"They call it climbing and we call it visibility.
They call it coolness and we call it visibility.
They call it way too rowdy, we call it finally free." -LeTigre
"When the spirit of appropriation is reduced to another corporate slogan or commercial strategy, its rhetorical value is minimal as Elbow asking student to utilize collage for coherent meaning...In these kinds of scenarios, appropriation serves only to reinstitutionalize the already accepted form of discourse. Appropriation is not applied in order to make a new rhetorical turn; it is used to keep the same rhetoric already in place." (Rice 58).
Tom, Don and I went out for drinks last week and we got on the topic of "femme." I tried to explain my identity as a queer fat femme and this article assists me further in doing so: femme is the reappropriation of feminine; to take what has been culturally deemed feminine and appropriate expectations or standards for women and queer them to both challenge femininity and reclaim it. Tattooed arms mark my otherwise invisible femme self, just as some fashion choices accentuate womanly tits and ass (as expected) right along with the fat I'm supposed to hide.
You call it coolness, I call it visibility.
"When working with appropriation, it's not enough to simply cut and rearrange words or images. Writers also must remiagine the logic of structure as well..." (Rice 59).
Structure. Lack of order. Clarity. Visibility. Self. Writing. Keyboard. HTML. Code. Cultural code. The Machine. The Self.
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteYou know, it is weird, that I really rarely think about how I identify myself. I wonder if that is because I'm shy about myself, I'm afraid of what I might find, I've been taught not to think about myself too much? I don't know. I think of myself as father, as middle aged white guy, teacher, writer, man from the badlands, Midwest transplant, a somewhat invisible type trying to face visibility. Sometimes, I'm afraid of being seen. But I'm not. See you in class.
Amy,
ReplyDeleteI can't help but identify with the idea of dealing with appropriation of identity. "As an Indian Man", I must deal with this appropriation issue often. Even with the phrase, As an Indian Man, which by the way I find to be hokey at best, I have to acknowledge how people will view my comments with that qualifier. I can't help but be seen...skin color and hair color and facial features and all, and unlike Tom, I think about who I am all the time, but not in the who am I racial element fashion, or the philosophical where do I belong way, but simply, my role as a person with a different perspective and similar perspective of those around me. This identity thing is intriguing and fun. Who am I? Who do I want to be? I will not let someone else determine who I am and what role I am expected to play in this appropriation of identity game. I don't know if I make sense here, but as Amy says, "the less it makes sense, the smarter you sound". And if I contradict myself, so be it. Didn't Whitman say something like,"...if I contradict myself so be it, I am huge, I am the world..." At any rate, contradiction is very human, and so is rambling...so I am out.