Media, Culture and Diversity – Communicatiewetenschappen
SEMINAR 1 : INTRODUCTION
Election of Miss Belgium 2018
Angeline Flor Pua
Chinese-Filipino diasporic background
backlash Twitter “doesn’t look Belgian”
othering, degrading, racism bc of digital media spreads more fast + broad (globalization)
STRUCTURAL SEXISM (we almost don’t notice it, because of naturalization) eg. : models as
commodities : objectification
City of Ghent Promotion Campaign (November 2017)
they wanted to fight against homophobic behavior and sexual violence
(+) challenges structural racism, want inclusivity without assimilation
(-) exaggerations, what is the actual effectivity of this campaign?
BOEF
Sofiane Boussaadia, Netherlands (’93) w Algerian parents
rocky personal life, popular as an artist
controversial incident that damaged his reputation badly:
car trouble NYE 2017, on snapchat: “picked up by three kechs.”
use of “kech” got criticized bc denigrating, sexist to the ladies that helped him
1st response to this hate: Boef says he called them “kechs” bc they’re wearing short skirts at 8
o’clock in the morning w alcohol in the club > mad criticism/criticism through humor
3 REACTIONS:
denouncing (it’s structural sexism) > boycot
support (it’s slang, seen out of context) > setting up mediated debates
parody (humor to criticize, satire)
affirms Boef’s artist persona, image of “superior masculinity”
apology follows, dude even made an apology video “Antwoord” “we rappers are saying
bitches” and so on, but we really don’t think less of women
#METOO context
spontaneous, uncontrolled digital movement denouncing sexism in all forms
singles out individuals, not always addressing structural issues
! intersectionalism: ethnic identities and double standards
it’s toxic, to fight sexism for instance w racism (blaming Boef’s sexist language to his roots) -
Bergman and Omari > racial slur: framing sexism as Islam-related, or “typical to hiphop”
,SEMINAR 2 : IDENTITY, DIVERSITY AND POPULAR MEDIA CULTURE: KEY CONCEPT
KEY WORDS: sex and gender identities, ethnic codes and distinctions, labeling, in- and outgroups,
stereotyping, binary thinking (eg. we vs them, othering)
1/ SUBJECTIVITY, IDENTITY AND DIVERSITY
ESSENTIALISM: the belief that certain embodied identities are natural, and biological, assumed to be
ahistorical and universal
<<>> NON-ESSENTIALISM: no prior identities, they are shaped and become meaningful in and
through culture + SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM: performativity (Judith Butler), identities are socially
constructed and vary culturally and historically; room for transhistorical and universal experiences
(subjectivity)
Chris Barker, 2012, SUBJECTIVITY: how we’re (biological and cultural) subjects and experience
ourselves; “the condition of being a person and the processes by which we become a person”
Anthony Giddens, 90s, SELF-IDENTITY: the verbal conceptions (verbalization) of ourselves and our
emotional identification w those self-descriptions
we sustain a narrative about ourselves, reflective understanding of ourselves in terms of our
own constituted biography
ongoing and continuing social process
SOCIALIZATION: process of becoming self-aware gradually, knowledgeable and skilled in the
ways of culture in which he/she is born.
importance of culture!!! culture shapes social identities
identity is made up of 2 components: self-description and social ascription
SELF-IDENTITY AND SOCIAL IDENTITY: expectations, images, and opinions that other have of us
Stuart Hall, 90s, CULTURAL IDENTITY
influence of Marx, feminist and poststructuralist thought
FRACTURED SUBJECT: people be having various identities: shifting, multiple and
contradictory; identifications are not organized around a “coherent self”
we do be constructing a “comforting story” or “narrative about the self”
IDENTITY POLITICS
collective identity to claim agency and act out to change a socio-cultural status quo
particular contexts, or interests (feminism, queer youth, #metoo) > activism
Barker talks about “the forging of ‘new languages’” of identities
,Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
postcolonial feminist scholar claims that these identity politics, or coalitions around identities
are to be called STRATEGIC ESSENTIALISM:
used as a tactic, minority groups can act on the basis of a shared identity to demand rights
not to be confused with universalism, essentialism!
we do need to be aware of the existence of differences, disagreements within those groups
2/ ON MEDIA, CULTURE AND DIVERSITY
Raymond Williams: acknowledges that culture is a particular way of life, expressing certain meanings
and values, through art but also learning, and ordinary behavior
culture shows how “people have made sense of the world”
THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION
: is able to maintain (normalize, naturalize) or challenge (change) the cultural status quo
Stuart Hall writes from own personal experiences
founded by CCCS (British cultural studies)
representations are never trivial, neutral or value-free
duality: hegemony vs. cultural resistance & restrictions: who is encoding, who is the
audience?
3/ STEREOTYPING
Walter Lippman, in the 20s he writes Public Opinion
“we define first, and afterwards ‘see’. we pick out what culture has already predefined for us, so that
we perceive what might have already been stereotyped for us by our culture.”
laziness in stereotyping: it’s exhausting to see in different distinguished types of people, so that’s
why we rely on types and generalities
we’re friends and admire those, who we associate w personalities not types, no need of any
classification
Richard Dyer revisits Lippman
agrees w the economic characteristic of
stereotypes (the forming of a shortcut)
howeverrr, considers its lack in depth:
Lippman doesn’t address the persons,
institutional powers engaging in
stereotyping sufficiently
DYER CRITICIZES LIPPMAN AND EXPLAINS SOME MORE
(1) stereotyping as an act of economy and bringing order:
, but who is doing this, order presented as absolute, fixed and universal
partial truths are presented as whole truths (there’s a gap of experiences taken into account)
attempt at creating hierarchies
(2) a SHORT CUT: result out of power dynamics
picking up cues, traits and linking these to identities > presumed shared norms, values, practices
eg. the dumb blonde, sexy Asians, middle eastern folks are terrorists
(3) “OUR” VALUES AND NORMS
consensus in-group vs out-group and in-group about in-group
bounderies, borders that have to be “protected”
eg. “America first”, Vlaams Belang “eerst onze mensen”, the Village (film)
Lippman: talks about how ppl would feel like they need to protect their “tradition”, and that behind
this fortress of defense, then only, would we feel safe ourselves
IDEOLOGIES CREATE TYPES (TO BE ME PRECISE, TWO)
SOCIAL TYPES:
1. open, flexible; 2. live by the rules of society; 3. charming clichés
eg. the Flemish are humble, all French love eating croissants, Italians are obsessed w coffee
STEROTYPES:
1. rigid, unalterable; 2. rules are designed to exclude ppl; 3. false truths to create fear of “the other”
eg. migrants are disrespectful ppl, gay men are all carriers of hiv
rather WITHIN societies, than between different distant cultures!
according to Dyer, 80s: dominant groups project their norms onto subordinated groups, portray
them ”the other” as sick, inferior etc to reinforce their own sense of legitimacy or superiority
de facto: simple, repetitive, boring
3/ STEREOTYPING IN POPULAR MEDIA CULTURE
Dyer wrote a little sumthing about stereotyping in the 80s
his claim: social types tend to talk about white, middle class, heterosexuals; whereas
stereotypes tend to be about peeps at the margins of society
stereotypes aren’t necessarily inaccurate, but shaped + enforced by a majority group
Repercussion in: Sex and the City 2 (2010), Modern Family, Little Britain
STEREOTYPING THROUGH ICONOGRAPHY
: use of certain set of visual and aural signs which immediately bespeak (for instance homosexuality)
and connote the qualities associated, stereotypically, with it > SHORT CUT
SEMINAR 1 : INTRODUCTION
Election of Miss Belgium 2018
Angeline Flor Pua
Chinese-Filipino diasporic background
backlash Twitter “doesn’t look Belgian”
othering, degrading, racism bc of digital media spreads more fast + broad (globalization)
STRUCTURAL SEXISM (we almost don’t notice it, because of naturalization) eg. : models as
commodities : objectification
City of Ghent Promotion Campaign (November 2017)
they wanted to fight against homophobic behavior and sexual violence
(+) challenges structural racism, want inclusivity without assimilation
(-) exaggerations, what is the actual effectivity of this campaign?
BOEF
Sofiane Boussaadia, Netherlands (’93) w Algerian parents
rocky personal life, popular as an artist
controversial incident that damaged his reputation badly:
car trouble NYE 2017, on snapchat: “picked up by three kechs.”
use of “kech” got criticized bc denigrating, sexist to the ladies that helped him
1st response to this hate: Boef says he called them “kechs” bc they’re wearing short skirts at 8
o’clock in the morning w alcohol in the club > mad criticism/criticism through humor
3 REACTIONS:
denouncing (it’s structural sexism) > boycot
support (it’s slang, seen out of context) > setting up mediated debates
parody (humor to criticize, satire)
affirms Boef’s artist persona, image of “superior masculinity”
apology follows, dude even made an apology video “Antwoord” “we rappers are saying
bitches” and so on, but we really don’t think less of women
#METOO context
spontaneous, uncontrolled digital movement denouncing sexism in all forms
singles out individuals, not always addressing structural issues
! intersectionalism: ethnic identities and double standards
it’s toxic, to fight sexism for instance w racism (blaming Boef’s sexist language to his roots) -
Bergman and Omari > racial slur: framing sexism as Islam-related, or “typical to hiphop”
,SEMINAR 2 : IDENTITY, DIVERSITY AND POPULAR MEDIA CULTURE: KEY CONCEPT
KEY WORDS: sex and gender identities, ethnic codes and distinctions, labeling, in- and outgroups,
stereotyping, binary thinking (eg. we vs them, othering)
1/ SUBJECTIVITY, IDENTITY AND DIVERSITY
ESSENTIALISM: the belief that certain embodied identities are natural, and biological, assumed to be
ahistorical and universal
<<>> NON-ESSENTIALISM: no prior identities, they are shaped and become meaningful in and
through culture + SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM: performativity (Judith Butler), identities are socially
constructed and vary culturally and historically; room for transhistorical and universal experiences
(subjectivity)
Chris Barker, 2012, SUBJECTIVITY: how we’re (biological and cultural) subjects and experience
ourselves; “the condition of being a person and the processes by which we become a person”
Anthony Giddens, 90s, SELF-IDENTITY: the verbal conceptions (verbalization) of ourselves and our
emotional identification w those self-descriptions
we sustain a narrative about ourselves, reflective understanding of ourselves in terms of our
own constituted biography
ongoing and continuing social process
SOCIALIZATION: process of becoming self-aware gradually, knowledgeable and skilled in the
ways of culture in which he/she is born.
importance of culture!!! culture shapes social identities
identity is made up of 2 components: self-description and social ascription
SELF-IDENTITY AND SOCIAL IDENTITY: expectations, images, and opinions that other have of us
Stuart Hall, 90s, CULTURAL IDENTITY
influence of Marx, feminist and poststructuralist thought
FRACTURED SUBJECT: people be having various identities: shifting, multiple and
contradictory; identifications are not organized around a “coherent self”
we do be constructing a “comforting story” or “narrative about the self”
IDENTITY POLITICS
collective identity to claim agency and act out to change a socio-cultural status quo
particular contexts, or interests (feminism, queer youth, #metoo) > activism
Barker talks about “the forging of ‘new languages’” of identities
,Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
postcolonial feminist scholar claims that these identity politics, or coalitions around identities
are to be called STRATEGIC ESSENTIALISM:
used as a tactic, minority groups can act on the basis of a shared identity to demand rights
not to be confused with universalism, essentialism!
we do need to be aware of the existence of differences, disagreements within those groups
2/ ON MEDIA, CULTURE AND DIVERSITY
Raymond Williams: acknowledges that culture is a particular way of life, expressing certain meanings
and values, through art but also learning, and ordinary behavior
culture shows how “people have made sense of the world”
THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION
: is able to maintain (normalize, naturalize) or challenge (change) the cultural status quo
Stuart Hall writes from own personal experiences
founded by CCCS (British cultural studies)
representations are never trivial, neutral or value-free
duality: hegemony vs. cultural resistance & restrictions: who is encoding, who is the
audience?
3/ STEREOTYPING
Walter Lippman, in the 20s he writes Public Opinion
“we define first, and afterwards ‘see’. we pick out what culture has already predefined for us, so that
we perceive what might have already been stereotyped for us by our culture.”
laziness in stereotyping: it’s exhausting to see in different distinguished types of people, so that’s
why we rely on types and generalities
we’re friends and admire those, who we associate w personalities not types, no need of any
classification
Richard Dyer revisits Lippman
agrees w the economic characteristic of
stereotypes (the forming of a shortcut)
howeverrr, considers its lack in depth:
Lippman doesn’t address the persons,
institutional powers engaging in
stereotyping sufficiently
DYER CRITICIZES LIPPMAN AND EXPLAINS SOME MORE
(1) stereotyping as an act of economy and bringing order:
, but who is doing this, order presented as absolute, fixed and universal
partial truths are presented as whole truths (there’s a gap of experiences taken into account)
attempt at creating hierarchies
(2) a SHORT CUT: result out of power dynamics
picking up cues, traits and linking these to identities > presumed shared norms, values, practices
eg. the dumb blonde, sexy Asians, middle eastern folks are terrorists
(3) “OUR” VALUES AND NORMS
consensus in-group vs out-group and in-group about in-group
bounderies, borders that have to be “protected”
eg. “America first”, Vlaams Belang “eerst onze mensen”, the Village (film)
Lippman: talks about how ppl would feel like they need to protect their “tradition”, and that behind
this fortress of defense, then only, would we feel safe ourselves
IDEOLOGIES CREATE TYPES (TO BE ME PRECISE, TWO)
SOCIAL TYPES:
1. open, flexible; 2. live by the rules of society; 3. charming clichés
eg. the Flemish are humble, all French love eating croissants, Italians are obsessed w coffee
STEROTYPES:
1. rigid, unalterable; 2. rules are designed to exclude ppl; 3. false truths to create fear of “the other”
eg. migrants are disrespectful ppl, gay men are all carriers of hiv
rather WITHIN societies, than between different distant cultures!
according to Dyer, 80s: dominant groups project their norms onto subordinated groups, portray
them ”the other” as sick, inferior etc to reinforce their own sense of legitimacy or superiority
de facto: simple, repetitive, boring
3/ STEREOTYPING IN POPULAR MEDIA CULTURE
Dyer wrote a little sumthing about stereotyping in the 80s
his claim: social types tend to talk about white, middle class, heterosexuals; whereas
stereotypes tend to be about peeps at the margins of society
stereotypes aren’t necessarily inaccurate, but shaped + enforced by a majority group
Repercussion in: Sex and the City 2 (2010), Modern Family, Little Britain
STEREOTYPING THROUGH ICONOGRAPHY
: use of certain set of visual and aural signs which immediately bespeak (for instance homosexuality)
and connote the qualities associated, stereotypically, with it > SHORT CUT
