Media, Culture and Diversity
Summary of the UGent and VUB course of 2021 by lecturer Frederik Dhaenens
Seminar 1: Introduction
Election of Miss Belgium 2018
- Winner = Angeline Flor Pua
o Chinese-Filipino diasporic background
o Caused racist discourse
“She does not look Belgian”
What is “Belgian”?
Became world news (digital era)
- What about the whole pageantry?
o Sexist
o Commodifies the women (you can book them online)
o “to-be-looked-at objects”
City of Ghent promotion campaign
- By Jeroen Van Zwol
- “All different, all part of Ghent”
- Poster which represents many different identities
o Stereotyped?
Meant to include!
You can’t depict every single identity out there
Lesbian couple represents LGBTQ+
o To battle racism and sexism
o Very good cause for people when they see their
identity represented
AB live concerts – See You in The Next Live
- We can see many different identities represented in this
promotion
o Age, gender, ethnicity
- All talk about looking forward to AB concerts
1
, - Probably not “window-dressing” (= claiming they will do good but not pulling
through)
BOEF
- Dutch rapper (Sofiane Boussaadi)
- Very popular
- Uses his life experiences to write songs
- The case:
o Was picked up by girls because his car
broke down
o He starts a live video and calls them kechs (= whores)
o Caused a lot of backlash
o He starts a new video and says he is right about them being kechs
o Underscores his superior masculinity
He has social responsibility with so many followers
Or is it part of his commercial persona?
o People supported him, denounced him, made parodies
o Caused racial slurs because he is half Moroccan and muslim
o He apologises by saying rappers use these words but don’t think less of
women
2
, Seminar 2: Identity, diversity and popular culture
Non-essentialism and social constructionism
Essentialism =
- Identity is assumed to be natural and exists before you are born (= biological
determinism)
- Experiences are universal and ahistorical, they don’t change
Non-essentialism =
- Identity is shaped and made meaningful through culture
Social constructionism =
- Combination of both
- Experiences can be universal (when some you love dies, you are sad)
- Identity is socially constructed and shaped through culture
Subjectivity and identity (Barker)
Subjectivity =
- Being a person and becoming a person (biologically and culturally) is an experience
you can’t always describe
Self-identity
- The verbal concepts and descriptions you have of yourself and how you identify with
those descriptions
Social identity =
- How society thinks of you and expects you to behave
Identity
Giddens:
- Identity is ever changing and non-essential
- You make sense of yourself by maintaining a narrative
o = How you introduce yourself to others, how you talk about experiences
- Culture shapes social identities
- Identity = social ascription + self-description
- Socialisation = gradually becoming aware of you position in society and who you are
3
Summary of the UGent and VUB course of 2021 by lecturer Frederik Dhaenens
Seminar 1: Introduction
Election of Miss Belgium 2018
- Winner = Angeline Flor Pua
o Chinese-Filipino diasporic background
o Caused racist discourse
“She does not look Belgian”
What is “Belgian”?
Became world news (digital era)
- What about the whole pageantry?
o Sexist
o Commodifies the women (you can book them online)
o “to-be-looked-at objects”
City of Ghent promotion campaign
- By Jeroen Van Zwol
- “All different, all part of Ghent”
- Poster which represents many different identities
o Stereotyped?
Meant to include!
You can’t depict every single identity out there
Lesbian couple represents LGBTQ+
o To battle racism and sexism
o Very good cause for people when they see their
identity represented
AB live concerts – See You in The Next Live
- We can see many different identities represented in this
promotion
o Age, gender, ethnicity
- All talk about looking forward to AB concerts
1
, - Probably not “window-dressing” (= claiming they will do good but not pulling
through)
BOEF
- Dutch rapper (Sofiane Boussaadi)
- Very popular
- Uses his life experiences to write songs
- The case:
o Was picked up by girls because his car
broke down
o He starts a live video and calls them kechs (= whores)
o Caused a lot of backlash
o He starts a new video and says he is right about them being kechs
o Underscores his superior masculinity
He has social responsibility with so many followers
Or is it part of his commercial persona?
o People supported him, denounced him, made parodies
o Caused racial slurs because he is half Moroccan and muslim
o He apologises by saying rappers use these words but don’t think less of
women
2
, Seminar 2: Identity, diversity and popular culture
Non-essentialism and social constructionism
Essentialism =
- Identity is assumed to be natural and exists before you are born (= biological
determinism)
- Experiences are universal and ahistorical, they don’t change
Non-essentialism =
- Identity is shaped and made meaningful through culture
Social constructionism =
- Combination of both
- Experiences can be universal (when some you love dies, you are sad)
- Identity is socially constructed and shaped through culture
Subjectivity and identity (Barker)
Subjectivity =
- Being a person and becoming a person (biologically and culturally) is an experience
you can’t always describe
Self-identity
- The verbal concepts and descriptions you have of yourself and how you identify with
those descriptions
Social identity =
- How society thinks of you and expects you to behave
Identity
Giddens:
- Identity is ever changing and non-essential
- You make sense of yourself by maintaining a narrative
o = How you introduce yourself to others, how you talk about experiences
- Culture shapes social identities
- Identity = social ascription + self-description
- Socialisation = gradually becoming aware of you position in society and who you are
3
