Unit 3: Production of Culture

Introduction: The Social Construction of Reality

The "Production of Culture" perspective in sociology examines how symbolic elements of culture (values, beliefs, identities) are shaped by the systems within which they are created, distributed, and consumed. It posits that reality is not merely reflected by media, but is constructed through framing, gatekeeping, and representation.

1. Media Construction of Gender and Sexuality

Media acts as a primary agent of socialization, reinforcing or challenging societal norms regarding gender roles and sexual identities.

A. Theoretical Frameworks

• The Male Gaze (Laura Mulvey): Cinema and visual media are often constructed through the eyes of a heterosexual male active viewer, positioning women as passive objects of desire (scopophilia).
• Symbolic Annihilation (Gaye Tuchman): Refers to the underrepresentation or trivialization of a specific group (women) in media, suggesting they are unimportant in society.
• Gender Performativity (Judith Butler): Media provides the "scripts" for how gender should be performed; repeated stylization of the body becomes perceived as natural.
• The Beauty Myth (Naomi Wolf): Media imposes impossible standards of beauty to control women, shifting focus from political/economic power to physical maintenance.

B. Construction of Femininity

• Traditional Stereotypes: The housewife, the damsel in distress, the sex object.
• The "Supermom" / "Superwoman": The post-feminist pressure to be career-successful, physically attractive, and domestically perfect simultaneously.
• Commodity Feminism: The co-opting of feminist language (empowerment, choice) to sell products (e.g., "Dove Real Beauty" campaigns).

C. Construction of Masculinity

• Hegemonic Masculinity (R.W. Connell): Media promotes a dominant form of manhood characterized by physical strength, emotional suppression, heterosexuality, and authority.
• The "New Man" vs. The "Retributive Man":
  • New Man: More sensitive, domestic, concerned with appearance (metrosexual).
  • Retributive Man: A backlash archetype (often in action movies) reclaiming traditional dominance through violence.

D. Sexuality and Heteronormativity

• Heteronormativity: The worldview that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation. Media historically framed non-heterosexual relationships as deviant or tragic.
• LGBTQ+ Representation:
  • The "Gay Best Friend": A sanitized, desexualized trope used for comedic relief.
  • Queerbaiting: Hints of same-sex romance to attract an audience without ever realizing the relationship.
  • Pink Money: The commercial targeting of the LGBTQ+ community as a consumer demographic.

2. Media Construction of Race and Ethnicity

Media representations play a crucial role in forming racial knowledge, often relying on essentialism (reducing a group to a few fixed characteristics).

A. Key Concepts

• The "Other" (Edward Said/Stuart Hall): Media defines dominant culture by contrasting it with "marginalized" groups. The "Other" is portrayed as exotic, dangerous, or backward to reinforce the superiority of the "Self" (Western/White).
• Tokenism: The inclusion of a minority character to give the appearance of diversity without giving them agency or depth.
• The White Savior Narrative: Stories featuring people of color that are ultimately resolved by a white protagonist's intervention.

B. Common Stereotypes and Tropes

• African Diaspora:
  • Historical: The Mammy, The Coon, The Uncle Tom.
  • Modern: The "Thug" (criminalization in news), The "Magical Negro" (exists only to help the white protagonist), The "Angry Black Woman."
• Asian Representation:
  • The Model Minority: Hardworking, distinctively intelligent (math/science), but socially awkward.
  • The Dragon Lady / Lotus Blossom: Hypersexualized or submissive archetypes for women.
• Middle Eastern/Muslim Representation:
  • Orientalism: Framing the East as mystical but barbaric.
  • Post-9/11: Overwhelming association with terrorism and fundamentalism in news and fiction.

C. News Media and Agenda Setting

• Framing of Crime: Studies (e.g., Entman) show that Black suspects are less likely to be named and more likely to be shown in mugshots than White suspects, who are often portrayed through "humanizing" photos (graduation pictures, family photos).
• Moral Panics: Media often constructs minority groups as "folk devils" responsible for societal decline (e.g., the framing of immigrants as threats to the economy or security).

3. Consumer Culture

Consumer culture is a system in which consumption, a set of behaviors found in all times and places, becomes dominated by the consumption of commercial products and images.

A. Theoretical Perspectives

• The Frankfurt School (Adorno & Horkheimer):
  • The Culture Industry: Popular culture is factory-produced to manipulate mass society into passivity.
  • False Needs: Capitalism creates artificial desires (via advertising) that can never be truly satisfied, replacing "true needs" (freedom, creativity, community).
• Commodity Fetishism (Marx): Social relationships are transformed into relationships between things. We value the object for its "magic" rather than the labor that produced it.
• Conspicuous Consumption (Veblen): Buying expensive services and products to display wealth and social status rather than for utility.

B. Advertising and Identity

• From Utility to Lifestyle: Early advertising focused on what a product did. Modern advertising focuses on who the consumer becomes by using it.
• Branding: The brand acts as a signifier of values. Consumers engage in "identity projects" by assembling brands that reflect their self-concept (e.g., Apple vs. Android users).
• The Prosumer: In digital culture, consumers also produce value (reviews, unboxing videos, user-generated content), blurring the line between production and consumption.

4. Media and Celebrity Culture

Celebrity culture is the high-volume production and circulation of famous personalities, serving as a distraction, a mechanism for social cohesion, or a template for selfhood.

A. The Nature of Celebrity

• Richard Dyer’s Star Theory:
  • Stars as Constructs: Not real people, but manufactured images created by studios/agencies.
  • Stars as Commodities: Used to sell films, music, and merchandise.
  • Stars as Ideology: They embody cultural values (or conflicts) of their time (e.g., Marilyn Monroe represented the tension between innocence and sexuality).
• Daniel Boorstin’s "Pseudo-Event": Famous people are often "known for their well-knownness" rather than heroic acts. The "human pseudo-event" is a celebrity created by media hype.

B. Evolution of Fame

1. Ascribed Celebrity: Fame by bloodline (Royalty).
2. Achieved Celebrity: Fame by talent/skill (Actors, Athletes).
3. Attributed Celebrity: Fame by media visibility (Reality TV stars, Influencers).

C. Parasocial Relationships

• Definition: One-sided relationships where audience members extend emotional energy, interest, and time, and the celebrity is completely unaware of the other’s existence.
• Social Media Impact: Twitter/Instagram/TikTok create an illusion of intimacy ("authenticity"). This increases the commercial power of the celebrity (Influencer Marketing).

5. Children and Youth Cultures

Sociologists analyze how media constructs the category of "childhood" and how youth subcultures use media to forge distinct identities.

A. The "Disappearance of Childhood" (Neil Postman)

• Argument: Print culture created a hierarchy of knowledge (literacy) that separated adults from children. TV/Internet is visual and accessible, dissolving the barrier.
• Result: Children are exposed to adult secrets (sex, violence, death) too early, leading to the "adultification" of children and the "childification" of adults.

B. Moral Panics and Youth

• Stanley Cohen: Youth cultures are often the target of moral panics. Media exaggerates the behavior of youth subcultures (Mods and Rockers, Punks, Gamers) to reinforce adult authority.
• Video Games and Violence: A recurring debate on whether media acts as a "hypodermic needle" (injecting violent thoughts) or if the correlation is overstated.

C. Youth Subcultures (CCCS - Birmingham School)

• Resistance through Ritual: Youth use style (bricolage) to resist the dominant culture.
  • Example: Punks using safety pins (household objects) as jewelry to subvert capitalist norms.
• Incorporation: Eventually, rebellious subcultural styles are commodified by the media/fashion industry (e.g., buying pre-ripped jeans at the mall), neutralizing their political power.

D. Digital Youth Culture

• Digital Natives: The generation born into the age of ubiquitous technology.
• Bedroom Culture: The shift from street-based socialization to socializing within the home via screens.
• Algorithmic Socialization: Apps like TikTok shape youth culture trends, humor, and body image standards through algorithmically curated feeds.