https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZrVk8HZyfI19pC8p0Zl8fNFyHKu-Z1MR?usp=share_link
I decided on the topic of my project using what we had discussed previously in class this semester. Throughout this time a lot of emphasis has been placed on the importance of viewpoints and identity, and how someone’s personal experiences and circumstances can affect how they see the world around them. One of the most influential parts of my identity is that I am a woman. I decided to use this aspect to influence what subject I chose to focus on for my original remix. Legislation surrounding women’s healthcare has become increasingly controversial recently, specifically regarding abortion. This is especially relevant in Republican controlled states such as Texas, which is where I have lived my whole life. One of the strictest bills about abortion regulations was passed last year: Senate Bill 8, or ‘The Heartbeat Act’. While this bill is overwhelmingly focused on women’s bodies, not even half of the senators who voted on it were women. A large majority of those who are outspoken on the topic of abortion in media are women, but that’s definitely not the case in the government. This underrepresentation is harmful because although we make up half of the population, we are not represented as such in our country’s law-making process, and this is especially crucial when in the context of abortion.
In order to give women more of a voice in the process, I took a video of a Texas senate session where the bill was discussed and replaced the audio of the men speaking with women talking about the consequences of abortion restriction and the Heartbeat Act. When a bill is introduced to the Senate it’s usually read to the members on three separate occasions. On the second and third reading, senate members have the opportunity to voice their questions and concerns about the bill. However, while the bill focuses on women and their bodies, the senators who talked for an hour about the bill were several men in addition to the primary drafter of the bill, who is a man. Women’s voices and opinions were not expressed at all during that time. I thought that the video would be too long to include all of them, but I did include three, and I cut the clips so that they fit within a five minute time frame. I replaced the audio of each of the men with different women. The first women’s voice is Kathryn Kolbert, a lawyer who is most well known for her role in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, an important event in the history of reproductive freedom. She discusses the implications of passing the heartbeat bill and how it will affect women. The next audio comes from a clip of Paxton Smith, a Texas resident, reading her graduation speech in which she draws attention to the ramifications of the bill and how it makes her fear for her future, as a woman, since she will no longer have control over what goes on in her body. The last woman whose voice was featured in my video was Amanda Gorman, a very well known National Youth Poet Laureate. She described the harm and wrongness of writing abortion restrictions into law, and how while it affects women primarily ( and others who have a uterus but don’t identify as women), these restrictions have implications on the future of everyone’s freedom.
By replacing the audio with the voices of women, specifically abortion activists, sharing their views, it was more significant than just the men because the women’s voices are the ones that deserve to be heard, since that bill would not affect any of the men in that room. This served to critique the underrepresentation of women in the government, specifically regarding abortion and women’s healthcare. Not only are women underrepresented, but women of color and those who don’t identify as women but are affected by abortion restrictions are even more underrepresented by a large margin, and women of color are the most affected by these increasingly strict laws. Although my project reflects my experience and identity, someone whose experience is not present could make another remix that was even more different, in order to incorporate their point of view. Remixes are created all the time, and while there’s not always a clear goal of progress or representation for those who have been underrepresented in the work in the past, people want to share their own experiences, and everyone’s is a little different. Peoples’ identities influence their view of the world and the experiences they’ve had, so they might see a work in a different light than most people do. This can prompt the want to create a remix. If you see something in the media and you don’t like parts about it (e.g. it’s problematic, or ignores/disregards opposing or conflicting views), you can make it your own by changing it to have what you want to include (your insight and experience), while still keeping the parts that you like.
This can function as critique by highlighting changes that could, or should, be made to a piece to make it more progressive or relevant. In the case of my project, I chose to make the original video into a parody of sorts, calling attention to the contrast between the people speaking and holding weight on the issue of abortion in our government, and women who it actually affects and deserve just as much, if not more input on it. Therefore while the viewer still sees the visual of the male senators talking about the Heartbeat Act, they hear the opinion of women. However, I don’t think that all remixes are critique; there are definitely ways to change something up and add your own style or taste to amplify the original aspects and show how much you admire them. Remixing always needs to add something new to the source work, as we discussed a great deal in the beginning of the semester. In my project I got rid of the senators’ voices, and inserted women talking about the issue, inserting my perspective and demonstrating what more representation in the government might look like when these women’s healthcare issues are discussed.
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