Have you seen Chef’s Table on Netflix… Ugly Delicious… Salt, Fat, Acid & Heat.... Mind of a Chef… Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown… The Great British Baking Show? Shows about cooking are only getting sexier. Not sexy in the sense of more skin or romance; sexy in the sense of dramatic music paired with crackling fires in the crisp air of Patagonia; or a magical plant dropped into a wicker basket filled with water and as the music builds the plant extends and grows into a gorgeous flower that someone then eats and smiles with a look of tranquil satisfaction. I am talking about magic and cinematography and food kind of sexy. I mean, i'm writing this and dreaming about cooking, and eating, and watching Netflix (they got me hooked) kind of sexy. Like that pig was actually raised grazing in the woods then butchered and smoked 24 hours! Those chickens only eat red peppers so their yolks are red! or this miso was fermented for how many years! - kind if sexy.
Sadly, i watch too much t.v. about cooking, because i could go on for pages…
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Three hundred plus years ago the ruling English class in the American colonies gave privileges (like the right to bear arms, hold public offices, marry other whites, and receive payment for work) to poor European farmers and indentured servants to seperate them from their poor or enslaved African brothers and sisters. This was a calculated move to avoid combined uprising by the working and enslaved classes like Bacon's Rebellion. White Privilege was forged in Capitalism to stratify and divide the working class making them easier to exploit for capitalist gains…
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Underlying all political discourse is a certain assumption of what is practical. The contours of which are seen as not only natural but obvious. These artificial contours are erected by those in power and serve only one real purpose: the preserving of power and limiting of progress. Without fail, arguments for pragmatism have slowed progress: it was not pragmatic to abolish slavery, it was not pragmatic to grant universal suffrage, it was not pragmatic to end child labor, it was not pragmatic to limit the work week to 40 hours. You see the pattern. Those in power use pragmatism to stifle grassroots movements that push towards justice…
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In late 2018 Nike launched it’s ‘Taking a Knee - Just Do It’ advertising campaign; a nod to Colin Kaepernick’s protest pushing for racial equity. In early 2019, ‘Gillette released it’s ‘The Best a Man Can Be,’ advertising campaign; tackling intersections of toxic masculinity. In both instances, we saw huge corporations mainstreaming a positive social justice message; moves that will most likely prove profitable…
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“Harvey Weinstein Will Be Arrested and Charged With Rape,” a New York Times headline reads; “R. Kelly Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Abuse Charges,” a WSJ headline reads; “Trump Mocks Al Franken for Resigning Quickly Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations,” a Washington Post headline reads; “Kavanaugh Battle May Energize Republicans Ahead of 2018” a PBS Newshour headline reads; “GOP Senator Mocks Alexandria Ocasio Cortez,” a Daily Wire headline reads… we could go on and on highlighting examples of how the media has captured subtle truths and overt outcomes of our patriarchy - namely Toxic Masculinity…
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Step back for a moment to 2015 and 2016 and the run up to the historic Trump-Clinton Election. Maybe you saw or clicked on a Facebook ad depicting two black men handcuffed in Colorado for “driving while black.” That ad targeted people who Facebook determined were interested in Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Black history. Or maybe you clicked on another ad posted minutes later by the same firm to the same target audience that read, “police brutality has been the most recurring issue over the last several years.” Or maybe you clicked on a different ad posted by the same firm for a Facebook page titled, “Back the Badge,” which was the firm's most successful page. “Back the Badge,” cost $1,785 to advertise, It targeted 20- to 65-year-olds interested in law enforcement who had already liked pages such as “The Thin Blue,” “Police Wives Unite” and the “Officer Down Memorial Page,” and received 1.3 million Facebook impressions and 73,000 clicks…
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