Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Pop Culture: Guilty Pleasure Or Metric of Social Change?

Pop Culture: Guilty Pleasure Or Metric of Social Change?

Do you watch Keeping up with the Kardashians?  One of the perks of formally studying sociology is that an indulgence in pop culture is not only forgiven, it is also encouraged. 
In sociological circles, the amorphous collection of tastes and preferences of a group of people that is culture inspires endless debate over why we like what we like.  Given such a prompt, the mind flies in innumerable directions.  I can feel Pierre Bourdieu climbing out of his grave to come take my computer away from me.  The ghost of Karl Marx is standing behind me rolling his eyes and saying, “Just don’t even go there.”
Okay.  Fine, Karl! 
But I would like to talk about the importance of popular culture to activism.  While the processes of production of pop culture warrant our scrutiny and skepticism, pop culture as its own strange, unpolished amalgamation strikes me as something truly democratic.  It is the voice of the people!  With our language, our food, our clothing, our purchases, we vote for the culture we want—we vote for the world we want.  That is why it is always exciting when trends in pop culture reflect progressive social changes that are philosophically consistent with intersectional feminism. 
One surprising example of such a reflection recently debuted in theaters across America: Magic Mike XXL.  This film is a light and playful story about the journey of male entertainers as they discover the intrinsic rewards of loving every women for exactly who she is, what she needs, and what she desires.  Another example, in theaters right now, is Mad Max: Fury Road—a feminist masterpiece.  It is worth noting that both of these films were made by men, and while they have done us proud, we still need women telling women’s stories in the mainstream media.  And those stories need to be taken just as seriously. 
Further worth noting is that it is not always so simple.  Pop culture is not always a forum conducive to having the complicated conversations that are necessary to deconstruct the patriarchal-capitalist agenda, as we have seen with conflicts such as this.  Still, the image of one of the most famous women on the planet standing in front of the word “feminist” while millions watch her take superstardom to another level is a big moment for girls everywhere.  In sum, pop culture, while often ludicrous, is in fact something that deserves our attention because the visibility of these issues is key to engaging the nation in a dialogue and what we consume matters.