Did You See That Link I Forwarded? The Internet and Politics (Grade: 100%)

           The Internet has dramatically changed the face of American politics since 1996 (Pollard, Chesebro and Studinski, 2009). The Pew Internet and American Life project found that nearly half of the American population now has some significant link to the Internet (Pollard et. al, 2009). With the Internet fast becoming the leading source for political information for people aged 18 to 29 (Pollard, et al., 2009), it becomes necessary for candidates to understand and embrace this new technology. In this essay I will be discussing the contributions of the Internet in terms of political communication and how it has changed the political landscape. I will be looking at these in terms of three main sections: dissemination of information, campaign fundraising, and targeted marketing. In addition, I will be looking at the issues associated with these contributions in light of articles by David Zarefsky and Robert Putnam respectively. Lastly, I will discuss my own personal experiences as a voter and the way the use of the Internet has shaped my political views.

            The percentage of people who are using the Internet for news and information about political campaigns has more than doubled from 2000 to 2008 and the Internet is serving as a primary source for information about campaign news for Americans (Pollard, et al., 2009). One of the first places a voter can visit for information on a candidate is their campaign website. Most of these websites use a “text-based interactivity that includes predominantly written forms of expressions although some photographs and graphics are included” (Pollard, et al., 2009, p. 578). In addition to these campaign websites, many candidates now use social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook to communicate with voters and the American public at large. Also, though not cited in the readings, there are many Senators and members of Congress who now have Twitter pages so they can actively answer questions and respond to “tweets” from their constituents. Even the President himself has a Twitter where most recent “tweets” direct people on how to find their nearest polling place for elections on November 2, 2010. President Obama also “tweets” about public events as well as television appearances. A quick check of President Obama’s Facebook page shows over 15 million friends, meaning people who have actively sought out his profile and “friended” it. If you aren’t a friend yet, the first page you see is a place to sign up for emails and a place to put in your zip code. The info page contains personal information as well as educational background. The “wall” functions as a place for videos, links, and websites that currently highlight the importance of voting and where to how to find your local polling place.

Each time a user “re-tweets” one of the President’s posts on Twitter or “likes” something on Facebook, the friends of that user are alerted to the action. Thus, as Pollard et al. asserts “younger voters tend to be not just consumers of news and current events but conduits as well –sending out e-mailed links and videos to friends and their social networks” (2009, p. 581). Clearly using not only a website but these other forms of social media, the President and other high profile politicians such as Nancy Pelosi, can distribute information through several channels as well as allow for the spread of this information across the social network through other users.

In conjunction with the use of websites and social networking, the use of video hosting sites such as YouTube have increased and helped to spread information as well. In the 2008 Presidential election, thousands of people posted comments and videos to YouTube for viewing by other Internet users (Holbert and Geidner, 2009).           Holbert and Geidner (2009) cite one example from the 2006 Virginia Senator’s race where the Democratic challenger, Jim Webb, put up a video of the incumbent, George Allen, making racist and insensitive remarks. While Allen was heavily favored in the race, Webb ended up narrowly winning. YouTube also sponsored one of the Democratic President Debates and allowed users to ask questions that were not normally addressed by news reporters and anchors (Pollard et al., 2009). Other sites such as Hulu allow users to not only view skits of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (Holbert and Geidner, 2009) but to also watch political satire shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and the more conservative Bill O’Reilly’s Talking Points and Fox News Special Reports. Viewing Hulu recently reminds viewers that the site will be hosting live streaming election coverage on Election Day from their “Live Streams Lounge”. MSNBC provides viewers the opportunity to watch all of their shows via their website and in addition, provides podcasts for download to iPod and MP3 devices.

With the ability to embed videos from YouTube, Hulu, and MSNBC this allows many political bloggers to link to information that their readers may otherwise not find such as interviews, speeches, and debates to name just a few. In addition, if a user is visiting a specific video and viewing it on YouTube, a sidebar points them to related videos, which may either be other videos by that particular user or other videos that are either related to the content or a response to the content of the original video. As Holbert and Geidner point out “this feature can serve to aid users in guiding their experience through multiple video offerings –there is little reason to focus on a single video offering in isolation of all these other highlighted offerings” (2009, p. 350). The features of embedding and related videos help to dispense information over several sources.

In addition to the way candidates spread information to voters, campaign fundraising has also been shaped and changed by the Internet.  For instance, Howard Dean’s website Dean for America raised $15 million dollars online. This was done through mostly small, individual donations (Gronbeck and Wiese, 2005). Through aggressive on-line marketing, Section 527 (influence or issue) groups were able to raise well over the limit set by the U.S. government for individual campaigns. These excess funds were spent on the Internet through such groups as Moveon.org, America Coming Together, Swift Boat Veterans and POWS for Truth and Progress for America (Gronbeck and Wiese, 2005). Candidates and special interest groups are not the only ones who are benefiting from fundraising via the Internet. After the release of Michael Moore’s documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, one counter group, Citizens United, used Internet lists and phone banks to boost sales of their counterfilm, Celsius 41.11: The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die (Gronbeck, and Wiese, 2005). Pollard et al. posit that the financial function of websites work in four ways: they provide donors with immediate and readily available ways to contribute, they provide a new venue to donation that traditional options cannot provide, they provide a way for donors to respond immediately to a candidate’s emergency financial crisis, and they provide a rally point for candidates and supporters through the use of donations (2009).

One of the ways that candidates can get voters to their websites and social networking sites as well as raise funds is through the use of targeted marketing. As Gronbeck and Wiese point out “the [Inter]Net has made personalized attention that much easier” (2005, p. 530). Rather than canvas hundred of houses, through the use of digital databases, volunteers are able to work from manageable lists that target key voters through the use of intricate data-filtering (Gronbeck and Wiese, 2005). In the digital world, “dynamic Web-based databases create tailored messages for specific individuals located in certain geographic regions and that fit certain demographic profiles” (Holbert and Geidner, 2009, p. 354). Gronbeck and Wiese point out “candidate web sites [ask] visitors for demographic information and political interests so that both postal and virtual mail could be shaped to them” (2005, p. 525). Therefore, by entering my email and zip code on President Obama’s Facebook page, I will more than likely receive emails and direct mail that will address senate, congressional, and proposition ballots in my district and urge me to vote for Democratic options.

Zarefsky (1992) wrote his article “Spectator Politics and the Revival of Public Argument” long before the wide-spread use of the internet but his five characteristics of mass media can be applied to the Internet. First is that “events are transient and volatile” (Sheckles, et al., 2007, p. 25). This means that when a candidate makes a particularly compelling or controversial statement, it can be quickly spread through the speed of any decent DSL connection. Christine O’Donnell’s campaign ad for the Delaware Senate asserting that she wasn’t a witch and she was just like you was covered by media outlets as well as posted to YouTube and political blogs within hours of it airing. Even a simple search of YouTube will find a “Christine O’Donnell’s Greatest Hits”, a video showing the numerous faux pas and missteps she has made this political season. Within days of the ad, Kristen Wiig was performing a satirical version on Saturday Night Live which could be found the next day on Hulu. The second characteristic for Zarefsky is “we avoid complex subjects” (Sheckles, et al., 2007, p. 25). This is perhaps one area that has been enriched by the Internet. Instead of being “unprepared to discuss in any depth the economic and political transformations” (Sheckles, et al., 2007, p. 25) one is easily able to find hundreds of political websites and blogs via Google that do nothing but discuss policy issues in dept. Most online versions of newspapers have comment sections and even political articles on AOL.com have a comment section. While one could debate the quality of the discussion, there is a place for it to occur. The third characteristic is “we simply what cannot be avoided through sound bites and visual images that stand in for a more complex reality” (Sheckles, et al., 2007, p. 25). While yes, there are blogs and websites devoted to political discourse, there are many others that simply rely on slogans and sound bites in order to present candidates and views. This may be one characteristic that will not change over time. Fourth is that “we magnify the trivial, obscuring the difference between the mundane and the profound” (Sheckles, et al., 2007, p. 25). With so many websites, there are going to be some that focus on the more trivial issues during an election but at the same time, you can find websites devoted to ballot initiatives, giving a wealth of information for anyone who seeks it out. Lastly, we have “debased political debate” (Sheckles, et al., 2007, p. 25). Given the use of YouTube in the Democratic debates, one can only hope that this may be a change that will continue so that debates will be less about format and who won and rather, the candidates answering the questions and concerns of the citizens. Zarefsky also claims that the country has turned into political couch potatoes. As Tian has found, this is simply not true of Internet users. Tian “has reported that a positive relationship exists among using the Internet for political information, deliberation, and participation” (Pollard et al., 2009, p. 580) which suggests that voters using the Internet are anything but passive.

In addition to Zarefsky, Putnam (1995) could not have been aware of the impact of the Internet on politics when he wrote “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.” It is ironic that while Putnam uses the idea of “social networks” in a purely face to face manner, that term has come to represent online sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, to name a few. Putnam’s idea of social capital can be applied to the Internet and how it has allowed for the growth of social capital. As Putnam himself suggests “perhaps the traditional forms of civic organization whose decay we have been tracing have been replaced by vibrant new organizations” (Sheckles, et al., 2007, p. 31). Candidate websites can become social networks themselves (Pollard et al., 2009). Take for instance, Howard Dean’s Dean for America website. Campaign supporters were able to interact with each other and thus were able to become campaign workers and volunteers either directly or indirectly (Pollard et al., 2009). The website used a database that allowed visitors to find other Dean supporters in their area or to join “Generation Dean”, a section of the site that functioned much in the way a social networking or dating site would (Gronbeck and Wiese, 2005). Other websites enhanced the social networking feature even further, allowing voters to post photos of campaign events and staff and volunteers to post pictures of busy local campaigns (Gronbeck and Wiese, 2005). Smart mobs and Meetups! organized people electronically to meet up in the real world (Gronbeck and Wiese, 2005). As Gronbeck and Wiese assert “these were not simply virtual communities; they were groups of citizens that organized and worked together both online and off” (2005, p. 531).

In my own personal experience, I have used the Internet in a variety of ways in terms of political communication. Last week I e-mailed my mother a progressive voting guide website link so that she could see which groups endorsed which candidates and how the progressive groups suggested people vote on ballot initiatives. During the last election, I joined several online groups that were mobilizing in California to help defeat Prop 8, a bill that would ban gay marriage in the state. While I do not live in California and do not vote in California, as a member of the Human Rights Campaign and having gay friends in California, this issue was of utmost importance to me. I sent out e-mails to family and friends in California, I posted protest videos to my Facebook page, I joined websites against the proposition. I even traveled to California to help a friend with his “NO H8” campaign. None of that would have possible without the internet as I stayed with a fellow member of the website, someone I had not met until the day I arrived in Los Angeles. On Facebook and Twitter, I have reposted videos from Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, linked to progressive articles, as well as discussed my own political leanings. My friend, Laura, was one of the people that Pollard et al. mention as she went from a Dean supporter to a campaign worker for him in California. She and I e-mail each other daily about various political issues and she is always linking me articles on DailyKos or The Huffington Post. I have never voted in an election without using the Internet to inform myself of not only the candidates but the issues as well. I have also used the Internet through email and social networking to reach friends, family, and even strangers about candidates and issues I feel strongly about.

The Internet is an every day facet of life. As more people gain internet access via smartphones, video game devices, and home computers, candidates and ballot supporters need to be careful to use this new technology wisely. I have shown how they can use it to spread information, raise campaign funds, and target voters. I have also discussed the issues in regards to Zarefsky and Putnam. Lastly, I have discussed just a few of my personal experiences in using the Internet for political information. The face of political communication is changing with the Internet as Dan Carol put so succinctly “It’s politics at the speed of Internet” (Pollard et al., 2009, p. 574).

Baby Boom: A Look at Population Control and Family Planning in West Africa, Egypt, and India (Grade: 100%)

           As suggested by historical data, family size is usually limited to views of living comfortably in a stable environment (Abernethy, 1994). The idea by some that the West will provide assistance in cases of excess population has caused a shift in ideas about fertility and family planning (Abernethy, 1994). I will be looking at three cultures: women, both Hindu and Muslim, in India, women in Egypt, and two rural tribes in West Africa and their ideas about fertility and family planning.

            India had a relatively stable population growth from the 5^th century B.C. until the 17^th century A.D. However, with the end of the Mogul invasions and trade routes to Europe opening, coupled with their eventual colonial status, led to a population boom that continued, thanks to assistance from various organizations, until the 1980s (Abernethy, 1994). A unique situation arises in India since Hindus are told by the state and religious leaders to limit their families to two or three children while Muslims in India are encouraged to take multiple wives and practice no family planning (Basu, 1997). This has led to civil unrest among Hindus towards Muslims. Many Hindus see Muslims and their unrestrained fertility as being the main contributor to the population problem. This is despite the fact that Muslim fertility rates are declining at the same rate as Hindus and that women in polygamous unions actually produce fewer children than those in monogamous marriages (Basu, 1997). It becomes a case of the Hindus becoming “us” and the Muslims becoming “them”, with fertility used to legitimize fears against another religious group.

            During recent decades, Africa has received more foreign aid per capita than any other continent (Abernethy, 1994). This has caused a population boom as access to health-care rose and infant mortality rates declined. Recently in Egypt, heath care campaigns have advocated a replacement fertility ideal which would limit families to two children (El-Zeini, 2008). The biggest barrier to this being achieved is a preference by Egyptian families for at least one son and one daughter. This causes many women, who agree with the two child ideal, to seek more children in order to obtain it. For instance, if a woman has two daughters, she will continue to try to have a son. If she has two sons, she will try for a daughter. Thus increasing the family size beyond the two child ideal. This idea of sex preference is so important that it is preferred over the implications on economic stability. Families would rather obtain at least one son and one daughter at the expense of living comfortably. Also, the two child ideal has only come about in the last decade and until then, a three child household was seen as the most ideal and acceptable “small family” (El-Zeini, 2008).

            It is clear though that the financial aid that Africa has seen has not affected the fertility ideas of the more rural areas. The Kel Tamasheq and the Bambara, two tribes in rural Mali, both see large families and high fertility as positive aspects (Randall, 1996). The Kel Tamasheq are a nomadic tribe while the Bambara are a sedentary agricultural tribe.  The Bambara promote polygamy and are not permitted to divorce to maximize fertility. The Kel Tamasheq, on the other hand, practice monogamy, have large age differences between spouses, and allow divorce which leaves many fertile women unmarried and not exposed to childbearing (Randall, 1996). Rather than looking to these to explain the low rates of fertility, Kel Tamasheq women instead have several incorrect misconceptions ranging from the belief of high rates of miscarriage, that their men are sterile, and that long birth intervals affect their ability to conceive. There is no concept of too many children among the Kel Tamasheq and the Bambara women. If anything, most women felt they did not have enough children and were experiencing a sub-fertility. The idea of contraception is unheard of and abstinence is only practiced in order to ensure child well-being. Women who are breastfeeding usually avoid having sex so they will not conceive and have to wean a child too soon. While Kel Tamasheq women perceived themselves as being below a desired level of fertility, they are reluctant to engage in polygamy, which has helped to raise fertility rates in the Bambara tribe. It is religiously sanctioned and available to them and yet they do not engage in it.

            Ideas about family planning and fertility are as old as mankind itself. I have looked at three specific regions, Hindus and Muslims in India, Egyptians, and two tribes in rural West Africa. While these three examples barely scratch the surface of population control ideas throughout the world, it is a first step to understanding the politicization of fertility in countries with seeming overpopulation problems.

Resources

Abernehty, V. (1994, December). Optimism and overpopulation. The Atlantic Monthly, 274 (6), 84-91.

Basu, A. M. (1997). The ‘politicization of fertility to archive non-demographic objectives. Population Studies, 51, 5-18.

El-Zeini, L. O. (2008). The path to replacement fertility in Egypt: Acceptance, preference, and achievement. Studies in Family Planning, 39 (3), 161-176.

Randall, S. (1996). Whose reality? Local perceptions of fertility versus demographic analysis. Population Studies, 50, 221-234.

Introduction in Reading Chican@ Like a Queer by Sandra K. Soto and Chicana Lesbians: The Girls Our Mothers Warned Us About edited by Carla Trujillo (Grade: 95%)

In both the texts, Soto and Trujillo look to define and expand upon the unique experience of being a Chicana and a Lesbian. In Soto, the main issue seems to be the call for the need of this type of scholarship. Soto states that “too often queer theory continues to render race, ethnicity, and nation as niches within a broader, and unremarked white erotics” (2010, p. 4). Trujillo chooses to provide this scholarship through showcasing essays, prose, and poetry within four categories: The Life, The Desire, The Color, and The Struggle. The section entitled “The Life” focuses on what it means to be a Chicana lesbian, both in terms of history and in every day living. “The Desire” expresses the sexuality, so often repressed, of not only Chicana lesbians but also of Chicana women. “The Color” contains pieces about loving white women and the assimilation and loss of culture that comes with joining white society. “The Struggle” ties these all together, speaking to the violence that comes from “The Life” and “The Desire”  and the loss of identity that can come from “The Color”. The Struggle also suggests what Chicana lesbians and feminists as a whole can do to change the climate and attitudes towards Chicana lesbians and women.

One important point made by both the Soto and Trujillo books is the idea of assimilation of Chicanos into white culture. Soto quotes a passage from Perèz in which Perèz describes the problems between the “conquest triangle” of “the white/Oedipal/colonizer, la india (the Indian woman) and the castrated mestizo/Chicano son” (2010, p. 7). Perèz’s goes into detail, describing this struggle in the following way:

Chicanos…practice male prerogative and marry white women to defy, and collaborate with, the white father, and in having half-white children move their sons a step closer to the relations of power –the white-colonizer father. For the Chicana who marries the white male, she embraces the white Oedipal-colonizer ambivalently, because no she has access to power theoretically, but practically she is perceived as la india once again. …The daughter of a white male and Chicana has the father’s white name to carry her through racist institutions, placing her closer to power relations in society (p. 7).

The section on “The Color” echoes these same ideas. In “Beyond El Camino Real” by Terri de la Peña, Monica discusses the disorientation she feels at being the only non-white person in New England and the struggles of loving a white woman who just does not understand these feelings because she has power. “Gulf Dreams” by Emma Perèz also echoes these same struggles and the assimilation of Chicanos into white culture through the school system. The difference with “Gulf Dreams” is that while “Beyond” takes place in New England, “Gulf” takes place in Texas, a state with many Chicanos.

The issue with seeing Chicanos as the “other”, forcing them to assimilate into white society by giving up their language and culture, is that those who do not are ostracized and seen as less worthy than whites. This leads to the idea of some people being “illegal”, an idea that is so prevalent in the United States currently. While immigrants of all cultures have entered this country without proper paperwork, because Chicanos can not, and often do not want to pass as white, they are segregated from other immigrants who are willing to pass. This leads to not only violence against Chicanos but also a very real physical separation between the United States and Mexico in the form of a wall and border guards. Chicanos can become “legal” through doing just as Perèz suggests, in marrying a white person and taking on the white privilege that comes from marrying a person in power. They gain legitimacy through a green card or citizenship, which is much easier after marrying a white person.

This, however, leaves lesbians (and gay Chicano males) without access to power, without a way to become legitimate in the eyes of both state and society. This is the issue with people assimilating into a culture ruled by the minority of white straight males. It casts groups into the shadows, into the corners, and does not give them a way to become “legal”. Thus, these attitudes allow people to deny rights to gay Chicanos not only because they are gay but also because their skin is not white. It also breeds a culture of violence, one that is especially harmful to Chicanas.

Chicanas have historically been seen as the spoils of war and property. In South America as indigenous tribes warred, women of the losing side were seen as slaves and objects to be raped and impregnated. When the colonists came from Spain, the tradition continued as they tried to “whiten” the indigenous people by not only impregnating the women to create a lighter mixed race but also by stripping them of their language and culture. Chicana women were indoctrinated to believe that their pleasure and desire was wrong, that they were merely a vessel to carry the seed of the conquering race and to serve their male betters. This has lead to a rape culture, almost encouraging and endorsing rape and violence against Chicana women.  This also leads to where, even within the confines of marriage, Chicana women are seen as “whores” for expressing any desire.

Since Chicana lesbians express their desire and take pleasure from sex, they are cast out from the only place they have in the world. Since they have abandoned the pursuit of males and sometimes the “traditional” role of motherhood and procreation, they are seen as aberrations within their own culture. Clearly they are unable to gain power in the white society as a whole but now they find themselves isolated from their own culture, their own family. The amazing thing, though, is that rather than remain quiet, there are Chicana lesbians who are shedding light on their lives, taking a small measure of the power back to regain their voices. It is a small step but one that is necessary. As Perèz suggests, they are creating a new kind of scholarship that uncovers not only the violence against Chicana women but also illustrates the struggles of being forced out of two worlds.