Stoller and Jervis discuss their relationships to popular
culture. In looking at feminist action,
Stoller equates the women’s rallies and marches of the past with women creating
their own popular culture today. Do you
see popular culture as an effective tool for activism? And can a media scholar like Jervis have it
both ways by loving and critiquing popular culture, or is there a conflict of
interest in doing so?
In our culture, nothing is more powerful or influential than the media. Because of this, I believe that the most effective way of changing the culture is for feminists to take the media for themselves. From a young age, media consumption shapes our values and the way we think about the world. Instead of having the next generation keep being fed messages from the patriarchy, if women were able to be in positions of power in the media, better representations of women and feminist values would also be given a voice.
ReplyDeleteThis being said, as Stoller writes in Media Whores, it is “much more fun to be an activist when it involves sitting on your couch, munching popcorn, and watching the boob tube” than taking political action. Because of this, it is definitely easy to fall into the pattern of only critiquing media, and failing to go the extra mile of taking steps to actually change the media itself. While it is important and valuable for feminists to engage in critical discussions about the media, it is just as important to participate in creation of a better, more feminist media. If we can promote and support feminist media, we will normalize and promote feminist ideas. This will of course be easier to do once more women are in places of power in Hollywood and are actually able to create movies and television with realistic depictions of women, but until then we have an equally powerful tool: the internet.
If we, the every day feminists don’t have enough influence, power, or money, to influence what is being produced in Hollywood, a fantastic alternative is to turn to the internet. By supporting and engaging in conversations with feminists and sex positive people such as Laci Green or Shutupmarina on YouTube, reading articles on feminist websites like feministing.com, and by being active on blogs or other places of conversation on the internet, we can keep the conversation going and support people that are making a difference.
However, it is equally important to show up to places like the Women’s March or other protests, and of course vote. While being critical of media and talking with others about their opinions is important, I think that they serve to mainly change minds and prep for actual political action. I don’t think only one or only the other will be effective enough to make real, substantial change. In the end, we are going to need to change people’s minds (probably through the media), and then also change the law.
As far as still enjoying popular culture while still being critical of it, I feel really conflicted. I am definitely guilty of watching terrible television shows that are not feminist, enjoying them, and watching them every week. However, I think it is really important to try to at least make a majority of your media consumption of feminist nature, since you really do vote with your money. For example, although I still definitely have my guilty pleasure television shows, I am making a conscious effort to also support feminist and diverse shows, such as Broad City and Master of None. At the end of the day, if you are watching a particular show, you are indirectly giving money to them and their message.
Claire C.
Within popular culture, there are many avenues that can be used as effective tools for activism. Specifically, these mediums allow for feminist activists to voice their perspectives. An example of advertising that pushes feminist activism is the L'oreal movement that claimed to only use ‘real women.’
ReplyDeleteHowever, while we do witness this activism through social media, rallies and advertising, it is certainly not the dominant worldview that the dominant in society would like to see.
The power of the media, given its many outlets, creates a prism that can be used to highlight or amplify any perspective, good or bad. The dominant perspective is today’s society is patriarchal, white, and not so subtlety misogynistic. In this case we see popular culture used as a vehicle to exploit the non-dominant groups within society. Due to the sheer reach of the media and consumer outlets, I do feel that popular culture can be an effective tool in activism, particularly feminist activism. We have seen it with the emergence of Black Lives Matter, where shirts were made popular, representing a very real movement. We also witnessed it with Obama’s first presidential run with his ‘Change’ campaign. These are two prime examples of popular cultures ability to influence the masses.
As for having it both ways, loving and critiquing popular culture, I think that it's only natural. I wouldn’t say that there lies a conflict of interest in being critical of things you also participate in. In the same way we can like a screenplay but disagree with the actors that were cast, one can critique popular culture but love it for its ability to be more representative. Very much like the recognition of the constitution as a tool to achieve freedom, popular culture has the ability to sway the masses and instill values. However, these values can also evolve when, say, an opposing message becomes the primary value at the forefront of societies consciousness.
Levi S.