The Commercialization of Cool

Consumer culture. The product of capitalist ideals, affluence, and materialism. People want things, so someone's going to give it to them--for a price.

But what happens when there are lots of different people who are trying to give the people what they want? What happens when there are lots of people who think they have something that people want?

One word.

Advertising.

Now another one.

Commericilization.

It seems that no matter where you go (unless it's the wilderness or something), there is something or someone who is trying to get you to buy their product. Much like a trademarket where merchants or tradespeople attempt to sell their wares, except that they're everywhere. A typical American may encounter a number of ads throughout their day. Turn on the TV--commercials. Radio--same thing. Driving down the road, one will see billboards, large signs for stores, a golden M upon a 20 foot pole. At work, there is probably a vending machine with either a large, illuminated red pattern for Coca-cola products or swirling blue for Pepsi drinks. Stop at a gas station, and there are signs posted for Marlboro, Camel, Virginia Slims. Walk into a Walmart and you are flooded with a thousand Smiley faces telling you that need to buy a pack of this or a carton of that because you won't be able to find it cheaper anywhere else. And just when you're about to sit down to a quiet commercial-free dinner, the telephone rings. Guess who? Yep. Telemarketer.

And the internet is no different.

We're all well acquainted with those annoying pop-up ads. If you're smart, you've downloaded pop-up ad blocking software or switched to a browser like Mozilla's Firefox. Sites may have ads as a part of their content. And SPAM is an ever-increasing headache. And I doubt that I'm the only one who has more than one e-mail address to deal with mass e-mails from corporations trying to sell one thing or another.

Companies know that the average American consumer has choices. Tons and tons of choices. The trick is how to get them to buy your product. How to get them to give you their money. What better than to use popular culture to lure people in? That's where "cool" comes in.

As Jeff Rice rightly points out, cool is word leftover from the late sixties' teenage rebellion movement. Cool was often associated with what was against the grain, what broke the rules, what pushed the envelope. Although words like groovy and psychadealic have all but fallen out of popular usage, cool still remains a significant word in both popular and teenage culture. It's meaning, however, has slightly evolved since the middle of the 20th century. Though it still can be associated with rebellion and non-conformity, it is now often associated (quite antonymically) with what is "in," what is trendy, what is stylish or fashoinable; and of course, it can simply mean what is good.

Because of its prominence in our culture, businesses and advertisers latch onto it. And they can hit two large market pools by using this word: the Baby Boomers, who still remain the largest and richest consumer group in America, and the Echo Boom, the kids of the Baby Boomers, the second largest generation, and has been quickly achieving the buying power of their parents.

The fact of the matter is that everyone wants to be cool. Everybody wants to be with it. We want to listen to hot music. We want to wear trendy clothes. We want people's heads to turn when we pull up in our nice cars. And we want it to seem natural, effortless. So business need to make their products cool; businesses need to convince the consumer that people who buy this product are cool, and that they can increase their "coolness" buy purchasing said product. Because this word carries such culture power, the business world is going to use it to its fullest potential. They will commercialize it to cash in on the goldmine that is the American public.

We're a culture obsessed with cool.

And the web, as an extension of culture, simply reflects this reality. Websites must get our attention. If anyone wants to get the attention of a potential visitor or consumer on the net, you have to draw them. You have to lure them. You have to cull your audience from the masses of internet users who zip through site after site with their own personal agenda in mind. People surf the web. Many of them teenagers. And you know what? They want to be cool.

If you can convince them that buying your product is one more way that they can be cool, you've got 'em.

And so the internet, like every other type of media, becomes inundated with ads and cool.

Grrls and the Web

In our text, the book references a theory by a man named Michel de Certeau. Basically it says that marginalized societal groups resist the oppression and suffocation of the dominant social group(s) by using products of the consumer culture they find themselves in for their own purposes.

It is an unfortunate but true fact that women are often marginalized in our society (yes, even in this "age of equality"). So, check one for de Certau's theory--we have a marginalized group. Are they resisting? I believe the feminist movement is more than enough to answer that question. Check two. Now, what goods are they using for their own purposes?

First off, grrls across the Western world are using the internet, a product of Western society and arguably quite male-dominated, to vocalize their opinions, to promote their goals, and further their agenda. I visited three of such sites myself--planetgrrl.com, disgruntledhousewife.com, and bitchmagazine.com. Such "grrl" sites (as they are called) are the result of what out text calls Third Wave Feminism, which mostly is comprised of young women who want to make feminism their own and take it out of the hands of the academic elite. The world wide web for them is a tool--a way to band young women together to resist and overcome the sexism that still faces them.

Parody and sarcasm are large factors in how grrls on-line deal with the constructs society would like them to fit into--essentially, they use these two elements to deal with a product (a constructed identity) that society gives them (and it is in fact a very commerically manipulated and reinforced identity). The home page of Disgruntled Housewife is very much a parody. The page contains a set of hyperlinked images--like high heels, a toy breed dog and a can of sausage links--that are associated with the stereotypical post-World War II housewife. The very look of the images is reminiscent of that time. It parodies the very social constructs that the creators of the site are resisting (hence the name of the site). On the front page of Planet Grrl, there is a black-and-white photo of a group of poster-child '50s housewives. No doubt that this is photo is meant to be a parody as well.Parody is a way in which these women break down the cosntructs set up for them by the surrounding culture.

A lot of sarcasm can also be found within the articles on these pages. Sarcasm is often used when referencing the culture, things they view as sexist, and men's behavior. Articles that deal with things such as Barbie Dolls, being a woman and striving for a career, or feeding husbands are drenched with sarcasm. Bitch Magazine's articles make use of sarcasm as well. In all these cases, sarcasm is used as a way to break down social constructs, whether it's by pointing out the absurdity of something or affirming the intelligence (or other valued quality) of women (often by taking a jab at the opposite sex).

It is in this manner that much of the content (I'm talking mostly about the textual content, but the visual content as well) is written. There are featured advice columns and articles that are written very much from a female perspective dealing with issues the women find themselves faced with. Instead of throwing out femininity, these grrl authors strive to redefine femininity by attempting to construct what femininty is outside of a male perspective-dominated construct. This femininity is not constructed as weak, nor does it create a dependency in women; but these grrls construct an indentity in which women are strong and independent and can function without defining their lives by men or masculinity.

The identity then put forth by these grrls is one where women are strong, independent, intelligent and aware. There is nothing wrong with being "girly." In fact it is embraced, but being a girl is not seen as a sign of weakness as it is often portrayed in the dominant culture. The grrl is also an angry and frustrated individual who is tired of being marginalized by Western society. So she can laugh at some of the derrogatory words and commercially-driven images thrown at her, because it's not the images but the ideas those images represent that she is resisting against and is desperately trying to destroy.

On a non-assignment note, it's interesting to think about how successful these grrls are in reclaiming femininity. I would argue that on one hand, they are destroying (for themselves at least) the idea that femininity is weak. However, the question remains--are actually totally reclaiming or defining femininity outside of the male-dominated cultural perspective. My answer is no. In many ways many aspects of femininty are still defined in comparison to or as an antithesis to masculinity. For even in the act of rebelling, they are still working within a particular social context. So the next question then is can femininty ever be defined outside of masculinity? More importantly, should it? (And vice versa.) If we continue to stress the differences, do we ever heal the wounds, or do we simply continue to divide the sexes even more?

This is the conumdrum that any resisting marginalized group must face.

On-line Masculinities

I visited three different sites that focus on men and men's issues. The first site I visited was askmen.com. Askmen.com is a site that, imho, sticks to a more traditional mind frame of who men are and what men want--what it means to be a man. The editors of the site say that their mission is to

"To offer men candid advice, that is useful, practical and entertaining. AskMen.com address issues regarding dating, women, fashion, money, fitness, and entertainment. Offering advice that is too complicated or unrealistic does not serve any viable purpose, therefore it deals with topics that can be incorporated into men's daily lives...with new articles that focus on matters that men deem relevant and practical."

Fashion is one of the topics that the site deals with that may not quite fit into the what is consider traditional masculinity. Their focus on uncomplicated, practical advice is quite interesting. It assumes that men want straightforward, uself answers to their questions. FMH.com is much of the same, if not even more narrow. FMH.com has fewer features than askmen.com, but the features they do have are very much set in the ideas of tradition masculintiy. On this site, there is also a focus on women and sex. There is even a poll to rank the one hundred sexiest women. Most everything else on the site has to do with entertainment--jokes, funny but true stories, movies, music and video games. Pretty much this site pictures the mind of man like this: sex and entertainment. Or why not just boil it down to entertainment? And on both sites, the ads are just as telling about how they view masculinity: the ads are generally for sites or services that hook men up with women.

On the other hand, menstuff.org appears to take a broader and more open approach to traditional masculinity. Instead of focusing on sex and entertainment, menstuff.org has several articles that explore masculinity in greater depth: fathering, sexuality (both hetero- and homosexuality), children, relationships, sex, health, current events or issues that affect men, home ec, and spirituality. This site appears to attempt to look at men as whole people, who are capable of a wide range of emotions, feelings, and interests, rather than within the strict constructs that society has traditionally placed men. This site invites and encourages men to explore who they are as human beings and not just the strong, silent protector that many feel they must be.

The author who wrote an article exploring masculinity on-line and featured the aforementioned web sites claims that the expanded masculinities on these cyberspaces lead"naturally, to uncertainty and even anxiety, but eventually to a greater level of self-awareness and personal freedom" (78).

First of all, I would question his claim that these sites or men sites in general have have expanded views of masculinity. The first two sites I looked like had little to no expanded notions of masculinity. If anything, these sites encourage men to embrace the social norms that have been constructed them. In fact it teaches that these norms are natural and to be idealized. Instead of exploring what it means to be human, men are expected to simply grow in their masculinity (which is a part of who men are, but one's sex is just a part of the whole). I would not say that these sites lead to greater personal awareness. Men who feel very strongly about traditional gender roles would find these sites an affirmation of his personal beliefs about masculinity.

Now, for the man who is questioning his masculinity and exploring who he is and how his sex factors into that might be made uncertain and even experience angst by looking at these sites. Especially if a man is uncertain about how "manly" he is, these sites would simply confirm his fears--that he is less of man, because he fails to comfortably fit into these constructions. However, a site such as menstuff.org would encourage such a male to explore what it means to be man. For the man who is very gungho about men fulfilling their manly obligations would most likely scoff at such a site. Those who are looking trying to integrate who they are, or at least reconcile different parts of the person, their gender and some other "side", might find useful information, insight, or thought-provoking ideas on a site like menstuff.com.

Because we are experiencing a shift in societal values, not exclusive to gender roles and identities, many people do feel uncertainty and angst. As the societal view of masculinity fluctuates and changes, many men will feel like they are being pulled in many different directions. There will be the traditional view of men and contemporary ideas that will try to show and explain to him who he is as a man. The traditional role and obligations of men is no longer secure. What direction masculinity will go in only time will tell. Hopefully the future will lead to a more integrated look at who men are as human beings, and not simply replace the current tradition views with other damaging constructs of masculinity.

Personal Identity on the Web

The following are a list of images that I think could represent elements of my life (or my being):

Piano
CDs
Francis Schaeffer’s How Shall We Then Live?
Bible
Personal journal
Microphone
Laptop
Afro pick
The McDaniel arch
Pen

My Reflection:

I would like to include as many elements as possible: my critical enjoyment of music, my musicianship (both performance and creativity), writing, my Christian faith, my philosophical fascination. (I’m not sure whether I would "broadcast" the color of my skin, not that I am embarrassed by it, but I don’t know how necessary it is. However, if I were to put up a picture up of myself, then that would be that.) I suppose I would construct myself as thinking black, young man who has an interest in the arts, both in critically assessing them and creatively participating in "art-making," all of which is informed by my foundation of faith in Christ. Hopefully this would not be a construction of an identity for myself, but a presentation of certain integrated parts of the person that I am.
I think my personal homepage would be very text-based. The images I might choose to use on the site might be a pen or a piano (a picture of me playing the keyboard is on my blog). Maybe these would act as links or "headers" to or of different parts of the site—works and information about my band, respectively. I would be extremely careful that nothing would come off cheesy, however.

Fan Sites

"fans are not fringe extremists with an unhealthy and urealistic interest in a particular media text, but savy consumers who are able to use popular culture to fulfil their desires and needs, often explicitly rearticulating that culture in unique and empowering ways" (82)

I would agree that fans are not fringe extremists--crazy yahoos who have nothing better to do with their time. Well, some of them are. But "fans" (the concept of what a fan is) has been around for awhile, and the internet simply gives fans the ability to express and share their delight and enthusiasm for particular things publicly and with other fellow fans. (Fans who use the internet to show their excitement probably seem more on the fringe--although arguably this stereotype is rapidly eroding away as it becomes more commonplace--because they have even more tools to publicly display their devotion.)

Media is a part of culture and is meant to be shared and enjoyed. Fans who participate in fan sites and forums use popular culture as a bridge, a connection, to other people. (By definition, popular culture is implanted in the consciousness of the masses.) These "savy consumers," and consumers they are, using the internet, are able to 1) express themselves, 2) partaking in the particular text of their fancy and thus participate in culture, and 3) and share their enjoyment with other people, and as a result, building relationship and becoming part of a community. These three things are not necessarily consciously done, however, humans are socio-cultural beings and will naturally find ways to do these three things in many different media. It's no surprise, then, that the internet fosters such activities.

Now, although I pretty much agree with the quote, I'm not so sure about the "explicitly rearticulating that culture in unique and empowering ways" part. Certainly, fan site contributors, especially those who write fan fiction and the like, are in concept doing something unique. On the other hand, a lot of fan fiction is really crappy and of course very derivative. Great artistic achievements would be hard to come by in the depths of on-line fan fiction. And exactly how is this empowering? Perhaps there are cases where fans actually bond together to keep a show on the air. This is empowering. But this probably is the exception not the rule. I don't think we should look down upon the online fan or fan internet fan communities. At the same time, I don't think we need to idolize them either. On-line fan communities are a cultural phenomenon where individuals can increase and deepen their cultural interaction beyond what was possible in the pre-World Wide Web days because of the internet's instantaneous, mass-public, and unrestrictive nature.

Interactive Sites

Interactive sites are really flourishing on the net and interestingly enough communities are growing out of these places on the web.

Many of the sites were rating sites. Sites like http://www.hotornot.com and http://www.facethejury.com involve rating people based on their attractiveness. At http://www.ageguess.com, one can guess at other people's ages from the submitted pictures (one's can also check one's accuracy which is automatically calculated). Other sites like http://www.cardomain.com and http://www.ratemyink.com/ allow users to rate other users' cars and body art, respectively. Some sites let users rate and review products, such as http://www.download.com and http://www.cnet.com. One can rate movies at http://www.imdb.com and post information about them as well. If you are a nerd and are interested in posting news, you can do so at http://www.slashdot.org, but remember that other users have the ability to post comments about your submitted articles. Sorry about the outcome of the election? Go to http://www.sorryeverybody.com and submit a photo of you and an apology letter written to the world. And http://www.secondlife.com allows you to become a part of a virtual world!

For many of the rating sites, a community focused on rating people, cars, or ageguessing arise. Communities of nerds, computer geeks, and technology enthusiast can buy, download, rate and discuss products and programs and news. Movie critics can come together to discuss movies. Non-Bush supporters can band together and show the world that they too are grieved by the election results. Second Life is perhaps the strangest of all the sites--an actual virtual community that exists on this site.

Depending on the site and community, you take on a certain identity by association. You begin to become a member of that community. Contribution also would seem to suggest to other users that you have a desire to be in a community with them. And the more you contribute, the more you assume the goals, rules, and aspirations of the whole. In more complex communities, one would begin to have a role or a specific place in the community, and one's identity in that community would take shape.

Although people often rate things or people, and discuss products, before the internet, such communities that were dedicated to these activities did not exist in a such a widespread and easy-to-access manner. Magazines have existed in which a small group of people, the contributors, write their opinions about thing 'x'. However, with the advent of the web, everyday people, not simply hired writers, can "publish" their opinions and have instant responses. This is also fosters discussion that probably only occurred at conventions or within a group of enthusiasts. And even then, usually only specific kinds of people attend conventions. The instantaneous and anonymous nature of the internet, coupled with its increasing ubiquity, allows for many different kinds of people with a common interest to come together and share that interest together. And as this becomes more commonplace, the stereotypes associated with these interest groups will also break down.

And finally, there's Second Life. This is essentially a virtual replication of a real-life community. Obviously such communities have existed since the beginning of humankind. The difference then comes with the anonymity of the internet. With that comes the ability to take on any identity you want. (Arguably, this is harder to do in real life.) And with the instantaneous nature of the web, changes can occur very quickly at Second Life. These two things greatly alter the "reality" one experiences on the screen from the reality lying outside one's bedroom door.

A Repsonse to a Quote about Blogs

'Bloggers are navel-gazers, and they're about as interesting as friends who make you look at their scrap books. There's an overfascination here with self-expression, with opinion. This is opinion without expertise, without resources, without reporting' (Schachtman, 2002)

Weblog is a term that has come to encompass a wide range and variety of frequently updated web pages that contain information about personal life, culture, news, health and other things. They are maintained by a diverse group of people: teenagers, college students, critics, journalists, aspiring writers, and everyone in between. Sites, like blogger.com, have made making and maintaining a blog easy for pretty much anyone to do. There is no html involved. One simply needs to sign up, login, type in a box and hit enter—and you’ve made an entry.

Because of this ease, anyone, and I mean anyone, really can put up a blog. Like anything else, people who are “boring”, who are narcissistic, and who plain just can’t write, are going to have to blogs there for the whole world to read. You’re going to have people who write very insightful, critical entries about a new movie. You’ll have other people complaining about the fact that their cat coughed up a hairball on the bed.

And that’s okay! People obviously must get a thrill from reading them. That’s why people get become addicted, spending hours going through pages of bloggers’ lives. They must be gratifying that desire, which most of us have had at one time or another, to read another person’s inner thoughts.

Of course, I think people would benefit much more from picking up a newspaper or going to a news site and reading about what’s going on in the world. I think a lot of people spend entirely too much time in these self-absorbed worlds that have been created on the Internet. Read a book. Ride a bike. Actually get to know your neighbor.

But the fact of the matter is that not every blog has the same purpose. Not every blog is supposed to be literary achievement, broadening and deepening the understanding of its readership in important and provoking topics or subjects. For many, it is simply a way to communicate. For some it is a way to express themselves, somewhat anonymously (but this is not always the case, and many bloggers know that their friends read their blogs), to a broader audience. This is a way in which many people deal with their “demons,” whether it be a destructive relationship or boredom.

However, there are “intelligent” blogs out there that deal with stuff that’s written about in published magazines and newspapers. You can find blogs containing articles of criticism, essays, philosophy, current events, culture, etc., etc. The advantage of course is that no longer are these topics simply the domain of (an arguably elite group) published writers or journalists. All sorts of people can write about this stuff. And some are quite talented, and write very excellent, thought-provoking articles.

And quite frankly—what makes the opinion of these published few so essential and valuable anyway? I like reading criticism myself, especially music criticism, and I disagree with these guys (and girls) more than half the time. (Honestly, most music critics don’t know a thing about music.) In many ways, true enthusiasts are no different than the “professionals” (unless of course you’re comparing someone who the only medicine they’ve learned has come from watching ER and an actual physician).

And really… If I’m going to read the news, I’ll grab a copy of The Sun or check out cnn.com. That’s where resources, trust, and reporting count. And then if I want I can make an entry on what I think about what’s going on, or read other blogs, or respond to what other people have said in their blogs. People talk about what’s happening in the world in real life all the time.

I admit that I’ll check out a couple of my friends’ blogs from time to time. And I do enjoy some of the more insightful blogs that are out there. But personally, as fascinating as the whole concept of the weblog is, I think reading other people’s online diaries is a waste of time. But then again, I find watching pointless soap operas and reading cheesy romance novels a waste of time, too.