Saweetie, AOC, And Manipulation Of Heritage As Identity
Performance Artist Saweetie Appeared At Met Gala Wearing Black American Heritage Flag And Filipino Flag
Semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign. A sign is everything which can be taken as significantly substituting for something else. This something else does not necessarily have to exist or actually be somewhere at the moment in which a sign stands for it. Thus semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. If something cannot be used to tell a lie, conversely it cannot be used “to tell” at all.
Umberto Eco, A Theory of Semiotics, p. 7
One of many great things about heritage is its inclusiveness.
One of many dangerous things about heritage is its inclusiveness.
Symbols that speak of large of memberships sans much in that way of vetting or proof of loyalty lack means of protection. It can be very difficult to define who gets to be represented by such symbols, let alone who gets to regulate how those symbols are portayed.
Such a symbol is that of Filipino’s flag and that of Black American Heritage flag. Saweetie decided to be her ever charming and challenging Self by wearing a flag with these dual representations of nation and social political belonging at Met Gala’s 2021 event.
One characteristic of the symbol is that it is never wholly arbitrary; it is not empty , for there is the rudiment of a natural bond between the signifier and the signified. The symbol of justice, a pair of scales, could not be replaced by just any other symbol, such as a chariot.
Ferdinand de Saussure, A Course In General Linguistics, p. 68
As stated above, heritage works as a sweeping gesture, absolving those that seek to belong any form of entry barriers. Heritage can be so inclusive, so inviting, that often, we simply presume a person’s heritage based on what we see, what we hear, or simply what we believe. This benefits those that lack local membership to groups of loyalty and identity. Where our families might fail us, where I neighborhood cliques might fail us, where our school organizations might fail us, our national and ethnic ties provide. Need identity in a neat wrapper? Fly this flag.
With such gaping holes for entry, it is no wonder that security concerns would crop up. When there is no door, let alone no door fee, it goes without saying that there is also no door security to pat down those that pronounce themselves members.
I, probably much like YOU, think Saweetie looked great, and per her norm, did her thing. Her pride made me proud.
But I did not feel so proud of AOC.
My work here with Asylum is less a hustle, more a vocation. A calling. It is a profession in a sense of consciously promoting an idea as opposed to simply opposing ideas(and ideals) of others. What I gather from Saweetie is a similar deed. Hers is a struggle to promote a pride where it is lacking. It is a placing of a flag of a people that have been spit on so much that simply wearing that flag announces vigilance of purpose.
What Saweetie is saying, almost verbatim, is that, “yes, we define this, too”.
What Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represents through her attire suggests a different style. Hers is antagonistic. With this frame, she opens herself up to not attack from those she seeks to be seen attacking, but questionable gazes from those well equiped to do simple mathematics.
First, it has to be immediately noted that AOC(Cortez’s social media era influenced handle) has reduced what once was a much more radical notion of “eat the rich”, to one more pleasing to a capitalist and neoliberal audience. Her dress is a benchmark, a unit of time measuring how far US social politics has slipped. From Occupy Wallstreet and its intrepid band of lonely hackers and forum users bandying together in their virgin forays offline, to polished, and posh upscale fashion pronouncements of acceptance and submission. Tax the rich, indeed.
For my second premise here, AOC claims to represent “people of color”, whatever that could possibly mean. Where Saweetie specifically represents for two identified groups, AOC speaks in abstractions. AOC speaks in smoke filled mirrors. AOC speaks in confusing terms only fit for finessing minds with impaired critical thought.
She is not even willing to accurately represent her socio-economic class standing. Born a daughter of an architect, AOC has not made less than $174,000 in last two years(as of date of this writing) as a New York representative. Even for expensive coastal zones, anything over $100,000 is stretching our imagination’s muscles being called “working class”. AOC is not working class, and to pretend she belongs to a similar heritage on any level -- be it ethnic or economic -- is tantamount to believing in flying reindeer or teeth-trading winged felonious housebreakers.
Spot on regarding AOC. She clearly lacks self awareness.