Context Collapse
By Louisa Rogers
Context CollapseSep 18, 2022
5. The "United" Colours of Benetton
I read Consuming Social Change: The United Colours of Benetton by Henry Giroux this week and wanted to share some (potentially only half-formed) thoughts about diversity, the political potential of fashion and the problem of concentrating critical readings on commercialisation. You can read the full paper here, no institutional login required: https://www.csus.edu/indiv/o/obriene/art7/readings/benetton.htm.
Twitter: @louisagrogers
Website: www.LouisaRogers.net
4. Digital Selves
Just a short episode before I go away for a week considering the impact of technology on identity, creativity and our understanding of the world around us. With technology accelerating continuously, how will we create shared meaning if we aren't able to adequately historicise events?
+ A bit of Baudrillard.
Buy Sherry Turkle's 'Life On The Screen' here.
Twitter: @louisagrogers
3. R/Vindicta, Beauty and Bodies
What is beauty? Nobody can define it but everyone knows when it is in front of them. A subreddit takes a more methodological approach to beauty, promoting the idea that strategic cosmetic interventions, 'personality-maxxing' and the close study of existing sex symbols can make us into desired, magnetic people. This is a contentious space peppered with the remnants of incel semantics, disturbing echoes of racist physiognomy and the low self-esteem issues that characterise being a young woman today. They may be women with a plan, but even R/Vindicta recognizes the intrinsic contradiction that lies at its heart. Listen to find out more.
Website: www.LouisaRogers.net
Twitter: @louisagrogers
2. The Real Housewives of The Fourth Wave
The Real Housewives is, in many ways, the most appropriate media format for the post-post-modern age. The themes of conspicuous consumption, the blurring of traditional family units and gender roles, and the overlap of filming, reality and airing present exciting talking points. The Real Housewives tells us more about the state of our culture than we might like to admit; much of Bravo's audience is aware of this. Harbinger of complete cultural collapse, frivolous indulgence or thoughtful exploration of contemporary womanhood? I try to convince you in this episode that it is all three.
All views expressed are my own.
Follow me on Twitter: @lougrogers
Website: www.LouisaRogers.net
1. The Disturbing Visual Culture of the Columbiner Fandom
The Columbiner Fandom is a community that celebrates the Columbine school shooters. Back in 2015, I wrote my Bachelors thesis on how this Tumblr community was using digital collage and American popular culture motifs to rewrite the narrative of the perpetrators and frame them as misunderstood victims of an unfair social system. The Columbiners critique contemporary society by juxtaposing disturbing images connected to the shooting with the visual language of entertainment; representing a perverse intermingling of violence and pleasure that we now see being exploited by true crime content.
All views expressed are my own. See the podcast transcript here: https://www.louisarogers.net/blog/2022/9/10/buen5h90ot9rglf6i75hrd0zl3n5sr
Follow me on Twitter: @lougrogers