Hegemony is formed by particular institutions or groups within capitalist society in what Gramsci identifies as civil society. Apparently, hegemony helps in securing the dominance of the most powerful class of individuals or a group of society. It does so by even determining what is identified as “common sense.” The concept of ‘hegemony’ as introduced by Gramsci into the British cultural study brought the rethinking of popular culture (Katz, 2006). This occurred in various ways. One, it produced a rethinking of popular culture. Secondly, it was considered as a key site for the production and reproduction of hegemony. Capitalists, industrial society, are divided unequally, for instance, the generation gender, ethnicity, social class and sexuality. Popular culture is determined by the key sites where the divisions occur and are contrasted. In other words, popular culture can be considered as one other arena that involves negotiation and struggle between the interest of the dominant and subordinate groups.
Working with hegemony framework, “Keeping up with the Kardashians," follows a commodity and a reality show that is among the most famous on reality TV. It follows the lifestyle of Kardashian’s family and what they do on daily basis. In a nutshell, Kris, a mother of the family and the family's matriarch before the divorce was married to Robert Kardashian. Together, they had four children before they divorced in 1990 (Kinon, 2007). She then later married Bruce Jenner, an Olympic athlete and gave birth to two daughters, creating a family of six. Robert and Kris's oldest daughter is Kourtney. Tougher with her sister they own D-A-S-H, a boutique for women that is located in Melrose, Miami, and New York City. There are a lot of scenes that occur at the DASH store while the girls organize clothes, tally inventory and clean. Together, this family forms one of the most talked about and most paid shows in media.
The Kardashian franchise has conducted an extraordinary job with maintaining its social power and presence all over the media. In fact, there is a possibility of an entire culture of adolescents who are consumed with being like Kardashians. Currently, there is Kardashians clothing line, cell phones apps, books and make up all created with the aim of maintaining the portrayed wealthy lifestyle that produces dominant effects on the individuals who do not have similar privileges in life. For instance, Kylie Jenner, the youngest daughter in the Kardashian Klan of socialites. Time magazine identified Kylie in their list among the "30 Most Influential 2015 Teens.” Kylie recently has been given a lot of attention from the media for being 17 years old and injecting her lips on a daily basis.
People, instead of being worried or bothered by situations like a young girl being injected into lips for "looking prettier," they inject their lips to get Kylie's lips. This social influence forms the same teenager goes even further to the point that her lipstick lines while on the market were sold out within 24 hours. Needless to mention, the “must-have” lipstick prices were up to $30.00 for each (Stein, 2013). Not only does she – Kylie – have a lot of money to flaunt, but also she does influence her followers to be spending a lot of money on the products that she own. Such power of dominance held by Kylie and other Kardashians over the comparatively subordinate plebeian viewer is part of hegemony trait.
The reality behind this family being able to make a lot of money because other people watch their show live according to their set privileges is a good example of a hegemonic influence that the Kardashians have over those who chose to devour Television shows and products. Those who can see every episode of the show can contest to the fact that Money is not an issue for the family who enjoys exotic vacations to BoraBora, Maldives, and the Dominican Republic, to name but a few; who additionally live in mansions that are luxurious with Calcutta gold marble bathrooms almost one size of a living room filled with nothing other than designer clothes and shoes. The ideology of dominance that drives the family's reality show to its success is behind the belief that money has a better quality of life, much more entraining and with a fulfilling lifestyle.
When a working class viewer considers the world of the upper class, a luxurious and elite way of living can prove intriguing, since the society, has been conditioned to believe that if money is available –Consumerism and capitalism, then anyone’s life would be less stressing, with more conformability and full leisure. This dominant ideology circumstance, emphasizes on the power and happiness that money has on individuals, which is the hegemonic control that the Kardashians show over its viewers. It is, however, not an unfamiliar feeling for anybody to need what they cannot have. Also, part of the hegemony is when the subordinate group which involves the working class viewers, allow their subordination compared to the dominant group –the Kardashians. The fact that most working class individuals realize their entertainment and fulfillment when they have what it feels like to live the lavish life portrays way in which hegemony works to observe a dominant figure in culture and, an impact, as a dominant ideological existence within a socioeconomic level (Mouffe, 1979).
However, it is in fact very important to note that the Kardashians as dominant figures provides a dominant institution standpoint in the society, precisely with a perspective that money is an essential commodity to ensuring conformability and living a leisure life. The Kardashians, no doubt promote consumerism and capitalism hegemony with their position of dominance in media. The show is entitled and famously known as “Keeping Up with The Kardashians” for a reason of its own; the title in itself suggests the Kardashians are an eligible family and one that is dominant too; a figure in the media to live up to, with the attempt of coping up with their standards. Furthermore, the modern media producers carry out an outstanding job towards ensuring that its audiences are convinced with whatever they give; a life considered to be perfectly lived with money never being a problem. The Kardashian family can be considered the ‘ruling elites' that make the use of mass media to control their wealth, status and power through popularizing their capitalism and consumerism lifestyle.
In conclusion, the Television show of Kardhasins avoids the unconventional and unpopular topic such as depression, poverty, and unemployment through "keeping up" a reality Television structured to show that emphasizes on the glamorized lifestyle, which has similarities to any show structure. Even though I can consider the extraordinary nature of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" as an afflicted sign that the media viewers have turned infatuated with, there is no point of denying that the show itself is indeed effective at being a dominant hegemonic subject. It successfully produces and reinforces social power as the family is continuously making a powerful presence in the media.
Reference
Kinon, C. (2007). E! Renews ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’. Daily News.
Katz, H. (2006). Gramsci, hegemony, and global civil society networks.Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations,17(4), 332-347.
Mouffe, C. (1979). Hegemony and ideology in Gramsci. Gramsci and Marxist theory, 168, 204.
Stein, J. (2013). Millennials: The me me me generation. Time Magazine, 20.
