What A Woman

Introduced to a standing ovation and preceded by her high-heeled gait, the audience at Colorado State University saw all woman in Laverne Cox.

On Oct. 23, every seat in the Lory Student Center Grand Ballroom was filled as Cox took the stage that First Lady Michelle Obama had spoken on just hours before. Venturing not so far from the topic of the greater good, Cox relayed her personal story to the crowd in order to bring transgender and gender binary issues to the forefront of conversation.

“It took me a long time –many, many years—to be able to truly say to myself and believe that being trans is beautiful and that if someone can look at me and tell that I’m trans that’s a beautiful thing.”

Cox made history appearing on the cover of TIME. Courtesy of abcnews.com.

As part of a national college campus tour, Cox spoke on the need for freedom of self-determination for American youth, especially for the LGBT community. To have self-governance as an identity that garners little to no recognition is pivotal in a life lived happily. Cox revealed that during her transition and periodically, she is estranged and deemed “the other” in environments when her identity triggers discomfort in those around her.

Drawing on several of her favorite advocates and sociologists, such as Brené Brown and Sojourner Truth, Cox offered to the audience that the human tendency to police one another is destructive. The same woman who is now idolized for living authentically, was once “spooked”—which is the term for a transgender individual who is publicly revealed to be in a state of gendered transition—in order for her hetero-normative  peers to make sense of Cox’s situation.

No anecdote was off limits during the hour-long speech, as Cox regaled the crowd with childhood stories.

“She’s just very confident both on the show and in person and I think that’s an accurate representation of transgendered women,” said Aleya Jones, a student at Colorado State University. In addition to the star-quality that Cox has, Jones offered that many people in line for the event were hopeful to learn more about the identity of transgendered people.

“I think it’s important in life to go out there and experience the things we’re unsure about, so we live in a place with people who aren’t one-track minded,” said Jones.

Known for her role as Sophia Burset, an incarcerated transgendered female, in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black”, Cox has gained notoriety for her own identity as a transgendered female over the last year. In 2014, Cox has been the first openly transgendered female to both be nominated for an Emmy and to appear in Time magazine.

Since her breakout performance on Netflix, Cox has appeared in the public as an activist for the LGBT community. On October 17, MTV and Logo TV debuted a documentary hosted by Cox, called “The T Word”. Addressing topics from dating to anti-trans violence, the documentary was created to inform audiences much like Cox is doing for college campus audiences this fall.

“We have misconceptions about people who are different from us. If we just get to know them as people, I believe that al those misconceptions will melt away.” 

Watch Laverne speak about advocacy on Katie Couric.

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A Girl's Girl

A buzzword that has been decorated across the Twitter decks of celebrities and even Beyoncé’s block-lettered background for her performance during the MTV Video Music Awards, the word ‘feminism’ has garnered a trendiness all its own.

In a whirl of non-fiction spun around a slew of fictional social rebels, the sit-com “Girls” has been referred to as the realistic take on “Sex and the City”. With a gleaming needle of counter hegemony, Lena Dunham asserts herself as the creative seamstress responsible for threading the controversial television episodes together.

If situational comedies were founded upon the idea of recreating reality for the masses, then Dunham is the writer to remind us of just that. In an article from Elle Magazine, Virginia Vitzthum writes, “Among Dunham's gifts to womankind is her frontline example that some asshole may call you undesirable or worse, and it won't kill you. Your version matters more.” Referring to Dunham’s insistence on honesty in an era of hyperbolic airbrushing, the show “Girls” features Dunham’s character in nude scenes that rival the mainstream women whose idealistic bodies dominate television.

Photo courtesy of thetimes.co.uk.

One size does not fit all and “Girls” reminds audiences of this in the unabashed platform that HBO and three seasons worth of sexual health righteousness will allow. While the upfront stylings that take place on screen in “Girls”, such as the testing of sexually transmitted infections and overt discussions of body awareness are a pivotal ingredient for a good Friday night in with your own misfit friends, critics have something to say about the deviance of this sit-com.

On his SiruisXM radio show in 2013, Howard Stern said of the sit-com, “It's a little fat girl who kinda looks like Jonah Hill and she keeps taking her clothes off and it kind of feels like rape. She seems -- it's like -- I don't want to see that." Met with much backlash, Stern eventually issued a public apology after the public accused him of delusion over the realistic image of the American woman.

At the tip of the messy multitude of pens with chewed up caps that spew the script Dunham writes for herself and her cast mates, is the promotion of learning in media that has yet to take place. By affirming the average woman’s body and doing it in a way that weaves satire and comedy into the lot, HBO has allowed audiences the re-birth of our favorite New York City socialites. Trading Carrie Bradshaw’s closet for Hannah Horvath’s love for expletives, audiences are already exposed to a more honest viewing experience.

Mixing in the need for appreciation versus tolerance for the American woman makes Dunham more of a feminist than any of her star-studded Hollywood colleagues. Because, according to Dunham’s scrawlings, gender equity is not a topic to be covered up so easily with a glittery illusion. It is an issue worth talking about and talking about fairly.

Watch Lena Dunham in an interview with Good Morning America as she translates her sit-com hilarity into her new book, Not That Kind of Girl.

Raving Over Race

As Raven-Symoné’s work draws her from the television screen to the Broadway stage, Oprah Winfrey sat down with Symoné to bridge the gap from adolescence to her adult presence.

Though hers was not the namesake for the television show, Raven-Symoné gained a unanimous “Aww” from America in her role as Olivia on The Cosby Show. As a child star and, later, a figure many youth associated with Disney Channel works such as That’s So Raven and The Cheetah Girls, Symoné has recently made a subdued leap to Broadway, starring in the stage adaptation of “Sister Act”.

Symoné as Olivia in The Cosby Show. Photo courtesy of style blazer.com

Despite her continued body of work and aptitude to stay out of the public eye, Symoné’s recent interview on Oprah Winfrey’s “Where Are They Now?” is making up for missed tabloids of years past.

Concerning her identity, Symoné told Oprah:

“I don’t need language [for identity]. I don’t need a categorizing statement for it. I don’t want to be labeled gay. I want to be labeled a human who loves humans. I’m an American. I’m not an African-American. I don’t know where my roots go to. I do know that my roots are in Louisiana. And that’s a colorless person.”

Before the full interview debuted on the OWN network, American audiences erupted on Twitter with refute to Symoné’s thoughts on racial identity.

In an act that makes a clear delineation from her sit-com history, Symoné’s re-definition of racial classification takes several steps from the comfortable categorization of race that was apparent in The Cosby Show era.

The New York Post writes of the interview in defense of Symoné and her progressive act, which offers that individuals should accept and deny the labels that society subjects us to. The article titled, “She’s So Raven”, reads, “In short, any honest person looking at what she said knows this woman didn’t reject either her race or her sexuality. All she rejected were the labels.”

Symoné and Oprah Winfrey on the set of the "Where Are They Now?" interview. Photo courtesy of people.com

For public figures, media purports a monopolization of ideas. Even our most prized media forms define people and events in definitive manners. It is this narrow nature of media that Symoné defies in her OWN interview.

In a short span of time, Symoné expands on the ways in which audiences should be able to relate with those they see on television and on stage. If sit-coms intend to re-create reality and the people within it, sit-coms need also to advance in real-time with the reality of policy and identity and the individuality that comes with the labeling of Americans today. Because, according to Symoné’s reminder, this country is a melting pot.

Symoné’s childhood character, Olivia, was known to stir the plot and create profound ideas to linger for her cast-mates and audiences alike. To that end, it wasn’t so out-of-character for Symoné to re-align the American tendency to regulate race. With a friendly approach and enough quirky character as she held two decades ago, Symoné pushes race into relevant representation.

Watch the trailer of Raven-Symoné's interview above. 

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Going Jazzy for Gaga

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga for their duet album, Cheek to Cheek. Courtesy of billboard.com.

On the stages of modern pop music, the descriptors ‘grand’, ‘outlandish’, and ‘guise’ serve as the glittered trail leading you straight to Lady Gaga’s stiletto-clad feet. With red carpet ruses fit for the Mad Hatter, Lady Gaga nestled a niche of her own in the music scene.

Since her collaborative album with jazz icon, Tony Bennett, however, Lady Gaga’s niche as a musician has been under fire. Since her ‘Just Dance’ debut six years ago, her music and wardrobe selections alike have been befitting of the pop image. Like a categorical sorting process by the public, Lady Gaga has been primed as unpredictable in many ways, but not in terms of which genre she her songs belong to.

In the album, “Cheek to Cheek” with Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga’s achievements and accolades as a performer attached to a jazz album are not living up to the entertainer’s prior successes as a pop star according to album reviews. In the LA Times, one reviewer shook a show tune finger at Lady Gaga’s ensembles in classic songs, like “Anything Goes” offering that, “she sometimes blasts away at these songs rather than relaxing into them.”

In the schema, or category, that the public has outlined Lady Gaga in, there is no room for the artist to move laterally into the theatrical and show-tune stems of her past. After all, before she was glitz and Gaga, she was Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. Rooted in the melodic ballads of theatre, Germanotta is the antithesis of Gaga and her audience has taken note of it.

Despite “Cheek to Cheek” topping the Billboard 200 chart, there is a detachment between the duo and their audience, as Lady Gaga is disputed for her worthiness in singing alongside a jazz legend. Because of her steadfast denotation as a Queen of Pop by the masses, there is a royal order for what queens mustn’t do. And evading her pop image by topping the charts in an alternate genre is not cohesive with the permissions, nor the capabilities that the public is accustomed to allowing Lady Gaga to have.

While the LA Times includes reviews that acknowledge the raspy tone of Lady Gaga’s that, quite literally, jives with Bennett’s voice so well, more than just her Little Monster fan base is left wondering where the electronic flare of Gaga’s character fits alongside this theatric persona. Transported outside of the Art Pop world of Gaga’s past, the multi-faceted schema of Lady Gaga has yet to enter into full bravado with listeners. For now, definitive silhouettes and abilities are preferred of our artists, but perhaps there will be room in the future for jazz on Gaga’s outlandish stage.

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A 'Booty' by Any Other Name

Of all the fan-made and artist-inspired monikers, none is as renowned as ‘J. Lo’. Withstanding the tests of time and trendiness, Jennifer Lopez has built a brand to outlast the eras of the Puff Daddies and Snoop Doggs whose images were defeated at the turn of the century. Durable and adorable as the 45-year-old has proven to be, J. Lo has also ventured to prove that her moniker comes with an identifier: her bottom.

On September 18, J. Lo released the official music video for ‘Booty’ featuring her Aussie counterpart, Iggy Azalea, with curves down under to rival the original Fly Girl herself. These two femme queens make the most of four minutes and some-odd seconds, showing audiences more dance moves to highlight your rear-end than ever previously imagined. Of course, this is no surprise as the newly ranked Billboard Hot 100 track uses J. Lo’s trademark body part as its namesake.

Jennifer Lopez in the music video for "I Luh Ya Papi" ft. French Montana. Courtesy of  jennifer-lopez.net.

For decades now, the frame through which consumers view J. Lo has been through the recognition of her Latina allure and her best asset. This is to say that the identity and purpose that Lopez serves in the media is conveyed in such a way that audiences interpret her strengths as a star to be dependent on her minority identity. As an actress she has lent beauty and relatable nature to the archetypal Latina maid, the Latin pop star and the unlikely female suitor to the fair-skinned McConaughey-male leads. As an energetic performer, she made us believe that love don’t cost a thing in the presence of catchy choruses and truly bootylicious dance moves (our apologies to Beyoncé, CC: Destiny’s Child). 

Perhaps it is Jenny from the Block’s identity as a minority and as a Latina that contributes to her resistance identity as a curvaceous female. Deserving of the resistance identity title, J. Lo’s media framing keeps her from fitting in with her female counterparts, even within her latest music video alongside Iggy Azalea, because of her warm skin and the rhythmical aptitude, which stereotypes would suggest is all too telling of her Latin upbringing.

In one of the most watched role reversals of mainstream media, Lopez made a satire of the modern music video for her song “I Luh Ya Papi” featuring French Montana. Joining in on the recent trend of female pop stars advocating for gender equity, Lopez “turns the male gaze on its head,” as stated in this music video review from the Huffington Post. Breaking the dichotomy of gender roles and the spectrum of objectification, Jennifer Lopez and her female counterparts make a mockery of men as mere décor—an effort that equity-conscious consumers can surely get behind.

What’s more important than the media frame that permits J. Lo’s booty to precede her in music and movies alike, is the way that she has taken this resistance identity, put on some gold hoop earrings, and has run with it. It is not out of defiance that this Latina from the Bronx has remained a name to know, no matter the monikers you choose. It is with compliance and maybe a little help from a stylist, that J. Lo has embraced her outlier of a silhouette in order to make the most of her Latina identity and to frame her biggest asset for decades on end.

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A Starlette's Thick Skin

On a television show known to teach the lessons of pre-pubescence, Sesame Street hosted Oscar award-winning actress, Lupita Nyong’o last week for a much more profound lesson. In a playful repartee with her ticklish counterpart, Nyong’o and Elmo discuss skin as a protective, unifying and beautiful part of people.

“That’s the thing I love most about skin, Elmo,” Nyong’o said in her cameo, “Skin comes in lots of beautiful shades and colors.”

Since she swept the award show scene earlier this year and came to the forefront of fashion soon thereafter, Nyong’o has been surrounded by social buzzwords such as “dark-skinned”, “most beautiful” and “iconic”. But she is not letting these accolades do all of the talking. The Yale educated actress from Kenya is steering a ship of stardom with color consciousness at the helm. Contrary to the muffled nature of the color blind ideology, which is a mindset that dismisses the idea that race and privilege are interconnected, the increasing public will to learn of Nyong’o’s story and lifestyle has incited the type of racial understanding that color consciousness is rooted in.

Lupita Nyong'o in Prada on The Academy Awards red carpet. Photo courtesy of PopSugar.com

In February 2014, at the Essence Magazine Black Women in Hollywood event, Nyong’o spoke on the constitution of beauty.

“My mother would say to me ‘you can’t eat beauty, it doesn’t feed you.’ And what my mother meant when she said, ‘you can’t eat beauty’ was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What actually sustains us—what is fundamentally beautiful—is compassion,” Nyong’o said.

Lupita has now become her own buzzword. Combatting the power structure that serves the white individuals in Hollywood, Nyong’o has garnered support as a black actor with influential prowess. Throughout the history of media, the power elite media groups bearing authority over what and who will be represented have kept with a pale archetype.

Upon earning People Magazine’s title of “People’s Most Beautiful”, Nyong’o said:

"I was happy for all the girls who would see me on [it] and feel a little more seen."

This rift in the dominant culture’s representation of media figures allows for a more welcoming and authentic media sphere. White privilege in media has allowed for white audiences to incessantly find connections onscreen, and Nyong’o is now added to the abbreviated list of figures to fill the racial void in film.

Lupita Nyong’o has offered a palette of work that transcends the racial barrier in what hopefully will allow for forthcoming roles that are a lot less skin-deep.

Watch Lupita Nyong'o's speech from the Essence Black Women in Hollywood event. ---

Refusing to Rest on Royalty

Though the accessories and gadgets in Hollywood have shifted since the age of the silver screen, the sought-after celebrities that occupy stardom in 90210 have yet to experience a shift. With international shipping-and-handling of a more angst-driven type, the teen singer-songwriter, Lorde, is defining her own status of celebrity in the star-studded zip code.

Whether you draw parallels between the blonde bombshells from then and now or the slick and shimmering fashions that have ever walked the red carpet, most of the stars we follow for their image and not their intellect. With lyrics written to linger on her listener’s ear, the “Royals” singer is playing a melody meant for depth and analysis—a true anomaly compared to many a “Queen of Pop” that she shares the stage with.

Rolling Stone, January 2014 cover

“I think the thing that people relate to about me is that I—you know—I kind of try not to fall into your typical traps of song writing,” Lorde said in an interview with Studio Q. 

Peering in on the lives of celebrities, one might find the images, air and behaviors that belong to them indicative of what our society deems a “stereotype”. For the American pop star, the subconscious associations bring to mind a slew of all-too-expensive objects and all-too-chiseled body types. It is a stereotype unfitting of 17-year-old Lorde’s gothic stylings.

In Lorde's cover story in the January 2014 issue of Rolling Stone, Tavi Gevinson, editor of Rookie said: "Everyone talks about Ella [Lorde] as the anti-Miley because she dresses like a witch and she doesn't twerk. But it's more nuanced than that. She sings about partying, she curses like a sailor and her songs aren't completely asexual. She reflects an intelligence in girls our age, and normalizes it." 

Certainly for the celebrity culture that has proven a steady market in America, there is what Patricia Divine of University of Wisconsin at Madison calls, “inevitability of prejudice”. As consumers, we tend towards the stereotype that the unintelligence that celebrities have is more than redeemed with their unshakeable choruses and good looks. The type of pop star that Lorde proves to be helps us to marry the all-too-familiar “cool factor” with the keen factor, which she carries from her image and into her work in the recording studio.

For this Aussie, the American Dream of fame and stardom does not come at the cost of incapability. It comes with a dark lipstain, a shattered celebrity stereotype and lyrics with a clever likability factor all their own.

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A Bouffant Silhouette Behind the ‘Tonight Show' Desk

Spanning several decades and a slew of networks, the figures behind the wooden desks of late night television have touted raspy voices and well-kempt, combed-over hair while detailing the latest in news and popular culture for the masses. It was a silhouette solidified in American media facets—the informed, polished American man—but with her beehive hair and string of pearls, Joan Rivers became the first woman to break into the boy’s club of late night with just as much crass and intrigue as the rest.

In 1965, when Rivers first appeared on ‘The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson’, the American ideology of television front liners hardly included the female voice, let alone her opinion and individualism. In contemporary sociology, the term ‘ideology’ encompasses the images and standards to which individuals and groups make sense of what they encounter in a culture. What this indicated for Joan Rivers and her unabashed one-liners was that the American audience was left to re-think the ideology of the worthy faces of television, as Rivers would soon chalk 80 guest-hosting gigs next to the man she deemed her mentor, Johnny Carson, on ‘The Tonight Show’.

Joan Rivers and Johnny Carson during Rivers' second appearance on 'The Tonight Show' in the '60s.
Wenn Photos/ Newscom

"Johnny was the one person who said, 'Yes, she has talent; yes, she is funny.' He was the first person in power who respected what I was doing and realized what I could become,” Rivers said in an interview with People Magazine in 1991. What is important to note about the mentor-mentee relationship of Carsons’ and Rivers’ is not that this man and woman duo made late night television a laugh-loaded and honest viewing experience, but that Carson—the power holder for the show—had welcomed the change.

With a considerably modest beginning, the dirty dialogues from Rivers lent greatly to the ideology of able and quick-witted women. Rivers stunned Carson and the masses with innumerable insults and star-studded slurs in order to ultimately stir the ideology of hegemony in America.

Hegemony, which works to frame and promote the identities, values and normative actions of a culture’s power holders, is in itself an exclusive concept. Exclusivity, however, was not a deterrent for Joan Rivers and her pathway for a career in comedy. Rather, exclusivity of women was an opportunity she felt was befitting of her talent.

Now, the archetypal male in media and the hegemonic role in which he fits remains challenged by today’s femme forerunners. But if not for Rivers’ pioneering footsteps and cheeky choice for words, the non-gendered silhouette of media platforms today may not have transitioned into the state it has, though there are plenty more screens befitting of the modern maven—’60s bouffant not required.

Watch Joan Rivers on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, 1986

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