Women's Studies 2161A/B Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Trans Woman, Lgbt, Feminism
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Women's Studies
2161A/B
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
WS2161
2018-09-12
Class 1: Gender, Celebrity, Diversity, and Pop Culture
Definitions which, in their different ways, inform the study of popular culture
1. Well-liked by many
• Things that are widely consumed by people
o i.e., finale ratings for GoT season 5 (we can argue it is well liked by MANY)
• Quantifying with numbers and % does not necessarily provide a full picture
2. Inferior kinds of work –low row
• Popular culture as 2nd best –eseed fo those ho ae uale to appeiate eal
o high culture
• High culture is considered more elitist because less people are interested (i.e., the
opera, the ballet)
• To e ultuall othhile o high o, it has to e diffiult
o I dot get it, lak of appeiatio –exclusivity status
• Popculture → what is left over (the inferior work) → second best culture
3. Work that deliberately sets out win favour of people
• Mass ulture is…
o Hopelessly commercial –mass produced for mass consumption
▪ Profit over quality
o Superhero movies – lets ake all of the! Ad the lets do ossoes! Ad
then make every commercial product possible!
o British TV shows re-ade hee ofte geaed toad uh oade audiee
(to ensure ratings and success) – made for a lesser intelligent audience, to
garner mass appeal
4. Culture is made by the people themselves
• “Folk ultue, autheti ultue, gassoots
• Not imposed on the people like mass culture definition suggests; there is intention
behind the culture produced
o E.g., Rock n Roll, and particularly bands whose politics are at the center of
the message
• Opposite of hopelessly commercial
• Not being produced for mass consumption
5. Postmodern influence
• Relationship between postmodernism and popular culture is a culture that is no
loge eogizes the distitios etee the autheti o high o ad
oeial o ass ultue
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o i.e., Banksy art = graffiti → but his art is very political → but his work is mass
produced
Contemporary Celebrity Culture
→ Chris Rojek suggests that we can think of three main types of celebrities today:
1. Ascribed celebrity –fame is a result of inheritance
• Paris Hilton
2. Achieved celebrity –derived from accomplishments is open competition
• Serena Williams, Barack Obama
3. Attributed celebrity –people who are famous for being famous
Think about Kylie Jenner Forbes debate: Self-Made Women in America
Technologies of Celebrity Culture
-early celebrity culture was NOT rooted in technology
• Internet –studio sites, star sites, social networking
• Television –eTalk Daily, TMZ, but also appear in proper news and talk shows, and
reality TV
• Photography and the paparazzi phenomenon
• Photo editing/Photoshop
• Star systems –from Pas to Publicists to Glam Squads
• Celebs feel accessible to us due to social media
Early Celebrity Culture and Technologies
• Early 19th century culture based in oral and print culture –broadsheets and gossip (a
function of the urban coffee house
• The advent of visual culture and technologies
1. The camera and photography
2. Printing technologies
3. The moving picture camera
• 19th century, acting slowly became more respectable. Film producers realized that
they could capitalize on the recognition factor
Early Film Roles for Women (usually small pool of woman who were cast in roles)
• The Good Gil – Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford; known for her innocence on screen
in roles that were primarily passive in counterpart to active male heroes. Always
romantic lead.
• The Heoes –Pearl White and Nell Shipman. White was a major celebrity earning
$3000 a week. Flying airplanes, race cars, swimming across rivers, doing all stunt
work. Shipman was features in a controversial nudity scene and produced and
directed her own films.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Class 1: gender, celebrity, diversity, and pop culture. Think about kylie jenner forbes debate: self-made women in america. Early celebrity culture was not rooted in technology. Film producers realized that they could capitalize on the recognition factor. Always romantic lead: (cid:862)the he(cid:396)oes(cid:863) pearl white and nell shipman. Flying airplanes, race cars, swimming across rivers, doing all stunt work. Also, suppose that gi(cid:396)ls i(cid:374) the tv audie(cid:374)(cid:272)e (cid:858)(cid:373)odel(cid:859) their behaviour and expectations on that of tv women: you (cid:272)a(cid:374)(cid:859)t (cid:271)e (cid:449)hat (cid:455)ou (cid:272)a(cid:374)(cid:859)t see. Nu(cid:373)(cid:271)e(cid:396)s : ff the 318 films with budgets over million, only 3 have been directed by women, one director, directed 2/3. Is she a corpse: the duvernay test asses race in film. Jenner/ dianne sawyer interview: 17 million views: shows off transgenderism to people who may have never experienced it, more films and tv programs being made; trans people on reality tv, programs that focus on trans youth.
