scholarly journals Doing fandom, (mis)doing whiteness: Heteronormativity, racialization, and the discursive construction of fandom

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mel Stanfill
Keyword(s):  
American Culture ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Media Representation ◽  
Regulatory Function ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Natural Property ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
White People ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Television Shows

The fans depicted in mainstream media representation are unrelentingly white in a way that constructs fandom—from Star Trek to baseball to Elvis—as the property of white bodies. Though whiteness is typically understood in contemporary American culture as a position of privilege, represented fans seem to contradict this conventional wisdom; they are conceptualized in television shows, fictional films, and documentaries as white people deviating from the constructed-as-white norm of heterosexuality and employment through a "childish" fixation on the object of their fandom. Dominant culture produces an idea of fandom as a sort of failed nonheteronormative whiteness that serves a regulatory function, positioning the supposed inadequacy of fans as the result of bad—but correctable—decisions, reinforcing rather than challenging privilege as a natural property of white, heterosexual masculinity as it produces fandom as a racialized construct.

The Affective Politics of Citizenship in Reality Television Programs Featuring North Korean Resettlers

Cultura ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-163
Author(s):  
Soochul KIM ◽  
Kyung Han YOU
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Cultural Politics ◽  
Reality Television ◽  
Civic Identity ◽  
Media Representation ◽  
Media Industry ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
Global Media ◽  
Television Shows

This study examines the dynamics of cultural politics in reality television shows featuring North Korean resettlers (NKR2) in South Korea. As existing studies focus on the role of media representation reproducing a dominant ideology for the resettlers, this paper focuses on the specific media rituals of NKR2 programs, which can be seen as a product of the neoliberalist localization process of the global media industry. In doing so, this paper demonstrates how NKR2 programs interrupt the current dynamics of emotions in regard to North Korean resettlers in South Korea. We argue that in shaping civic identity as an effect of the NKR2 show, cultural politics of citizenship in South Korea on North Korean resettlers serve the formation of relatively conservative and sexist civic identity.

"They're Freaks!": The Cult Stereotype in Fictional Television Shows, 1958––2008

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn S. Neal
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
American Culture ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Culture Form ◽  
Television Shows ◽  
Present Context

This article analyzes the stereotypical portrayal of cults on fictional television shows and demonstrates the vital role that this popular culture form plays in the dissemination of anticult ideology. Through an in-depth examination of five episodes that aired between 1998 and 2008, it delineates how these shows employed stereotypical cult elements, such as fraud and violence, as well as contrasts in clothing, setting, and lifestyle to differentiate conventional religion from the dangers and delusions of cults. Further, the article reveals how usage of the cult concept is not limited to the present context and documents the historical pervasiveness of the cult stereotype on television since 1958. By highlighting these patterns, this study shows the power and implications of the cult stereotype. It illuminates how these television shows constitute a powerful force in defining and policing the boundaries of religious legitimacy in American culture.

‘I Certainly Don't Want People like That Here’: The Discursive Construction of ‘Asylum Seekers’

2003 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Saxton
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
Nationalist Discourse ◽  
John Howard

In October 2001, it was alleged that asylum seekers had thrown their children overboard in order to manipulate the Australian Navy to pick them up and take them to Australian territory. In response to this incident, Prime Minister John Howard announced on radio 3LO: ‘I certainly don't want people like that here.’ (Mares, 2002: 135) A discursive approach is adopted in this paper to examine how asylum seekers have been constructed to be ‘people like that’ in the print media. The analysis demonstrates that asylum seekers have been represented as illegal, non-genuine and threatening in these texts. These representations were employed within nationalist discourse to legitimate the government's actions and public opinion concerning asylum seekers and to manage the delicate issue of national identity. The discursive management of the collective identity of asylum seekers by the dominant culture to construct a specific social reality is discussed and illustrated.

Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Lezama
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
American Culture ◽  
Conspicuous Consumption ◽  
Black American ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
Luxury Goods ◽  
Hip Hop Culture ◽  
Sole Purpose ◽  
Fundamental Level

At the most fundamental level, bling—the display of prestige through luxury goods—is the latest iteration of “conspicuous consumption,” coming from hip hop culture. However, hip hop artists have not consistently focused on luxury consumption for the sole purpose of celebrating—and thereby reinforcing—elite signs of the wider (and whiter) dominant culture that has historically sought (and currently seeks) to circumscribe the influence of black American culture. This chapter focuses on three tracks, from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, that highlight ways that hip hop has questioned, satirized, and hollowed out the meanings ascribed to dominant cultural capital. Luxury hip hop and hip hop luxury also subversively reconfigure the meanings of elite symbols and highlight hip hop’s power to redefine dominant cultural signs of power.

The intersection of science and television representation of gay sexuality in American culture: A shift from the anti-discrimination narrative to the Born This Way narrative

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quang Ngo
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
American Culture ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Media Portrayals ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Science Community ◽  
Television Representation

An investigation into the parallelism between media portrayals of gay individuals and the findings produced by the science community can offer possibilities to comprehend the intersection of science and popular culture on the topic of homosexuality. Recognizing this relationship renders it possible to address the historical evolution of media representations of homosexuality alongside the development of scientific knowledge on the same issue. That is, mainstream media can be perceived as a space in which perceptions of what gayness is and means has been negotiated. In this article, I set out to trace how media representations of gay sexuality have shifted from survival to legitimate presence by looking at the adoption of the Born This Way narrative as a new approach to understand homosexuality. To this end, the Born This Way narrative allows for thoughtful and productive representations of gay characters on mainstream television programmes, which the anti-discrimination narrative lacks.

scholarly journals Of Silk Saris and Mini-Skirts

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 113-115
Author(s):  
Zabeda Nazim
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Women ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
Canadian Identity ◽  
Asian Community ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
South Asian Community ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Canadian Culture ◽  
Past Experiences

Using articles from Canadian mainstream media, discussions withCanada’s South Asian community, and interviews with young second-generationSouth Asian women about their relationships with school and familyduring the early to mid-1990s, Handa sets out to contest the dominantculture clash model that has been used to explain how South Asian adolescentsare “torn” or “caught” between the values of “traditional” (SouthAsian) and “modern” (Canadian) culture. Handa argues,... that women and youth have become symbols of the sets of values thatare seen to be in need of protection from the process of modern socialprogress … certain notions of women and youth are mobilized in order tomaintain and assert specific notions of identity and belonging. (p. 19)Also, she points out that “South Asian cultural identities rely on particulardefinitions of womanhood in order to assert a distinct Eastern identity visà-vis the West” (p. 19).The book is organized into seven chapters. The first chapter situates thecentral issues and questions she raises in her book amidst recollections ofher past experiences in Canada and her reflections on present-day changesin Canada’s South Asian community. The bulk of this chapter focuses oncritiquing the dominant “culture clash” model in an effort to underscore itsinadequacies. This critique hinges primarily on theoretical discussions ofculture and identity, which become the theoretical framework for her work.In the following five chapters, the author shares her findings, analyses,and arguments. Each chapter focuses on developing one particular aspectof her central argument, although many common subtexts and themesthread their way through them. Some of the main themes and subtexts arethe invisibility of whiteness in relation to the ethnicity of browness; the centralityof a white Canadian identity and the maintenance of white power andprivilege; and the positioning of young South Asian women by discoursesof East/West, modern/traditional, and brown/white, as well as their continuousnegotiation of identities. In the last chapter, Handa plants the seeds ofpossibility for a collective political voice of opposition to racism built onblack and South Asian diasporic voices ...

scholarly journals “Straight” Acting: Changing Image of Queer-Masculinity in Media Representation

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Gender Performance ◽  
Media Representation ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Political Condition ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Critical Scholarship ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
Queer Representation

<p align="center"><strong> </strong></p><p>In this essay, I critically examine media representation of Welsh rugby legend Gareth Thomas, with a specific focus on the construction of his masculinity as an outing gay celebrity. The existing critical scholarship has studied various forms of media representation of queer images. But they did not examine how unconventional queer representation interacts with the normative gender performance. This paper investigates mainstream media’s discursive construction of masculine gay male. The findings call our attention to the emergence of macho gay characterization, which supports the hegemonic domination of heterosexual normativity. The stigmatization of gay-ness as the deviated other is rationalized through illegitimating its positions in the public spheres, marginalizing non-masculine gay characters, and erasing the larger socio-political condition that oppresses closeted gay athletes.</p>

scholarly journals Debates sobre o tecnobrega e indústria cultural em tempos de pós-fordismo * Debates on tecnobrega: culture industry in times of post-fordism

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAQUEL SANT'ANA
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Industry ◽  
Culture Industry ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Brazilian Music ◽  
Television Shows ◽  
The Press ◽  
Restructuring Process

<p><strong>Resumo:</strong> As últimas décadas do século XX foram marcadas por uma profunda reestruturação produtiva que afetou também a chamada “indústria cultural”. No campo da música, a alegação de que haveria uma crise causada pela circulação de cópias ilegais marcou a reorganização do setor. Neste artigo, analiso o debate em torno do tecnobrega, circuito de música popular que foi transformado em modelo para a indústria fonográfica nacional. Essa construção discursiva contou com participação de imprensa, programas televisivos e análises acadêmicas, que construíram, aos poucos, uma imagem de que o gênero seria a superação da dicotomia centro versus periferia. Esse caso permite pensar algumas das novas configurações da indústria cultural no mundo pós-fordista.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chave:</strong> Tecnobrega – Indústria Fonográfica – Circuitos Musicais.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> The last decades of the Twentieth Century were marked by a profound restructuring process that has also affected the so-called "culture industry". In the music field , the claim that there would be a crisis caused by the circulation of illegal copies marked the sector reorganization. This article analyses the debate on the tecnobrega circuit of popular music which has been transformed into a model for the Brazilian music industry. This discursive construction had debates in the press, television shows and academic analysis, which gradually built an image that such genre would be the breakthrough of the center versus periphery dichotomy. This case allows us to consider some of the new settings of the culture industry in the post-Fordist world.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Tecnobrega – Phonographic Industry – Music Circuits.</p>

(Neo)Liberal populism and Ireland’s ‘squeezed middle’

Race & Class ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-49
Author(s):  
Rosie R. Meade ◽  
Elizabeth Kiely
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Welfare Recipients ◽  
The Political ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Media Narratives ◽  
The Unemployed

Acknowledging definitional problems associated with the concept of ‘populism’, this article shifts the analytic gaze away from actors or politics that are conventionally characterised as populist, on to an analysis of the doing of populism by those who typically evade the populist label. Tracing the discursive construction of the ‘squeezed middle’ in Irish mainstream media and parliamentary debates between January 2014 and March 2019, the authors analyse how this signifier was mobilised to fuel and foment ressentiment among middle-earning taxpayers. This article analyses how the discourses of the ‘squeezed middle’ functioned ideologically, as a form of anti-welfare populism, redirecting blame for middle-class ontological and material insecurities on to unemployed welfare recipients who were depicted as immoral, lazy and insulated from hardship. This article highlights how populism operates from the so-called moderate centres of liberal democracy and not exclusively from the political margins. Irish political and media narratives of the ‘squeezed middle’ are seen as part of a larger project whereby damaging myths about the unemployed are propagated in service of ideological class warfare; legitimising neoliberal austerity and normalising unequal economic relations.

Spelling Otherness

2015 ◽  
pp. 35-62
Author(s):  
Sanjukta Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Model Minority ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Message Boards ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Indian Americans ◽  
Online Message Boards ◽  
Color Blind Racism ◽  
Color Blind ◽  
Media Reports

In the last 15 years, as many as 11 young Americans of Indian descent have won the Scripps National Spelling Bee. This pattern of one small community's dominance in academic competitions has been seen not just in the spelling bee but also in geography bees, math competitions, and science Olympiads. This has led mainstream media to resurrect the notion of the “Model Minority,” with Indian Americans becoming the new holders of this eponym. This chapter analyzes the discursive construction of Indian Americans as racial emblems in media reports and online message boards. Using Eduardo Bonilla-Silva's notion of “color-blind racism” and Edward Said's theory of Orientalism, the chapter discusses how these children have become exemplars of racial assimilation even as they are indelibly marked as “forever foreign,” and why Indian-Americans feel the compulsion to attempt to conquer “the master's tools.”

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