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Response

In Pop Culture Freaks, Dustin Kidd (2014) says the following: “The Matrix can be viewed as a metaphor for the mass media matrix and more broadly the corporate matrix that spans the globe. Humanity has created a race of nonhumans that has now seized control.”  This notion of the transference of human characteristics to nonhuman objects is seen throughout consumerist and capitalists societies. Fulfillment lies in buying into the system. Human value is transferred to material goods. The dominant messages that surround the average human being are constructed by corporations to communicate to people the need to consume. Corporations capitalize on the unchecked consumption that occurs in society. Human happiness and contentment is attained through the consumption of goods. People are socially unacceptable because they look a certain way, therefore, they should consume this product in order to achieve normalcy. People who do not act, look, or think a certain way are misfits and, therefore, are ridiculed or must consume in order to fit into societal standards. The countless messages that pervade commercial popular culture boil down to one message: you’re a freak if you do not fit this standard. No one can ever perfectly fit into the standards that corporations have established via commercial popular culture, so then why try? As mentioned before, it is up to us to decide how we will engage in the narratives that surround us. Will people throw their hands up in dismay and continue to blindly follow the unrealistic standards established to manipulate them to consume? Will people try to reform the system while guiding others to the realization that change is necessary? Will people completely revolutionize the system?. Corporations are responsible for countless social injustices throughout the world. It is time for a collective acknowledgement of the need for systemic change. We give corporations their power; therefore, we can take that power away

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Advice to future students

I had no interest in studying sociology of popular culture. As time passed and as I delved into the course material, my own shortsightedness became evident. Prior to taking this class, I saw no reason to study popular culture through a sociological lens. Although I critiqued the popular culture I consumed, I did not see the merit in taking an entire class concentrated in such analysis. This class opened my eyes to different identities or ideas I had not realized were underrepresented in popular culture. In reading about and identifying different representations in commercial popular culture, I was able to see through different lenses. I would encourage all future students to not only read the material but also try to see connections between this class and other classes. For myself, I realized that I could bring what I was learning in Sociology of Popular Culture to almost every class. The sociological lens of popular culture allowed me to engage with other material in a way I would not have thought was relevant prior to this course. I encourage you to try to find the relevance of this class to your other studies. I also encourage you to question your own privileges and biases. Often times, people can only identify a handful of privileges or biases, when in reality individuals can have a multiplicity of these notions. As you navigate through your daily life, ask yourself what engrained ideologies influence the way you see the world. Try to challenge yourself to reflect in a new and challenging way. Criticize and analyze everything you consume and everything that surrounds you. Who is underrepresented? Who is left out? Who is misrepresented? Whose voice is silenced? Become aware of and engage with the narratives that surround you. In becoming analysts of society and popular culture, we take the first step in constructing a different system. The next step is to create new and just narratives. 

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Quantitative Analysis

For my quantitative analysis, I decided to look at the pilot episode of the TV show Flash. As part of the assignment, we were required to analyze the different identities represented in the cast and crew members. The goal of this analysis was to see if there were variations in the way identities were represented in cast and crew members of TV shows on network television during primetime hours. For the sake of this analysis we used the following labels to represent identities: male, female, White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Biracial, straight, gay, lesbian and bisexual. We also looked for any representations of trans-individuals or individuals with disabilities.  I found that 56% of the main cast members in the Pilot episode were white. Blacks consisted of 22% of the total cast members in this particular episode. Lastly Asian and Hispanics consisted of only 1% of the total cast members. The crew represented no racial diversity, with 100% being white. Regarding gender diversity, 78% of cast members were male. Holding with the gender misrepresentation, 100% of the crew was male. There were no representations of trans, lesbian, gay, or bisexual characters in the pilot episode of flash. There was on representation of someone with a disability. Of the crew members, there was only one known gay individual. My findings support the underrepresentation of different identities that is popular in the television industry. Dustin Kidd, in Pop Culture Freaks, looks at the race representations in prime time television. He found that in 2010 81.2% of characters were white while only 9.6% of TV characters were black and 3.5% of characters were Hispanic. This quantitative analysis supports this notion that there is still a gross underrepresentation of varying identities in television. This underrepresentation is significant especially in light of current race relations in the US. Although some may argue that we no longer live in a legally racist society, systemic racism and marginalization are still evident throughout the country. This systemic marginalization is represented in the misrepresented and underrepresented identities in the media. 

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Qualitative Analysis

As a qualitative analysis, I looked at popular teen movies. I looked at the similarities and differences between Twilight and Beastly. I found that both movies were easily accessible to individuals who had the means of having an internet connect. In terms of the accessibility of the ideas, I found them both to be fairly accessible to individuals with a familiarity in vampire culture (whether old or new) and the general theme of “love conquers all.” I found that Beastly had more cultural references that audiences unfamiliar with US social history movement would have missed. In contrast, Twilight had more references to the culture of the Twilight saga. Audiences unfamiliar with the book trilogy would have missed certain references. I found the idea of transformative love in both movies.

The rhetorical limitation of Beastly is that itportrays an unrealistic story of the nature of relationships and love. This mythical portrayal of love limits the way people relate to, are influenced, and persuaded by the movie. Popular culture capitalizes on the mythology of transformative love. This message is prevalent throughout multiple societies, not only Western culture. The media’s emphasis on the perfect body is somewhat challenged in Beastly. The story of a beautiful woman falling in love and transforming a beast is prevalent in popular culture. Although the takeaway message encourages people to love beyond looks, the main characters are traditionally attractive. Kyle’s love for Lindy may not have developed so quickly or at all had Lindy been culturally unattractive. Therefore there is an internal conflicting message that distracts from the main idea attempting to be portrayed.

Twilight’s rhetorical limitation stems from the entire culture that comes with the books. The movie and the booksromanticize abusive, possessive, and dysfunctional relationships. While the Twilight movie and book trilogy attempts to capitalize on the “transformative love” culture that seems pervade popular culture, there is a simultaneous contradiction with the glorification and promotion of a dysfunctional and abusive relationship. A dominant message in Twilight is that entering relationships that are potentially dangerous is justifiable if one person loves the other. This is especially highlighted when Edward tells Bella that he wanted to kill her. She responds, “you won’t hurt me, I trust you.” She then attempts to kiss him. Twilight conveys to young people that they should get involved in unhealthy relationships if they are in love.

Twilight seems to work better as a cultural artifact because of its resonance and institutional retention. Twilight challenges a previous system while also capitalizing on the demand for vampire culture consumption. Twilight leaves a new mark in vampire mythology.  The popularity of Twilight has led to the spreading of this new vampire mythology. While Beastly provides a modern-day approach to the classic story of Beauty and the Beast, it is not memorable because it follows the traditional story line. Beastly does not challenge traditional views while capitalizing on classical standards in order to deliver the dominant message. Twilight is therefore a more powerful and potentially harmful cultural artifact. 

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Jackson Katz is one of the leading anti-sexist male activists and speakers in the United States. An educator, author and filmmaker, he is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in the field of gender violence prevention education with men and boys, particularly in the sports culture and the military.

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  This is a clip by Katz exploring more in depth the myth of masculinity.

  This is a clip from Suffolk Sociology exploring the misrepresentations of Latinas in the media

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Critique

How do these findings connect? How do the representations of Latinas in popular culture mirror the social issue of the portrayals of men in the media? Hegemony is communicated and reinforced through popular culture. If there is a particular ideology that is constantly conveyed through various mediums, that idea will be translated into a social truth or norm. This ideology has the power to shape consciousness. Latinos consist of a large portion of the US population and of movie goers but comprise a small portion of the creators of commercial popular culture. They are, therefore, receiving messages about their identities from someone who is not from their background. The voices of minority women, particularly Latinas, are silenced in the representations of their own bodies in the media. Consumers of popular culture are fed many images of half-naked or nude Latinas. The constant hyper-sexualization and fetishization of brown bodies, specifically the Latina body, creates a group of women who are readily objectified. Consumers of this objectification, both Latinas and non-Latinas, are taught how Latinas should behave and look. The media market creates, reinforces, and capitalizes on the standards of masculinity and femininity. The marginalizing effect from media representations is also found in the myth of masculinity. Men, especially men of color, are socialized to desire, portray, and consume the hyper-masculine image. Men are demonized, ridiculed, and belittled if they deviate from the masculine script. The popularity the image of the hyper-masculine man pressures men to fit into a certain role, as does the roles of Latinas pressures them to fit the standard. The emphasis on hyper-masculinity and the hyper-sexualization of brown bodies severely limits the self-actualization of these individuals. The images in popular culture of men and women reflect a hegemonic discourse that needs to be critiqued, challenged and changed. In order to change consciousness, there has to be a re-imagining of the representations of not only gender but also of race, sexuality, class, and disability. How will you re-imagine the human experience? 

Image Taken From...

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Findings

My findings for these two research topics were posted either via Twitter or Pinterest. My findings for the research on the “Myth of Masculinity” are no longer available on Twitter. In general, I found that video games, TV shows, and movies emphasized and capitalized on the notion of hyper-masculinity, particularly through the expression of violence.  I found that hyper-masculinity is often portrayed in the roles of minority men, as supported by Jackson Katz' research. I found that some drama television shows reinforce these limiting stereotypes of men, focusing on the popular television show “Sons of Anarchy” to exemplify this phenomenon. I found that most popular video games portray male figures in violent roles. I refer to Jackson Katz’ research and documentaries as well as Rebecca Walker’s What Makes a Man: 22 writers imagine the future to illustrate how hyper-masculinity is a wide-spread phenomenon that touches everyone’s lives. These findings demonstrate how this widespread representation of hyper-masculinity can negatively influence the lives of men and women.

The sources for my findings for the portrayals of Latinas can be found on the Pinterest board titled “Representations of Latinas in Film and Television.” I found that there is still a huge racial disparity in the creators of commercial popular culture and this disparity only increases for Latinos. While the US population has a high percentage of Latinos, Latinos consist of less than 3% of directors in the media. I also found that Latinos are more likely to see a movie on opening weekend than non-Hispanics.  I found that Latina women are more likely to be portrayed nude or half-naked than any other minority group of women. Latinos are also more likely to be portrayed nude or half-naked compared to other minority men. There is little to no research on Latinas in the creation of popular culture, therefore, findings had to be opened to Latinos as well.  Whose voices are being heard? Whose voices are being silenced? What ideologies are being reinforced?

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Research Topic Intro

This semester in Sociology of Popular Culture with Dustin Kidd, we analyzed the portrayals of identity in popular culture as portrayed in the media to examine how popular culture can simultaneously create social problems and offer social possibilities.  We embarked on individual journeys to explore and analyze a particular social problem in commercial popular culture. We examined this social problem throughout the semester through the following mediums: Twitter, Pinterest, quantitative and qualitative assessments, and Tumblr. For my twitter assignment, I analyzed the myth of masculinity, particularly as portrayed through hyper-masculinity, in video games, movies, and television shows. The myth of masculinity means that masculinity is a social construction. The Pinterest assignment examined the hyper-sexualization and fetishization of brown bodies, particularly Latina bodies, in film and television.  This topic looked at how stereotypes of Latina bodies, especially their sexual appeal, are reinforced through popular culture.

For the myth of masculinity, I observed that while some portrayals of men can be argued to be somewhat expanded beyond the traditional strong and silent prescription, there is still a heavy endorsement of hyper-masculinity in commercial popular culture. I observed that this endorsement is found in movies, TV shows, and video games. In the Pinterest assignment, I observed that brown bodies, particularly Latinas, are hyper-sexualized and fetishized in the media. I also observed that women of color are often juxtaposed to each other in a competition of sexual appeal.  Although one topic looks at men and the other at women, my observations allowed me to look at media representations through these two lenses, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of the marginalizing effects of popular culture. Both topics show that commercial popular culture creates harmful molds that hinder self-realization. These prescriptions are so rampant in popular culture that they often go unnoticed and unchallenged. It is, therefore, up to us to question the standards that commercial popular culture give us and create for ourselves better narratives that reflect a truer aspect of the human experience and offer safe spaces for socially deviant people. 

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Popular Culture Autobiography

Most of my television and popular culture intake occurred throughout strange thematic stages. The stages encompass the objectification of women and the reinforcement of neo-traditional and traditional portrayals of women.  As a child, I would stay after school at my grandparents’ house and watch cable TV. Most days I watched Sailor Moon, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Sister Sister. On Saturday nights, we would turn on our TV and watch the Lawrence Welk Show, Walker Texas Ranger, or figure skating. Although some shows later expanded their portrayals of marginalized groups, most shows had very limited representation of groups of different sexual orientations, physical and mental abilities, racial or ethnic backgrounds, and class circumstances. Shows like Sailor Moon portrayed women as ditzy while shows like Sabrina showed a powerful woman who occasionally reinforced standard gender roles. As a child I was unaware of the socialization that was taking place. I absorbed the ideas these shows conveyed without critically questioning their portrayals of men, women, minorities, class, ability and disability. While some of the shows tried to appear to challenge dominant discourse, they still in a sense reinforced certain social norms.

As familial circumstances changed, my exposure to popular culture as portrayed on television became more male-dominated. In my early teen years until the end of high school my consumption of popular culture mostly came from WWF, baseball, and foreign soap operas. Women in the WWF and foreign soap operas were always objectified. WWF especially dehumanized and caricaturized members from all marginalized groups, especially women. Baseball did not immediately discriminate against women but the very nature of men’s baseball and women’s softball subconsciously communicated that women are inherently different, not as popular, and not as significant in sports as are men.  This stage of consumption conveyed to me the notion that women were different from men and that people who conform to strict gender roles are typically rewarded while socially deviant people are traditionally demonized or turned into a caricature.  

My exposure to popular culture taught me several lessons, especially about gender. I understood powerful women to be strong-willed and only desirable if they were sexualized. Men were expected to desire sexy women and therefore to pursue heterosexual relationships. A man’s sexual identity for the most part, was always assumed. Men were expected to look and be strong and often resorted to physical means to attain their goals. Women were taught to desire those men. No matter how powerful the woman, a major part, if not all, of her existence was centered on a male romantic partner. A man could have a destiny apart from a woman while a woman’s destiny rarely defined itself outside of a male-centered existence. Women loved to be saved by men and men loved to be the heroes. Women were emotional while men were logical and had firmer grasps on their feelings. Men were not expected to communicate their thoughts or emotions while women would always communicate theirs. Minority men and women were sometimes desired but often because they were socially fetishized. Essentially, I learned that men and women contribute to society through opposite means and therefore are valued differently.

  The understanding of popular culture’s reinforcement of gender roles was a slow and long process which first began with critiquing the media’s portrayals of women. I was also confronted with my own prejudices, expectations, and reinforcements of traditional gender roles.  Everything came to a head when I saw Jackson Katz’s Tough Guise and read Rebecca Walker’s What Makes a Man: 22 writers imagine the future.  I realized that the media’s portrayal of gender roles is as toxic for women as they are for men. It is important to critically look at the hegemonic messages of the media and how those messages strengthen social norms and therefore reinforce marginalization.