Cultural Studies as a literary theory began with the works… Cultural Studies is an extremely interdisciplinary theory that can encompass many fields, including anthropology, political science, and even philosophy and ethics. It began with the works of Raymond Williams and Richard Hoggart in the late 1950s and early 1960s before being adopted and expanded by Stuart Hall in the late 1960s. This theory moved away from the reading of literature for literature’s sake, and instead begins to regard it both as a product created by a culture and a object influencing that culture. Though the general aims and guidelines of Cultural Studies are hard to pin down, it can broadly be considered a theory that provides new methods for examining the cultural …show more content…
A debate is a direct manifestation of the political and cultural ideologies that often have to be interpreted from literary works. In the case of the GOP, they are one of the two major political parties in the United States; they currently serve as the majority in the legislature at all levels, and, if polling numbers are any indication, they seem to also represent the beliefs of a significant percentage of the American public. This debate, in particular, contained a pattern of statements and positions that betrayed a reality Republicans want to deny: there is an implicit bias in the country against women. Several examples of this behavior can be presented, in the same way that textual evidence can be teased from a …show more content…
When discussing appointments to the Supreme Court, the candidates only entertained the idea of selecting a man with a conservative track record. Planned Parenthood and overall spending on women’s health issues repeatedly came under attack. All of these slights against women—deliberate or subconscious, premeditated or impulsive—accumulate into a cultural practice in American society, and the Republican base being represented in this case, that still considers women less capable than men in the political arena. Women were systematically dismissed, underrepresented, mocked, ignored, and trivialized throughout the night. A Cultural Studies approach would look at this distinct pattern as a representative of underlying cultural symbols and
Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 2nd ed. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1995. 158-168. Print.
In 2008 the first woman was awarded the position of Speaker of the House, and Hillary Clinton ran for president. While Hillary had widespread support leading people to believe that the two different genders had reached equality, there were several that doubted whether or not a woman has what it takes to be a president. The women that came into power that was generally held by men, needed to perform a balancing act. This balancing act was between the characteristics of women and projecting the masculine strength and leadership needed to hold their position (Jenen 14). This problem in society has been continuing on for a long time. In the 1970’s women had no standing in academia. That women were no use to the department they were studying and
Overall, the value of the American Identity is found in literature such as The Awakening, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Great Gatsby. Different historical events such as the Women’s Suffrage Movements define America as a male driven nation. These few evidences of many provide an explanation of how men came to control a lot of the activity in the nation and its impact. Currently, women are treated with more respect, have equal rights, and can do many of the things that men can do. However, there is still a great amount of gender inequality in many various aspects and it will remain that way because this nation has been male dominated since it’s independence. History and literature are two aspects of our nation’s cultures that have demonstrated the gender inequality and contributed to the strengthening of this male dominated society in the course of time.
Throughout the history of western civilization, women have fought for their rights to be treated as equal citizens. The problem of gender inequality has been prevalent for centuries. The movement for equal opportunity has gained traction in different eras but is still far from complete. Today, we are faced with an America that has made a choice. It has made a choice for division, for stagnancy and for retrogression. Women have been subtly told that their value does not rest in politics, nor in business, nor in leadership. After the results of the 2016 election cycle that subtly is gone. The America of today is different from the America of yesteryear. The underlying notes of sexism are no longer hidden. A society that was once working towards
Marshall, Susan E. "Who Speaks for American Women? The Future of Antifeminism." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 515 (1991): 60.
On a daily basis people are exposed to some sort of misrepresentation of gender; in the things individuals watch, and often the things that are purchased. Women are often the main target of this misrepresentation. “Women still experience actual prejudice and discrimination in terms of unequal treatment, unequal pay, and unequal value in real life, then so too do these themes continue to occur in media portraits.”(Byerly, Carolyn, Ross 35) The media has become so perverted, in especially the way it represents women, that a females can be handled and controlled by men, the individual man may not personally feel this way, but that is how men are characterized in American media. Some may say it doesn’t matter because media isn’t real life, but people are influenced by everything around them, surroundings that are part of daily routine start to change an individual’s perspective.
Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. New York: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.
The role of women in society has been promoted as subservient and inferior to men. This concept is still upheld as a standard. Women are less likely, “consulted as ‘experts’” (Lee and Shaw 67) on a topic than male counterparts. Women not being regarded as “experts” (Lee and Shaw 67) reinforces women as inferior to men. In the media men are regarded as “spokesperson” (Lee and Shaw 67); this idea are competent and trustworthy to represent a product. Society labels women as incompetent and does not accept women having authority. The lack of women holding authoritative positions reveals the discomfort American society feels with women and power. This concept has persisted throughout time; women are seen as inadequate to males. In the media news women are substantially “underrepresented” (Lee and Shaw 67). The trend presents women as undesired and disassociated from society. The disassociation implies to women they are not valued. The under representation of women in the media enforces a patriarchal society. The society is represented by men. Stories in the media associate women with “family, looks, or romance” (Lee and Shaw 67). Those stories enforce the view of women being care givers and only valued for physical...
One major factor in why women did not reach equality in America in the past century was their underrepresentation in local, state, and federal politics. Between 1917, when Jeanette Rankin became the first woman to serve in the United States Congress, and 2000, only 219 women have been elected as US representatives or senators. Of these, only 28 have been women of color. In contrast, in the 20th century over a thousand men served in Congress, and 132 men of color. In the 106th United States Congress (which met from 1999-2001) only 58 of the 535 legislators were women, and only 18 were women of color. As a result, laws that benefitted women faced heavy opposition before they could be passed. In addition, women made up the minority of Supreme Court justices and presidential cabinet members at every point in the 20th century, and of the 15 presidents...
... P. (2009) Beginning theory: An introduction to literary and cultural theory. 3rd edn. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 216.
Cultural studies closely concentrate on how a certain phenomenon connects to matters of ideology, race, social class and/or gender. Cultural studies expresses concern with everyday life practices and the meaning behind everything. One of the main aims within Cultural Studies is to go deeper with what is known to be natural to society and strong beliefs to society; there will be examples of everyday life practices such as the things we’ve naturally known because society has created meaning to it such as trees, PMS and the biological determinism society once believed to be natural, these examples will show how and why it is important to critically interrogate these practices.
Throughout this paper I will be discuss and describe these three articles about Stuart Hall cultural studies theory the Cultural Studies: Two Paradigms from Media, Culture and Society, then the Cultural Studies in the Future tense and Sexing the Self: Gendered Positions in Cultural Studies theory.
Society’s gender infrastructure has changed since the 1920’s and the nineteen amendment that allowed women the right to vote. Or so we thought, many of the gender expectations that were engraved into our early society still remain intact today. Women for many people still mean an immaterial, negligible, and frivolous part of our society. However, whatever the meaning of the word women one has, the same picture is always painted; that of a housewife, mother, and daughter. Women are expected to fallow the structural identity of living under her husband 's submissions. Threatening the social norm of what is accepted to be a woman in society can put in jeopardy the personal reputation of a woman, such treating her as a whore. But, what happens
1. What is Culture? What I personally think is that our culture is the foundation of who we really are in life. It identifies the lifestyle and pursuits that are practiced in the group of people we relate with in our society. In other words, an important concept to understand is that cultural beliefs, values, and practices are learned from birth first at home, in church, and other places where people meet. Some practices and beliefs in human culture include religion, music, sports, food, health beliefs, and art which represent the values we have in life. Also, our own culture is diverse and it is significant to look with in and identify what we value the most, what is essentially needed, and how we see the world. It is our remaining tool and we don’t even realize it is needed to communicate and socialize with others.
In Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for president, there were people who criticized her for looking too haggard and they questioned whether or not her prior political success was because of her husband, Bill Clinton (Lawless). This narrow media coverage of her appearance is a consequence of our culture’s issues with stereotypes in gender. The men that were running were not questioned as to whether their success was dependent on others, however, since society placed the stereotype that women are being valued only for their appearance. The main issue with this is that without the initial gender stereotypes, all candidates, business owners, news anchors and people would be treated equally and