Hello, my name is Aileen Herrera Ojeda. I am a current junior studying graphic design. I aspire to work in the book, music, movie industry (ofc as a graphic designer) since it's all media that I enjoy a lot. In my spare time I love to read books and see new places/go on adventures with my boyfriend. I wouldn't call myself an activist although I am very invested in the political climate that we find ourselves in right now and believe that we need to seriously do something to change it. I did although participate in a protest against what was happening in Venezuela back in 2014, when I was 9.
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| 9 year old me at the Venezuelan protest |
"Often in my lectures when I use the phrase "imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy" to describe our nation's political system, audiences laugh. No one has ever explained why accurately naming this system is funny. The laughter is itself a weapon of patriarchal terrorism... discounting the significance of what is being named." (Hooks, 29)
Even though this published a little over 20 years ago what Hooks described still rains true today. We are still very much living in a predominately white men favoring society which as we see in the news is only getting worse, with getting rid of hundreds of years of progress and positive change. And I truly agree with her statement of people not really taking in the gravity of patriarchy, and how it plays such a crucial role in how our society/world.
"I was always more interested in challenging patriarchy than my brother was because it was the system that was always leaving me out of things that I wanted to be part of." (Hooks, 20)
I found it super interesting that Hooks included her own personal story having dealt with patriarchy growing up, and how her and her brother were the opposite of what patriarchy wanted them to be. Just because we have made a lot of progress with including women into fields which were mainly dominated by men from when this was written to now, does not mean we have solved patriarchy. Like Hooks relates, we need everyone to understand the effect of that the patriarchy has caused.
What Memes Owe to Art History | Artsy
"Through an ironic and playful treatment of a fragmented subject, memes break down high and low culture, disrupting ideas of authenticity and originality. Wershler argues that memes should be understood as the digital descendants of artists such as Man Ray, Walker Evans, and Andy Warhol—all vanguards whose practices largely concerned informational and social disruptions." (Bucknell)
When the rise of memes first came around, I do not think that anyone would have expected it to be such an influential part of political movements like it does now or for memes to even be compared to political and social artworks of the past. But I think that it is great that a medium that is accessible to so many with no need to know about art just your emotions and how you want to express that.
"It isn’t so much about visuals, but instead digs deep into the cultural architecture of memes and their political power as a networked critical resistance, where their abilities to incite and inspire, to problematize and be problematic in equal turn, offer a mirror image of our volatile present as much as their avant-garde heritage." (Bucknell)
Not only do memes tackle political issues in a funny way but do so in a way that inspires people to also talk about these issues, which is one of the most important things when wanting change is to talk. Whether that be silly things or serious things, memes address both.
Memes Are Our Generation's Protest Art | VICE
"They reflect what’s happening in society, and help justify feelings of rage and fear while helping us feel less alone." (Lazzaro)
Seeing people having the same thoughts about certain topics as you and feeling the same anger, fear and worry in a time where those feelings are rampant and daily, it's nice to know that you aren't alone and that there are people who are willing to stand up ad day something, even if that something is memes
"that’s a key part of protest art in general—in identifying social problems, the genre needs villains. “They’re an important step in arousing the anger or fear that can mobilize people,” he said. And in the Trump era, there’s no shortage of those." (Lazzaro)
I think one of the ways to find that you have power and a voice against a certain person or system is possibly making memes or making fun of them.
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