On August 4, Federal Judge Vaughn R. Walker struck down California’s ban on same sex marriage ruling that the prohibition violated the right to equal protection as afforded by the United States Constitution. Judge Walker went to great lengths to lodge his ruling in an extensive review of the facts presented. Ultimately, he determined,
“Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”
Walker also noted, “Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples.”
Proposition 8 as well as the military policy of “Don’t ask don’t tell,” has kept the debate over the equal rights and protections of individuals who are gay or lesbian a contentious topic for political debate. The dialog generally centers around the acceptance or rejection of gays and lesbians within the U.S. legal system and society as a whole. However, very rarely during these debates is serious public attention given to the implications of these conversations the adolescence and young adults who are beginning to become sensitive to their own sexuality. (more…)
The New School held a conference last week that may be of interest to many Sociology Lens readers, so I have decided to devote this week’s entry to sharing some notes from the conference.
The implosion of work and play was the most recurrent theme in the panels that I attended. The term “playbor” was frequently used to describe the product of this implosion. Panelists generally seemed to assume that playbor was a relatively new and increasingly prevalent phenomenon. However, one dissenter, an artist named Stephanie Rothenberg, argued that play and productivity have coincided from the earliest days of capitalism. She explained that hobbies (e.g., collecting, handicraft, parlor room singsong, gardening, and animal raising) are voluntary forms of play that produce objects with no intent to exchange them on the market. These activities often have significant social aspects and some hobbies, like music or quilting, are even done collaboratively. Given the resemblance to hobbies, Rothenberg urges that we view playbor as the latest instantiation of a historical trend, rather than newly emerging paradigm. In fact she claims that online environments like Second Life mimic the world so hyperbolically that they offer an unprecedented opportunity for us to turn a critical eye on ourselves. In our distanced view of these “simulacrums,” we find our own distanced reflections.
While the term “augmented reality” uttered in a sexual context might immediately conjure the perennial problematic of the boozed, buzzed, and befuddled (commonly referred to as “beer goggles”), more nuanced analysis may prove fruitful. Fellow Sociology Lens news editor, nathan jurgenson, recently argued in “towards theorizing an augmented reality” that we need to anticipate an ascending paradigm where “digital and material realities dialectically co-construct each other.”
To anticipate this new reality, I argue that we ought to turn to another trend in consumer culture that has prevailed for several decades. Pornography and the sex industry have consistently been a bellwether for future technology adoption in the population writ large. Remember polaroids, VCRs, camcorders, DVDs, and high definition television? Sure you do. Ever wonder why so many of our parents and grandparents bought these items so early on, even though they were expensive and still largely untested? They were probably producing and consuming pornography. Yep, that’s right: porn. Okay, so, some people had other motivations. The conspicuous consumption of such commodities certainly confers a form of social capital which appeals to many. Yet, ample evidence exists indicating that the pornography industry has influenced the adoption of a wide range of technologies (see citations below). Even the founder of Wikipedia and one of Time Magazine’s most influential people, Jimmy Wales, began his entrepreneurial career leveraging user-generated content for profit by hosting a series of user-generated porn web rings. (more…)
A recent youtube video of one of the performances in the largest British competition show, “Britain’s Got Talent,” have received incalculable viewing frequencies, and the number is still rising. Susan Boyle is the focus of this incident. Her mundane (and to some point, ludicrous) appearance, with her resonant and rich voice made her the new “instant celebrity” (according to a recent New York Times article). Drawing from Alexander’s idea on social performance, a successful performance needs to be authentic. Authenticity here refers to the fusion between social roles and performative scripts. While social roles and performative scripts are embedded in cultural contexts, which provide the resources and structures for performance and reception, where is the possibility for a performance to be successful without following traditional social or cultural scripts? Susan Boyle’s performance could serve as an example with two folds of meanings. First, her “social role” as a 47 year-old, unmarried, unemployed women who mostly sang at the local church could hardly fit the expectation of fulfilling scripts that are assigned to “singers” or “performers.” Her “role” in this sense is in conflict with the “script” that she attempts to take on. On the other hand, her following performance fits neatly with the role as a singer, overwriting the “role” for a successful performance, as well as re-writing the script for a 47 year-old, unmarried, unemployed women.
What might be interesting to discuss here, is the audiences consumption of performance. Performances which fuse “roles” and “scripts” could be successful, but remains only as being “successful.” Performances which the “roles” and “scripts” are in conflict and could re-write each other, could be “shockingly” successful. This could be a chance to see social change that disturbs “roles” and “scripts.” However, this incident could also be recognized as a consuming pattern in a society where audience crave “shock” and “excitement.”
New York Times: Unlikely singer is your youtube sensation
Popular music cultures, media and youth consumption
“Are we creating world peace or fundamentally changing the world? No,” he (Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu and Canonical) said. “But we could shift what people expect and the amount of innovation per dollar they expect.”
– New York Times
Most people’s impression on Linux is something mythical which only computer geeks are involved with, if they have even heard of the operating system before. In recent years, volunteers and tech professionals had devoted major effort in developing Linux distributions that are more user-friendly with lower entry barrier for people who are not familiar with programming and the “technology black-box.” Ubuntu is one of these distributions that received the most attention and success in the past four years.
The most important aspect of Linux is not only that it would create a competing environment to challenge the Microsoft monopolization in PC operating systems, but the very idea of “Free Open-Source Softwares.” Open-source literally means that the source codes of any software under the agreement are released to the public and open to change and alteration by anyone who are willing to do so. “Free” stands for “freedom,” that all users are free to use and personalized these softwares, most importantly, at no monetary cost.
In an era of burgeoning information technology, computer programs and the internet have became an essential part of networking and knowledge accumulation. While information is free and easily accessible through our home PCs, it is also materially and economically limited. Areas and regions with people who are unable to purchase high cost hardwares and softwares are excluded from this so called “technology revolution.” Recalling Jugen Habermas’ idea on the “public sphere,” an ideal environment for political and social engagement should be a space where all participants/citizens are able to the express their opinions freely and openly. Despite criticism against this ideal type, free open-source software could crack open the material boundaries of entering this “virtual public sphere” by requiring 0 cost on programs and technology. More people can be included internationally in political, social and technological engagement when the distribution and alteration of programs are unlimited. The freedom to personalized and customize programs to indigenous needs also creates more local agency.
However, since most programming languages are designed based on the understanding of the English language, would this further reinforce the English monopolization? And while the source codes are open and free, are the knowledge and information also as free and open? More importantly, the accessibility of the hardware that’s required?
(More information on hardware, please visit the OLPC project.)
Jeff Wall is famous for grand tableaux, which he shoots in sections over several months before stitching together the final image using computer montage. He has been known to spend almost two years on a single picture, with actors and crew to shoot scenes of the everyday. He teases out the myth of reality outside perception to the point that he is able to re-create in studio the ‘decisive moment’ of Cartier-Besson, in which the elements of an external world join together at a decontextualized point, outside time. “There’s a fine line between fact and fiction, between a moment and a perfect representation of that moment” – he said. Jeff Wall’s best work comes from never having to choose. I want to use his work here to criticize the idea of performative aspects of identity as expression of never ending exercise of will, disconnected from the web of social practices, context and history, in which they are embedded. In other words, I maintain, practices are not propriety of actors but of the practices themselves. On the other hand, though, there is a sense in which the studio or the laboratory provides a very poor metaphor to be able to capture the complexity of the world: so to say, the body cannot contain all. There is always an emergent element of free-play, a ‘personal authorship’ (Thrift, TwoThousandEight) that comes out from the ongoing creation of affects, through encounters: ‘A non-representational outlook depends upon understanding and working with the everyday as a set of skills, which are highly performative’ (ibidem). In this sense the metaphor of the mime is a pertinent one: the actors are going out in a specific place, they cannot use any words, just facial expression, their bodies and of course objects. We don’t know what and how they are going to perform. And especially what kind of audience they are going to meet: we can only guess.
Sociology Lens is the associated site for Sociology Compass, Wiley-Blackwell’s review journal on all fields sociological. On this site we host daily posts, video files and news items from our team of contributors. Read more...
