Rebecca Bodenheimer
Writer & scholar
Beats: pop culture (music, TV, film), Cuba, identity, higher education, media representation
PROJECTS
CNN
What the Emmys could not deliver
Monday night's Primetime Emmys were the first since the Harvey Weinstein expose broke last fall. It was the first of the post-#MeToo period.
Given that the Television Academy received some flak for choosing two men to host the show ...
The Daily Dot
Twitter is a hellscape for female scholars
Last November, BuzzFeed News writer and media studies scholar Anne Helen Petersen did what she’s known for and what she’s paid to do: She profiled a celebrity, taking a critical deep dive into their fame. This one was about Armie Hammer, who was in the spotlight for his turn in Call Me by Your Name. However, Hammer’s fans saw it as a “hit piece,” and the actor himself reacted defensively, calling Petersen’s perspective “bitter AF.”
thebaybridged.com
Growing Up With Gloria: How Gloria Estefan schooled one Mission gringa on Cuban music
My mom constantly reminds me that the only thing she forced me to do as a kid was learn Spanish.
She always recognized the significance of California’s demographics and where they were headed. Sure enough, by high school, I was in AP Spanish and basically fluent. Both my parents spoke Spanish and worked with Latino communities.
CNN
Beyoncé and Serena are changing the narrative for postpartum women
(CNN)Beyoncé and Serena Williams have once again proven that they are icons -- but this time, it's not for the reasons you might think. I'm not referring to their legendary professional accomplishments, but rather to their willingness to speak out publicly to counteract the pervasive fat-shaming that surrounds women's postpartum bodies.
curiositymag.com
How to Avoid Misrepresenting Cuba: Lessons for Travel Writers
How to Avoid Misrepresenting Cuba: Lessons for Travel Writers
Medium
Academia is not a meritocracy…and other lessons I’ve learned as a scholar abandoned by the academy
Academia is not a meritocracy…and other lessons I’ve learned as a scholar abandoned by the academy
East Bay Express
Tony! Toni! Toné! Celebrates Three Decades in Music
For the Oakland-bred soul group Tony! Toni! Toné!, 2018 is a momentous year. It's the 30th anniversary of the group's first album, Who?, and the 25th anniversary of its most successful album, Sons of Soul. Tony! Toni! Toné! is widely considered to be one of the forefathers of neo-soul, a genre that emerged in the mid-1990s with the brilliant debut albums of D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Maxwell, among others.
thelily.com
How America’s longest-running soap opera is talking about #MeToo
As the longest-running soap opera on American television, “General Hospital” has been spent the last few years tackling the genre’s status quo.
Recently, we’ve seen storylines including a gay marriage (Lucas and Brad, also an interracial couple) and a character coming out as bisexual (Kristina, played by Lexi Ainsworth).
Billboard
25 Years Ago, Tony! Toni! Toné! Released the Blueprint Album for the Neo-Soul Movement
There’s a certain irony in the fact that a musician considered to be one of the pioneers of neo-soul, Raphael Saadiq, has rejected the label as merely a marketing ploy. “Neo-soul is disrespectful for me because you’re calling something new soul,” he said in a 2002 interview. “When did it stop? It never stopped. I understand it for marketing reasons…But people who really love music cannot respect that because it’s not new soul. You either have soul or you don’t.”
mic.com
The final season of ‘The Americans’ is all about the death of ideologies
Toward the end of the most recent episode of the FX drama The Americans, which aired May 2, the married Soviet spies Elizabeth and Philip Jennings — played by real-life couple Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys — are once again at odds over whether the risks of their work are worth it. Elizabeth tells Philip she is going to Chicago to extract a fellow spy in trouble; she will risk anything for the cause she believes in, the Soviet Union.
CNN
University teachers are exploited, too
(CNN)Imagine you've spent a significant portion of your adult life, say five to eight years, working toward the career you've always wanted -- possibly even going into debt to do it, because the average wages are never sufficient to cover your cost of living.
http://www.latinorebels.com
Bruno Mars Cultural Appropriation Debate Highlights Continuing Invisibility of Afro-Latinx
Just as many predicted after Bruno Mars won Album of the Year at this year’s Grammys, the cultural appropriation debate made the rounds again on Twitter last month (this isn’t a new debate). This time it was a video that went viral where a young woman, Seren Sensei, offered several reasons for considering Mars a cultural appropriator who doesn’t deserve the accolades he’s received.
CNN
Emma Gonzalez isn't endorsing communism, she's living her truth
Some Republican ideologues are grasping at straws to try and impugn the character of Emma Gonzalez, the fiercely outspoken young woman who has become a leading voice of the gun control movement since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
GOOD
Armed College Students Instill Fear In Professors
Imagine you’re a professor at an institution that allows campus carry, the right to carry concealed firearms on public university and college campuses. Would the knowledge that one of your students might be carrying a gun influence the way you teach, your decision to broach a controversial topic for discussion, or how you assess a student’s work?
Professors in 11 states — Texas, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin, Georgia, Tennessee, and Arkansas — are forced to con...
CNN
The Grammys missed its chance to say something meaningful
We're in the midst of awards season, and comparisons between awards shows are almost inevitable. At the Golden Globes, held just a few weeks ago, the #MeToo and Time's Up campaigns were the theme of the show. Almost all of the attendees wore black to...