Comments on: What Exactly is Wrong with Jersey Shore?

By: “To drink, or not to drink” | redvelvetseason

“To drink, or not to drink” | redvelvetseason — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 10:49:30 +0000

[…] The negative stereotypes about Italian Americans, is sustained through the pessimistic behavior of the cast-members. Usually, when society observes a group under a label, ethnic/racial, their behavior reflects on the whole group. A show featuring Italian-American ethnic group inevitably confirms pessimistic stereotypes, tags and denotations- Delve deeper, read here […]

By: maus

maus — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:14:25 +0000

“I find it hard to sympathize with these groups complaining about the show because they still have what we people of color don’t have– white privilege.”

I wasn’t aware that old stereotypes disappear for good and that neo-minstrelsy was acceptable, thanks DIMA!

By: Uzbek Photographer Tried for Defamation » Sociological Images

Uzbek Photographer Tried for Defamation » Sociological Images — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:47:21 +0000

[…] Indian art, Africa (see both here and here) and, I’ve argued, the TV show Jersey Shore. We could make the same argument about the preponderance of images of just one type of beauty. […]

By: Joe Ungari

Joe Ungari — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:48:04 +0000

i think the show is really funny and i am mostly itlian and i can even get a joke out of it

By: mc

mc — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:01:19 +0000

THANK YOU MIKE. This is the point I was trying to make in all the above posts. I feel like so much sociology are these sort of lazy ‘this is offensive’ readings and it just makes me SAD.

By: dottywine

dottywine — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:50:01 +0000

They’re not all italian. I think 1 or two of them are just American.

Its not targeting italian-americans, it is targetting a GUIDO LIFESTYLE.

That’s like saying Flava of Love is targeting black people and we all should be ashamed.

By: Victoria H

Victoria H — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:30:18 +0000

Kat, The comment I made was to examine the author’s own privelige. And are you honestly saying that in a cast that is “non-homogenous” there is no “othering”? So the “token” people people of color are never cast just to fill certain stereotypes (the fiery latina, the angry black guy, the smart asian etc)?

That is just as much “othering” as a show of a homogenous racial type except that with a show of a homogenous racial type there is a context in which to perceive the characters. In a show like “Jersey Shore” the characters are allowed to be of the same heritage and have different (if slightly) personalities whereas in shows like “The Real World” there is always a play between races that is meant to summarize all of one race with a single person. I suppose what I am saying here is that Jersey shore at least lays the stereotype of an entire cultural group on a group (however small) of people rather than on a single “token” character.

Also I do resent the implication that examining white privelige in an article about white privelige is “missing the point.”

By: mars

mars — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:13:52 +0000

No, I see the Hills as white and not being white myself understand that the show is aspirational.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:51:26 +0000

Even so, my dad’s never seen the royal family. He was just talking about the actual people who live there, and how surprising it was.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:48:56 +0000

That’s why I didn’t call it “spanish skin tone.”

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:05:27 +0000

PS: I just realized how silly the Spanish royal family was as an example:
The Queen is of German nobility, the King of Spain’s mother was of German-British nobility and his father’s mother was of Austrian-German nobility…

So bad example…

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:46:22 +0000

Yes, but what you describe as "Mexican/Central & South American skin tone" is rather the Indio/Mestizo skin tone and not really "Spanish" in any way (maybe HISpanic). I mean, look at Carolina Herrera for a great counterexample, she is Venezuelan with purely Spanish origins, born into a family who had been in Venezuela for 400 years.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:04:27 +0000

This is so funny – I have the opposite story. It’s amazing how environments can change perceptions. The first thing I think of when I think of “Spaniard” is blonde hair and blue eyes, because when my dad was drafted he ended up in Spain at one point and he always said they look that way. I do notice that a lot of people here (America) tend to associate European spaniards immediately with the images of Mexico/central & south american skin tones when I have conversations with them, though. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with having some sort of preconceived image (everyone does it), although I guess this type of image is prominent because Latin america is the first image of “spanish” that seems to be introduced here & most widely accepted, so that’s what people think of first? I’m not sure. (All the more reason never to take things at face value! :))

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:29:31 +0000

Great picture on a Western European reading of "ethnicity", shades of Whiteness and what an Italian is supposed to look like: Spanish, Italian, English, French And yes, I know that that is not necessarily correct and that it is quite possible to be Italian, blond with blue eyes. But when I saw these Christmas cards of the Spanish royal family, I caught myself being puzzled, which showed me how much I had internalised the concept of "darker skinned" Spaniards and Italians.

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:08:19 +0000

@ mc and karinova:

Thanks for the great explanation. I recognized “the look” from the “Douchebag” photo gallery, it’s here (Western Europe) considered immigrant working class culture from Southern Europe, North Africa and some parts of Eastern Europe.

@vince85: Who is “we” here? I am European. And I have lived in Italy (granted not for decades ;)