We’ll start with the moment that launched a thousand questionable late-night jokes: The Paris Hilton sex tape of 2003
The news that comes out after a celebrity sex tape is leaked is interesting because there is almost never any attention on the man who is present in the video. Women have historically been shamed for their sexuality and continue to face shame for partaking in sexual acts in ways that straight men never will.
My assumption is that on the contrary, sometimes the more attention and the more of a press frenzy there is around a story, the more likely it is that we did miss something crucial.
This quote made me think of the Depp v. Heard trial that recently took over social media. I think that it is so interesting how celebrity news, political news, and so on is covered on platforms like TikTok by so many people that we often see the tiniest of details - or details that are completely made up/manipulated. The way that social media platforms can twist the news to appeal to certain groups is fascinating and a little spooky.
‘No one wants to hear women’s stories. No one wants to hear stories about women being raped, and no one certainly wants to hear stories about women being raped in the military.’
This was such a sad thing to read and it makes me happy to be a part of a generation that has begun to listen to women's stories and continue to act for change as many women have tried to do, and successfully done, in generations before.
There was no right way to be a girl. There were only different ways to fail. And we learned that from pop culture.
This!!! Due to the many, many expectations of women that are continuously displayed across every form of popular culture, it feels impossible to achieve this "perfection" or even adequacy. Although, in recent years I believe I have seen more influencers that promote body positivity and other similar messages that promote being comfortable with your body and who you are as a whole.
“Girls have always spoken back against the stereotypes used to constrain them or belittle them, but they haven’t had the kind of cultural power that they do today as a result of digital technologies,”
This quote reminds of Drew Afualo and the other women on social media who choose to expose negative speech from men and shut it down. Seeing strong women on social media platforms standing up for other women is empowering and will hopefully garner more positive talk in the future.
There’s this idea that the girl is powerful, and that marketers and cultural figures want to court her, and the girls themselves are like, ‘Yay us!’ And then there’s this backlash against that.”
The last part of this quote stood out to me because I see many, MANY women who are made of fun or torn down because they show confidence in their body, their work, their style, and so on. Rather than others celebrating with them, there is often a choice made to insult or degrade.
Consistently, teenage girls drive popular culture forward and then get mocked for their troubles. They’re ridiculed so often that we have an endless stream of trendy new words to describe teenage girls whose tastes we find cringeworthy: basic, VSCO girls, cheugy.
This short paragraph stood out to me because of the last few words, mostly. I tried to sit and think about similar words that are used to describe teenage boys or men and I couldn't really think of anything. It's sad how often women and young girls are mocked for their interests or style.
Teenage girls looked at that pack of floppy-haired Brits crooning in perfect harmony about hand-holding and holding on tight, and they thought, yes
First of all, I just thought this sentence was funny. Secondly, I love how this sentence contradicts the later premise about using "teenage girl" as an insult for songs/bands. The writer discusses how it is often seen as an insult when music sounds like it was written for this population, when in reality - the bands and musicians that are liked by teenage girls often become the biggest stars.
I see all interactions with others as communicatingbecause meaning is always exchanged
I think this is an interesting perspective and opens up many questions about how communication could be improved within social media platforms and other forms of media in general. Communication, or miscommunication, can be very impactful and it is interesting to view even the smallest of interactions as communication.
popular culture is the common language that weaves us together to help us find andmake meaning, to discover ourselves and each other, to build community andsolidarity, and to make sense of these things we call reality and life.
This quote truly highlights one truly positive aspect of popular culture and social media. Through music, TV, movies, characters, and so on people often are able to find some community where they feel at home and truly connected. This can be very helpful for individuals who do not feel included within their immediate communities (home life, school, office space, etc.)
connections and conversations can occur on a globalized transcultural ortransnational level, creating empathic experiences and relationships heretoforeunknown in human civilization.
This reminds me of discussions I have had all through middle school, high school, and even college. There seems to often be a debate about whether social media is divisive or whether it fosters connection. While arguments can certainly be made for both, I think social media has evolved to a point where people are ultimately much more disconnected.
Popular culture matters not because it is something external to us to study, butbecause it is a part of us—all of us, whether we like to admit it or not.
I think that this line is especially relevant to my generation and the generations that follow because of the looming presence that social media has had in most of our lives. Popular culture is a part of us through social media and we grew up in a time where social media was heavily on the rise.