Aesthetic Gentrification Part 1: Defining Terms

In my last post, I discussed a brewing theory around cultural production, race, value, and theft. I observe this phenomenon as something that we name only in part, and ask if language around our understandings of gentrification could help us name what isn’t obvious. In doing so, I offer Aesthetic Gentrification as a way to help us see what is happening right in front of us. Now, I know scholars use a lot of words and don’t always say what they mean, so before I get into what Aesthetic Gentrification is, I thought we could define some terms. Definitions are not the funnest thing to talk about, and can be a bit stuffy at times. But I’m starting with this post first, so we can have a good foundation when we get to the meat of it all.

A note on definitions

Have you ever looked up the word “definition” in the dictionary? It comes from the Latin term dēfīnīre, which means “to mark the limits of, determine.” Oftentimes, though, we use a definition to precisely categorize a word. There’s nothing wrong with this. This is very helpful. But in doing so, sometimes we limit the use of that word. I always tell my students that words carry worlds. Or more precisely, I believe that words are portals into the world that they represent. This is how I would like to use the definitions for this argument.

But defining a definition is definitely definitive.

The things that we’re defining in this post represent an entire world that is deep and complex. A simple definition is never enough to encapsulate the entire meaning of a word. Instead, we are using our definitions as portals into the world that we are trying to get you to understand. That means these definitions are not all-encompassing; they are entry points.

White Normativity

White Normativity can be defined as the societal, cultural, and institutional presumption that white experiences, values, and appearances are the default standard. Basically, as the standard, whiteness is the central point that everything is based on. The idea that white is normal and everything else is a deviation sets the foundation through which cultural appropriation and theft are rooted. White supremacy is about whiteness being the best. White Normativity is about rendering whiteness as invisible. Under white normativity, whiteness doesn’t only become the best option, it becomes universal, without context. Yes, everything we do is contextual, but white normativity tries to erase that contextuality.

The White Gaze

There are two aspects to the definition of the white gaze:

1. that the assumed perspective of the default reader is someone who identifies as white and/or

2. that the white reader or viewer’s perspective has to be taken into account as an important (if not the most important) perspective.

This idea was famously rejected by one of my heroes: Toni Morrison. Morrison refused the white gaze and wrote about and for Black people. I hope you can hear how elements of white normativity and supremacy live within the shadows of this concept. This is important to our discussions because there seems to be a direct correlation between the white gaze and the appropriation of value onto something. Basically, white approval makes things more valuable. Think about the album cover in my last post. The cover was changed to appeal to the white gaze because it was thought that this would make the music more valuable.

Gentrification

In the simplest of terms, gentrification is the process by which a renovation or investment in a neighborhood increases its property value. Rooted in place and shaped by economic statuses, this concept can be traced back to Ancient Rome. The term was coined by Ruth Glass in 1964, tracing the role of displacement in London neighborhoods for both racial and economic reasons. The popular narrative around gentrification can go like this: white people begin moving into historically black/brown neighborhoods, which in turn leads to renovation and change of those neighborhoods, which leads to increased property value, increased rent and mortgages, which ultimately pushes out the people who lived there for generations.

Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood has changed since the 80s.

Aesthetics

Aesthetics can be defined as a philosophy that focuses on beauty, taste, and art. The reason I am using this term in pairing with gentrification is that I want to focus on how our understanding and preference of beauty and art are shaped racially, and how these other elements (white normativity and the white gaze) shape not only the value and accessibility of the things we create, but how they are received and perceived in the broader culture. Some of the cultural products we will discuss are music, food, and art.

This brings us to our definition:

Aesthetic gentrification is the process in which non-white cultural production undergoes a change in value because of an increase in attention via the White gaze.

This change in value results in a two-pronged displacement, first it limits access or removes access to that cultural product from the people who created it. And secondly, it displaces those creators further by replacing them with white counterparts who mimic their original styles.

Now that we have some language, let us move into the world that is Aesthetic Gentrification. Our first stop? The music of Bruno Mars.