One popular practice that demonstrates this impact is the comb test. The black elite class hung a fine toothed comb near the entrance of their exclusive organizations. If a potential member’s hair was able to pass through the comb without snagging, he or she would be permitted acceptance. However, those that were unable to pass, despite their lightness of their skin, were banned from black social organizations. This filtering system was popular in historically black universities, Black Greek Letter organizations, and even religious services. “Good hair” was prized in African-American communities as a result of white hegemonic norms. “Good hair was thought of as long and lacking in kink, tight curls, and frizz. And the straighter the better. Bad hair was the antithesis...”4 Good hair was generally reserved for men and women that were of mixed descent. Although Europeans were commonly at fault for forcing these unions, Indian men and women could also “help” loosen the texture of natural hair. During slav3 Weitz, Rose. Rapunzel’s Daughters: What Women’s Hair Tells Us about Women’s Lives. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. Print. ( PG. 17)

Byrd, Ayana D., and Lori L. Tharps. Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. New York: St. Martin’s, 2001. Print. ( PG.14)

THE UNDERGROUND JOURNAL OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FALL 2013

ery, white women also understood the allure of good hair and often punished their fair skinned “good haired” female servants by shaving their heads. “Plantation records testify to the importance attached to Black women’s hair: In virtually every recorded incident in which a slave was punished by having his or her head shaved, the punished slave was a woman with straight hair and the person who ordered the punishment was a white woman. By doing so, white women could reduce the threat these slaves posed to their marriages while punishing both the slaves and the white men who found them attractive.”5 Good hair gave an individual status in the Black community. If a person had a “good grade of hair” he or she was alleged to be better than the individual with afro textured hair. Good hair was and continues to be an essential aspect of the black community. The jheri curl, a chemical process similar to the relaxer, helped to create the illusion of good hair by transforming tightly coiled afro textured hair into loose curls. The Black Liberation Era: Changing the Level of Black Consciousness During the Black Liberation Era, African-Americans began to redefine what it meant to be black in America. They reclaimed the once loathed Africaness and redefined what it meant to be beautiful. The natural, as it was called, symbolized the rejection of white standards of beauty and a resistance to conformity. In 1962 Los Angeles, Malcolm X delivered a speech that spoke against the hatred blacks had for themselves as a result of internalized oppression. Sickened by the dominant beliefs in black communities he addressed the issue, “Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin to such extent that you bleach to get like the white man? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the sole of your feet?”6 In the same way, Martin Luther King Jr., understood the danger of an oppressed mind and wrote, “As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery and colonization.”7 African-Americans had been socialized into accepting subliminal practices of

self-degradation. Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., understood the effects of white superiority and worked towards a psychological freedom. The Black Liberation Movement not only sought to raise the level of black consciousness but functioned to build the weakened minds of the community. After agreeing to become a member of the Black Panther Party, Angela Davis stopped straightening her hair and wore a full natural. In her biography she writes, “My natural hair style, in those days still a rarity, identified me as a sympathizer with the Black Power Movement.”8 Comparably, Elaine Brown, who would eventually become the chairman of the Black Panther Party, also expressed her desire to adopt a natural style after years of wearing it straight. She explains, “I had also begun to wear my hair in a huge Afro style, no longer setting it on rollers to keep it straight, and arguing with my mother that my hair was really like that.”9 For some, natural hair was a fad, a style of modernity. For others, it signified the fight for acceptance by anyone that contested the natural. Law enforcement frequently harassed Black Liberation leaders especially those that wore their hair naturally because of what the individuals stood for. One woman writes, “Whenever I would wear my Afro I’d get pulled over by the police because I drove a very sleek car and they always thought from the back of the head that I had to be male a lot of times because we all wore the same hairstyle.”10

Although the Black Liberation Era ended, natural hair continues to symbolize the rejection of Eurocentric standards and acceptance of Black beauty. For decades Black women were unable to wear their hair as it naturally grew out of their heads. They were forced to adjust and alter their texture until their style was “suitable”. Eventually, a suitable hairstyle became synonymous with a straight hair style. Men and women of all racial backgrounds frowned upon a black woman’s natural hair because of how it had been presented historically and contemporarily. Tami Harris of Newsweek writes, “It needs to be tamed, preferably by straightening, but at the very least, especially in young children, hair like mine should be restrained somehow--in plaits or cornrows or something that hides its unruly nature. It should be shiny. You should be able to run a comb through it. All this in defiance of the natural prop-

7 “Stuff Black People Don’t Like - SBPDL: The Myth of the “Liberal

Weitz, Rose. Rapunzel’s Daughters: What Women’s Hair Tells Us about Women’s Lives. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. Print. ( PG. 10)

“WHO TAUGHT YOU TO HATE YOURSELF? (May 5, 1962, Los Angeles).” YouTube. YouTube, 06 June 2007. Web. 01 May 2013. Plantation” and the “Runaway Slave” Debunked: ‘Black in Philly’ in 1890.” Weblog post. Stuff Black People Don’t Like - SBPDL: The Myth of the “Liberal Plantation” and the “Runaway Slave” Debunked: ‘Black in Philly’ in 1890. N.p., 7 Apr. 2013. Web. 08 May 2013.

Davis, Angela Y. Angela Davis--an Autobiography. New York: Random House, 1974. Print. ( PG. 150) Brown, Elaine. A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story. New York: Pantheon, 1992. Print. ( PG. 112)

Banks, Ingrid. Hair Matters: Beauty, Power, and Black Women’s Consciousness. New York: New York UP, 2000. Print. ( PG 16)

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erties of most black hair.”11 This quote captures the general consensus regarding black hair. Do something with it! Fix it! Black hair was and continues to be something that needs to be controlled and contained. Thus, the duration of this paper will focus on the ways natural hair is contested in contemporary culture in hopes of demonstrating natural hair as a political statement. Natural Hair as a Contemporary Political Statement On October 11, 2012, The Help’s Viola Davis decided not to wear hair extensions and donned a natural hairstyle. In prior events, Davis felt more comfortable wearing wigs that hid her natural hair. Davis’ behavior is reflected among many African-American women in the entertainment industry. At the Oscars, a predominantly white environment, Davis proudly rocked a short natural afro in place of her usual style. When questioned about the decision to wear natural hair, the actress replied, “My husband wanted me to take the wig off. He said, ‘If you want to wear it for your career, that’s fine, but in your life wear your hair. Step into who you are! It’s a powerful statement.’”12 Viola’s decision to remove her hair extensions defied the dominant pressures associated with the ideal African-American actress. According to author and journalist Jill Nelson, “the message sent by the culture of beauty remains the same.”13 Black women are incapable of naturally exuding beauty and thus must undergo a variety of physical changes to be somewhat accepted. Black women have chosen, are arguably forced, to rely on weaves and hair extensions to achieve the long flowing look that is generally reserved for white women. Although the relaxer grants Black women straight hair, hair extensions provides fullness and length that’s advocated as beautiful and desirable by men. In many of the interviews following the revealing of Davis’s hair, the hosts overwhelmingly comment on her change in appearance. Perhaps somewhat unaware of the historical implications associated with natural hair, Davis comments that it’s “just hair”.14 Based on the amount of attention Viola received from wearing a simple natural afro, one can readily assume that her natural style is a represen11 Newsweek. “Tami Winfrey Harris: Natural Hair Is Not Un-

healthy.” The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 30 Oct. 2009. Web. 08 May 2013

Scharf, Lindzi. “Viola Davis’s Husband Encouraged Her to Take Off Her Wig.” InStyle.com. N.p., 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013.

Byrd, Ayana D., and Lori L. Tharps. Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. New York: St. Martin’s, 2001. Print. ( PG. 157)

Scharf, Lindzi. “Viola Davis’s Husband Encouraged Her to Take Off Her Wig.” InStyle.com. N.p., 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013.

tation of something, but what? It’s marked because she’s pushing back against cultural norms; it calls into question standards of beauty. Again, her style marks a behavior of defiance that pushes for a particular mold for Black women. Interestingly, other African-American women who attended the event with a much wider following than Davis were not scrutinized for their hair decisions. Beyonce was not questioned for wearing her hair pulled back in a straight pony tail nor was Jennifer Hudson asked for an interview regarding her weave installations. Davis received a lot of feedback because of what her style represented, a deviation from the norm. Viola’s natural hair received considerable publicity after the Oscars. In events following her reveal, she often wore her hair naturally. However, all of the comments associated with Davis’ hair were not positive. There was a small but apparent backlash publicized by Wendy Williams, host of Black Entertainment Television’s (BET), late night talk show. In her review of the Oscars Red Carpet Hit or Miss the conversation proceeded as follows: Wendy Williams (African-American): “Now let’s talk about hair. Who was your best hairdo for the night?” Mary Alice (White): “I have a feeling you’re not gonna like this but I’m gonna say Viola Davis. You know why? No wig, no weave. I like that she went au naturale.” Wendy: (As she rolls her eyes) “All due respect to natural but I don’t wanna see Room 222 flashbacks on the red carpet. Ugh Viola ok alright uh.”

Mary Alice: “Okay I know that was hard for you to hear me say.”

Wendy: “It, it’s hard.” (As she shrugs and groans.) Mary Alice: “I just did think its kind of great that she wore wigs all season that she just went natural. That’s my personal opinion.” Williams goes on to describe the hairstyle as something identical to a character in Room 222. The character that Williams compares Viola to is an African-American male with a short natural afro. Williams comment suggest that, “natural isn’t acceptable around the grown and classy on the red carpet.”15 Williams’s views also reflect the internalized oppression associated with natural hair. Black men and women were 15 Editor, MN. “Is Natural Hair Formal? According to Wendy Williams, It’s Not | MadameNoire | Black Women’s Lifestyle Guide | Black Hair | Black Love.” Web log post. MadameNoire Black Womens Lifestyle Guide Black Hair Black Love RSS. Moguldum Media Group, 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013.

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taught to hate their African esthetic. The Eurocentric standards of beauty were created by slave owners as a means of keeping the slave subservient among other things. These ideas inevitably trickled down over centuries and became an integral part of the African-American experience. Williams comparing of Davis’ hair to a male’s illustrates the “historical condemnation of short natural hair.”16 It was not something that was deemed beautiful and therefore had no place at that Oscars. I purposefully included the races of the women to demonstrate how the dynamics of hair have evolved in the black community. Traditionally, good hair was a white ideology used to oppressed black people. It slowly progressed into a black ideology used by black people to oppress themselves. Again it stemmed from the events of slavery and black inferiority complexes but Black America has attached itself to the same poisons that shattered our perceptions of blackness. A recent article written by Allison Samuels, an African-American journalist from Newsweek, received a lot of backlash for its content. Samuels wrote an article chastising Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for leaving Zahara’s hair uncombed. Zahara is their adopted Ethiopian daughter. In her article Samuels writes: “But not all people will recognize Zahara as the child of movie royalty. To many, she’ll be just a black little girl—and a black girl with bad hair at that. Photos of Zahara show the 4-year-old girl sporting hair that is wild and unstyled, uncombed and dry. Basically: a ‘hot mess.’”17 This is only a small excerpt from the many foul comments regarding Zahara’s “bad hair” and Jolie’s inability to maintain a black child’s hair. However, upon reviewing the pictures that Samuels condemns, Zahara can be found wearing a curly afro that does not look “unruly and unkempt,” as her article suggest. Her mother opted for her daughter to wear her hair is it grows out of her head as opposed to the mainstream styles of black children. Again this example highlights the contempt instilled in African-American women. Samuels suggest that Jolie adopts “neater” styles for her daughter in place of bad hair. The abhorrence of the African esthetic is such a fundamental aspect of African-American culture that little girls age seven are unable to wear their hair as it naturally grows without being condemned on popular blog sites. Neater styles can most likely be translated to “whiter styles” that would essentially rob Zahara of her African identity.

ers with their ignorance. In a critique of Samuels’ argument, another African-American Newsweek commentator wrote, “Samuels seems to embrace the notion, a gift of society’s Eurocentric beauty standards, that tamed hair = healthy hair, and unfettered black hair = hot mess. What’s worse, she wants little Zahara to learn to embrace this thinking, too--a terrible lesson for a girl with tresses that naturally feature fuzzy parts and curls that spring akimbo.”18 The backlash from Black women in popular culture is endless. Gabby Douglas, Venus and Serena, and even the president’s daughters have all had run-ins with Black women who don’t agree with their decision to wear natural hair. Again these examples illustrate how natural hair stands as a symbol against white standards of beauty. All the women that chose to wear their hair as it grows out of their head continue to defy the hegemonic norms associated with beauty. Although the narratives described above detail the oppression of Black America by Black Americans, some white people continue to harbor a distaste for “ nappy headed ho’s,” as Don Imus described a team of African-American women’s basketball team. On December 12, 2012, Rhonda A. Lee was fired from her position as a meteorologist for responding to a rude comment on Facebook regarding her natural hair. The conversation proceeded as follows: Emmitt Vascocou (White Male): “[T]he black lady that does the news is a very nice lady. The onl[y] thing is she needs to wear a wig or grow some more hair. [I]’m not sure if she is a cancer patient. [B] ut still it’s not something myself that I think looks good on TV. [W]hat about letting someone a [fe]male hav[e]waist long hair do the news. What about that?” Meteorologist Rhonda A. Lee( AfricanAmerican Woman): “Hello Emmitt-- I am the “black lady” to which you are referring. My name is Rhonda Lee. Nice to meet you. I am sorry you don’t like my ethnic hair. And no I don’t have cancer. I’m a non-smoking, 5’3, 121 lbs, 25+ mile a week running, 37.5 year old woman, and I’m in perfectly healthy physical condition. I am very proud of my African-American

In many of the case studies I’ve reviewed, the individuals that are negatively commenting on “bad hair” are all African-American. Black women have inherited these beliefs and continue to poison the minds of oth16

Byrd, Ayana D., and Lori L. Tharps. Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. New York: St. Martin’s, 2001. Print. ( PG. 57 )

Newsweek. “Zahara Jolie-Pitt and the Politics of Uncombed Hair.” The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 09 Oct. 2009. Web. 08 May 2013.

Newsweek. “Tami Winfrey Harris: Natural Hair Is Not Unhealthy.” The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 30 Oct. 2009. Web. 08 May 2013

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ancestry which includes my hair. For your edification: traditionally our hair doesn’t grow downward. It grows upward. Many Black Women use strong straightening agents in order to achieve a more European grade of hair and that is their choice. However in my case I don’t find it necessary. I’m very proud of who I am and the standard of beauty I display. Women come in all shapes, sizes, nationalities, and levels of beauty. Showing little girls that being comfortable in the skin and HAIR God gave me is my contribution to society. Little girls (and boys for that matter) need to see that what you look like isn’t a reason to not achieve their goals. Conforming to one standard isn’t what being American is about and I hope you can embrace that. Thank you for your comment and have a great weekend and thank [you] for watching.” Among many things, Emmitt first acknowledges that natural hair does not belong in the work place. He then goes on to suggest that Rhonda should “fix it” by using fake hair for a more acceptable look. In this context, acceptable is synonymous with straight and lengthy. Black women in the public eye are expected to “approximate a White standard of beauty.”19 When African-American women opt to defy social norms, they open themselves up for critique and ridicule as Lee experienced, however, this isn’t the first instance where a black woman has faced scorn or been removed from a professional position because of her natural hair: In 1981, Renee Rogers was dismissed from her position as a ticket agent in American Airlines for opting to wear corn rows. Corn rows are a traditional African-American hairstyle of braids worn straight back. The supervisor at American Airlines alleged that, “braids were inconsistent with the airline’s ‘businesslike, clean, fresh image,’”20much in the same way as, Vascocou comments about Lee’s hairstyle resembling a cancer patient directly implying that she’s lacking physical 19 Byrd, Ayana D., and Lori L. Tharps. Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. New York: St. Martin’s, 2001. Print. ( PG. 156 )

Byrd, Ayana D., and Lori L. Tharps. Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. New York: St. Martin’s, 2001. Print. ( PG. 104 )

attractiveness and appears sickly. In many of the cases regarding natural hair in the workplace, the comments define the styles as unattractive, unacceptable, “extreme and unusual”, unfitting the corporate image, and disturbing the production or work. Lee also recognized the repercussion of wearing natural hair in a professional setting. In an interview she stated, “When I was a news reporter, I used to have long straight hair and I used to do one of [those hair flips] all the time. I would think about my hair 24/7, but then I cut my hair. It’s been a little tough, but without struggle, there would be no progress. I can honestly say I’ve done a lot of soul searching. I was about to quit. [I thought], I cannot keep going from market to market and being told that my hair was a mess. I cannot keep doing this.”21 Although this wasn’t Lee’s first run-in with discrimination, this story received the most public attention. After cutting her hair, Lee was often persecuted by her producer for her natural hair. They frequently suggested different looks that were less masculine. In the lines following his initial comment, Vascocou argues that someone with Rhonda’s hair type shouldn’t be allowed on television. He then goes on to suggest the type of replacement that would be suitable for television. Only women with long hair should be allowed to present the news, “what about letting someone, a [fe]male have waist long hair do the news,” he says. Vascocou recognizes that short natural hair is not something that should be allowed on television. It’s simply not pleasing to the eye. This example highlights the ways in which white people actively oppress African-American women regarding their hair choices. Lee’s response captures the resistance and defiance natural hair represents. Again, women that refrain from the use of chemical straighteners and weave extensions take a political stance against the European standard of beauty. She acknowledges Vascocou’s ignorance and uses her platform to educate him as well as the Facebook audience. Many of her points are addressed in this paper and thus do not need to be reiterated, however, Lee’s overall experience highlights how natural hair continues to be contested in contemporary America. At St. Lawrence, when I wear my hair in braided styles I don’t draw unwarranted attention. I expect comments regarding the intricacy or the uniqueness of the style. However, of the few times I’ve decided to wear my hair in an Afro, I have to mentally prepare myself for the day. Staff and students are relentless in their onslaught of questions. “Why is your hair like that? Is it a special occasion? Is it Africa Night? You 21 Tom, Brittany. “TheGrio NBC Net.” TheGrio. NBC Net, 21 Dec. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013.

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must have a presentation today or something? Can I touch it? It feels kinda’ like Cheetos? So tell me what’s going on? Did something happen, what changed?” On campus, I cannot wear an Afro without having a reason. Why else would I wear my hair how it grows out of my head? Who could imagine someone ever doing something so outrageous? The stares and constant probing are relentless from people of all backgrounds. Everyone else wears their hair how it was intended to be, but Black women are limited in the arena of styles if they want to evade ignorant questions. When I wear my hair in an Afro I understand the non-verbal implications. I receive a lot of attention because my afro means something. It’s not “just” a style but a marker of defiance and a push for acceptance. Furthermore, the detailed history of natural hair and the examples of natural hair in contemporary America all demonstrate how and why natural hair is a political statement. Natural hair is not “just hair” but represents a boldness and a refusal to conform to dominant hegemonic norms. “When you go through all your life processing and abusing your hair so that it will look like the hair of another race of people, then you are making a statement and that statement is clear. I don’t care if it’s the curly conk, latex locks, or whatever, you’re making a statement.22 Works Cited Shakur, Assata. Assata: An Autobiography. Westport, CT: L. Hill, 1987. Print. Tom, Brittany. “TheGrio NBC Net.” TheGrio. NBC Net, 21 Dec. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013. Newsweek. “Tami Winfrey Harris: Natural Hair Is Not Unhealthy.” The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 30 Oct. 2009. Web. 08 May 2013 Editor, MN. “Is Natural Hair Formal? According to Wendy Williams, It’s Not | MadameNoire | Black Women’s Lifestyle Guide | Black Hair | Black Love.” Web log post. MadameNoire Black Womens Lifestyle Guide Black Hair Black Love RSS. Moguldum Media Group, 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013. Scharf, Lindzi. “Viola Davis’s Husband Encouraged Her to Take Off Her Wig.” InStyle.com. N.p., 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 08 May 2013. Banks, Ingrid. Hair Matters: Beauty, Power, and Black Women’s Consciousness. New York: New York UP, 2000. Print. Byrd, Ayana D., and Lori L. Tharps. Hair Story: Un22 Shakur, Assata. Assata: An Autobiography. Westport, CT: L. Hill, 1987. Print. ( PG 174)

tangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. New York: St. Martin’s, 2001. Print. Weitz, Rose. Rapunzel’s Daughters: What Women’s Hair Tells Us about Women’s Lives. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. Print. “WHO TAUGHT YOU TO HATE YOURSELF? (May 5, 1962, Los Angeles).” YouTube. YouTube, 06 June 2007. Web. 01 May 2013. “Stuff Black People Don’t Like - SBPDL: The Myth of the “Liberal Plantation” and the “Runaway Slave” Debunked: ‘Black in Philly’ in 1890.” Weblog post. Stuff Black People Don’t Like - SBPDL: The Myth of the “Liberal Plantation” and the “Runaway Slave” Debunked: ‘Black in Philly’ in 1890. N.p., 7 Apr. 2013. Web. 08 May 2013. Davis, Angela Y. Angela Davis--an Autobiography. New York: Random House, 1974. Print.

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Brandon Studler

CULTURE Culture; past present Ever changing, degrading That of ourselves, dictated by yourselves Norms of your society, undertaken by patriarchy My steps laid upon yours This world we were born Created in biased selfish forms

Brandon Studler

ANXIETY Repetition my anxiety No no no no no no no my word Repetition I will repeat over and over When I get anxious

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Like a load of laundry rotating over and over

stop

In the same direction with each rotation

clench unclench clench

The clothes are soaked more and more

sound of leaves death defying

Rocking back and forth

voices of conversations in hall spook

Teetering on the edge

Fall my enemy

Yes no

Pain fear memories

Safety hurting

back and forth back and forth

Good bad Work sit Clarity becomes crosses Black drenched in red Moving sliding gliding Back and forth back and forth no escape no escape trapped my hate trapped my hate fists inside out dig nails to the plate back and forth back and forth books logarithums science focus conceptions dedication ambient noise noise noise

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Morgan McNeal

THE OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN, A LA TOM FORD: A Study of the Use of Women’s Bodies as a Backdrop upon which to Sell Men’s Cologne

Abstract: Tom Ford is a man of many hats. Throughout his career he has worked as a designer, businessman, and producer. He is most famous for his line of clothing and accessory designs for men and women. Tom Ford Designs released a particularly shocking advertisement series in 2007 that proved to be extremely controversial, and was eventually banned in Italy (Kowalewski). These advertisements objectified women’s bodies in a nearly pornographic manner in an effort to generate sales. The graphic design choices that were made in these advertisements were deliberate and designed to have consumers associate highly sexualized images of women’s bodies with this product. The wording along with the image was also highly suggestive so that it may be sexually attracted to women, stating that sexualized women’s bodies are only for men’s pleasure. This series of advertisements when examined closely represent sexist tendencies that are still prevalent even after decades of work towards women’s equality. Keywords: Objectification in advertisement; Tom Ford; Race, Class, and Gender; an Anthology.

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Popular media exists to persuade, advertise, and inform the general public of what is current and what the masses should deem important. Culture shapes the way in which individuals view and project themselves when communicating with others. Popular media in the form of advertisements in particular are utilized to influence the way in which consumers dress, act, and perform their social roles or self. Gender is presented in the popular media as an invisible topic. However, if examined critically one can easily find highly sexualized stereotypes of the female body (Anderson & Collins, 272-274).

man who is always “pushing the envelope” when regarding his professional personality (Tom Ford). The common themes for many of his advertisements are sex and the objectification of women by placing his models and products in compromising positions. For example, the following advertisement is among his most controversial and was banned in Italy in 2007 following its publication (Kowalewski).

The objectification of women in advertisement today is extremely prevalent, and in many ways has become a social norm. Companies have found that sex sells, regardless of the product. In many ways, advertisements have become more and more sexual and increasingly sexist in nature. Advertisements of early generations in the 20th century are now considered obviously sexist, depicting women in what was considered “traditional roles.” However, despite the progress made for women economically and socially since the beginning of the 20th century, women are not free from the sexist attitudes and prejudices of those publishing and those being influenced by high-profile ads. Advertisements such as these are effective because sex and sexualized images of women are viewed as desirable and therefore sellable commodities. Advertisements have been mired in controversy as of late, particularly those illustrating women in sexually compromising and degrading positions. Many corporations create clever innuendos that appeal to audiences because of the sexual content and the “humor” or wit behind them. To an educated audience, these ads are highly offensive because they further perpetuate contemporary sexist norms. The disheartening fact is that nearly every large, international fashion company has at least one controversial print ad or commercial on file. Fashion companies are perhaps the guiltiest of the obvious objectification of women and sexual content, because one could argue that the images are considered art and the focus is on a product, such as perfume, clothing, or accessories. However, these sexual themes are intended to elicit a sexual association with the product or label. One such controversial example is the Renaissance man, Tom Ford. Tom Ford is a wildly successful designer, director, producer, writer, and businessman born in Austin, Texas (Tom Ford). He successfully creates and produces advertisements that generate sales through sexualized content. Ford is described as a

Retrieved from marieclairvoyant.com This advertisement objectifies this woman’s body by directly linking this product that is intended for men to sex and particularly the female anatomy. These pictures are presented in a manner that associates the product with women masturbating. The placement of the product and the woman’s hand suggest the highly erotic stimuli of a woman pleasuring herself. The advertisement conveys the message that with the use of this product women will be all consumed with sexual desire for a man wearing the cologne. Also, the glistening of this model’s body suggests that she has recently performed some sort of physical activity, which placed in this context also indicates sex and the sexual implications of the product. This ad deliberately does not include the model’s face; further projecting the idea that her identity is not what matters, but rather her body is what defines

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her as an individual. By only including the model’s body in a manner that focuses on what is regarded as highly sexual or arousing for the male market, the advertisement entices a male audience to purchase Ford’s product. The following print advertisement is from the same product line as above, however it is singular because it depicts Tom Ford himself:

bodies, particularly those of women, has become a social norm that is integrated into nearly all forms of social media, especially advertisement. Compromising women’s bodies for the purpose of advertisement is an extremely casual occurrence, and stems from the notion that sex sells. In the advertisements previously mentioned, Tom Ford utilized a model or several model’s bodies as a backdrop on which to display his product. The controversy that resulted from publishing these ads only created more demand for this product because the ad was viewed exponentially. This further reiterates the dispiriting fact that the female body has become a commodity on which to sell and advertise actual material objects, such as Tom Ford’s perfume for men.

Works Cited

Retrieved from adland.tv In this ad, the model is still placed in a compromising position identical to one above, but simultaneously this ad shows a man, in this case Tom Ford himself, in a casual but powerful position. He is also glistening slightly and his shirt is unbuttoned, insinuating activity of a sexual nature has occurred when viewed with the image beside Ford’s. In contrast to the image of the model on the left, Ford’s entire face is depicted and the image does not objectify a single part of his body. As he is the name behind the label this does carry some validity, but in this context it stands to reason that this was done deliberately to dehumanize the model’s image on the left and place more emphasis on the product. By only having the model’s arm and hand in Ford’s frame he is further objectifying women by only showing select body parts. Ford’s image also degrades women by placing the picture on the left opposite to his, projecting a sense of power and control in that he is the only subject whose face is worth capturing. Lastly, the print advertising on the bottom of each of these ads reads, “Tom Ford for men.” The last two words, “for men” insinuate that only men are allowed to be sexually attracted to women. This is a form of gender bias and perpetuation of gender stereotypes that lead to social norms that are not representative and exclude entire groups of people. Popular media has shaped the contemporary image of self and influenced the roles that women’s bodies play in society. The objectification of models’

Anderson, Margaret L. & Collins, Patricia Hill. Race, Class, and Gender: An Anthology. 8th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013, Print. “Five of the Most Controversial Fashion Ads Ever.” Marie Clairvoyant RSS. N.p., 2 July 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. <http://www.marieclairvoyant. com/body-politics-bloggers/five-of-the-mostcontroversial-fashion-ads-ever>. Kowalewski, Ashley. “Sex Sells. We Take a Look at the Most Provocative of Perfume Ads.” Web log post. The Whale and The Rose. N.p., 4 Feb. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. <http://thewhaleandtherose.com/2013/sex-sells-we-take-a-look-at- the-most-provocative-of-perfume-ads/>. “Tom Ford – Cologne For Men”. 2007. 11 Oct. 2013. <http://adland.tv/ooh/tom-ford-–-cologne-men2007-print-usa>. Image. Tom Ford. Tom Ford. Tom Ford. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. <http://www.tomford.com/>.

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Jamie Caroccio

STAND YOUR GROUND

Abstract: This essay is a work of non-fiction that reflects on the death of Trayvon Martin and racism through personal experiences. It looks to recognize the existence of white privilege and the importance of being aware of one’s position in society to identify injustice. It is a critique of one group’s decision to dress up as the young man and his killer for Halloween and seeks to call attention to seemingly unimportant actions and how they inhibit our awareness of racism in today’s society. Keywords: Trayvon Martin, Halloween, racism, “Stand Your Ground,” white privilege.

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Halloween Browsing Facebook the night before Halloween I see a link posted by Peter Wilson, my college advisor from High School. The photo attached to the article shows a girl wearing a hunter green dress with a corsetlike black addition across her stomach, just under her breasts. Her curly light brown hair falls softly on her shoulders, one feather sticking out the back of her hat. She is Robin Hood. The boy to her left wears a black t-shirt that says far too simply, “Neighborhood Watch” in bright white capital letters. His smile, also white and large, fills his face, forcing his eyes to squint in the act of smiling so big. His arm reaches around Robin Hood, in the center, where he reaches the second boys face, two fingers resting about ear level, his hand positioned into a gun. The boy on the receiving end, to the right of the girl, has painted his face black, where his smile seeps out white. With a splash of “blood” in the center of his gray hoodie, this boy is meant to be Trayvon Martin and the man pointing the “gun” is George Zimmerman. The men in this photo, and I say men because the individual posing as Zimmerman, Grey Cimeno, is 22 and his friend dressed as Trayvon, William Filene, is 25, are both residents of Florida, the same state where Trayvon Martin was murdered on February 26th 2012. I stare at the screen, imagining the parents of this young boy seeing their son reenacted by a group of college-aged students, his final moment on earth mocked so carelessly. I think to myself, what happened to the day of witches, fairies, and superheroes; making costumes with family and friends, trick or treating within the confinement of a neighborhood you did not yet know was capable of being unsafe. I fill with rage as those hauntingly white teeth smile back at me. I am ashamed of us. White Privilege When I say “us” I am not primarily speaking to white people, although they, we, are active members sometimes dormant within that one syllable. I am referring to humanity. This was a case of racism from the moment Zimmerman spotted Martin and thought he looked suspicious. Racism remains firm in its hateful roots when these students decide this boy’s death is humorous enough to reenact on Halloween. Racism sheds its mask to reveal its own heinous face when Caitlin Cimeno, the girl who posted the photo, posts in her visible bio on Instagram, “Stand For What a [sic] You Believe in And Make sure you Stand Your Ground.” I wonder if this is a declaration of pride for one’s state and its law enforcement or a lack of self-

awareness? I stumble upon the sad conclusion that for this young woman, the two are the same. Power, Privilege & Identity During the summer of 2009 I attended a program called the Sadie Nash Leadership Project. The program advertises itself as an opportunity for young females to strengthen their leadership abilities through taking various courses and contributing to an activism project. One of the core classes I participated in was a class titled, “Power, Privilege & Identity.” The class was mostly comprised of young black and Hispanic girls but I wasn’t the only white girl. There was Emma, who, by the most stereotypical of views was contrastingly the “whitest” girl in the class. She had long, wavy, dirty blonde hair that dropped well past butt length. The kind that gets parted in the middle and never sees hair products—a fact clear by the light frizz permanently surrounding her part. She had thick eyebrows and overall that hippy-Idon’t-shave kind of feel. I frequently caught myself staring at the bits of unshaven legs that her khaki pants failed to cover up. She was from Manhattan. The Flower of Power handout we did one day in class consisted of a flower drawn on the page with fourteen separate categories from which we had to reveal ourselves and acknowledge to which of those we belonged, to the minority/oppressed: race, ethnic group, language, religion, family (single? nuclear?), social class, age group, education, human/nonhuman, ability/disability, geographic region, sexual orientation, and sex. I remember thinking the inclusion of “human/non-human” was strange. When the instructor, Promiti explained the activity to us I was nervous. She was Bengali and I thought for sure this activity was meant to show people like myself, like Emma that we should feel badly for the components that made up our individual identities. That was until I started to fill out the sheet and realized I wasn’t in the privileged group for every one of them. I filled them out, respectively: white, Italian/Czech, English, atheist, nuclear, middle class, 15-20, High school, human, ability, NYC, heterosexual, and female. My age group, for example, meant that I was in some ways oppressed, along with my gender, family, ethnic group and religion. When we did the Flower of Power exercise the only “oppressed” groups Emma belonged to fell under gender and age. As oppressed or not as each of us were we were all connected through one common oppressive aspect of our identity. We were all women. One day in my eleventh grade English class the topic of race came up. I remember the table I sat

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at for that class had two Indian girls, myself and a white Jewish boy. My teacher, Mrs. You was Korean. I am not sure how we drifted into the conversation of race, but before anyone knew what was going on we were watching our Korean English teacher yell toward the white students in the class that we would never understand what it meant to be black. I understand now that what she was trying to teach us was precisely what we learned in the Flower of Power activity. She was trying to teach us what I would very clearly come to see as a truth so engraved in our daily lives that it had been impossible for me to see prior to the Sadie Nash class or prior to reading “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh in the Gender and Society class I took my sophomore year of college. But that eleventh grade English class was before all of that. What I knew then was that just prior to that week I had gone to sign up for free SAT classes and was convinced they did not let myself and my friend, Rigena in because we were white. I knew that the moment they saw us they assumed that a white face came with a nice income on daddy’s part and it just wasn’t true and I was angry for that. For the first time in my life I felt hatred boil inside me in a way that scared me. I wondered if I was racist for thinking them to be racist, and I knew during that class with Mrs. You that this was a long battle that none of us were the first to have fought in. It wasn’t that we were individuals of specific but different races fighting against one another. No, it was my first conscious awareness of racism as an institution and my own understanding of it through culture and how it affected me. I also realized that you couldn’t complain about being rejected from SAT classes when a thing like slavery stained your country’s history. The Human Race So in the moment our teacher attacked us white kids for an identity that like them, we were unable to choose, I just felt mad. My frustration toward my inability to articulate what I wanted to express to this lady turned into my crying. I would later realize that it wasn’t being white and having been discriminated against. It was being part of the disappearing middle class and being white that had allowed me to be offended by not getting in to these classes or later not getting enough money in financial aid for college. The teacher softened a bit when she saw the extent to which the conversation was affecting me and asked me to stay after class to talk. She said that she was glad that I had cried. Not in a mean way, but because it reflected that I was passionate about the subject. I wasn’t acting against just racism. I was against all forms of unkindness. I believed there

were good people and bad people and that their colors tended to vary. That one did not necessarily promise the other. Looking back at the Halloween photo, I see three young individuals smiling at me from the screen and I am reminded that we each come from an individual makeup: race, ethnic group, language, religion, family, social class, age group, education, human/non-human, ability/disability, geographic region, sexual orientation, and sex and that each of these essential aspects form us into unique versions of a shared history. I think of this as I imagine the blood on William’s gray hoodie seeping through the one Trayvon actually wore that cold night in February. I see his appearance in blackface take form, transforming into the identity Trayvon was forced to carry with him, an identity that left him a target, an identity that got him killed. I think of young Caitlin, how posting one photo demonstrated to the world the ugly potential that lies behind the mask of each and every one of us. I see her saying she is sorry, that it was meant to be a joke simultaneously as I imagine Trayvon’s parents seeing their son’s death as a Halloween costume. I realize what we are dealing with here goes far beyond racism in the 21st century. We are dealing with a lack of human compassion, in its most basic form: an inability to grieve for someone that has died. In this photo we see hatred and mockery that have led us to turn what should be grieved and fought against as a costume to celebrate on Halloween night. I am reminded of how silly I thought the human/ non-human category looked placed in a flower that was very clearly meant to be filled out by a human hand. I realize here that humanity is the root from which this flower of power grows. That if different by all other categories making up our identity, we all at least share one race in common: the human race. In this photo of three young adults, what we see is not the image of humanity smiling back at us. It is a very heavy fall into the pit of racism that our country has been trying to climb out of for so long. I imagine Caitlin posting the photo, preaching Stand Your Ground and I am left with the image of Trayvon’s parents grieving their dead son. Our own president said if he had a son, “he’d look like Trayvon.” I think about humanity and how the very term, “racism” is manmade. But it is not just racism that tightens its greedy hold on these individuals smiling back at us from the photo—it is compassion that seeps out from us, leaving us bone dry and immune to grief for another human life.

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Darion Ambrosino

THE ANONYMOUS VOICE Gender and Sexuality Abstract: The purpose in creating this piece was to convey the silence of those who struggle with gender and sexual identity in the heterosexual world we live in. There are many people who fall under the queer umbrella that feel they can not share their perspective with out ridicule or rejection due to discrimination in a heteronormative society. Each picture represents an individual struggle that can occur on a day to day basis or over a life time. The situations one has to deal with when struggling with their sexual and gender identity can cause one to live in constant fear of rejection leading to isolation. With this fear there is no open conversation or communication on the matter. I wanted to give a voice to their stories and allow them to reach the viewers without any further anxiety. Using the visual art of photography and clear short statements of their experiences, it allows the viewer to grasp the enormity of this issue. Keywords: Queer: (1) historically, this was a derogatory slang term used to identify LGBTQ+

people; (2) a term that has been embraced and reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community as a symbol of pride, representing all individuals who fall out of the gender and sexuality “norms” Homophobia: consists of the active oppression of gays due to the fear and hatred of those who love or are attracted emotionally and sexually to people of same sex. Heteronormativity: Heteronormativity is the cultural bias in favor of opposite-sex relationships of a sexual nature, and against same-sex relationships of a sexual nature. Sex Hierarchy: the gradation of sexual practices from morally “good sex” to “bad sex.” Jeffery Weeks: Author of “Sexuality” – stating, “Sexuality, I shall argue, is a ‘fictional unity,’ that once did not exist, and at some time in the future may not exist again. It is an invention of the human mind” p. 7 . C.J Pascoe: Author of “Dude You’re a Fag”- studied the social norms of highschools, and the isolation created by anything that wasn’t considered normal.

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Artist Statement: My piece is called The Anonymous Voice. This started as an assignment for my photography class. Our professor directed us to represent an event/movement in 6 prints that interested us, tying in our other courses. I chose to focus on gender and sexuality because I am continuing to become a gender studies minor and I am involved in the Sexual Activists Group and LGBTQ etc Club on the St. Lawrence University campus. I find the ignorance related to the LGBTQ community to be unacceptable and something I want to help change. It is a topic I am more then just passionate about. I have also found strength in educating the people around me. Through out my studies, I have found that there is an immense need to give a voice to the many people who fall outside of the heterosexual norms. After being exposed to many sources of information and perspectives, I have felt obligated to use them to make steps toward challenging our societal norms. I was inspired by the writings of Gayle Rubin, Jeffery Weeks and C. J Pascoe, all of which I was exposed to by my Gender Studies professors. From Gayle Rubin’s perspective, our society feeds off of the ability to create hierarchies, dividing the world into “us and them” according to what is “normal”. Jeffery Weeks defines the ridged division of acceptable and unacceptable sexualities, working toward deconstructing what he refers to as the fictional unity of sexuality. We live in a world filled with heteronormative advantages. Our education systems, marriage, health care, policies, and adoption are all in favor of heterosexual people. This leaves anyone under the queer umbrella with many more challenges in order to live equally in society. C.J Pascoe’s book involves her observations of what is considered socially normal in multiple different high schools. The basic organization of education is based off of gender and how one defines it. The struggle to be accepted clearly protrudes in multiple areas.

Through visual art I am trying to help protect the people whose stories I am sharing, but also to expose their struggles, reaching beyond them to the viewers. There are many situations that our heterosexual society takes for-granted while those in the LGBTQ etc. are torn with anxiety, fear, rejection and isolation. Many feel they can not speak up, dress how they want or be honest with others about feeling trapped in the wrong biological body. I want people to acknowledge these issues. Every person should be able to be comfortable with his or her sexual orientation, gender identity and body with out conflict. Each individual should know they are valued human beings with valid emotions and experiences. No matter who you are, you should be able to feel entitled, proud and comfortable in your own skin and lifestyle. Bibliography: Killerman, Samuel. “Comprehensive List of LGBTQ Term Definitions.” Its Pronounced Metrosexual RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 2013. Pascoe, C.J. Dude You’re a Fag. 2nd ed. N.p.: University of California, 2013. Print. Rubln, Gayle. “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of Politics of Sexuality.” Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of Politics of Sexuality (n.d.): 267-319. Web. 2013. Weeks, Jeffrey. Sexuality. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print. Jennings, Kevin. Becoming Visible :A Reader in Gay & Lesbian History for High School & College Students. 1st ed. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1994. Print.

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Emily Baldwin

EFFECTS OF THE DIGITAL AGE Emoticons as a Form of Nonverbal Communication

Abstract: As we progress further into the digital age, human communcation patterns are increasingly impacted through our everyday use of modern technologies. Online forums such as email, texting, and social media sites have not only become common ways of interacting with others, but have also altered the ways in which we communicate with eachother. We are able to understand symbols such as ;), :), and :( because we have adapted to understand emoticons as paralinguistic cues that would typically be present through nonverbal communication. Keywords: Nonverbal communication, Paralinguistic cues, CMC (Computer Mediated Communication), Emoticons

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“On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog” (Steiner). In the realm of online communication, many defining aspects of a typical face-to-face conversation are omitted, leaving a sufficient amount of interpretation for the receiver of the message. Communication is “the central game of the human condition” (Trenholm 1), and as we, as a society, have altered our living style from a physical world to a virtual world, our interactions with others no longer rely on physical appearance or social gestures, but instead the messages we send via online communication. As a “dog” communicates with a sightless receiver online, we blindly communicate our thoughts devoid of the emotional displays our bodies typically represent. However “we live not only in a world of words but also in a world of silent messages” (Trenholm 101), and in order for a conversation to be successful, a facet of emotional representation must be present. This realm of unspoken language, or nonverbal communication, depends upon a “process of using wordless messages to generate meaning” (Pearson 82), and in times of separation, one is driven to communicate non-verbally through the changing face of online communication— :-). We are in a frame of constant connection, and even though we are, in fact, speaking less, we are actually saying more. Through the use of :-), :-(, ;-D, etc., web users have enhanced online communication through embedding meanings to messages we often misunderstand. Although seemingly simplistic, emoticons stand as a form of nonverbal communication when communicators are not present, as they take on the role of typical paralinguistic cues in order to display human emotions. The use of emoticons in interpreting non-verbal codes in web communication dates back to 1982 when Scott Fahlman, the “father of the emoticon” and professor at Carnegie Mellon University, declared “I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-) Read it sideways” (Dolack) on an online bulletin. Fahlman initially conjoined these three punctuation marks to let receivers know communicators are joking when paralinguistic variations are veiled through the depths of a computerized world. Evidently Fahlman’s innovative use of the first emoticon was used to reveal a speaker’s tone that is typically hidden by raw text itself. The decisive use of an emoticon is “a very clever use of standard punctuation marks to express a human emotion” (Emoticons), used explicitly to “indicate the state of mind of the writer” (Collins). Moreover, “emoticons may serve as nonverbal surrogates, suggestive of facial expression, and may thus enhance the exchange of emotional information by providing additional social cues beyond what is found in the verbal text of a message” (Derks). Emoticons

represent human aspects of visual words and are a form of shorthand used by Internet users to express emotions and thoughts in order to facilitate the accurate understanding of written text. The use of a basic emblem, such as the emoticon, stands to represent the emotions and thoughts that typically reside in the multifaceted human brain. Just as people have trouble interpreting verbal symbols, people often endure a greater struggle interpreting nonverbal cues. The ambiguity that exists within messages in pure written form is an unintended consequence of the receiver’s inability to understand anything beyond the words themselves. Features of nonverbal communication are not present in online communication, frequently making the intended meaning of the message unclear. “Emoticons are important tools when you are trying to convey your feelings to another person electronically. Without vocal inflections, facial expression, and bodily movement, your emotions are difficult to interpret. Emoticons can be helpful in avoiding misunderstanding” (Pearson 84). By applying emoticons to computer-generated text, the communicator is not only portraying their emotions, but also clarifying the tone of the text, and therefore, explicating the message the communicator intended to send. However, by adding an emoticon to written text, a communicator has the ability to mask the implied understanding of the words themselves, subsequently showing their true emotion through the emoticon, just as we have the ability to do through other corporeal aspects of nonverbal communication. “The processing of emoticons seems to be privileged when compared with the words to which they refer” (Comesana), and because people are prone to pay more attention to emoticons rather than text, they can effectively “lie” through their applied emoticon. Either way, people deliberately choose to apply an emotion to written text through their chosen emoticon. If someone types ‘I like your hair’ with a happy face emoticon, this is presumably used to connote a positive meaning. However if someone types ‘I like your hair’ with a scared face emoticon, they are likely portraying what they actually mean through the applied emoticon. “Researchers found that an emoticon in combination with verbal “flaming” messages modified the perceived hostility of the message” (Luor). People often apply emoticons to messages because they do not want their message to appear as hostile as the words make it seem. The use of emoticons not only enhances our understanding of emotions but also allows us to display the emotions we want to express but have difficulty conveying through online communication. Social norms enforce cultural ideals upon us,

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therefore affecting our interpretations of the world in which we live. Our nature is nurtured and who we are is constructed through a multidimensional social process (Fordham). Consequently, the ways in which society speaks in turn become the ways in which an individual speaks. As a result, society uses :-), we use :-). Many variations of emoticons are often used, however due to the fact that culture influences the ways in which we understand the world around us, a common understanding of these symbols, and what they mean, is commonly shared between various individuals. As a result of our constant interface with technology, “results show that when Internet users are faced with pure text without emoticons, most people cannot perceive the correct emotion, attitude, and attention intents...” (Lo). According to Dr. Shao-Kang Lo’s study on the nonverbal functions of emoticons in computer-mediated communication, humans have adapted to understanding the emotions of others through the representation of computergenerated faces rather than purely the words themselves. These faces have become a part of our linguistics and continue to be a very up-and-coming study in the field of Communications as technology, and the forms of communications within it, affect the everyday lives of not only our generation, but also many future generations. Our understanding of any form of communication develops through the social norms and scripts we encounter in our everyday lives (Fordham). When “reality”, or the happenings within our world, is no longer generated through face-to-face interactions but instead the synonymous processes of the online world, the understanding of what people are actually trying to say must adapt to the scripts we have become accustomed to since the introduction of the digital age. Without the adaptation of these scripts, ;) would mean nothing to us. The necessity of the emoticon in our everyday language can certainly be defined as an essential factor of nonverbal communication as many people need this to make meaning of what others are saying: Thanks to the ubiquity of text on the Internet, not to mention the popularity of text-messaging on cell phones, we may well be reading more today than we did in the 1970s or 1980s…But it’s a different kind of reading, and behind it lies a different kind of thinking—perhaps even a new sense of the self. “We are not only what we read,” says Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University…“We are how we read. (Carr) It is clear that reliance on computers has affected the way we think and act on many personal and

social levels. As a vast portion of our emotional displays now take place through impersonal channels of communication, we have developed a new understanding of how to express ourselves in the world around us; a self that takes place through :), :(, or ;), and lives within a computerized realm. Social norms have significantly been affected since technology began affecting the structures that enforce our cultural values, therefore internally changing the ways in which we understand our world and the many messages sent within it. While the adaptation of emoticons has become a crucial aspect of any form of computer-generated messages, research has proven that it also impedes upon our social experiences with others. “Communicating meaningfully is becoming more difficult than ever before. While technology has created an everincreasing number of ways to communicate rapidly over great distances, many people are now so well insulated and protected by these devices we use that we are losing the skills and abilities to communicating in the most influential way—face to face” (Hanke). While emoticons certainly enhance our ability to communicate within the online world, studies have shown that our reliance on online communication has taken back from the breadth of our face-to-face interactions with others. While researchers are still looking for information regarding how our dependence on the Internet affects cognition, many people have described how their reliance on the Internet has taken back on the way they think. “Never has a communications system played so many roles in our lives—or exerted such broad influence over our thoughts—as the Internet does today. Yet, for all that’s been written about the Net, there’s been little consideration of how, exactly, it’s reprogramming us” (Carr). Our dependence on this virtual world has certainly affected us in many ways, however none are greater than the ways in which we communicate with others. Effective communication is a key aspect of any relationship (Fordham), and since we now have the ability to hide behind our computer screens, the comfort of communicating through technology has certainly hindered the relationships we maintain in our everyday lives. The reliance on communication through innovation has impeded the strength of many relationships and has even led to many social anxiety disorders, especially in teens who have not learned to effectively communicate without this online “reality”: In assessing social anxiety, analyses revealed a positive relationship between social anxiety (not comfortable talking with others face-toface) and (1) talking with others online and (2) talking with others via text messaging. In contrast, there was a positive relationship between the lack of social anxiety (feeling

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“comfortable” talking with others) and making friends online. (Pierce) Teens especially rely on Facebooking, texting, and instant messaging to communicate with their “friends”, however feel no drive to take this relationship to a face-to-face rapport. As a result of the majority of their communications taking place solely within these virtual messages, the friendships teens develop through online forums are rarely friendships that will remain stable beyond this computerized realm. Both parties have not learned how to successfully communicate in the presence of each other, therefore drawing a distinct impediment on the relationships they allow themselves to further create through personal interactions. The reality of the matter is that anyone can be who they want to be online, which may be different from whom they are in person. The relationships we think we have maintained with people online rarely exist beyond this virtual world, as face-to-face communication is an essential element of any form of communication and is crucial to any type of accord. The association between what we choose to communicate and how it is actually interpreted is a relationship we explore on a daily basis. Nonverbal and verbal communications go hand-in-hand and allow the receiver to fully understand the message that is being expressed. “Language is a means of communication, but it’s only effective as the person using it. Without inflection and emotion, language loses a lot, making text communication one of the poorest forms. While emoticons are informal, they may actually be the best way of bringing additional meaning to your emails” (Dachis). By deliberately choosing to apply an emoticon to one’s online text, the communicator is choosing the exact emotion he or she wants the receiver to construe, therefore eliminating any ambiguities that may reside within pure written text. “Emoticons provide the electronic gestures and convey the warmth of faceto-face communications, while adding breadth to the message” (Huang) and have truly become a part of our linguists as we have moved farther into the digital age. Social norms have been altered to tell us that :-) is a symbol of utmost importance in society and is, in fact, now the only way one can understand the “dog” behind the words themselves. Work Cited Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic 2013: Web. 15 Apr. 2013. Comesana, Montserrat, Ana Paula Soares, Manuel Perea, Ana P. Pineiro, Isabel Fraga, and Ana Pinheiro. “ERP Correlates of Masked Affective Priming with Emoticons.” SciVerse ScienceDirect. Elsevier, 16 Jan. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

Dachis, Adam. “Why You Should Use Emoticons In Your Emails.” Life Hacker. 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. Derks, Daantje, Arjan E.R. Bos, and Jasper Von Grumbkow. “Emoticons in Computer- Mediated Communication: Social Motives and Social Context.” EBSCOhost. St. Lawrence University, Feb. 2008. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. Dolack, Kevin. “Emoticons Turn 30: A Brief History.” Abcnews.go.com. Abc NEWS, 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. “Emoticon.” Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. Dictionary.com 25 Feb. 2013. “Emoticons.” Mason.gmu.edu. George Mason University, Web. 23 Feb. 2013. Fordham, Traci, Ph.D. “Mind, Identity, and Culture.” FYS: As You Communicate, So Shall You Be. St. Lawrence University, Canton. 5 Feb. 2013. Lecture. Hanke, Stacy. “The Lost Art of Face-to-Face Communication.” Trainingmag.com. 1st Impression Consulting, 7 June 2011. Web. 07 Mar. 2013. Huang, Albert H., David C. Yen, and Xiaoni Zhang. “Exploring the Potential Effects of Emoticons.” Science Direct. Elsevier B.V., 27 Aug. 2008. Web. 7 Mar. 2013. Lo, Shao-Kang, Dr. “The Nonverbal Communication Functions of Emoticons in Computer-Mediated Communication.” EBESCOhost. St. Lawrence University, 2008. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. Luor, Tainyi (Ted), Ling-Ling Wu, Hsi-Peng Lu, and Yu-Hui Tao. “The Effect of Emoticons in Simplex and Complex Task-Oriented Communication: An Empirical Study of Instant Messaging.” Science Direct. Elsevier, 5 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. Pearson, Judy C. “Chapter 4: Nonverbal Communication.” Human Communication. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print. Pierce, Tamyra. “Social Anxiety and Technology: Face-to-face Communication versus Technological Communication among Teens.” ScienceDirect. Elsevier, 2009. Web. 9 Mar. 2013. Steiner, Peter. “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog”. The New Yorker, vol.69, no. 70. 1993. Reprinted for academic discussion—University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Web. 26 Mar. 2013 Trenholm, Sarah. Thinking through Communication: An Introduction to the Study of Human Communication. 6th ed. USA: Pearson Education, 2011. Print.

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Tzintzun Aguilar Izzo

ROBOT’S DREAM Human Consciousness and Morality in the Digital Age

Abstract: This project consists of a spoken word performance, here presented as a ten-minute video. The performance is meant to be interactive, calling on audience participation. Images are projected on the performers, drowning their words and actions. The performers are not in control of these images. Instead, the spectators edit the images together, live. This process is known as VJing, similar to DJing. In essence, it is a live mashup. As the images are projected onto the performers, their words are ensnared in the reappropriated spectacle. The participants are placed in the role of the editor, the censor of their own media. The piece becomes a reflection on mediation and the role of human verbal communication in an increasingly digitized world. As the words become drowned in the wave of images, the audience comes to question both the value and the danger of digitalized media consumption. Keywords: Media spectacle, VJing, Digital Mashup, Singularity, Robotics, Lock-In

This video is viewable at youtube.com/watch?v=K8d4R0CqGLs

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This project consists of a spoken word performance, here presented as ten-minute video, documenting the event. This performance is meant to be interactive, calling on audience participation. Images are projected on the performers, drowning their words and actions in flashes of mediated confusion. The performers are not in control of these images. Instead, the spectators edit the images together, live. This process is known as VJing, similar to DJing. In essence, it is a live mashup. A mashup is a series of re-appropriated images, which are edited together in order to change their original meaning and content. The other performers, my fellow rebels of this digital landscape, are Allison Paludi and Thomas Matt. I originally performed the piece alone, but the human was becoming overwhelmed by the visual images. To balance the visual barrage with the human word, I included two more actors. This made the process more complicated, but much more rewarding for the audience. We are all members of the Weave: Mediocracy Unspun, an alternative media blog and university club. This piece was also a reflection of the moral dilemmas facing our organization, the dialectic between digital and human communities. Together we presented the performance at the conference of Union for Democratic Communication/Project Censured at the University of San Francisco, in the fall of 2013. In actively participating with the performance, the spectators are transformed from passive consumers to artists and creators. They are in control of the images that are flashed on screen, and thus have a say in the performance’s execution. As the images are projected onto the performers, their words are ensnared in the re-appropriated spectacle. In essence, participants are placed in the role of the editor, the censor of their own media. On the other hand, these images are meant to contrast and compete with the spoken word performance. In this way, the piece also becomes a meditation on the role of human verbal communication in an increasingly digitized world. As the words become drowned in the wave of images, the audience will come to question both the value and the danger of digitalized media consumption. Technology and its evolution are usually presented as a positive connotation. It is often considered outside of the social context from which it originates and that it inherently creates. Besides its contextual foundation, there is another issue that is ignored and often misinterpreted in the conversation about technology. In discussing rapidly changing media, technology is often caught within two contrasting binaries. It is either good or bad, a positive or a negative addition to society. This perception of technology ignores the fact that human inventions are simply an offshoot of the

humans who created them. If one only studies the effects of technology on society, one’s perception of reality “remains superficial” for one must study the “notion of cause and effect, as between technology and society, technology and culture, technology and a psychology” (Williams 1975, p. 1). The technologies are thus not black or white but grey, a muddy mixture of their surroundings. In this spoken word performance, I tackle concepts that that have been framed within a positive and idealistic perception of humanity. I therefore initially present the opposing side of this dialectic, bringing to light a few of the negative attributes that have been glossed over. In staging an opposing worldview, I am attempting to arrive at a middle ground, to uncover the grey hidden beneath the spectacle of black and white. I therefore ground my piece within the effect of the medium on the evolution of knowledge and its inherent counterpart, language. While both of these elements have been increasingly compartmentalized, imprisoned by certain attributes of the digitized medium and the cultural forces that shape it, this process is certainly nothing new. It has occurred since human beings first invented language and its subsequent mediums, for “changes in communication patterns are one very important contributant to social change” (Mayrowitz, 1985, p. 18). The way one communicates inherently produces reality but also maintains what one has produced (Carey, 1989, p. 30). With communication increasingly becoming digital, the “ambiguities of flexible thought” became restricted as even more solid and algorithmic, as if the structures were “solidified into an effectively permanent reality” (Lanier, 2010, p. 8). The act of imprisonment of language and compartmentalization of knowledge is presented in Jaron Lanier’s digital manifesto, You are not a Gadget. Lanier tackles this dilemma from the perspective of a computer engineer. He views this progression in human perception as intrinsically tied to the programming capabilities of a computer. The term he uses to characterize both computer and mental processes is that of “lock-in” (3). In order to “lock-in” one’s ideas and mental capabilities, one must eliminate that which is intrinsically human; face-to-face communication. The concept of the lock-in removes all the “ideas that do not fit into its digital representation scheme” for it cuts away the “unfathomable penumbra of meaning that distinguishes a word in a natural language from a command in a computer program” (8). The gadgets that we use transform ones reality, for “something as seemingly trivial as the ease of the use of a button can sometimes completely alter behavior patterns” (3).

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This complete alternation of the essence of what is human can be characterized in the concept of “the Singularity.” Ray Kurzweil, an inventor and writer, theorized this term. Kurzweil postulated, that the singularity would arise when humans were “forced to merge with computers in order to keep up with the rapid evolution of technology” (The Transcendental Man). The Singularity in itself would be a change “so profound that human being will be transformed forever” for it “represents a rupture in the fabric of human history” (Kurzweil, 2001, p. 5). The evolutionary process of technology, which has transformed or trains of thought, has been accelerating. According to Kurzweil, the growth is exponential for “we find that a key measurement such as computational power is multiplied by a constant factor for each unit of time (…) rather than just being added to incrementally” (2). Kurzweil compares this process to the evolution of species, for “the ‘order’ of the information imbedded in the evolutionary process” increase mirrors “biological evolution” (3). In fact, the “the emergence of the first technology creating species resulted in the new evolutionary process of technology” (3). Computers are the prime example of this exponential evolution. Computers are human’s most recent super tools, for under the cycle of “cataclysmic challenge” the “raw power of computers grows exponentially” (Lanier, 2010, p. 6). This law is called the Moor’s law, and it establishes that all computer chips will be improved to store twice the amount of information every two years (Kurzweil, 2001, p. 3). As this evolution exponentially progresses “it will appear to explode into infinity, at least from the limited and linear perspective of contemporary humans” (5). The way humans perceive technology is linear, thus when acceleration passes into infinity “the progress will ultimately become so fast that it will rupture our ability to follow it” (5). Kurzweil calls this acceleration, the “law of accelerating returns” (3). In order to catch up, humans must “come up with technology to become even more intelligent (because intelligence is no longer a fix capacity)” (5). It is Kurzweil’s opinion that the Singularity only represents the ultimate vision of a “ human civilization, which is already a humanmachine civilization” (6). While Kurzweil’s theories are inherently bound to a conception of evolution, their vision of history has been caricaturized. It has been reduced to a single accelerating line on a graph, a line that is one directional. This vision does not include any of the cultural and social intricacies that helped create technology. It is stipulated, “when a social need has been demonstrated, its appropriate technology will be found” (Williams, 1075, p. 19). The resulting

picture of reality is incomplete for, in reality, it is the need “which corresponds with the priorities of the real decision-making groups” that will “ more quickly attract the investment of resources and the official permission, approval or encouragement” (19). The only reason that “singularity” may occur is if the big corporations see in it a huge profit potential. In creating a robotic human, one is, in essence, creating a perfect consumer. An unseen force, probably controlled by a central network, will ensnare a faction of the population. The corporation with the most money and power will hence control this network. With this robotic control, it is no longer necessary to create a spectacle-based culture to distract the general population from the true context of events. Reality will still exist, and probably the nonrobotized humans will exist too, but the robotic humans won’t see them. They will be the blind governing factions of society, while everyone else becomes their invisible slaves. The problems of the world will not be solved by robotics; instead they will be only deepened. This vision of reality is inherently grim. My piece explored these concepts through the human word and the visual spectacles that continually sabotaged our words. In saying these words out loud, this piece is inherently an act of rebellion. It is a constant struggle in the minds of the audience and the performers. The human is fighting to be noticed and heard above the thunderstorm of ones and zeros. In performing this poem live, we are claiming the right to be inherently human. There is no medium standing in for who we are. Yet this act is a constant uphill battle. The very nature of recording the piece undermines what this performance was meant to accomplish. It re-imprisons the actors and their words. Does this mean that the battle has been lost? Is this very act of rebellion just another drop of water in the sea of digital conformity? References Carey, J. W. (1989). Communication as culture: Essays on media and society. Boston: Unwin Hyman. Kurzweil, R. (2011). The Law of Accelerating Returns. Retrieved from http://www.kurzweilai.net/ Lanier, J. (2010). You are not a gadget. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Meyrowitz, J. (1987). No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior.. New York: Oxford University Press. Ptolemy, R. B. (Director). (2009).Transcendental Man [Documentary]. USA: Williams, R. (1975). Television: Technology and cultural form. New York: Schocken Books.

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Jacqueline Ashley Grey

“PAINTING COMPLETED MY LIFE” Finding Frida Kahlo’s Identity Through Portraiture

Abstract: From colorful scenes of parrots perched on an indigenous lady to dark images of a bloody woman sprawled on a hospital bed, Frida Kahlo’s portraitures have become some of the most widely acclaimed art works of the 21st century. Throughout a life filled with physical pain, marital infidelity, and an aversion to traditional ideas of femininity and capitalism, Kahlo (1907 – 1954) used the canvas to express her daily frustrations. Indeed, Frida Kahlo explores her inner self through self-portraits to understand her place as a woman in Mexican society during the early 20th century. This paper analyzes the ways in which Kahlo represented herself in paintings and how this representation provided a medium for self-expression. Within the context of the Mexican Revolution (1910 – 1920) and her personal conflicts, Kahlo’s portraits depict some of her most intimate concerns: Mexicanidad, mestizaje, feminism, and communism. Understanding Kahlo’s complex character through these themes is an invitation to a deep, personal communication between the artist and the audience as well as a window into a period of unique transformations for women and politics in Mexican society. Keywords: portraiture, Mexicanidad, feminism, the Mexican Revolution, communism, mestizaje, and capitalism

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With her provocative artistic style, bisexual orientation, and trademark unibrow, Frida Kahlo has become a difficult person to label. Having suffered a tragic trolley accident at the age of 18, Kahlo’s dreams of becoming a doctor would never come true. Yet, through the time spent recovering, Kahlo found a joy that would remain her life long passion: painting. Over the course of her life, Kahlo produced more than 140 paintings; more than a third of her most famous works were self-portraits.1 The canvas became a place to pour out her pain, her love, and her emotions. Indeed, painting not only gave Kahlo a way to relieve her pain, but also, it provided her an opportunity to explore her inner self. This paper seeks to tease out this identity by analyzing consistent themes in her paintings including Mexicanidad, perception of femininity, and communist ideology. In order to understand Kahlo’s identity, we must understand the time period she grew up in, specifically the years following the Mexican Revolution. This crucial event influenced almost every art piece she would later create. First, the revolution began as a political dispute in 1910, “but gradually evolved into a demand for a deeper social transformation…2 The conflict centered upon land disputes. Under the Porfiriato, Porfirio Diaz’s regime, the elites controlled a disproportionately larger amount of land than the peasant masses. Historian Theresa Meade remarks that “by 1900 over 90 percent of an estimated 9.5 million peasants were forced off the land and into peonage at the service of big landowners.”3 Opposition to this inequality transformed into peasant rebellions headed by key figures like Francisco Madero I, Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, and Venustiano Carranza. Throughout the struggle, peasant rebels fought in the countryside. The men called themselves Zapatistas while the women were referred to as the strong soldaderas, or female soldiers. These figures became common people Kahlo encountered as a child. In an interview, Kahlo recalled that: During the tragic decade [the Mexican Revolution] my mother would open the balcony windows on the Allende Street side and welcome the Zapatistas. She’d attend to their wounds and give the hungry thick corn 1 Stechler, Amy, The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo. PBS, 2005) http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/worksofart/index.html 2 Teresa A. Meade., A History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present (West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), 158. 3 Meade, 159

tortillas… I was seven at the time of the Tragic Decade, and I saw with my own eyes the peasant struggle of Zapata against the carrancistas [followers of Venustiano Carranza].4 Eventually, the struggle waned down in 1916. After the 1917 Constitution was drafted, political leaders sought to re-foment Mexican nationalism. This resurgence of national pride in post-war years would become an important theme throughout the artwork of many prominent Mexican artists including José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, and Frida Kahlo. Particularly for the latter, the Mexican revolution affected the way in which she portrayed her Mexican nationalism, painted women, and displayed her political ideologies. In all, understanding the Mexican Revolution, a time consistent with Kahlo’s formative years and early adult years, gives us an understanding of what she valued and thus portrayed in her artwork throughout the rest of her career. In addition to placing Kahlo’s life into a historical context, understanding the major events in her personal life is key to understanding the themes and stories she painted. Kahlo was born in Coyoacán, Mexico to an Oaxacan mother and German Jewish father in 1907. Although she grew up in a multicultural home, Kahlo felt more connected to her Mexican heritage—to Mexico’s indigenous history and cultural myths,. In conjunction with living through the Revolution, Kahlo truly adored her country’s culture and chose to encapsulate this theme in all her artwork. In addition to her nationalism, Kahlo became interested in communist ideology at a young age. Living through this political struggle made Kahlo sympathetic to the social conditions and inequalities of the poor and middle classes in Mexico. She felt that a leftist government could better establish equal opportunity in society. Therefore, in 1927 she joined the Young Communist League where she advocated for a socialist form of government alongside other young adults.5 The Revolution not only influenced her cultural and ideological beliefs, but they also helped shape her perception of femininity in a highly masculinized society. Historian Teresa Meade states that Kahlo saw soldaderas assisting men during the Mexican Revolution by “carrying weapons, food, supplies, cooking utensils, pots and pans,

Raquel Tibol, Frida Kahlo: An Open Life (New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 1993), 30.

Gannit Ankori and others, Frida Kahlo, 1st ed. (London: Tate Publishing, 2005) 56

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medicines, and children.”6 Kahlo looked to this image of a strong female among “superior men.” In addition to soldaderas, Kahlo praised the earthy beauty of the indigenous women—dark-skinned, broad shouldered, and strong instead of the lightskinned delicate female that society upheld. Yet, Kahlo’s views of femininity and sexuality became complex with time. She had her first homosexual encounter at the age of 13, Kahlo started liking women fairly early in her life. She also dressed in men’s clothes and realized that this act can become a political statement in a highly macho society.7 Her ambiguous sexual orientation and feminist beliefs would play out later in her paintings. Yet, the most important event that changed Kahlo’s life became the tragic trolley accident that nearly killed her: “she sustained multiple fractures of the back, right leg, pelvis, and right foot, and was pierced by a small metal that exited through her vagina.”8 The accident would create life-long health problems for Frida in addition to an inability to have children. Out of her failure to produce children, Kahlo fiercely painted her pain, her sorrow, and her reality. Although she painted in the shadow of Diego Rivera, her husband, Kahlo’s art received worldwide fame for its sincerity and provocative nature. Her leading biographer, Hayden Herrera commented that, “she painted herself cracked open, weeping beside her extracted heart, hemorrhaging during a miscarriage, anesthetized on a hospital trolley, sleeping with a skeleton, and always—even when she appears beside her pets or her husband, the muralist Diego Rivera— she looks fearfully alone.”9 It is in the context of her complex life that we will try to understand how painting became a vehicle by which identity could be explored and possibly ascertained in the life of Kahlo. One of the most common themes that appear in Kahlo’s art is the concept of Mexicanidad. According to art historian Tanya Barson, “Mexicanidad refers to the sense of pride in being Mexican and the reexamination of national identity that was stimulated by the Mexican Revolution of 1910 – 20.”10 No better painting does she represent this nationalism in conjunction with her desire to understand her identity than in the work Pancho Villa y Adelita (Figure 1). 6 7 8

Meade, 165 Ankori, 56 Holly B. Sanchez, “Frida Kahlo: Her Art and Life Revisited,” Latin American Research Review 32, no. 3 (2001): 248, http://rpstlaw.stlawu.edu/ebsco-web/ehost 9 Hayden Herrera, Frida Kahlo: The Paintings (New York: Harper Collins, 1991), 3. 10 Ankori, 56

Fig. 1. Pancho Villa and Adelita, 1927. Banco de Mexico, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico City As stated before, Villa was a general during the Mexican Revolution. “Adelita” is the name of a corrido, or popular song, about the soldaderas during the conflict. In the painting Kahlo creates three paintings all distinctly crooked. On the left there is a picture of the Zapatistas and soldaderas. On the right is a modernist painting of a building. In the middle of the two paintings lies a portrait of Pancho Villa. Right in the center is Kahlo herself surrounded by two unidentifiable gentlemen. Standing as one of her first works, Pancho Villa y Adelita is enigmatic. Kahlo might have been painting a current history of Mexico: the conflict of the Revolution on one side and issues of modernity on the other. At the center of this theme—the Mexican Revolution—is Kahlo. In this way, she makes a statement: her life is not only intimately connected to the Revolution, but also, she is caught between two worlds with the Revolution on one side and the modernity on the other.11 Further, Kahlo speaks to the 11

Sarah Lowe, The Eagle and the Virgin: National and Cultural Revolution in Mexico, 1920 – 1940. (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2006), 59.

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view of women in society. By painting the soldaderas of the Revolution, Kahlo chooses to uphold the role of Mexican women in the revolution. Interestingly, she paints herself quite elegantly and lady-like, which differs from the earthy look and traditional dresses she usually paints herself in. This could possibly represent Kahlo not only acknowledging herself as a Mexican, but also as a modern Mexican woman. In sum, Kahlo finds that a part of her identity lies in the Mexican Revolution. In addition to nationalism, Mexicanidad also entailed an appreciation for cultural myths and Mexico’s natural beauty. Aztec gods and goddesses, flora and fauna, and the abundance of the land were central themes in her work. Yet, Kahlo transcends images of mythical figures and nature for the purpose of mere appreciation and uses it to understand different aspects of her inner self. In one painting entitled The Love Embrace of the Universe of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Diego, Me and Señor Xolotl (Figure 2), Kahlo uses depictions of an Aztec goddess and themes of nature in order to tease out her convoluted relationship with her husband, Diego Rivera.

Fig. 2. The Love Embrace of the Universe of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Diego, Me and Senor Xolotl, 1929 Collection Jorge Contreras Chacel, Mexico City In truth, it is difficult to fully understand Kahlo’s identity if one does not take the time to analyze the

effect Rivera’s love and infidelity had on her. She once said that, “there have been two accidents in my life. One was the trolley and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.”12 Understanding that Rivera could never be faithful to her, Kahlo found ways to subvert him by treating him like a baby. In this painting, Kahlo represents herself as an earth mother from Aztec mythology. Half of the painting is illuminated while the other half is in darkness. This duality of light and dark stems from a “…preColumbian notion of an eternal war between light and dark, the sun being the masculine principle and the moon the feminine principle.”13 Kahlo cradles Diego as if he were her baby. The earth mother holds everything together, even their marriage. Indeed, “the couple’s union is sustained by a series of love embraces that roots them in the Mexican earth and in the ancient dark and light duality of a pre-Columbian universe.”14 Yet, the painting also reveals the sadness of their relationship. Kahlo loosely holds baby Diego and “in sympathy, the Mexican earth has a cracked breast from which one drop of milk appears.”15 In light of Diego’s unfaithfulness, no one truly owns him and in order to maintain a somewhat healthy relationship, Kahlo has to abandon the traditional role of wife and accept his, and even her own, penchant for marital unfaithfulness. In sum, Kahlo uses themes of cultural myths and nature to find the meaning of a particular aspect of her identity—her relationship with Rivera. Frida’s exploration of her inner self through art was not limited to Mexicanidad. Rather, she also addressed the idealized image of femininity within Mexican society. Specifically, Kahlo questioned what attributes made women desirable among men throughout her paintings. One of the most obvious ways Kahlo addresses this issue is by painting undesirable physical qualities of women. Instead of portraying herself as a light-skinned, delicate Mexican woman, Kahlo embraces her mestizaje by emphasizing her dark skin, broad shoulders, thin mustache, and thick unibrow. In this, she not only demonstrates honesty, but also, she confronts the socially constructed aspect of feminine beauty and redefines what it means to look like a woman. One of the most famous paintings in which she openly addresses this issue is in the work Portrait with Cropped Hair (Figure 3).

12 13 14 15

Ankori, 32 Herrera, 94 Herrera, 178 Herrera, 178

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In addition to confronting the construct of feminine beauty, Kahlo openly addresses the issue of childbirth, one of highest social expectations of women. As stated earlier, Kahlo’s trolley accident prevented her from having children. Contrary to popular belief, this did not bother her initially. For example, the first time she became pregnant, she immediately tried to have an abortion. Only when it failed did she begin to accept and even become fond of her pregnancy. However, the miscarriage devastated her.18 She became obsessed with her failure to produce a child and the inability to become a mother. This tragic experience became the inspiration for the painting Henry Ford Hospital (Figure 4), which depicts a scene of Kahlo’s miscarriage.

Fig. 3. Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair, 1940, Museum of Modern Art, New York Kahlo created this piece shortly after Rivera divorced her. In the portrait, she has just chopped her beautiful hair and sits alone in a barren landscape. She wears a large suit, which covers her feminine features. Hair is strewn over the earth, and she holds the scissors close to her genitals. This act may symbolize genital mutilation, or the notion of cutting the very thing that enabled her “to love and be loved.”16 In these ways, Kahlo strips herself of her hair, beautiful Pre-Columbian dresses, and ability to make love—all the attributes that made her feminine and desirable. The title of the painting captures this idea: “Look if I loved you, it was for your hair. Now that you are bald, I don’t love you anymore.”17 In these ways, Kahlo uses her art to make a political statement against the conventional perception of femininity, understanding her own identity by the “un-ladylike” portrayals she creates of herself. 16 17

Herrera, 152 Herrera, 152

Fig. 4. Henry Ford Hospital, 1932, Collection of Dolores Olmedo Foundation, Mexico City In the piece, Kahlo is naked on a hospital bed and has experienced a heavy loss of blood. At the center of the picture is her unborn fetus. Five objects surround her including a snail, a pelvic bone, a female abdomen, and an orchid, the latter of which illustrates a variation of the internal body parts of a woman.19 She believed that these things were the causations of her miscarriage. Although she initially did not want to have a child, the heart-broken, lonely Kahlo that appears in this painting reveals her disappointment and despair. She must have realized that she failed in conforming to social norms of women through her inability to conceive. The level of detail, and the verisimilitude of her emotions painted onto the canvas reveals a vulnerable yet cognizant Kahlo. Although she would try and fail at two more pregnancies within her lifetime, Kahlo eventually realized that in order to be successful, she would have to channel her emotions to her future art. Indeed, the art that made her famous came from the period after her 18 Ankori, 34 19 Ankori, 34

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miscarriage. In sum, Kahlo viscerally understands her inability to achieve a traditional role of femininity and accepts her unconventional role of a woman through her paintings. Lastly, but still quite significant, is the portrayal of Kahlo’s political ideology, particularly communism in her art. It was not until the end of her career that Kahlo enforced her political ideologies into her paintings. Inspired by the Mexican Revolution and sympathizing with the masses, Kahlo believed that a leftist government would better equate classes and mend the socioeconomic inequalities that had plagued Mexico since colonial rule. One of Kahlo’s most politically motivated paintings is entitled Marxism will give health to the sick (Figure 5).

over the Soviet Union and protects Kahlo.20 Under a communist government, Kahlo believed healthcare could be administered to everyone. In conjunction with her life-long battle with physical pain, Kahlo identifies Marxism as a healing and liberating force. Indeed, Kahlo embraced her communist ideology, stating in her diary that, “now I am a Communist being. I understand clearly the materialist dialectic of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Tse. I love them as the pillars of the new communist world.”21 Altogether, Kahlo expresses her belief in universal healthcare under communism and envisions herself as a recipient of such a resource. In addition to portraying herself as a beneficiary of communism, Kahlo also addresses the “evils of capitalism,” by primarily focusing on anti-imperialist U.S. ideology. For example, in her painting, Self-Portrait on the Border Line Between Mexico and the U.S. (Figure 6), Kahlo situates herself in the middle of a split scene. On the left lies Mexico where the sun, moon, and lighting clash to create Mexican culture22.

Fig. 5. Marxism will give health to the sick, 1954, Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico City

Fig. 6. Self-Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States, 1932, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Reyero, New York

In the piece, Kahlo wears an orthopedic corset, which may have been a symbol of women’s oppression. Kahlo has let go of crutches and holds the Red Book, or Marx’s Capital in her hand. Marx’s hands uphold her while another hand on the right chokes a bald eagle in the form of an Uncle Sam caricature. On the right side of the painting, rivers of blood flow and an atomic bomb explodes. On the left side, however, is the dove of peace that flies over blue streams. It hovers

Pyramid ruins, markers of national identity (i.e. a pre-Columbian fertility idol), and plants that thrive in the desert all constitute the first half the painting. In the second half, Kahlo paints the dismal, highly industrialized American city. The FORD smoke stacks give rise to the American flag, “a cynical 20 Herrera, 215 21 Herrera, 211-12 22 Lowe, 59

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suggestion that the FORD not only makes cars but also creates national identity, literally out of thin air.”23 An array of machinery and factories constitute the rest of the American landscape. In the middle of the painting stands Kahlo, dressed in a playful pink frock. Her stance is demure; yet she is not as innocent as one may expect. She holds a Mexican flag in one hand, symbolizing her allegiance, while smoking a cigarette in the other. In the latter case, Kahlo, once again, defies stereotypes of femininity despite her playful frock. The juxtaposition Kahlo makes between these two countries demonstrates her political acumen as well as “a sense of a personal position in a larger political arena.”24 In sum, Kahlo understands her political ideology by painting herself as a woman who understands politics and a citizen who can voice her political opinions. Altogether, painting afforded Kahlo with the opportunity to understand her inner self. By analyzing consistent themes of Mexicanidad, femininity, and communist ideology, one is able to piece together the complicated, and often times controversial, life of Kahlo. Her Mexican nationalism, appreciation for cultural myths and nature, desire to challenge the unladylike appearances of women in Mexican society as well as expose taboos centered on childbirth, and aspiration to support communist and anti imperialist ideologies enable us to understand her multi-sided identity. Kahlo is strong yet vulnerable; independent yet dependent; demure yet brazen. She addresses complex social, political, and gender-related issues in Mexican society in simple and understandable ways. Her art is as Andre Breton claimed, “a ribbon around a bomb,”25 superficially innocent with complex and powerful underlying messages. Yet, the more one analyzes Kahlo’s identity, the more convoluted it becomes. Examining her art through three themes barely scratches the surface of Kahlo’s complex character. She tried to tease out her own identity by pouring out her emotions, daily frustrations, passions, and grieves on the canvas. Her paintings also became a place where she could make sense of the changing role of women in Mexican society, which provides a window into a period with unique transformations in Mexican society. In the end, Kahlo’s paintings were deeply personal and political, becoming a medium of self-expression. In the words of Kahlo herself, “I painted my own

reality; painting completed my life.”26 Bibliography Ankori Gannit, Oriana Baddeley, Tanya Barson, and Emma Dexter. Frida Kahlo, 1st ed. London: Tate Publishing, 2005. Herrera Hayden. Frida Kahlo: The Paintings. New York: Harper Collins, 1991 Lowe Sarah. “Painting in the Shadow of the Big Three”: Frida Kahlo in The Eagle and the Virgin: National and Cultural Revolution in Mexico, 1920 – 1940, p. 58 – 76, Mary Kay Vaughan. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2006. Meade, Teresa A. A History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present. West Suessex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Sanchez Holly B., “Frida Kahlo: Her Art and Life Revisited.” Latin American Research Review 32, no. 3 (2001): 248. http://rpstlaw.stlawu.edu/ebsco-web/ehost Stechler, Amy. The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo. PBS, 2005 http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/worksofart/index.html Tibol, Raquel. Frida Kahlo: An Open Life. New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 1993.

23 24 25

Lowe, 60. Lowe, 59 Herrera, 3 (quoted in Andre Breton’s “Frida Kahlo de Rivera,” in Surrealism and Painting, p. 144 reprinted from Frida Kahlo’s exhibition brochure published by the Julien Levy Gallery in 1938.)

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Suncica Habul

FLAMENCO AND THE INTEGRATION OF GYPSIES IN SPAIN How Did Climate, the Legacy of Convivencia, and the Coercive Royal Regulations Lead to the Creation of the Flamenco Phenomenon?

Abstract: This research project analyzes the relationship between the Spanish Gypsies and the origin of flamenco in Spain. Gypsies entered Spain from the northwest of the country, nowadays known as the province of Barcelona, and later situated themselves in AndalucĂa, in the south of Spain. With their arrival, in 1462, began the creation of the flamenco music and dance, which includes not only Gypsies, but also requires the participation of Jews, Arabs and Christians who had already been living in Spain for centuries. My thesis proposes that the origin of flamenco is closely related to the arrival of Gypsies and their assimilation with the rest of Spanish society. The interaction between different groups created a unique culture that did not exist anywhere else in Europe. There are three important factors that explain why Gypsies were able to integrate better in Spain than in other European countries. These include: the climate change, also known as the Little Ice Age, the legacy of convivencia, and coercive laws which enforced the Gypsy integration by having them abandon their language and tradition from India. My thesis supports the notion of Gypsies creating a new ethos that later evolved into what is now recognized as the Spanish culture. Moreover, their assimilation with other groups on the Peninsula (Arabs, Jews, and Christians) over time made Gypsies lose the tie with their ancestry. The theory of cultural creolization by Robin Cohen supports this thesis statement. It observes the concept of creolization as a condition in which different identities merge to create a new culture that supersedes all prior forms. Flamenco is a universal heritage composed of different traditions, races, and religions. It reflects the past of the Gypsy population that traveled from India through Europe and finally to Spain where, together with other groups on the Peninsula, they created the flamenco phenomenon. Keywords: India, Spain, AndalucĂa, Gypsy migration, flamenco culture, factors of integration, Little Ice Age, Convivencia, coercive laws, and universal heritage.

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Introducción al tema El número exacto de gitanos en el mundo, también conocidos como Romaní, no se sabe, porque muchos no están documentados en sus países anfitriones. Sin embargo, según el informe del Real Instituto Elcano del año 2008 hay entre 12 a 15 millones de gitanos en Europa. España es el país con el segundo mayor número de población gitana: 650.000 de personas cuya mayoría, aproximadamente 270.000, vive en la zona de Andalucía (Fundación Secretariado Gitano 2012). Los datos demográficos de los países no europeos indican que no hay grupos organizados de romaníes en las Américas, Australia o China, aunque es probable que haya personas que terminaron allí en varias ocasiones durante los siglos anteriores. Por ejemplo, hoy en Estados Unidos se estima que hay un millón de americanos de ascendencia Romaní (Webley). Los gitanos llegaron a los Estados Unidos1 de las Islas Británicas en 1850, tres siglos después de que se ubicaran en varios países europeos (Hancock). Al llegar a los países anfitriones los gitanos se habían ido adaptando a la cultura de los lugares por los que pasaban y al mismo tiempo guardaban sus tradiciones y su propio estilo de vida nómada. Desde el siglo XI, cuando salieron de la India a causa de los ataques por Mahmud de Gazni2 los gitanos comienzan un viaje muy largo que les lleva por el Medio Oriente hasta Europa. Desde el año 1001 hasta el 1026 el sultán Gazni dirigió 17 invasiones contra la India con intención de extender su Imperio desde Afganistán a la mayor parte de Irán, Pakistán y el noroeste de India donde vivían poblaciones gitanas (Barraclough, Parker 95). La fecha más antigua documentada sobre la presencia de los gitanos en España es el 22 de noviembre de 1462 (Gómez Alfaro 10). Según la mayoría de mis fuentes y la entrevista con Jesús Salinas3, 1462 fue el año cuando los primeros grupos de gitanos llegaron a Barcelona y de ahí se expandieron a otras partes de la Península 1 En Texas hay alrededor de 20.000 estadounidenses Romanís. Las poblaciones más extensas son Vlax y Romanichal. Sus centros principales son Houston y Fort Worth, aunque hay un número significativo de familias que viven en Dallas, San Antonio, Austin y El Paso. Casi cada gran ciudad estadounidense tiene algunos residentes romaníes. Hoy en día, la Universidad de Texas es la única institución de educación superior en el país que ofrece regularmente un curso de lengua romaní, la historia y la cultura, y que atrae a estudiantes de lugares tan lejos como la India (Hancock).

Mahmud de Gazni (971- 1030) fue un gobernante del Imperio gaznávida desde 997 hasta su muerte en 1030. Los gaznávidas fueron una dinastía musulmana de origen turco, que reinó desde finales del siglo X hasta finales del siglo XII. 3 Jesús Salinas es coordinador de Actividades y Secretaría de la Asociación de Enseñantes con Gitanos en Barcelona, a quien tuve la oportunidad de entrevistar durante mi último viaje a España en enero del 2013.

Ibérica. Por esta misma razón, en el otoño de 1996, el Parlamento de Andalucía decidió declarar el 22 de noviembre como el Día de los Gitanos Andaluces (Fundación Secretariado Gitano 2010). Para mucha gente, sobre todo para los que no han tenido contacto con las poblaciones gitanas, este grupo se representa a través de estereotipos que los mistifican y muestran como adivinos con ojos oscuros que manejan vagones de muchos colores. Para entender la situación actual del pueblo gitano es importante hacer algunas referencias a su origen. Desde que salieron de la India, los gitanos han estado sujetos al rechazo y a la marginalización, pero también a la explotación. Sus países anfitriones les obligaban a pagar impuestos y cumplir el servicio militar, y por otro lado, les negaban el derecho a la ciudadanía, aunque esto también fue resultado de su estilo nómado. Por no formar su país propio se les negó el acceso a la vivienda y la educación, lo cual está teniendo graves consecuencias en la actualidad. Las circunstancias arduas hicieron que los gitanos indios progresivamente emigraran de un país a otro. Sin embargo cada país se diferenciaba en cuanto el sistema político, las relaciones étnicas y religiosas y la realidad económica. Fueron las primeras personas de color que vinieron a Europa en grandes cantidades, alrededor de ocho millones (Hancock). Aunque podemos decir que todos los gitanos comparten las bases de la misma cultura en la que la música y la libertad del movimiento representan la clave, los gitanos de los países como Rumania o Bosnia se diferencian mucho de los gitanos que vienen a España. Este proyecto analiza las razones por las cuales la integración del pueblo gitano hoy en día es diferente a la de los países europeos, enfocándome en el caso de España como ejemplo de una integración cultural que no parece existir en ningún otro país. Una de las metas de este trabajo de investigación es tratar de romper con los estereotipos sobre los gitanos a través del análisis de su origen, su cultura y su realidad socioeconómica. La investigación enfoca en el caso de los gitanos españoles y el nivel de su integración a la sociedad española. Los gitanos que llegaron a España, sobre todo en la región de Andalucía, se mezclaron con otras minorías como los árabes y judíos que ya habían vivido allí durante varios siglos. Reprimidos por la autoridad real, estos grupos compartían su cultura y las experiencias de represión, así creando una nueva identidad que llega a tener su mayor expresión en el baile y la música flamenca.

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Antecedentes Este análisis de la relación entre el origen de los gitanos y el nacimiento del baile flamenco es un trabajo de más de dos años de investigación. Sin embargo, mi primer interés por el tema del pueblo gitano viene de la época en la que estudiaba en el Colegio de Mundos Unidos en Mostar, Bosnia y Herzegovina. En esta escuela internacional, aparte de un intensivo curso académico los estudiantes hacen trabajo voluntario en la comunidad de Mostar en las instituciones cómo guarderías, orfanatos y hogares para ancianos. Mi actividad voluntaria era trabajar con los niños en una comunidad gitana en las afueras de la ciudad de Mostar. Aparte de las clases de inglés, matemáticas y teatro mi grupo organizaba discusiones sobre la realidad socioeconómica de la gente gitana y sus derechos como ciudadanos de Bosnia y Herzegovina. El propósito de todas las actividades que organizamos era crear la conciencia sobre la vida de los gitanos que son un grupo muy marginalizado en todo el continente europeo. Durante mi primer año en el trabajo voluntario me hice muy amiga de una niña gitana cuya nombre era Đeka. Algunos miembros de su familia vivían en Mostar pero su padre y su madre en esa época estaban en Alemania. La niña decía que no sabía cuándo se reuniría con sus padres ni cuánto tiempo se quedaría en Mostar y que todo dependía de las condiciones socioeconómicas. Aunque Đeka no vivía en una chabola4 como otros niños del grupo, su vida no era nada fácil y todo lo contrario a lo que tenían niños bosnios de su edad. En Mostar la mayoría de los niños gitanos reciben educación en centros para personas discapacitadas porque muchas escuelas no aceptan a los gitanos por las cuestiones de estereotipos y prejuicios. Recuerdo que una vez por la falta de espacio adecuado en la comunidad gitana para las actividades de teatro, pintura, matemáticas e inglés mi grupo de voluntariado decidió traer niños gitanos cada viernes a una sala muy grande que había en el primer piso de nuestro dormitorio. El proyecto tuvo mucho éxito y era esencial para los niños porque esta fue la única educación para muchos de ellos. Sin embargo, no toda la gente pensaba así y muy pronto a causa de varias demandas de nuestros vecinos ya no pudimos traer niños a nuestro barrio. Para evitar problemas con la policía, tuvimos que buscar otro espacio para nuestras actividades. Esta experiencia ha influido mucho en mi manera de pensar sobre los gitanos en una sociedad regida por sus propias tensiones religiosas y étnicas. El racismo contra la gente gitana en la sociedad 4 Según el Word Reference chabola es una vivienda de escasas dimensiones construida con materiales de desecho en los suburbios de los grandes núcleos urbanos.

bosnia en la última década ha estado más presente que nunca. Las tensiones étnicas fueron producto de la Guerra de 1992-1995 que provocó la desconfianza entre la gente. Me acuerdo muy bien de una ocasión cuando estaba paseando con mis amigos por la calle principal en Mostar donde siempre habían mendigos gitanos. Cuando iba a cruzar la calle para ir al otro lado donde había un mercado, de repente enfrente de mí apareció un niño gitano. Los primeros segundos estaba un poco confundida, pero después me di cuenta de que el niño era uno de los que participaba en la actividades que mi colegio organizaba. Me saludó y me dio un abrazo, a lo que algunos de mis amigos pusieron una cara de asco y cuando el niño se fue sin “mala intención” me dijeron: “Sunčica pero por Dios, pero ¿cómo puedes le dejar que te abrace?, ¿no ves que está sucio y probablemente tiene pulgas?” En este el momento me di cuenta de la gravedad de la situación, el racismo, y el rechazo completo hacía los gitanos. Con el grupo voluntario de mi escuela, el Colegio de Mundos Unidos, empecé a participar en reuniones en las que se hablaba sobre los derechos de la gente gitana. Desde ese momento utilicé cada oportunidad que pude para aprender más sobre el pueblo gitano y su origen. Cuando llegué a la universidad de San Lorenzo aprend que no todos los gitanos en Europa comparten la misma realidad. Después de hacer una presentación para mi clase de español sobre los gitanos en España, me di cuenta de que en este país el pueblo gitano se considera español y comparte la cultura con otros grupos de la Península Ibérica. En ese momento decidí aprender más sobre los factores que influyeron en el hecho que los gitanos en España tuvieran una experiencia muy diferente a la de los que vivían en otros países europeos. Por lo tanto, después de estudiar en Madrid por un semestre, en mayo del 2011 viajé a Andalucía, a las ciudades de Sevilla, Granada y Córdoba, para hacer mi primera investigación sobre los gitanos españoles y el flamenco. Siempre me llamó mucho la atención la imagen de la gitana bailando flamenco lo que llegó a ser un símbolo de España. En mi mente esta imagen de “lo gitano artístico” no tenía nada en común con la realidad de los gitanos mendigos que vivían en las chabolas en las afueras de mi ciudad. Por lo tanto a través de los estudios de los gitanos españoles quería comprender la situación de los gitanos en Bosnia y en otros países europeos. En enero de 2013 hice mi segundo viaje a España. Gracias a la beca de las familias Weaver y Nicolais pude viajar a las ciudades de Madrid, Jerez de la Frontera, Granada y Barcelona. En un período de diez días entrevisté a nueve personas de diferentes profesiones. En este viaje por primera vez me encontré con el término “flamencología” que abrió nuevas puertas a mi proyecto de investigación, dándole la oportunidad

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al flamenco de pertenecer al contexto educativo. Durante mi estancia en Madrid tuve la oportunidad de entrevistar a José Pamies, profesor de flamencología en la Universidad Álcala. En Madrid también tuve la oportunidad de entrevistar a Manuel Martín Ramírez, el director de la Asociación Presencia Gitana, que me ofreció muchos datos sobre la legislación española con respecto al pueblo gitano.

que los gitanos pierdan su cultura original. La teoría de la criollización cultural de Robin Cohen me sirve como marco teórico para analizar el proceso de asimilación de las culturas mencionadas. Según Cohen, los grupos minoritarios de un país crean su cultura propia la cual en vez de excluir incluye y ofrece una identidad a los que perdieron el derecho de pertenecer.

Aparte de Organizaciones No Gubernamentales entrevisté a cantaores muy famosos en Andalucía como Curro Albaicín en Granada y Juana la del Pipa en Jerez. En Granada también hablé con Francisca Fernández, la directora del Centro Sociocultural Gitano, a la que conocí durante mi primer viaje a España en mayo del 2011. Finalmente, aparte de mi viaje a las ciudades de Andalucía pensé que era muy importante entender la importancia del flamenco en diferentes regiones del país. Por esta razón, viajé a Barcelona donde entrevisté a Jesús Salina, el representante de la Asociación de Enseñantes con Gitanos, y los representantes de la Unión Romaní,5 Silvia Rodríguez Gómez y su colega Francisco Santiago Maya. Los dos viajes que hice a España son esenciales para mi tesina porque me ayudaron a obtener un entendimiento profundo de esta temática que no hubiera podido lograr en una investigación basada sólo en libros y artículos.

Finalmente, yo creo que el flamenco es un verdadero patrimonio universal que incluye culturas, razas, y religiones diferentes. Es un arte que muestra y refleja la diversidad artística de la población gitana que en su periplo por Europa fue conformándose a través del contacto con otras culturas europeas hasta llegar a Andalucía.

Tesis En mi proyecto de honores quiero analizar la relación entre el origen de los gitanos y el nacimiento del arte flamenco en España. Los gitanos entran en la Península por el noroeste del país, en la que hoy es la provincia de Barcelona, para más tarde ubicarse en la zona de Andalucía en el sur del país. Con la llegada de los gitanos a España en 1462 se empieza a crear el fenómeno del arte flamenco, que no sólo incluye gitanos sino también requiere la participación de otros grupos como judíos, árabes y cristianos que ya vivían en el país por varios siglos. Mi tesis propone que el nacimiento del flamenco en el siglo XV está relacionado con la llegada de los gitanos y subsecuentemente con su asimilación a la sociedad española. Esta asimilación crea un vínculo cultural que no existía en ningún otro país europeo porque en ese tiempo en Europa no había la convivencia entre culturas diferentes como en España entre árabes, judíos y cristianos. Debido a la convivencia y al clima favorable de la Península los gitanos pudieron integrarse mejor en España que en ninguna otra parte. Mi tesis también propone que, por una parte, los gitanos crean una nueva cultura que llega a vincularse con la cultura española. Por otra parte, la asimilación con los otros grupos (árabes, judíos y cristianos) hace 5 Durante los dos viajes a España hablé con muchos más personas cuyos nombre mencionaré a lo largo de mi tesina.

Los factores que crearon las bases para la integración de los gitanos Primer factor: El clima agradable en la Península El clima es uno de los factores que ha afectado las migraciones del pueblo gitano y su decisión de llegar y ubicarse en la Península Ibérica. En este análisis uso las ideas de la ecología histórica de Brian Fagan6 que dice que no sólo el hombre ha influido en la ecología, sino que la ecología ha tenido una enorme influencia en el hombre y en la historia de la humanidad. Para apoyar mi argumento, me enfocaré en dos periodos climáticos, que influyeron en la vida de todo el continente europeo, más conocido como el período Medieval Cálido7 y la época de la Pequeña Edad de Hielo. El período Cálido Medieval se define como una época de clima cálido en la región del Atlántico Norte que dura desde aproximadamente el año 800 hasta el 1300 (Fagan 3-18). El punto más cálido del período Máximo Medieval fue de 1100 a 1258 (3-18). Para esta fecha, los gitanos ya habían empezado sus migraciones, aunque se movían muy lentamente por la presión del Imperio mongol. Mi suposición es que con la muerte de Kublani Khan, el último Gran Kan del Imperio, en 1294 las migraciones de los gitanos se hicieron más rápidas hacia Europa.8 Durante la época medieval la temperatura media fue de 1.5 a 2.5 grados Fahrenheit más que las temperaturas de hoy (Fagan, 47). Según Baron Douglas, este período en toda Europa se caracteriza 6 Brian Fagan es profesor de antropología en la Universidad de Santa Bárbara en California. El libro que uso para apoyar mi argumento es The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History. 7 Este período también fue conocido cómo Anomalía Climática Medieval. 8 Debido al clima estable en la Edad Media los vikingos tenían exceso de población y podían navegar hacia Groenlandia y habitar esas áreas. Con la pequeña Edad de Hielo la civilización vikinga se derrumbó.

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por la abundancia del pan y el vino porque la cosecha del trigo y el cultivo de viñedos fue posible en todas partes del continente. Con el cambio climático sólo los países mediterráneos pudieron continuar la producción del vino. El período medieval cálido también fue caracterizado por el exceso de la población y la mano de obra barata, las condiciones durante las cuales prosperaba el feudalismo. No obstante, esta época no dura mucho y cambia totalmente el orden demográfico en el continente europeo. El cambio climático ocurre cuando los gitanos ya habían entrado en Europa del este y Europa occidental. Según Brian Fagan, la Pequeña Edad de Hielo alrededor de 1300 dura hasta el final de 1850 (18). Dentro de este tiempo, el período entre el año 1250 hasta el año 1570 fue marcado como el punto máximo.9 Las temperaturas bajaron entre 1.5 y 3.5 grados. Pasar del período cálido medieval a la edad de hielo sería como pasar de un espacio sub-tropical cómo Savannah, Georgia al norte del estado de Nueva York. Fagan menciona que antes de la pequeña Edad Media, el calor corriente volvió a Irlanda en un espacio tropical. El frío dejó una gran cantidad de cambios en la historia de Europa y todo el período de la Edad Media hasta el Renacimiento cuando empieza la Edad de Hielo y la adaptación al frío. Un buen ejemplo del clima caótico fue entre el año 1306 y 1308 cuando no paró de llover durante tres años lo que resultó en hambruna. Muy similar a esto fue el período de la transición a la era de Edad de Hielo ente 1315 y 1317 que se caracteriza como la época de gran hambruna que cortó del 10 al 15 por ciento de la población. La mayoría de la población europea fue debilitada por el hambre lo que resulta en la extensión de la Peste Negra desde 1338 hasta 134710 (Fagan 47-61). En este período tan difícil la región menos afectada fue el Mediterráneo, sobre todo países como España y Italia. Los gitanos que originalmente vinieron de la región Punjabi que siempre era dominada por temperaturas altas, en mi opinión, continuamente iban en búsqueda del sol y un clima agradable. Esto sobre todo tiene sentido si tomamos en cuenta su estilo de vida nómada y el hecho que con el frío era muy difícil viajar. Con el cambio climático los gitanos migran en la dirección del sur buscando las temperaturas más altas. La Península Ibérica fue la región perfecta para los gitanos en el tiempo de la pequeña Edad de Hielo porque el 9 Aparte de este periodo en su libro The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History hubo otros dos máximos de la pequeña Edad Media: desde 1570 hasta 1600 (era Victoriana) y desde 1810 hasta 1820. 10 Por ejemplo, Francia solo en los últimos 50 años pudo recuperar el mismo nivel de población que tenía en la Edad Media.

Mediterráneo fue el que menos sufrió las condiciones del frío extremo. El segundo factor: El legado de convivencia: una cultura de tolerancia Cuando empleo el término convivencia en este ensayo, no estoy tratando de evocar una imagen de armonía total, de un ambiente cosmopolita en el que todas las comunidades alegremente coexistían con sus fortalezas particulares. Más bien el término al que yo me refiero evoca imágenes de una sociedad pluralista, donde comunidades diferentes vivían en los mismos barrios, dedicadas a negocios entre sí mismos y así afectaron sus creencias, el estilo de vida y su cultura en general. Al mismo tiempo, estos grupos desconfiaban unos de otros y eran a menudo envidiosos de sus éxitos, y la competición entre ellos de vez en cuando se convertía en odio. Por lo tanto la convivencia, o el período que dura desde el 711 hasta el año 1492, es lucha por balance entre la competencia y la tolerancia religiosa de cristianos, musulmanes y judíos. Este balance de la multiculturalidad se refleja mejor en la literatura, la música, las artes decorativas y la arquitectura. Según Mann Glick Dodds, tanto en la época de al-Andaluz y durante la España cristiana la casta dominante quería aislar a las minorías religiosas, pero económicamente las incluía lo que inevitablemente creó tensión en las relaciones intergrupales (11-13). Esta tensión abrió nuevas vías para el cambio intercultural, haciendo el mercado un lugar donde la distinción étnica importaba menos que en otros ámbitos de la vida (Dodds 5). Este tipo de interacción ya había existido entre judíos y cristianos sobre todo en el mercado y en los servicios financieros de la administración real. Para entender mejor los motivos detrás del establecimiento de la convivencia es útil tomar en cuenta los factores que la estimularon en los siglos anteriores antes de la conquista árabe. Los grupos que vivían en la península eran judíos y visigodos. Según muchos historiadores, los judíos llegaron a la península con los colonizadores romanos. En los primeros años de su vida en la Iberia, aparte de las cuestiones de fe, los judíos no se podían distinguir de los romanos. Sin embargo, a fines del siglo V, Roma y la otra mitad del imperio occidental había caído y la mayoría de Iberia fue invadida por las tribus visigodas (Dodds 14). Las primeras leyes, cumplidas baja la égida de Aleric II en el año 506, trataban muy bien a la población judía. Con la adhesión de Recaredo11 al trono en 586 el nuevo gobierno crea un número de la 11 Recaredo fue el rey de los visigodos desde el 586 hasta el 601. Los historiadores suponen que la razón por la que Recaredo decidió producir leyes anti-judías fue por su conversión al catolicismo.

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legislación anti-judía. Treinta años, en 613, con el nuevo rey Sisebut12 se ordenó la conversión forzosa de todos los judíos en sus dominios. Aquí por primera vez en la historia peninsular aparece el término de la conversión forzosa, que luego se verá repetido en las políticas de los Reyes Católicos al principio del siglo XVI. Según Mann Glick Dodds, la conversión forzosa era contraria a las enseñanzas cristianas de dicha época (Dodds 14-15). No obstante, la nueva política no era muy eficaz, pero tampoco se les permitió a los judíos que regresaran a su antigua religión. Algunos historiadores creen que a pesar de muchas leyes, amonestaciones y exhortaciones el reino visigodo no logró integrar a judíos con el resto de la población cristiana. Sería interesante tener en cuenta las fallidas políticas visigodas y usar estas para medir el éxito de los mismos reglamentos al principio del siglo XVI. La sospecha de la afiliación y lealtad de los judíos conversos plagó a los gobernantes visigodos que en el 694 les acusan de conspiración con los recién organizados musulmanes para derrocar el rey visigodo. En el año 711 los árabes conquistaron la península y con eso se marcó el principio de la Convivencia entre el Islam, el Judaísmo y el Cristianismo. Paradójicamente la época de convivencia surgió como resultado de una aventura militar y acabó como una. Dentro de este equilibrio de fuerzas queda espacio para que crezca una cultura muy única que crea un ámbito de tolerancia religiosa, aunque todavía no eliminara la competencia y desconfianza entre los grupos diferentes. Sin embargo, durante la época de convivencia, hasta el siglo XIV la Península Ibérica fue la única parte de Europa en la que coexistían tres diferentes religiones.13 El largo período de la tolerancia cultural y religiosa atrajo a los gitanos cuyas migraciones hacia y en Europa fueron dominadas por las guerras e invasiones. Llegar a la península donde en el siglo XV todavía había el diálogo multicultural, fue muy atractivo sobre todo el hecho que al llegar fueron muy bien recibidos. Aunque este período no duró por mucho más tiempo, fue suficiente para que se establecieran bases de una nueva cultura en Andalucía que ahora incluirá a los gitanos también. Esto puede ser una razón más por la que la mayoría de los gitanos hoy en día vive en la región de Andalucía, porque esta fue la única parte del país en la que crecía una cultura de tolerancia y coexistencia religiosa. El tercer factor: Los gitanos ante la ley y la administración (Asimilaciones Forzosas) 12 Sisebut fue el rey Visigodo de Hispania, Septimania y Galicia de 612 hasta su muerte 620 o 621. 13 La Convivencia también existe en las regiones ocupadas por el Imperio Turco, pero esto no aparece antes del siglo XIII.

La segunda razón por la que los gitanos en España han podido asimilarse a un nivel mucho más alto son las leyes que han estimulado, o mejor decir forzado, este proceso de integración. Recordamos que al final del siglo XV se acaba el último reinado árabe en España y con esto empiezan las conversiones de musulmanes y judíos, seguidas por expulsiones en los casos de las personas que no querían obedecer la nueva ley.14 Junto con esto en 1481 los Reyes Católicos establecen el Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición,15 más conocido como la Inquisición española, para asegurar la ortodoxia católica en sus reinos y terminar falsas conversiones. En este nuevo siglo de cambios muy drásticos los gitanos también llegan a ser uno de los objetivos de las leyes rígidas. Según Bretha B. Quintana y Lois Gray Floyd,16 investigadores etnológicos y autores del libro ¡Qué gitano! Gypsies of the Southern Spain, el registro legal de persecución del pueblo gitano empezó en los inicios del año 1499 cuando Fernando e Isabel decidieron introducir una sanción pragmática en Medina del Campo. El orden exigía que los gitanos viajaran por el reino durante sesenta días y se establecieran en un lugar bajo “maestros” que gobernaran y controlaran su empleo o que fueran exiliados por vida (Quintana, Floyd 19). Con el tiempo los monarcas hicieron las leyes aún más rigurosas introduciendo la esclavitud en sus medidas regulativas para todos los gitanos que violaran la ley más de una vez. En 1539, durante el reinado de Carlos I17 y Juana, el edicto de Medina del Campo introdujo una nueva cláusula condenando a los gitanos masculinos entre veinte y cincuenta años de edad a seis años en galeras en caso de ser capturados errantes en cualquier parte de España donde no deberían estar. El reglamento pretendía erradicar el estilo de vida vagabunda del pueblo gitano que ya existirá por varios siglos. Otras leyes introducidas en este período les prohibieron llevar comercio sin documentación que podría confirmar su residencia (Quintana, Floyd 19-20). Esta regulación es un buen ejemplo de las asimilaciones forzosas que fueron una de las razones más importantes por las que los gitanos en España 14 Las primeras expulsiones oficiales de árabes y judíos empiezan en el año 1491. Sólo un año después la ley prohíbe a los gitanos que hablen su idioma.

15 La Inquisición sólo tenía poder sobre cristianos bautizados. Fue fundada en Francia en el año 1184. No se abolió definitivamente hasta 1834, durante el reinado de Isabel II. 16 Bertha B. Quintana es profesora de antropología y Lois Gray Floyd es un especialista en etnopsicología. 17 El rey Carlos V, también conocido como Habsburgo, fue emperador del Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico (1520- 1558). Fue rey de España con el nombre Carlos I (1516- 1566) que unió las coronas de Castilla, Aragón y Navarra.

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han podido integrarse mejor que los gitanos de otros países europeos. Obviamente hay otros factores que hicieron que España sea el único país en el que el pueblo gitano ha podido ubicarse en un sitio y establecer vínculos culturales con el resto de la población, pero es importante notar que este proceso fue fomentado por leyes rígidas durante más de tres siglos. Casi todos los reyes seguían la misma política previamente establecida. Esas leyes no sólo determinaron la realidad socioeconómica de los gitanos de esa época, sino que también marcaron el futuro del pueblo gitano. En 1619, Felipe III18 exclamó que los gitanos no eran una “nación,” sino más bien “un conjunto de personas viciosas extraídas de las heces de la sociedad española”(Quintana, Floyd 18-20). Sobre la base de esta creencia Felipe III prohibió que los gitanos utilizaran su lenguaje con el objeto que olvidaran sus raíces y el estilo de vida nómada. De nuevo, en 1633 Felipe IV19 reprodujo la acusación de que los gitanos españoles eran inútiles y exigió que se rompieran las colonias gitanas (Quintana, Floyd 20). Fue en este período cuando se empiezan a practicar matrimonios entre gitanos y payos20. Sin embargo, el rey Carlos III en 1783 introduce leyes más liberales hacía los gitanos y los declara ciudadanos españoles. En la misma época se introduce el derecho de los niños a la escolarización a los 4 años. La ley les da oportunidad de fijar su residencia y de trabajar en cualquier oficio, pero al coste de que abandonen su realidad étnica, su forma de vestir y la vida errante. En 1783 se hace una definitiva fijación domiciliaria de los gitanos y su dedicación a oficios. Aunque todavía no tenían libertad de hablar su idioma, ahora podían participar en más actividades como la corrida de toros (Clébert 118). La pragmática de 1783 fue apoyada en la misma filosofía asimiladora y según algunos autores representaba la recuperación del espíritu de 1499 (Los gitanos ante la Ley y la Administración 23). Analizando las leyes hasta el año 1783 uno lógicmente se preguntaría ¿por qué los gitanos no salieron de España como salían de otros países en los siglos anteriores? ¿Por qué conformaron unas leyes duras si antes siempre emigraban de los países en que no pudieron vivir libremente? Para responder a estas preguntas es necesario tomar en cuenta la ubicación geográfica de la Península Ibérica y la 18 Felipe III de Austria, llamado “el Piadoso”, fue rey de España y de Portugal desde el 13 de septiembre de 1598 hasta su muerte en 1621. En Castilla fue reconocido cómo Felipe III y en Aragón cómo Felipe II.

19 Felipe IV fue rey de España y Portugal desde 31 de marzo de 1621 hasta su muerte en 1665. En Castilla fue reconocido cómo Felipe IV y en Aragón cómo Felipe III. 20 Palabra española para persona no-gitana.

realidad socioeconómica de otros reinos europeos. Primero, la península geográficamente fue la última parada de su largo viaje y al margen del continente europeo. En la dirección del oeste después de la Iberia ya no había adonde más seguir. Estaban limitados por el gran Océano Atlántico, pero también por las leyes y la cultura que empezaron a crear junto con otros habitantes de esta región.21 Los caminos que les llevaban al norte y al este, Francia, Alemania e Italia, tampoco fueron la solución porque en estas regiones, igual que en España, hubo leyes anti-gitanas. Por lo tanto, es posible proponer que las leyes y la realidad socioeconómica en el resto de Europa intimidaron a los gitanos que querían volver a cruzar los Pirineos y desandar el mismo camino que les trajo a la Península Ibérica. Es muy importante entender que hasta el siglo XVIII las leyes anti-gitanas nacen en casi todas partes de Europa lo que produce un rechazo euro-global hacia los gitanos. Esta misma percepción fue expresada con la creación del concepto de estado-nación22 cuando en el siglo XVIII las grandes potencias europeas luchan para preservar su dominio territorial. El único modo para cumplir este objeto fue centralizar el poder interno y asegurar la unificación étnica. En el caso de los reinos que no siguieron este modelo político, la disolución era inevitable. Un ejemplo de esos reinos sería la Monarquía austrohúngara que fue compuesta de dos regiones centrales, Austria y Hungría, y diversas naciones pequeñas que preservaban su idioma, religión, origen e identidad étnica. En comparación con el reino español, el imperio austrohúngaro no forzaba el uso de sólo un idioma o de una religión y de hecho fue el único reino del siglo XVIII en el que coexistían cuatro religiones principales. Por la falta de centralización la Monarquía austrohúngara no pudo preservar su dominio sobre todo porque en el siglo IX había otras potencias que estaban mucho más centralizadas.23 Los siglos IX y XX en España resultan ser diferentes en su carácter político. Para los gitanos esto representaba un cambio muy favorable. En las Constituciones del 8 de junio de 1837 y del 1 de junio de 1869 se garantizan las posibilidades de acceso a empleos y cargos públicos “según su merito y capacidad” (Los Gitanos ante la Ley y Administración 21 El continente africano lógicamente podría ser el destino siguiente para gitanos de España. Sin embargo, esta investigación no toma en cuenta el caso de los gitanos que migraron y se quedaron en los países africanos. 22 El concepto de “estado-nación” nace al principio del siglo XVIII en Europa del oeste y se extendió por toda Europa. La idea central detrás de este concepto era que un país era formado de solo una etnicidad y religión. 23 La desintegración del imperio austrohúngaro fue fomentada por los enemigos internos o los diferentes grupos étnicos que se asociaban mucho más con su identidad local que con la Monarquía.

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25). En el siglo XX ocurre algo muy revolucionario cuando se tratan los derechos de los gitanos. El mejor ejemplo de este cambio es el artículo 2 de la constitución del 9 de diciembre de 1931 que avanzara un paso más con la inserción del gran principio hasta entonces nunca formulado: “Todos los españoles son iguales ante la ley. (Los Gitanos ante la Ley y la Administración 25-26)” Para los gitanos españoles esta fue la primera vez que la legislación española les reconoció como ciudadanos con los mismos derechos que las demás personas de la población. Sin embargo, con Franco en el poder las leyes cambian drásticamente. Se introduce un nuevo órgano estatal, la Guardia Civil, que según las leyes de vigilancia controla y vigila la población gitana hasta el año 1978 cuando se introduce la nueva Constitución y el nuevo régimen democrático. La Segunda Guerra Mundial fue uno de los periodos más difíciles y más horrorosos para el pueblo gitano en toda Europa. Los gitanos en España no sufrieron las mismas pérdidas cómo en Alemania donde en menos de cuatro años más de 400,000 gitanos fueron colgados, disparados o sofocados en los campos de concentración nazi. Aunque en España no hubo matanzas masivas, los gitanos aquí también sufrieron abusos y leyes opresivas. Por ejemplo, “Ley Sobre Vagos y Maleantes” del año 1942 fue introducida con un objetivo claro de regular, controlar y reprimir a los gitanos y a otros disidentes. Tomando en cuenta que desde 1499 hasta la transición a la democracia en 1978 los gitanos fueron sujetos a reglamentos opresivos, sería posible decir que su proceso de integración fue bien estimulado por las leyes y regulaciones. Sin embargo, no hay que olvidar que en el período de casi cuatro siglos, los gitanos se mezclan con otros grupos que vivían en España, sobre todo en el sur de país en las ciudades como Granada, Sevilla y Jerez de la Frontera. La integración andaluza es algo que desarrolló con más detalle en las secciones que vienen, pero sería útil mencionar que en Andalucía es muy común oír a la gente decir cosas como “aquí no se sabe ni quien es gitano ni quien payo.” En mi último viaje a Andalucía tuve la oportunidad de entrevistar a la Doña Juana del Pipa,24 una de las cantaoras flamencas más famosas a nivel local. Cuando le pregunté sobre la integración de gitanos en España, Doña Juana con mucha confianza dijo que los gitanos en Jerez están completamente integrados y que en esta ciudad el racismo no existe. Aunque esto definitivamente no es el caso en todas las ciudades de España, es inevitable notar que 24 Doña Juana la del Pipa actuó en el documental “Gypsy Caravan” que fue filmado en 2006 en los Estados Unidos. El director de la película, Jasmine Dellal, juntó cinco grupos Romaní de España, India, Macedonia y Rumania. Aunque todos los artistas tenían mucho en común, sobre todo el oído y su amor por la música.

la integración ha ocurrido en todo el país, pero en algunas partes más que en otras. Sin embargo el argumento que para alguna gente tendrá sentido será que la integración sea el producto del tiempo que ha pasado desde la llegada de los gitanos a la península. La razón de esto es muy simple y se encuentra en los casos de otros países europeos donde los gitanos llegaron. Digamos que la integración ocurrió como un proceso natural debido a un largo período en el que los gitanos han estado en España, entonces ¿sería lógico decir lo mismo para el caso de otros países en Europa que tienen poblaciones gitanas desde la misma época? Pero si observamos la situación de los gitanos en países como Francia, Italia, Rumania, o los países de los Balcanes muy fácilmente notamos que dicha exposición no es necesariamente válida. Aunque los gitanos han vivido en estos países el mismo período, en España han podido establecer una conexión con el resto de la población. Marco Teórico: Teorías usadas en esta investigación Esta investigación se basa en la teoría de la criollización de Robin Cohen, antropólogo de Sudáfrica y autor de números textos sobre las diásporas globales y el mestizaje cultural. En su artículo Creolization and Diaspora—the Cultural Politics of Divergence and Some Convergence, el autor analiza la identidad criolla en los casos de Brasil, Sudáfrica y Estados Unidos. Según sus estudios el concepto de criollización representa la fertilización entre culturas diferentes y lo que surge de su interacción. Cuando la criollización sucede los participantes seleccionan algunos elementos de sus culturas matrices y las enriquecen con nuevos símbolos y significados. En este proceso de intercambio cultural Cohen indica que los elementos de las culturas diferentes se mezclan para crear nuevas variantes que luego reemplazaran las formas anteriores. En su texto el autor contrasta este término de criollización con el concepto de diáspora al que define como nivel de incomodidad de un grupo en su nuevo país de residencia donde el sentido de patria se reconstruye a través de la memoria histórica y las organizaciones sociales. En el caso de Brasil el autor dice que en el contexto de la historia colonial de este país la criollización fue reconstituida como la ideología nacional que incluye gente negra, India y caucasiana. La cultura “negra” fue revitalizada entre la gente joven, la población educada y las corrientes musicales que incluyen muchos elementos de la cultura anterior. Cohen afirma que el concepto de la criollización en Brasil se desarrolló en dos direcciones diferentes. La primera se refiere a la apropiación del mestizaje racial dirigida por el estado y que con el

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tiempo ha llegado a identificar el carácter nacional brasileño. La segunda versión de la criollización es más subversiva. Esta interpretación depende mucho menos de la memoria recuperada de África por una población relativamente aislada y desplazada durante el período de la esclavitud. Aquí en cambio, los grupos marginalizados por razones de pobreza o aislamiento cultural han creado formas alternativas de criollización, alejándose de su cultura original. Cohen sugiere que la criollización describe una posición interpuesta entre dos o más culturas, en la que grupos selectivamente se apropian de algunos elementos, rechazan otros y crean nuevas posibilidades que transgreden sus culturas matrices. Aceptar la fuerza de la hibridez y la criollización es lo mismo que aceptar que la humanidad ha remodelado la organización y el orden en sus culturas y sociedades. Esto es muy importante porque pone en el centro a los que antes se encontraban en el margen social. Aparte de estas ideas, el autor dice que la criollización establece diálogo entre “el centro y la periferia” creando afinidad entre culturas diferentes donde los elementos como la música del “tercer mundo,” de una forma criolla, se convierte en música conocida en todo el mundo, como por ejemplo el flamenco. El mismo proceso se refleja en el caso de los gitanos españoles. Si recordamos su origen y su llegada a la Península Ibérica vemos que los gitanos, junto con los árabes, judíos y cristianos, aportan a la creación de una nueva cultura cuya riqueza refleja rasgos de cada grupo que participa en el proyecto de la construcción cultural. Por una parte, los gitanos han podido crear una nueva cultura y, por otra parte, perdieron el contacto cercano con sus raíces. Su memoria histórica llegó a ser explícitamente definida dentro del marco geográfico de la península mientras que su prehistoria se convirtió en algo lejano y desconocido. Sin embargo, hay que subrayar que la pérdida de su identidad prehispana fue facilitada por las leyes asimiladoras que dominaron los reinos españoles desde el final del siglo XV hasta los finales del siglo XIX. Finalmente, el concepto de la criollización no se refiere exclusivamente a la mezcla racial y étnica, sino más bien describe una mezcla de culturas. Es importante hacer esta distinción porque esta tesina no investiga la mezcla racial en el matrimonio entre gitanos, árabes, judíos y cristianos sino que se centra en su criollización cultural en la que los grupos han podido crear una nueva cultura. Las referencias a las culturas diferentes en la península son la mejor prueba de que el flamenco, como uno de los símbolos más importantes en España, es un producto de la criollización cultural. En la próxima

sección aplico esta teoría en el análisis de la evolución del flamenco para entender cómo este proceso estimuló la integración cultural del pueblo gitano en España. La creación de una nueva cultura El vínculo entre el origen del Flamenco y la llegada de los gitanos Para hablar sobre el origen del flamenco es necesario hacer referencia al origen de los gitanos porque comparten las mismas raíces. Félix Grande en su libro Memoria del Flamenco dice: “los gitanos son, pues, oriundos de la cuenca del Indo, lugar en donde tuvo su origen la primera cultura ya geográficamente india, cultura vencida por la invasión aria y después dominadora cultural de sus dominadores” (43). En la India los gitanos formaban una pequeña parte de la zona inferior de aquella rígida estructura social. El progresivo endurecimiento de este sistema y las invasiones de otros poderes, como el Imperio gaznádiva,25 iniciaron los grandes movimientos del pueblo gitano hacia el Medio Oriente y Europa. En su viaje por Europa los gitanos no fueron bien recibidos en todas las regiones por las que pasaban y aún en ese tiempo fueron perseguidos. El rechazo hacia la etnia gitana persiste hasta hoy en día en muchos países europeos en los que el pueblo gitano representa a las minorías más marginalizadas. Sin embargo, en España ocurre algo diferente que hace que los gitanos lleguen a ser españoles mientras que en el resto de Europa los gitanos todavía no han adoptado la identidad nacional de sus países anfitriones. El nacimiento del flamenco en el siglo XV está relacionado con la llegada de los gitanos y subsecuentemente con su asimilación a la sociedad española. Esta asimilación crea un vínculo cultural debido a la convivencia y al clima favorable de la península, lo que no hubo en ninguna otra parte de Europa. El proceso de la Reconquista ha jugado un papel muy importante para la futura trayectoria de los gitanos españoles. Al final del siglo XV la Reconquista trajo medidas muy duras de conversión, represión y aún expulsión para los que no se sometieran la política de los Reyes Católicos. Fue en este período cuando se establecieron las bases para la creación de la nueva cultura criolla conocida como el flamenco. Bajo un régimen muy duro cuyo objetivo era unificar la identidad y centralizar la península, los árabes, gitanos y judíos establecen un contacto único en el que todavía podrían expresar su verdadera identidad. Con la caída de Granada acaba el período de la convivencia. Aunque la convivencia ya no existía al final del siglo XV, su legado quedó en la memoria de la gente cuyos 25 Los gaznávidas fueron una dinastía musulmana de origen turco, que reinó desde los finales del siglo X hasta finales del siglo XII.

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antepasados convivían en esas tierras durante más de seis siglos. Su patrimonio cultural ofreció las bases para la creación de una nueva expresión artística más conocida como el flamenco. Los principios del flamenco Según Félix Grande las formas de la vida andaluza harán que los gitanos acomoden sus propias danzas y canciones de remoto fondo hindú, tocadas por numerosas influencias de su largo peregrinaje, y las mezclen con las formas folklóricas que en ese tiempo existían en el sur de la península y “sobre las que, a su vez, gravitan ecos, rasgos, y reminiscencias del su pasado” (60). La evidencia de la herencia india en la música de los gitanos se puede notar en los arabescos complicados, la repetición de la misma nota y multiplicidad de ritmos contrapuestos. Bretha B. Quintana y Lois Gray Floyd definen esto: Evidence of an Indian heritage was also found in studies of Gypsy music; Brown (1929: 118- 125), Falla (1950: 127- 130), and Starkie (1935: 6- 13) all drawing attention to its Indian characteristics. Among these, the falling cadence, the complicated arabesques, the infinite gradations of pitch, the repetition of the same note, the cultivation of metallic tone, and the multiplicity of conflicting rhythms, all were found to adhere more closely to those of Indian music than any other… (15) Este vínculo con India fue muy importante porque es la única conexión que los gitanos tienen con su origen antes de llegar a España. Al mismo tiempo esta conexión es muy fascinante porque trae el Oriente a la península a través de la música y el baile. Este proceso de la criollización y la mezcla cultural ocurrió gracias a los factores como el clima agradable, la convivencia, y asimilaciones forzosas de la que hablé en la sección anterior. Etapas de la evolución del flamenco Aunque las primeras bases para el nacimiento del flamenco fueran establecidas con la llegada de los gitanos y su interacción con árabes, judíos y cristianos, el término “flamenco” surge en los años cincuenta del siglo XX. En su evolución el flamenco ha pasado por unas etapas que influenciaron su posición en la cultura española. Su desarrollo representa un proceso de ósmosis cultural que ocurrió en Andalucía gracias a las actividades diversas que estimularon la integración de las primeras familias gitanas con los judíos, árabes y

cristianos que vivían allí desde hacia algunos siglos. Por lo tanto, analizar la evolución del flamenco nos puede ayudar a entender el proceso de la asimilación cultural del pueblo gitano en España. Según Bernard Leblon, la evolución del flamenco representa un proceso de aculturación o transculturación en el que se fundieron dos tipos de música, andaluza y gitana, para crear una forma totalmente novedosa que luego se llamará flamenco. Obviamente, Andalucía no es el único lugar en el mundo donde este proceso transcurrió. Algo muy parecido se encuentra en la historia del Imperio Otomano en cuyo territorio convivían religiones y culturas diferentes, aunque realmente este sistema no aparece hasta el siglo XIII y la convivencia en España empieza en el siglo VIII.26 Sin embargo, el carácter incomparable del flamenco es el producto de la riqueza de su patrimonio cultural que hizo que en la región de Andalucía hubiera más afinidad con las tradiciones orientales del pueblo gitano que en ningún otro país del oeste. El análisis de la evolución del flamenco es esencial para el desarrollo de este trabajo de investigación porque su trayectoria muestra cómo la posición del pueblo gitano en España ha ido cambiando a lo largo de la historia. En el análisis de la evolución del flamenco voy a usar la clasificación hecha por José Pamies, profesor de flamencología en la Universidad Álcala. Según Pamies, la evolución del flamenco se puede dividir en seis etapas: la etapa de preflamenco, etapa privada, Cafés de cante, ópera flamenca, la etapa de revalorización y el flamenco actual (Madrid, enero de 2013). Analizando estas etapas podemos entender mejor el proceso de ósmosis cultural que tardó unos siglos en formarse antes que el arte flamenco se elevara al nivel nacional. El proceso empieza con la llegada de gitanos y la finalización de la Reconquista, pero establece sus raíces durante un largo y rígido proceso de asimilaciones forzosas que dura hasta el final del siglo XIX. La historia del pueblo gitano antes de su llegada a la Península no fue escrita pero fue guardada en sus costumbres y su estilo de vida. La aportación de esta cultura a la creación de flamenco es la manera en la que la historia de los gitanos españoles seguirá viviendo en la música y el baile, aunque de una forma diferente de lo que era antes de su llegada a la península. Por lo tanto, analizar la evolución del flamenco nos puede ayudar a entender el cambio en la posición cultural y quizás socioeconómica del pueblo gitano en España desde 26 Un buen ejemplo es el Imperio turco. En comparación con otros grandes poderes que dominaban en Europa, el Imperio Otomano no tomó ningunas medidas para centralizar la identidad de la gente que vivían en sus dominios. Fue un sistema feudal cuyo objetivo principal era la recaudación de los impuestos.

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el siglo XVI hasta hoy en día. A la vez, a través de este tipo de análisis podemos observar el nivel de la integración cultural de los gitanos en España. ¿Qué representa el flamenco en la vida de los españoles hoy? Durante mi estancia en España en enero de 2013, tuve la oportunidad de hacer algunas encuestas a la gente con la que no tenía tiempo de hablar. En la última sección de la encuesta habría que definir el flamenco en tres palabras. Los participantes de ocho ciudades de España27 de edades diferentes (de 20 a 73 años) describen el flamenco como: amor, vida, arte, creación-gitano-andaluza, universal, folclore, alegría, olé, ritmo, pasión, soledad, intenso, duro, impresionante creación humana, sentimientos, fuerza, misterio y estremecedora creatura multifacética. Estos adjetivos definen muy bien lo que representa el flamenco para los españoles, ya sean gitanos o payos, en su identidad y la vida cotidiana. De 39 personas que tomaron la encuesta, en la frase “el arte flamenco representa un parte muy importante en mi cultura” 47% pusieron totalmente de acuerdo, 28% de acuerdo, 15% ni de acuerdo ni en desacuerdo, 5% en desacuerdo y 5% totalmente en desacuerdo. Aunque el porcentaje indica que el arte flamenco es muy importante en España, hay gente que no lo considera como la parte esencial de su cultura. A la frase “pienso que toda la gente en España se puede identificar con la música flamenca” solo el 3% de los participantes pusieron totalmente de acuerdo. El 46% de ellos no estaba ni de acuerdo ni en desacuerdo, el 24% en desacuerdo y el 19% de acuerdo. Sin embargo, no toda la gente se puede identificar con el. A pesar de que hay un ósmosis social en grandes sectores de la población española con el flamenco, este aserto no se puede, ni debería, absolutizar. Irene Zoller Huete explica muy bien posibles razones por las que esto puede ser el caso:

Hay mucha gente que no ha sido educada bajo la influencia de la música flamenca, ya sea por razones racistas o por cualquier otra razón, y por lo tanto yo creo que ese tipo de gente no se siente igual de identificada con la música flamenca. Sin embargo, creo que es fácil identificarse con ella, porque las letras y ritmos forman parte de nuestra cultura… si no se establecen barreras ideológicas es muy fácil conseguir un acercamiento al

Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo, Valladolid, Murcia, Cádiz, Granada y Jerez de la Frontera.

flamenco (correo electrónico, marzo de 2013). ¿Puede influir el flamenco en la integración socioeconómica? Aunque el número de los participantes en mi encuesta es bastante pequeño (39) y no es representativo de toda la sociedad española, la diversidad en el género, lugar de residencia y el origen étnico de las personas nos puede dar una perspectiva de la manera en cómo ven el arte flamenco los españoles en diferentes partes de España. En la afirmación 11 “el flamenco estimuló la integración de gitanos [y otras minorías en la sociedad española” solo un 5% de personas estaban totalmente de acuerdo. 42% optaron por ni de acuerdo ni en desacuerdo y 26% están en desacuerdo con esta afirmación. Manuel Martín Ramírez en esta sección de comentarios de la encuesta comentó: … las minorías “históricas” que los gitanos encontraron en la pre-España a su llegada habían vaciado su légamo cultural en una integración de siglos. Pero los gitanos no han dejado de ser y de estar excluidos. La convivencia ¿integradora? apenas ha sido posible y eficaz en Andalucía. Algo, o mucho, habrá ayudado el flamenco, compartido en esa región española; pero, aún así, más allá de los intérpretes del flamenco (del cante, baile y toque), son escasos los sectores de la sociedad gitana que conviven en igualdad (no cabe otra integración) con sus pares de la sociedad mayoritaria (Madrid, enero de 2013). Esta percepción de la integración a través del flamenco es muy importante para mi tesis porque indica los límites de la integración cultural. Uno no puede negar el hecho de que el legado de la convivencia dejó espacio para la tolerancia y creó un clima muy agradable para la mezcla de culturas diferentes. Sin embargo, cómo fenómeno histórico político, únicamente la Constitución de 1978 ha consagrado la consideración de los gitanos cómo ciudadanos españoles de pleno derecho; y eso, en la letra y el espíritu de la ley, porque en los hechos todavía hay un gran porcentaje de españoles que no los acepta como ciudadanos. Irene Zoller Huete, estudiante 22, explica que el flamenco puede romper con los estereotipos sólo en el caso que ocurre un intercambio cultural con la población gitana. Según ella, si el flamenco solamente se crease en los márgenes de esta población los estereotipos seguirían siendo los mismos igual que durante la etapa de la

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revalorización. En este período el dictador Francisco Franco y su política se apropian del flamenco y lo representan como uno de los símbolos más importantes de España. Mientras que por un lado muchos gitanos estaban encarcelados y vigilados por la Guardia Civil, el gobierno franquista representa España al resto del mundo como un país que tiene su cultura única y que no necesita ni acepta nada del dominante Oeste. En esta misma época el flamenco, igual que la población gitana, se coloca en un contexto de “atracción turística.” Esta apropiación, por un parte, revalorizó al flamenco, y por otra parte dio a los gitano una visibilidad ficticia. Cuando veamos que hay gitanos [o muy pocos] con carreras diversas como: médicos, abogados, ingenieros, deportistas, farmacéuticos, economistas y políticos, sabremos que la integración ha ocurrido. En la sección siguiente, que es la última parte de esta tesina, observaremos la situación socioeconómica actual del pueblo gitanos en España y los cambios que tienen que ocurrir para que el pueblo gitano pueda asumir su pleno derecho a la ciudadanía. La realidad actual de los gitanos españoles en el contexto socioeconómico Durante mi primer viaje a Andalucía en junio del 2011 aprendí que mis métodos de acceso a este tema estuvieron bajo la influencia de los estereotipos indirectos y que había que hacer cambios para que mi investigación estimulara la apertura de la historia y la realidad del pueblo gitano hoy en día.28 Milagros Guerrero29, maestra de matemáticas en Granada, me invitó a visitar el Centro de Educación Infantil y Primaria Capitulaciones en el pueblo de Santa Fe30 y eso fue el momento cuando me di cuenta que yo también tenía estereotipos acerca de los gitanos en España. En mi visita a la escuela Milagros me invitó a asistir a una de sus clases en la que de 14 estudiantes seis eran gitanos31. Santa Fe es uno de los pueblos en la provincia de Granada con el número más grande de gitanos, más de 3000 personas (El País, 2004). El momento en el que empecé a entender 28 Aunque este trabajo de investigación se enfoca en el caso de los gitanos españoles, los datos y los métodos de investigación pueden servir para estudiar la historia y la realidad de los gitanos en otros países europeos. 29 A Milagros Guerrero tuve la oportunidad de conocerla en mayo de 2011 cuando hice mi primer viaje a Andalucía. 30 Santa Fe es una localidad y municipio español perteneciente a la provincial de Granada. Está situado en la parte centro-oeste de la comarca de la Vega de Granada. En sus inicios fue villa fundada por los Reyes Católicos donde se firmaron las capitulaciones que dieron fin a la presencia islámica en la Península. Junto con el pueblo Fuente Vaqueros (cuna de Federico García Lorca), son dos referencias claves en la historia política y cultural de España. 31 Los estudiantes eran del quinto grado (10-11 años de edad).

mejor la posición del pueblo gitano en España fue durante mi conversación con los niños cuando les pregunté qué papel juega el flamenco en su vida y si saben bailar. Me sorprendí cuando uno de los niños respondió “yo no sé como bailar… mis padres sí que saben bailar, pero yo no….” (Santa Fe, mayo 2011). En este momento aprendí dos cosas muy importantes, que entiendo aún mejor ahora, dos años después de nuestra conversación. Primero, que mi suposición era que todos los gitanos españoles practican flamenco. Esta generalización a algunos no les parecerá nada negativo, pero a los que entienden los cambios que están desfilando en el rápido y competitivo siglo XXI, pueden comprender la desventaja que esta presunción puede provocar en el pueblo gitano. Uno de los peligros es la separación que se hace entre lo cultural y lo intelectual, lo emocional y lo educativo. Es decir, se supone que las habilidades del pueblo gitano se centran en el arte flamenco, en su duende y los sentimientos profundos. En este siglo de cambios cuando la educación no es una opción sino una necesidad, hay que comprender que el ingenio del pueblo gitano no se centra sólo en el baile y música sino en la educación, las carreras y los oficios que cada uno decide practicar. Las nuevas generaciones de gitanos viven diferente a sus padres y aún más diferente a sus abuelos. El flamenco, aunque forma una parte muy importante de su cultura, no es el único modo de aprendizaje. En su ensayo “Soy un hombre de palabra” Manuel Bizarraga lo expresa muy bien: Muchas familias no son conscientes de que los medios tradicionales de buscarse la vida se acaban. Y se cree que la capacidad histórica de adaptación al medio nos va a seguir permitiendo sobrevivir, sin ser conscientes de que la rapidez y la naturaleza de los cambios que se están dando, cambios para los que no es suficiente con la formación que reciben dentro de la familia (Memoria del Papel, 46). Según el Plan de acción para el desarrollo de la población gitana 2010-2012, realizado por el Ministerio de Sanidad, política social e igualdad, en las últimas dos décadas se ha producido la escolarización casi total de las niñas y niños gitanos en educación infantil y primaria. El 90.76% de niños gitanos tiene acceso a la escuela primaria. En cuando a la enseñanza secundaria la situación es un poco diferente. Del alumnado que comienza la escuela secundaria el 80% abandona esta etapa antes de finalizar el último curso. Los mayores índices de abandono se dan en los chicos, sobre todo

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en los primeros cursos. Las chicas generalmente abandonan, en el paso de primaria a secundaria (Plan de acción para el desarrollo de la población gitana 2010-2012). La población gitana sin estudios representa el 57,6% en mujeres y el 58,8% en hombres. En cuanto a la población joven analfabeta, las mujeres serían el 16,4% y los hombres el 9,6%. Según el Plan de acción para el desarrollo de la población gitana (2010-2012) las causas del absentismo son diferentes entre las chicas y los chicos gitanos. En el contexto universitario el porcentaje es aún más pequeño. Se estima que alrededor de doscientos gitanas y gitanos tienen estudios universitarios. De los 1.462.771 estudiantes universitarios en el curso 2004-2005, no más de 1.000 serían de etnia gitana, cuando deberían ser 28.648 (Plan de acción para el desarrollo de la población gitana 2010-2012). Según el Estudio Sociológico sobre los Gitanos Españoles del 1978, el analfabetismo entre la población gitana mayor de diez años llegaba al 68%, mientras que para el resto de la población no llegaba al 9%. Actualmente, los datos no indican un gran avance. Aunque hay niños y niñas gitanas ahora que van a la escuela, para muchos la educación se termina con el último grado de la escuela primaria. En el contexto de empleo y la actividad económica, encontramos datos interesantes en relación con el porcentaje muy alto del analfabetismo. En el último estudio sobre el empleo de la población gitana, realizado en 2005, los datos resultantes indican que la tasa de actividad en la población gitana (72% para el grupo de 16 a 65 años) es un poco más alta que la población mayoritaria, y la tasa de empleo de empleo es similar, mientras que la de desempleo es cuatro puntos superior.32 Estos datos proporcionan un argumento interesante para combatir el estereotipo de una comunidad gitana alejada de los valores del trabajo, ya que la población gitana se incorpora en edad más temprana al mercado de trabajo que el resto de la población, por lo que tienen una vida laboral más prolongada. Entre la población gitana ocupada, el 58,8% son hombres frente al 41,2% de mujeres. El acceso al mercado de trabajo está demasiado marcado por el subempleo y la temporalidad. Por lo tanto, se contesta que sólo el 7,4% de la población activa gitana tiene un empleo fijo. La población gitana en España tiene que 32 “Población gitana y empleo: un estudio comparado” FSG, Madrid 2005. “Informe sobre la situación social y tendencias de cambio en la población gitana. Una primera aproximación,” Miguel Laparra Navarro. Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales- Madrid 2007.

luchar para hacer cambios en otras áreas como salud, acción social, política y vivienda. En esta tesina no he investigado todas estas áreas, pero hay que tenerlas en cuenta para poder entender que queda mucho por hacer para conseguir una plena igualdad. Esto no quiere decir que el gobierno español no haya tomado medidas para mejorar la situación de los gitanos, porque sí lo ha hecho, pero esos cambios no deben parar. Sin embargo, el cambio más grande tiene que venir de los gitanos mismos. Las familias gitanas, sobre todo los padres y abuelos que no tuvieron acceso a la educación, tienen que cambiar la percepción sobre la educación de sus hijos.33 Según Juan de Dios Ramírez-Heredia el paso más importante y progresista es mostrar que las mujeres y los hombres gitanos pueden ser médicos, políticos, maestros, científicos, poetas y no solo bailaores y cantaores. Debemos revelarnos contra la imagen exclusivamente folklórica que se pretende dar de nosotros. Los poderes públicos no deben ignorar que los gitanos somos poseedores de una cultura singular que ha enriquecido a la cultura común de todos los españoles (Memoria del Papel 39). Conclusión En esta tesina he tratado de cumplir cuatro objetivos muy importantes. Primero, ofrecer una reseña histórica del pueblo gitano desde la India hacia Europa. He investigado algunos factores que determinaron las migraciones de los gitanos como las invasiones del Imperio otomano; el control del Imperio mongol, que esencialmente detuvo las migraciones de la gente en todo el territorio en su dominio; el cambio del clima medieval al período de la pequeña Edad de Hielo. Segundo, buscar razones por las cuales los gitanos se establecieron “mejor” en España que en el resto de Europa. Aquí he analizado tres factores importantes: el clima agradable de la Península, el legado de convivencia y las asimilaciones forzosas a través de las leyes que hicieron que los gitanos abandonaran el estilo de vida y la cultura que tuvieron antes de llegar a España. A través de un análisis muy detallado he podido probar esta parte de mi hipótesis. Tercero, usé la teoría de la criollización para rastrear el nacimiento de una nueva cultura en el sur de Andalucía que fue una mezcla entre grupos diferentes que vivían allí. Sin embargo, a lo largo de mi análisis descubrí que el flamenco no nació por la llegada de los gitanos. Al contrario, su nacimiento tardó unos siglos en suceder lo que se ha demostrado a través del 33 Aquí no intento generalizar porque existen familias gitanas

que quieren ver a sus hijos seguir con su educación. Sin embargo, todavía mucha gente no piensa así.

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análisis de la evolución del flamenco. Mi intento con esta parte de mi tesina era mostrar las ventajas que la criollización puede tener para promover tolerancia y diálogo entre culturas diferentes. En este análisis, he mostrado que la integración cultural de los gitanos en España ha ocurrido a través del arte flamenco, pero que ese proceso no fue muy idílico. El flamenco es una mezcla y una criollización cultural, pero también hay que notar que este fenómeno artístico es un producto del sufrimiento y represión que los gitanos sufrieron en España desde finales del siglo XV. El flamenco también es la única conexión que los gitanos tienen con su pasado que no fue escrita antes de su llegada a España. Por lo tanto, el arte flamenco es parte de la memoria histórica y la identidad escrita por el baile y la música. El cuarto objetivo era entender si la cultura, en este caso el flamenco, puede estimular una integración completa o si hay otros factores que dependen de esa integración. Dentro de esta parte he ofrecido una imagen de la realidad que viven los gitanos en España hoy en día. En el contexto de la educación y el empleo he observado que los cambios tienen que venir de las dos partes: el gobierno español y la población gitana. El gobierno tiene que asegurar más leyes inclusivas que afirmen el acceso a los mismos derechos para todos los españoles. Por otro lado, las familias gitanas tienen que entender que sus niños necesitan educación fuera de la familia. Es muy importante que el valor del flamenco se mantenga porque es una parte esencial de la identidad de los gitanos españoles, de España y de todo el mundo. El arte flamenco es un ejemplo perfecto de cómo las mezclas pueden unir diferentes grupos de gente. Sin embargo, es esencial que los gitanos en el siglo XXI consigan “libertad” a través de la educación y la realización de que sus habilidades son diversas y que no se centran sólo en el folclore. Aunque en esta tesina no he hecho una comparación directa entre el caso del pueblo gitano en España y los gitanos del resto de Europa, mi intención era utilizar el caso de España para construir un “modelo justo” que servirá a las investigaciones futuras acerca del pueblo gitano. En este “modelo justo” es importante tomar en cuenta diferentes factores expresados en el pasado tanto como en la actualidad. Sólo así podremos analizar y aceptar lo diferente con respeto y valor. El flamenco es parte de la identidad de los gitanos españoles que ha llegado a ser uno de los símbolos más representativos de España, pero el ingenio de este pueblo es diverso, igual que el de los otros pueblos gitanos del mundo, y no debe limitarse al contexto cultural, si ese contexto se separa de lo intelectual y científico. Cuando entendemos todo esto, es imposible caer en los estereotipos y esto es exactamente lo que yo he pretendido hacer en mi trabajo de investigación.

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