For the first part
of my visit I spent it walking around the vicinity of the Beverly Center prior
to entering the shopping mall. I walked around looking at the residential area,
the stores, and I also had lunch at a nearby restaurant called “Nonna’s
Empanadas,” where they sold a variety of empanadas with dozens of flavors ranging
from salty to sweet, including flavors such as Blue Cheese, Kimchi and also Chocolate
Dulce de Leche. I noticed that the streets were very clean, the buildings were
a bit older but well maintained, nothing special stood out for me, and there
were very limited street parking. As for the multitude, the people seem to
gather closer to where the shopping center was located, once removed from the
fast food franchise and chain stores, there were less pedestrians to be seen.
Afterwards, I walked
to the Beverly Center for a quick stop. On my way there, the brief 2 block
walk, I encountered 3 homeless people. It is always shocking for me to observe the
proximity between the poor and the wealthy and how even though they are on the
extremes of the socioeconomic ladder they coexist in the same area. As I walk
through the entrance passing the valet service, I see the numerous luxury cars
parked indicating the class level of the people shopping at the stores inside the
Beverly Center. The first stores I see when I get off the elevator are Louis
Vuitton, Dolce & Gabanna, Coach and others. Moreover, inside the mall
people were dressed extremely well most of them wore high end brands. Through
the stores people shop, the cars they drive, the brands they wear are all “floating
signifiers” that when seen tell a certain story about the person as we learned
in lecture. These are stories society uses in order to organize our reality, to
be able to put people into groups and have an idea of their background. Of
course, these “floating signifiers” tell a general story, a stereotypical
reality that is not applicable to everyone, but they are the details we grasp
to form a general impression of someone. Most importantly, these “floating signifiers”
have a changing story, in other words, what they mean today was not the same 40
years ago nor will it be the same 40 years from now.
One of
the main “floating signifiers” we learned during lecture was race, a concept
discussed by cultural theorist Stuart Hall. Since race is not a physical
division among humans, nor is it a scientific proven fact, all race is a
society implanted “floating signifier” to put humans into different
groups. Another “floating
signifier” we touched upon in lecture was the concept of gender since it is a
characteristic with a story attached. However, according to feminist theorist
Simone De Beauvoir, “One is not born a woman, one becomes one.” The
idea that we are not born with a certain gender, but throughout our lives we
decide what type of person we want to be. According to Judith Butler, “Gender
is not an essence, it is performed.” This brings me to the second part of my
trip to West Hollywood, which took part during my drive down Santa Monica
Boulevard. The 2002 demographic analysis reported that 41% of the city's population is made up of
gay or bisexual men. Driving on Santa Monica Boulevard, I definitely noticed
many rainbow flags raised which represents the LGBT pride, and also there were
more gay couple holding hands on the streets. I especially thought the lecture
on gender being a “floating signifier” was very relevant to this week’s trip. The
idea of two men or women walking down the streets holding hands and sharing
kisses would not have been accepted a few decades ago. Back then the idea of
being a man did not entail having a relationship with another man, but as time
passes and history changes so does the meaning of being a man. Therefore, when
we see two men together, as gender is a “floating signifier” and the story is
socially constructed, we can automatically accept the notion that they are a
couple and the concept of homosexuality. Perhaps, through different mannerisms,
ways of dressings or other details, we are able to get an impression that would
not have been the same in another generation. As the significance of being a
woman has been able to evolve throughout history, allowing women to have more
rights and votes, as well as the rights and acceptance of homosexuals,
hopefully in the future these progressions can also be applied to race. It is
certainly a more difficult obstacle to overcome, since the history of racial
differences is very ingrained in society and it is also one of the most
conspicuous human characteristics that enable society to differentiate people,
we also need to be reminded that in reality race does not exist and we are all
equal. As one of the most progressive cities in the world, I hope Los Angeles
is able to conquer this barrier soon. 