Fiske brings for an argument for a strategy that would assist in checking the popular cultures from a broad perspective. He thus suggests that those individuals consuming the products coming from mass culture practice such in a manner that resists the meaning that has been offered by those who have produced the mass culture. They, therefore, term the product as a popular culture of that society. There is a constant struggle for practicing the control over various meanings, pleasures and also behaviors of one. This is fundamental especially in the case where the body has an enormous representation of an individual, and the politics around are best disguised in the human nature.
Fiske points out the manner in which the politics associated with popular culture do not come out as being radical just as they may be required. This is because they do less in overthrowing the system which has the responsibility of distributing power. However, worth noting is that it is a form of micro-politics that derives pleasure from the production of meanings which can both be termed as relevant and also functional. (Fiske 46) Such a perspective is essential since it suggests that there is a high requirement of concentrating on mass movements and that through that, the resistance that takes place in small bits of the human life will be missed.
Fiske also argues that the body is a site of social control because it is often a subject of different resistance, as well as other dominant systems that do seek to exude control over it. As a result, he comes up with a theory that is usable in the daily life while at the same time focusing on the creativity and specificity that various commodities are put. He thus asserts that individuals can generate a cultural diversity by popularizing the meanings and functions of the body as a social control sphere. In all this, gender politics comes out extremely illuminated. This is because, in most instances, the female gender has been relocated to the backseat in matters having a deep interest in the society.
The concepts of power block and the people
Who are power block and the people?
The power bloc can be termed as those groups of individuals or countries who have common interests and thus express their power in institutions as a single entity or as a political force. Some of the institutions where a power bloc would exist include the media, the government, various learning institutions and even different sectors of the law. The idea of power blocs follows the notion that the groups, as well as, persons who mostly profit from perpetuating extant social orders reminiscence their particular orders with those having a schema of a dominant power. They would thus do everything in their capacity to ensure that all goes on well. Fiske asserts that everything around power blocs can be maximally put straight by offering what they can actually perform and not merely what they are. With a particular interest in different sectors of gender, race, colonialism and also class, people can adequately fall in power blocs. For example, a black-American may be extremely disempowered because of the racial dynamics that is associated with the supremacy of the whites. However, the same individual may reap the benefits from being member of a politically disadvantaged group. (Kincheloe 98)
The people, on another hand, is made of an alliance of those having similar interests. They, in essence, try to form a resistance against the power bloc. It can efficiently be described as that arena of constant resistance emanating from a particular group whose ideologies do not conform to those of the system. Its norms on most cases are organized around contradictions thus making it to be a problematic phenomenon. It seeks to find answers to what and whom the different artifacts of culture belong. In the case of Beatlemania, ‘the people' was that group that was sexually defiant to the prescribed norms in the society. Consequently, the society faced a whole load of problems because of the prevailing societal norms. Such people may not even communicate with each other to offer resistance to the power bloc. It is just something that is of a common interest to them. Therefore, both the power bloc and the people form a fundamental aspect in different prescriptions of the community.
How the popular culture of the youth threaten social order
The popular culture of the youth has been for a long time known to threaten the social order in the society. This is accordance with their ways of life, the type of music they listen to and even the values that they subscribe. The youth have a way of manipulation that hold that the primary reason for working is purposely to enjoy life by taking advantage of the different forms of entertainment and also culture that is in existent in their communities. The social order is enormously threatened by the weird beliefs, interests, practices and styles that are practiced by the youths. In most cases, they do differ from those of the older generation thereby forming an interactive barrier between them. For example, for the ladies, almost half of their time in the adolescent period is spent in finding ways of look more attractive, glamorous and also sexy. They also spend this time in holding the advances they receive thus contributing to what they term as success. (Ehrenreich 528) Essentially, comprehending the youth culture is significant for further projecting the social order.
Notably, there has been a worry among the older generation that the culture of the youths has been solely responsible for the moral degradation that has been rampant in the society of late thereby contributing to social disorder. As a result, the values of the young and upcoming generation would enormously be changed possibly in the uptake of negative influences. Besides, the popular culture of the youth ascribes to values that hugely conflict with the social order. Therefore, there has been concerns that have centered on their perceived displeasure in education, substance abuse, extensive engagement in various leisure activities and even in participation on premature sexual activities.
How does the power bloc attempt to maintain the status quo?
In spite of all the challenges encountered by the power blocs, they often try to retain the current situation so as to continue with the systems that they are accustomed to. They achieve this through the inscription of the fragility of social control and through the avoidance of anything that may go out of control. As a result, the power blocs always have the moral, legal, as well as, the creative powers that could be used in dealing with any situation at hand. For them, maintenance of the status quo is imperative for further propagating their beliefs and values. Checking on various modalities of conducting their affairs is essential to ensuring that they achieve their set prospects. (Przeworski 61)
How the people can resist power bloc in Finley’s skating feminity
In Finley’s journal “Skating Femininity: Gender Maneuvering in Women’s Roller Derby,” she presents the manners that the ladies playing the roller derby face numerous challenges related to gender constructions. She puts forward an argument that the clear contradictions in various feminine constructions in the roller derby put more emphasis on the nature of performance of gender. Also, the game creates an essential space where the norms of gender are challenged, transformed and also parodied. Through this, power bloc that may emanate from the male domination can be maximally resisted.
In essence, the resistance of the power bloc is particularly for those who have an enormous dependence on the powers of different dominant groups for the maintenance of their status quo. As a result, the woman can broadly build networks for the mobilization of rewards, as well as, resources in forming relationships and building alliances between feminity and the masculinity. (Finley 366). The resistance of the power bloc here revolves around the perception that the female gender is a lesser being in comparison to the male gender. The game thus provides that perfect example of the ways that women can use their feminity in the local settings for purposes of bringing alterations in various systems.
The stigma that women often face in various quotas is enormously responsible for the power bloc in such popular culture. Also, the exorbitant consumption of such a culture could not extend without the resistance from the women by forming the roller derby team that is only made of women. This supremacy battle as can be evidenced above is the most notable causative for the existence of the power bloc. Notably, the popularity of the sport has increased almost in the entire world. Also, because of the popular cultures associated with it, it has been taunted as the most violent women sport existing. (Storey 123) In conclusion, the above article has presented a discussion on the body and social control. It has enumerated the reasons for the body being a site for social control and has explained the concepts of power blocs and the people. Lastly, it has noted the resistance of power bloc through popular culture in accordance to skating feminity.
Works cited
Ehrenreich, et al. Beatlemania. A sexually defiant consumer subculture. New York. Rout ledge. 1992.
Finley, N. J. "Skating Femininity: Gender Maneuvering In Women's Roller Derby". Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 39.4 (2010): 359-387.
Kincheloe, Joe. Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2008.
Fiske, John. Understanding Popular Culture. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989.
Przeworski, Adam. Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Storey, John. An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. Sunderland. Pearson Longman. 2006.
