Final Blog

1. In Victor Villanueva’s book, Bootstraps: From an Academic of Color he describes how diversity among a society is not generally accepted. Rather, the societal norms are to assimilate new member in order to maintain status quo. An important term in the readings is pluralism. Pluralism is a society’s acceptance of diverse views and cultures. Generally, modern America allows individuals from other cultures to keep their uniqueness and is a pluralistic society. This term is essential to assignments 2 and 3 because one must remember that all cultures have their own uniqueness and are important. Importantly, one must remember that cyberspace has its own culture complete with its own norms one must observe and understand in order to be successful.

2. According to Lisa Nakamura an individual that takes on a persona of a different race or gender in cyberspace and then feels as if they understand that particular race or gender is participating in:
a. Cybertyping
b. Identity tourism
c. Insanity
d. Multiple personality disorder

3. Victor Villanueva believes all individuals should assimilate into their culture in order to allow for a cohesive culture.

Works Cited
Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print
Villanueva, Victor. "Spic in English." Bootstraps: from an American Academic of Color. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1993. 34-50. Print.

Blog #9

Nakamura suggests that many Internet users think the Internet is a great place for people to hang out. These Internet users feel that the Internet is one place where color, gender, race, and religious beliefs do not matter. Nakamura further discusses how this train of thought is completely wrong in that the Internet is designed with biases embedded into the interface design. By navigating through the Internet, users are"… progressively narrowing down the choices of subject positions “which in turn reveals their ethnicity or race (Nakamura 104). Furthermore, Nakamura believes the majority of the Internet users are white; therefore, the target audience of the web pages is predominately white. In addition, users are able to modify web pages such as Yahoo! to their liking. By creating custom web pages, users are revealing their ethnicity or cultural background.

While playing the Race: the Power of Illusion web game, I am reminded of why racial barriers are constructed. The dominant people of a society want to continue the stratification to maintain their place in the hierarchy. Race is a crucial way in which societies stratify their people. Sadly, this happens regardless of one’s ability to tell one race from another race.

Works Cited
Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.
PBS. "RACE - The Power of an Illusion | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 01 Apr. 2011. .

Blog #8

Cybertyping is not just racial typing applied to the Internet. According to Lisa Nakamura author of Cybertyping and the Work of Race in the Age of Digital Reproduction, “Because the Internet is interactive and collectively authored, cybertypes are created in a particularly collaborative way; they reflect the ways that machine-enabled interactivity gives rise to images of race that both stem from a common cultural logic and seek to redress anxieties about the ways that computer-enabled communication can challenge these old logics. (5).” In other words, cybertyping is a culture construct and the masses of online users help to perpetuate the issue.

Identity Tourism is a name coined by Nakamara, which describes when individuals take online personas of a different gender or race during gaming and act them out in stereotypical ways. These individuals then feel as if they have a better understanding of what it is like to be the other gender or race. This creates a misguided view for the players. Similar to a tourist that assumes visiting a place makes them knowledgeable about the native culture. In reality, they only know an outsider’s perspective of the culture.

While playing Street Fighter 2 I noticed an assumption by the game developers that all Asians are masters of Marshall Arts. This cybertyping is prevalent throughout the game. In addition, noticeable in the background the imagery depicts a seemingly Japanese room. Although the fighters are supposed to be from Japan, the game developers went to the extreme in designing a stereotypical Japanese genre. This cybertyping is present in all the various game boards. The Indian character is similar to what one would see in a bad Hollywood movie. It is as if the developers watched many old B movies and designed the characters to fit the Hollywood stereotypes.

Works Cited

Nakamura, Lisa. Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Honda the Sumo Wrestler. Digital image. Unreality Magazine. 25 Mar. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2011. <http://unrealitymag.com/index.php/2009/03/25/a-tribute-to-fat-guys-in-video-games/>.

Blog #7

In Super Mario Brother 2, gender roles are present in that there are both male and female characters to choose. Unfortunately, for women that want to use a female character there is only one female character. I guess this alone shows the gender issues seen in the gaming industry that Anne-Marie Schleiner discusses in her journal article titled, “Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender and Gender-Role Subversion in Computer Adventure Games.” Playing Super Mario Brothers 2 is an interesting way to evaluate gender-roles in the gaming industry. Interestingly, although the characters were similar regardless of gender, there are subtle differences in male and female characters. For example, an important difference is the way that Princess Peach reacts to the gamers cues. The Princess seems to be more graceful and actually hover more than the other characters. This seemingly is what female gamers prefer or perhaps what the gaming manufacturers “think” that females prefer. Personally, I like the faster and kick butt reaction of the male characters. Another issue is that female gamers like the ability to choose between a few different female characters as the male gamers can.

Schleiner describes creating the female characters specifically so the game manufacturers will make more money. Importantly, by opening the game up to a much more diverse audience the game manufacturer will have bigger sales. Accordingly, Schleiner suggests, “The fusion of femininity, death, and technology in characters like Lara Croft is a lucrative and enduring formula in capitalist market-based economies…,” meaning the gaming industry foresaw the importance of a female character to create a more profitable game (222). I agree that if the female characters did not bring in profits for the gaming industry, then there would be no need to create characters like Princess Peach and Lara Croft.

Works Cited

Princess Peach. Digital image. ING.com. 20 May 2008. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. <http://cheats.ign.com/dor/objects/6695/super-mario-bros-2/images/super-mario-bros-2-20080520104104340.html>.

Schleiner, Ann-Marie. "Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender and Gender-Role Subversion in Computer Adventure Games." MIT Press 34.3 (2001): 221-26. Web. 17 March 2011.

Blog #6

The movie Avatar dichotomizes gender the same way that other typical movies dichotomize gender . The main character is male, very masculine, and ready for action. The supporting character is the female who is at the beginning a leader but soon is relegated to a supporting role.  As always the movie generally revolves around the male character. The movie also shows the female characters as more caring and nurturing than the males. Although the Na’vi are not human it seems to me they are portrayed in a similar manner as human male and female roles. I guess one difference is that the female Na’vi can kick butt and are more equipped physically to compete with the male Na’vi.




The avatar in the movie could be compared to a logo on a webpage. The avatar is like an identity and so is a logo. The avatar for Jake is different in that Jake is disabled and his avatar is able bodied. This is similar to web pages such as the creator of a web page may not be exactly what one may think. One never knows how credible or ethical a person creating a web page is really. A webpage may seem credible because it has professional polish, however it could be a scam or unethical in some manner. Some people create a polished and fabricated identity rather than show their true identity on their web pages because as Cheung says, “…if we present these identities in inappropriate social settings, we experience embarrassment, rejection, or harassment” (275). In a sense, the web page is an avatar, logo, or identity that the creator wants to present to the public.

Works Cited

Cheung, Charles (2007). Identity Construction and Self-Presentation. In D. Bell and B.
M. Kennedy (Eds.), The Cybercultures Reader (2nd Ed.). London and New York: Routeledge. Print.

Blog 5

After reading the prompt for this assignment, I immediately thought of the Apple commercials. Apple computer advertisements typically use the human/computer metaphor in their advertisements. Specifically, Apples uses a dorky man with glasses represents the PC and the young hip man represents the Mac in their advertisements. Interestingly, Apple’s advertisements plays on what Deborah Lupton describes in the book “The Cybercultures Reader” as the “hacker’s body.” Lupton states, “computer nerds” or “hackers” are “…typically portrayed as social misfits and spectacularly physically unattractive: wearing thick unflattering spectacles, overweight, pale, pimply skin, poor fashion sense” (424). It is as if Apple used this stereotype to create their representation of the PC. Conversely, Apple’s use of the young hip man to represent the Mac is the antithesis of the PC. Additionally, the younger man is cool and confident whereas the older man is nervous and twitchy. By adding theses persona to represent the computer, Apple is playing on the human/computer metaphor that is highly effective in the marketing world. In the video I am using as an example of Lupton’s article, PC vs. Mac are shown as having emotions that computer hard ware does not have. This is also representative of Lupton’s article in that it shows the emotional relationship one has with an inanimate object like the computer.

I think one of the most important aspect of this class is the continual reinforcement that we are a product of our culture. As DTC majors it is important to know how to use digital rhetoric. Whether the rhetoric is images or text, one needs the skill of choosing the correct rhetoric for the correct situation. In her article, "Can You Hear Me Now?" Sherry Turkle describes the dangers of life in the digital world as "... tethered life is complex; it is helpful to measure our thrilling new networks against what they may be doing to us as people" (Turkle). Importantly, it is important to persuade an audience ethically,whether one uses ethos, pathos, or logos as a method of persuasion. Finally, as consumers in the digital age, we need to understand rhetoric is used to persuade us into buying others ideas.

Works Cited

Lupton, Deborah. "The Embodied Computer/User." The Cybercultures Reader. By David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. Second ed. London: Routledge, 2007. 422-32. Print.

Turkle, Sherry. "Can You Hear Me Now? - Forbes.com." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. 07 May 2007. Web. 19 Feb. 2011. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0507/176.html.

YouTube - Mac vs PC Commercial - Counseling. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 17 Nov. 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPvW4eQ5kAY&feature=BF&list=PLC21A207065DDF109&index=21.

Blog 4

I disagree with Bauman’s notion that virtual communities are somehow less permanent than real-life communities are. Bauman describes how people participating in virtual communities know their bonds will not last, stating, “they are, literally, bonds without consequences.” (258) Bauman appears to be implying real-life communities are permanent. This is not the case. In America, we are all free to mingle with whomever we wish. We can come and go as we please. An example of this is abandoned children. If Bauman were right about Real-life communities or bonds being permanent then there would be no abandoned children. 

Additionally, to me, all communities are “pegs,” not just virtual communities. I am involved with many different communities from Facebook to student life at WSU. As a real-life “peg,” my life as a member of the WSU community will soon end. When I graduate, I will move on to another community, which will lead to many other communities. Further, I entered the WSU community knowing it would be short lived. My intention when I entered WSU was to get through the education process as quickly as possible. Finally, I prefer my real-life community at WSU to be exactly what Bauman describes a virtual community as one that will “cause little inconvenience and arouse little or no fear.” (258)

Assignment 2

http://creativecommons.org/

http://www.deviantart.com/

Both online communities primary focus are to share, remix, and reuse artwork and creative ideas, legally. I use both sites to get ideas, textures, and images for my homework designs. Although each website has a different appearance, they generally serve the same purpose. This purpose is to allow artists to share their work as well as their creative ideas. As a DTC major, I can go to either site, find what I am looking for, and know in what capacity I can use the artwork. This is due to both Creative Commons and Deviant Art has the use rights listed on the same page as the artwork.

Works Cited

Bell, David, and Barbara M. Kennedy. "Webs as Pegs." The Cybercultures Reader. London: Routledge, 2007. 258. Print.

Blog 3

Yahoo! is a web portal, which is very popular with some Internet surfers. Web portals, as explained by Burnett and Marshall are “organized access points that allow the user to move outward via web rings of linkages on particular areas of interest” (91). In evaluating Yahoo! web portal, one can see what Burnett and Marshall mean by the user being able to link to any area of interest. On Yahoo! there are news sources, weather links, and entertainment news just to name a few. The aspect I like about Yahoo! is I am able to open the portal page and see many different genres each with snippets of information. If I am interested in the news I can link to local, national, international, or entertainment news quickly from Yahoo!. 

On the other hand, Google's portal is very plain and all information is hidden behind only a few links. To some, the plain portal is easier and less intimidating. For me, since their really is nothing of interest on Google's portal, I bypass it completely and conduct my Google searches from the "Google search" at the top of my Firefox browser.

Additionally, I like how the user is able to create their own Yahoo! page they call My Yahoo!. The user can design Yahoo! with their own color and content choices. In addition to being customizable, another reason Yahoo! is popular is they have the look and feel of newspapers or magazines. In particular, Yahoo! has designed the site to have short bursts of information about many different genres all hodge podged together.  This allows Yahoo! to draw a much larger crowd than a more specific web portal. 

Since I have used Yahoo! for many years, I find it an efficient source of information. I am not too easily distracted, so I am not annoyed or overwhelmed by all the information. As a college student, I am always online researching information for my homework. Because of this, some days Yahoo! is the only source of news I am able to receive since I am too busy for newspapers, radio, and television.

Works Cited

Google Web Portal. Digital image. Google.com. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://www.google.com/>.


My Yahoo! Digital image. MyYahoo.com. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://my.yahoo.com/>.


Yahoo! Web Portal. Digital image. Yahoo.com. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://yahoo.com/>.

Blog 1

In the book “Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric”, authors Sonja K. Foss, Karen A. Foss and Robert Trapp describe rhetoric as, “the human use of symbols to communicate”(1). I think they are saying rhetoric is the use of words by humans to communicate a message.

First, Foss, Foss, and Trapp describe humans as the only animals capable of communication by arbitrary symbols. The arbitrary symbols humans use are words. Although not all words are arbitrary, many are. One of the examples the book uses to describe arbitrary words is the word kitchen.  In our culture we have learned the word “kitchen’ is where we cook our food. In other cultures a different word is used to communicate kitchen, making the word arbitrary.

Next, Foss et al., explain the difference between signs and symbols.  They describe when signs and symbols are used as rhetoric. The example that clarified the differences for me is the tree.  A tree is not a symbol; however, a Christmas tree is a symbol to Christians around the world.  An important part of the readings is that the symbol does not have the same meaning to everyone. Miscommunication occurs because everyone has their own ideas of what certain symbols represent.

 One digital culture I participate in is Facebook. Just about everything about my Facebook page is rhetorical. I choose who my friends are, what each friend can see, and what ways I want myself represented on the page. Within the Facebook realm “Colette” is different (more reserved and abbreviated). An important reason for this is the ability for others to access my information. I do not want the wrong message to be communicated about me, so I control all aspects of my digital persona.

Within the culture of Facebook, the word “friend” is jargon used to describe people that are allowed to view ones page, most of these viewers are not friends at all. For example, on my Facebook page I have more family than friends, but all are considered to be my Facebook friends. To some, the pre-Facebook meaning of the word, “friend” creates a need to accumulate as many Facebook friends as possible in order to communicate they are popular and accepted.  This idea is false in that anyone can accept people to be friends even when one does not know the other person.

Works Cited: 

"Digital Cultures - Digital Diversity | Cultural Politics." Cultural Politics | Cultural Politics. 2011. Web. 04 Jan. 2011. <http://culturalpolitics.net/digital_cultures>.

Foss, Sonja K., Karen A. Foss, and Robert Trapp. "Chapter 1." Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland, 1991. 1-15. Print.

Blog 2

According to Andy Carvin author of, Mind the Gap: The Digital Divide as the Civil Rights Issue of the New Millennium the digital divide is “the ever-growing gap between those people and communities who have access to information technology and those who do not.” In other words, people with access to digital technology have an advantage over those without. The digital divide is in all communities of people, not just within the United States. Importantly, by having access to technology one has access to better education, which leads to better jobs. This snowball effect is what Carvin is describing as the “most important civil rights issue.” Historically, there has been a divide between the have and have-nots; in this case, the divide is digital technology.

Conversely, Mark Warschauer argues a “critique of the notion of a digital divide is necessary to fully inform and unleash efforts to use technology to promote social inclusion.” In essence, Warschauer is stating that different terminology to describe the digital divide is necessary so that a digital fix is not implied. Regardless of terminology, there is a divide between haves and have-nots.

The office metaphor is interesting in an anthropological way. In most societies, the dominant social class is the target audience, whether in language or visual rhetoric. In the article, Politics of the Interface Selfe and Selfe describe the user interface of a computer having a male dominated appeal. In addition, Selfe and Selfe states, software in general is catering to English-speakers. These points are not surprising since white English speaking males are the dominate class in America. 

One can carry the Selfe and Selfe office comparison over to different software. In the computer gaming world the interfaces will vary for the target age group and audience ability. An example of this is on a Disney gaming website one would see an interface designed for a young age group and their perceived computer skills. On the other hand, the World of Warcraft gaming site has a more provocative interface in order to target an older and more experienced audience.

Works Cited:

Carvin, Andy. "1's and 0's: Mind the Gap: The Digital Divide as the Civil Rights Issue of the New

Millennium." Information Today, Inc. 2000. Web. 05 Jan. 2011. <http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/Jan00/carvin.htm>.

Selfe, and Selfe. Politics of the Interface. 1994. 485-88

Warschauer, Mark. "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide." First Monday 7.7 (2002). Firstmonday.org. 01 July 2002. Web. 5 Jan. 2011. <http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888>.