The past few episodes of The Get Down really helped me take what the authors of the readings are saying into perspective. For example, the author of “How To Make Love With Your Clothes On” speaks about how when dancing with men, some see it as the women being in control. “…it provokes the man but without any intention of sex; you can ‘conquer a man’ in this way as well”. It kind of made me think about how so many think of Mylene’s situation as the record company taking advantage of her. But another way of looking at it is Mylene using the record company to get her name out there. The Get Down helped me understand the concept that the author of “Flipping the Gender Script” was writing about as well. The author states, “She feels like she is ‘constantly proving’ herself..”. When reading this, I thought about how within The Get Down Mylene seems to always be proving herself to her father. Always making sure the everyone is content with her image except for her.
The author of “The Normative Boundaries of Filipinoness” spoke about recognition for talent opposed to looks. “But as evident in the following, Tease also wants to be recognized not just for her looks but also for her DJ skills”. This also relates to Mylene’s situation as she becomes more and more famous. Even when she was trying to get signed to her record company, she was using her looks to get attention from those would will get her ahead. The only problem was, they began to utilize her looks more so than her singing. The author of “Mano/Mana: The Engendering of the Periferia” also speaks about components of this same concept. “That is to say that masculinity as a social formation takes on physical proportions as hip hop educates young men into a desire for certain body types or at least specific body expressions”. Again speaking about how the record company wants Mylene to be idealized in order to appeal to her male (or female) fans.
The author of “Rumor has it” speaks about the importance of public identification when it comes to hip hop. “The balance of this chapter focuses on the growing number of gossip
blogs that have taken up the subject of black celebrity sexuality”. When reading this, it reminded me of how Mylene was asked if she was in a romantic relationship with someone on national TV. Instead of asking questions about her singing career, he dives into her romantic life. Within “Hip Hop is Not Responsible for Sexism”, the author speaks about how without being in relation to hip hop, society has already sexualized certain individuals. “Society itself is saturated with sexist ideas and images, and without much outcry”. Relating to Mylene’s image, before she became famous she was already seen as a sexual object by certain men such as Cadillac. The Get Down has helped me understand what these authors are speaking about more clearly. I really enjoy watching it.
