POPULAR MEDIA CULTURE AND DIVERSITY
1: INTRODUCTION
1.1: WHAT’S AT STAKE?
#MeToo:
Alyssa Milano: started the #MeToo-movement with a tweet (2017)
‘BOOS’: made an episode about sexual harassment on ‘The Voice van Nederland’
Soundos El Ahmadi in ‘De Afspraak’
o Invited to talkshow to talk about her new comedy show
o Led to a discussion about female unsafety with Bart Schols (the host)
Talking about statistics (even 10 years after #MeToo)
Schols keeps interrupting her while stating her arguments
Posts something on Instagram afterwards (yes, but …), and
thus wants to have the last word again
since #MeToo, something has changed
o But the statistics haven’t changed, so it’s important to talk about it
Super Bowl:
Bad Bunny performing in the Halftime Show
o Show is no longer simply entertainment
using music in a way to make it political
Lots of references in the performance:
o (South-/Latin-) American flags: America is more than
the USA
o “the only thing stronger than hate is love”, …
very commercial: sponsored by Apple and other brands
o Got backlash from Republicans cause he is “an immigrant”
Even though he is an American citizen
Non-Am. citizens didn’t get this much backlash (ex. Shakira)
o His new album: a love letter to his home country Puerto Rico
But: also critical of the country’s relation to the USA
o Has a huge reach in the US, but not going there on his world tour
Scared his fans might get deported by ICE
Also made a political statement during the Grammy’s
Disabilities:
= identity axis that is often ignored
William Boeva: famous comedian with a disability (is a little person)
o 2022: made a post criticizing about how people with disabilities are
represented in media (Down The Road)
Thought the show wasn’t taking people with disabilities seriously
Post led to backlash
Disney also got backlash for their representation of little people in the live-action
remake Snow White
o About how the seven dwarfs would be represented
1
, CGI instead of real people
o Gert Verhulst: wanted to make a musical about Snow White
With little people as the dwarfs
Positive reactions on Facebook on this decision
o also by people with dwarfism: they don’t get a lot
of acting roles
Queer representation in tv-shows:
Heated Rivalry
o Canadian show, based on a novel about two ice hockey players
Very popular with many different audiences, not only queer people
The Last of Us
o Video game and show about fighting zombies
o Main character is queer
o Whole episode about a character that wasn’t as relevant in the game
About how he meets another man
Shows their relationship over a timespan of 20 years
episode got positive reviews
But: also got ‘review bombed’
= lots of people giving the episode 0 stars; targeted attack
so that the episode would get a lower rating than the others
Primavera Sound:
Music festival in Barcelona
o Mostly male artists in the past
o But: wanted to go for a “new normal” in 2019
50/50 gender balance
2
, ALL PREVIOUS EXAMPLES SHOW A TREND:
Heightened sensitivity toward role popular media culture
o In challenging or shaping perceptions & beliefs about minoritized identities
o increased demand for fair / balanced representation
Culture wars are not new
o 19th century: establishment of democratic nation-states
o ‘wars’ over position of religion on modern states
Set of norms and values representing the modern state
Media uproars over identity
o May be perceived as banal or insignificant
Why should we focus on this? Why should we care?
People with minoritized identities
o Debates and backlash can have an impact on their everyday lives
o Are granted legal rights, protection, inclusive policies, …
But: these are also conditional and temporary
they are at risk of being reversed
o Ex. anti-immigrant language of Trump, Roe v. Wade being overturned,
more racism, …
Politicians and policy-makes are aware of the symbolic role of media and popular
culture
o Lots of power in popular culture
Ex. Hungary: law banning LGBT content in schools or kids’ TV
Commercial interests of big tech and cultural industries
o Used to focus on diversity and inclusion
Now removed from their company policies
Ex. Amazon, Meta
3
, 2: CONCEPTS, DEBATES, AND APPROACHES
2.1: IDENTITY AND DIVERSITY IN WESTERN SOCIETY
2.1.1: ABOUT IDENTITY
Ubiquity of identity & identity markers/labels
o = the fact of appearing everywhere / of being very common
o People will use those markers / labels to read you to make up their mind
about your identity
Bodily traits and sociocultural features
o = basis for identity categories
Ex. skin colour, social class, biological sex characteristics, age,
religion, …
Richard Jenkins
o Distinction between identification and identity:
Identification: “the systematic establishment and signification,
between individuals, between collectivities and between individuals
and collectivities, of relationships of similarity and difference”
We often do this unconsciously
Identity: “denotes the ways in which individuals and collectivities
are distinguished in their relations with other individuals and
collectivities”
o Individual and collective identities are both an interactional product of
‘external’ identification by others, as they are of ‘internal’ self-
identification
o Identification is shaped by and dependent on culture
Cultural discourses & representations about identities:
(Re)produced in popular media culture
o Can help people make sense of who they are as a person
o But: can also hinder people’s lives
they create normative assumptions about people
Life can be hard if you don’t “fit” the expectations
Context-specific
o Depends on time and place
2.1.2: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST PERSPECTIVE
How we make sense of reality is socially constructed
o identities are socially constructed, and they vary culturally and
historically
Opposes / challenges an essentialist understanding of identity
o Essentialism:
Assumes that certain identities are natural, biological and ahistorical
existing prior to the birth of a person; it was “fixed”
People with the same identity will share the same feelings and
experiences
throughout history, and across the globe
4
1: INTRODUCTION
1.1: WHAT’S AT STAKE?
#MeToo:
Alyssa Milano: started the #MeToo-movement with a tweet (2017)
‘BOOS’: made an episode about sexual harassment on ‘The Voice van Nederland’
Soundos El Ahmadi in ‘De Afspraak’
o Invited to talkshow to talk about her new comedy show
o Led to a discussion about female unsafety with Bart Schols (the host)
Talking about statistics (even 10 years after #MeToo)
Schols keeps interrupting her while stating her arguments
Posts something on Instagram afterwards (yes, but …), and
thus wants to have the last word again
since #MeToo, something has changed
o But the statistics haven’t changed, so it’s important to talk about it
Super Bowl:
Bad Bunny performing in the Halftime Show
o Show is no longer simply entertainment
using music in a way to make it political
Lots of references in the performance:
o (South-/Latin-) American flags: America is more than
the USA
o “the only thing stronger than hate is love”, …
very commercial: sponsored by Apple and other brands
o Got backlash from Republicans cause he is “an immigrant”
Even though he is an American citizen
Non-Am. citizens didn’t get this much backlash (ex. Shakira)
o His new album: a love letter to his home country Puerto Rico
But: also critical of the country’s relation to the USA
o Has a huge reach in the US, but not going there on his world tour
Scared his fans might get deported by ICE
Also made a political statement during the Grammy’s
Disabilities:
= identity axis that is often ignored
William Boeva: famous comedian with a disability (is a little person)
o 2022: made a post criticizing about how people with disabilities are
represented in media (Down The Road)
Thought the show wasn’t taking people with disabilities seriously
Post led to backlash
Disney also got backlash for their representation of little people in the live-action
remake Snow White
o About how the seven dwarfs would be represented
1
, CGI instead of real people
o Gert Verhulst: wanted to make a musical about Snow White
With little people as the dwarfs
Positive reactions on Facebook on this decision
o also by people with dwarfism: they don’t get a lot
of acting roles
Queer representation in tv-shows:
Heated Rivalry
o Canadian show, based on a novel about two ice hockey players
Very popular with many different audiences, not only queer people
The Last of Us
o Video game and show about fighting zombies
o Main character is queer
o Whole episode about a character that wasn’t as relevant in the game
About how he meets another man
Shows their relationship over a timespan of 20 years
episode got positive reviews
But: also got ‘review bombed’
= lots of people giving the episode 0 stars; targeted attack
so that the episode would get a lower rating than the others
Primavera Sound:
Music festival in Barcelona
o Mostly male artists in the past
o But: wanted to go for a “new normal” in 2019
50/50 gender balance
2
, ALL PREVIOUS EXAMPLES SHOW A TREND:
Heightened sensitivity toward role popular media culture
o In challenging or shaping perceptions & beliefs about minoritized identities
o increased demand for fair / balanced representation
Culture wars are not new
o 19th century: establishment of democratic nation-states
o ‘wars’ over position of religion on modern states
Set of norms and values representing the modern state
Media uproars over identity
o May be perceived as banal or insignificant
Why should we focus on this? Why should we care?
People with minoritized identities
o Debates and backlash can have an impact on their everyday lives
o Are granted legal rights, protection, inclusive policies, …
But: these are also conditional and temporary
they are at risk of being reversed
o Ex. anti-immigrant language of Trump, Roe v. Wade being overturned,
more racism, …
Politicians and policy-makes are aware of the symbolic role of media and popular
culture
o Lots of power in popular culture
Ex. Hungary: law banning LGBT content in schools or kids’ TV
Commercial interests of big tech and cultural industries
o Used to focus on diversity and inclusion
Now removed from their company policies
Ex. Amazon, Meta
3
, 2: CONCEPTS, DEBATES, AND APPROACHES
2.1: IDENTITY AND DIVERSITY IN WESTERN SOCIETY
2.1.1: ABOUT IDENTITY
Ubiquity of identity & identity markers/labels
o = the fact of appearing everywhere / of being very common
o People will use those markers / labels to read you to make up their mind
about your identity
Bodily traits and sociocultural features
o = basis for identity categories
Ex. skin colour, social class, biological sex characteristics, age,
religion, …
Richard Jenkins
o Distinction between identification and identity:
Identification: “the systematic establishment and signification,
between individuals, between collectivities and between individuals
and collectivities, of relationships of similarity and difference”
We often do this unconsciously
Identity: “denotes the ways in which individuals and collectivities
are distinguished in their relations with other individuals and
collectivities”
o Individual and collective identities are both an interactional product of
‘external’ identification by others, as they are of ‘internal’ self-
identification
o Identification is shaped by and dependent on culture
Cultural discourses & representations about identities:
(Re)produced in popular media culture
o Can help people make sense of who they are as a person
o But: can also hinder people’s lives
they create normative assumptions about people
Life can be hard if you don’t “fit” the expectations
Context-specific
o Depends on time and place
2.1.2: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST PERSPECTIVE
How we make sense of reality is socially constructed
o identities are socially constructed, and they vary culturally and
historically
Opposes / challenges an essentialist understanding of identity
o Essentialism:
Assumes that certain identities are natural, biological and ahistorical
existing prior to the birth of a person; it was “fixed”
People with the same identity will share the same feelings and
experiences
throughout history, and across the globe
4
