Marxism and Market Liberalism revision questions:

Which particular form of inequality are Marxists interested in?
Social and economic inequality - this inequality can be seen in society in contexts such as wages, where the politicians get £80k+ a year and the reserve pools of labour are on minimum wage or 0 hour contracts. Also it can be seen when there is a hierarchy in social classes such as higher classes who penalize the lower classes.

How does Marxist thought divide society?
Marxist thoughts can divide society into two roles, proletariat and bourgeoisie. 
Bourgeoisie: Those who have an effective and active role in governing society, controlling those lower than them. These people have the upper hand in the production.
Proletariat: Those who do not have an effective and active role in governing society, controlled by those higher than them (the bourgeoisie). Need to sell their labour for the people with higher power.

What is an example of what a Marxist would see as exploitation?
Marxists would see the selling of products for profit an exploitation of the working force who sell their labour to the company's and receive nothing back.  An example of this is Cadburys, where all the profit from the chocolate sold goes to the company and not the loyal workers that have been there 30/40 years. Suddenly all of the workers were made redundant so the company could make more profit from employing cheaper staff members in Poland, which a Marxist would see as an exploitation of the original work force.

In what ways does Marxist thought suggest we are in false consciousness?
Marxist thought suggests that we are in false consciousness as we are distracted by the false needs placed on us through capitalism. Marxists state that equal society is not a Utopian ideology, but an achievable goal if we open our eyes to recognize that capitalism is making us consume more than we need to. Russell Brand touches on this in his Revolution book, asking how are we allowing this to happen? Upgrades on phones and everyday appliances are seen as false needs which capitalists force us to buy into.

What benefits might a market liberal (capitalist) system bring to the population?
Escaping poverty through working, earning and saving for your living. Also, it allows people to buy labour saving devices through the market price(a fair price in a capitalists eyes), such as dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves and so forth, making life easier for us westerners.

How are false needs reinforced, according to Marxist thought?
False needs are reinforced to society through basic agents of socialization, which capitalist markets target to address the widest audience and get the biggest profit from. These agents of socialization are things such as the media and our peer groups, where if one person has a trend, everyone must have a trend, otherwise we are deemed 'uncool' or we don't fit in. This false need imposed on us by capitalism is links with the Pygmalion effect or self fulfilling prophecy.

Illustrate Baumans ideas about the 'perpetual non-satisfaction' of consumers?
Baumans ideas on perpetual non-satisfaction basically mean that as long as consumers are not satisfied with a product for a long time (as the product does not last), the consumer will repeatedly have to put money into the large companies to replace their items, a cycle purposely placed by the capitalists that run the large companies, such as the first light bulbs ever made, which were given 1500 less hours of light so that customers would have to buy more. 
Definition: Perpetual - never ending or changing, reoccurring. 

Explain why we might pay more for a product than we think it is actually worth?
We may do this to increase our self-esteem, part of the self-fulfilling prophecy touched upon in the AS year of the course. It could be argued that we are not actually aware that we are paying more for something than its worth, as it could be said that we are falsely conscious and not aware of what capitalism is doing to us.

What do critics of late capitalism such as Paul Moore and Bill Gates suggest is needed to make capitalism more acceptable?


What does market liberalist thought suggest when it criticizes Marxism as promoting a 'utopian ideal'?

Iggy Pop on John Peel Lecture

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04lcj6z

Polly Toynbee with John Lydon

Polly Toynbee speaking to John Lydon on Russell Brands opinions for change in his call for Revolution:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2014/oct/15/john-lydon-russell-brand-revolution-video?CMP=twt_gu

Polly Toynbee is a writer for the guardian, who is known for her opinions on political matters written in her articles. She is in an interview here with John Lydon, singer of the Sex Pistols, who is much like Russell Brand in the fact that he is trying to redeem himself in the medias eye by taking on political issues.

In the interview, Toynbee states that "The time in history we were most equal was in 1977"
Former Sex Pistol John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, tells Polly Toynbee that comedian Russell Brand's call for people not to vote is ignorant, flippant and liable to 'make you all homeless'. Lydon also explains why he'd never vote Conservative, labels Ukip 'morons' and calls anarchy a 'mind game for the middle classes'
Russell Brands response to their criticism:
 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/russell-brand-occupies-wall-street-and-calls-for-revolution-again-9798218.html

Russell Brand on Capitalism

Article on The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/oct/11/russell-brand-revolution-exclusive-extract

In this article and in the book Revolution, Russell Brand offers a modern marxist argument in the form of popular culture, helping to address less likely to understand individuals in hope for a revolution against capitalism.

Although these arguments are not his own, he delivers them in a witty way which reaches a wider global audience than the people who originally proposed the arguments. 

An example of this is David Graeber, who is adamant that all debts should be cancelled. Russell supports his argument with the following statements: 

• The bible talks of 'Debt Jubilees', where all debt is cancelled everyso years.
• Islam states that credit at extortionate rates, loans and bank interest etc, is forbidden.
• 75% of Americans are in debt, 40% of that being over $50'000.
• 9 million brits in serious crippling debt
• 2008 financial crash in America resulted in 13.1 million homes being repossessed as credit cards were given out so people could pay for everyday items, and also $700 billion of debt was wiped out.

Marx's theory of False Consciousness says that we are not aware of how far we are letting capitalism go, we are turning a blind eye and not facing reality.

Marxist and Market Liberalist links:

Wall Street - Gordon Gecko (why greed is good)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF_iorX_MAw

Milton Friedman on why Capitalism is best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLiVoHuBvNI&feature=related
Friedman is saying that capitalism is what keeps the world in order, being the most productive way of getting messages to society. He also makes the point that countires who have capitalism in play and are run on greed are the countires that are better off.

Captain Capitalism cartoon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4W4a5XweFA

Bill Gates - Where capitalism is going
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA1ioym5OYA

The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Television,The Drug of the Nation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky4uYnsF3kc

The truth about capitalism - John Perkins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XidlRhyU7MO

Problems with Materialism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGab38pKscw

Andrea Dworkin: Fairy tale representations

‘Woman Hating: A Radical Look at Sexuality’, written by Andrea Dworkin was published in 1974. A large section of this book is focused on the fairy tale and its meaning in our culture.

Female characters in fairy tales.

Dworkin discusses the roles that men and women play in Western fairy tales and their implications. For example, she identifies that females are particularly desirable when they are sleeping (some like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are practically comatose). She also points out that good men are likely to fall under the influence of a powerful female and harm their children. (E.g. Hansel and Gretel)

Dworkin states; "The good woman must be possessed. The bad woman must be killed, or punished.  Both must be nullified.’

‘The roles available to women and men are clearly articulated in fairy tales. The characters are vividly described, and so are the modes of relationship possible between them. We see that powerful women are bad, that good women are inert. We see that men are always good, no matter what they do, or do not do.’ (The fathers in Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel are still described as ‘good men’ despite failing to protect their children from the evil female characters).

Dworkin on the ‘princess’ characters in fairy tales:

‘Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel - all are characterized by passivity, beauty, innocence and victimization.  They are archetypal good women - victims by definition. They never think, act, initiate, confront, resist, challenge, feel, care or question. Sometimes they are forced to do housework.’

Dworkin on mothers in fairy tales:

‘These fairy tale mothers are mythological female figures. They define for us the female character and delineate its existential possibilities. When she is good, she is soon dead.’

On stepmothers: ‘She is ruthless, brutal, ambitious, a danger to children and other living things.  Whether called mother, queen, stepmother or wicked witch, she is the wicked witch, the content of nightmare, the source of terror.’

In her reading of ‘Cinderella’, she states: ‘Cinderella's stepmother understood correctly that her only real work in life was to marry off her daughters. Her goal was upward mobility, and her ruthlessness was consonant with the values of the market place.’  

Dworkin has this to say about the prince character in fairy tales:

‘He is handsome and heroic. He is a prince, that is, he is powerful, noble and good. He rides a horse. He travels far and wide. He has a mission, a purpose. Inevitably he fulfils it. He is a person of worth and a worthwhile person. He is strong and true.

Of course, he is not real, and men do suffer trying to become him. ‘

On the role of the fairy tale in our culture:

‘Women live in fairy tale as magical figures, as beauty, danger, innocence, malice and greed. On the personae of the fairy tale - the wicked witch, the beautiful princess, the heroic prince - we find what the culture would have us know about who we are.

The point is that we have not formed that ancient world - it has formed us. We ingested it as children whole, had its values and consciousness imprinted on our minds as cultural absolutes long before we were in fact men and women. We have taken the fairy tales of childhood with us into maturity, chewed but still lying in the stomach, as real identity. Between Snow White and her heroic prince, our two great fictions, we never did have much of a chance. At some point, the Great Divide took place: they (the boys) dreamed of mounting the Great Steed and buying Snow White from the dwarfs; we (the girls) aspired to become that object of every necrophiliac's lust - the innocent, victimized, Sleeping-Beauty, beauteous lump of ultimate, sleeping good. Despite ourselves, sometimes unknowingly, sometimes knowing, unwilling, unable to do otherwise, we act out the roles we were taught.’

Feminism Links:

Caitlin Moran on modern issues for feminism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ4DzEJ8ax4

Objectification  - effect on young women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYa4WtULJWs

Feminism and the C – word

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDJutaFuVD0

Women objectified in advertising

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoxi1e-VGC8

Feminism Questions:

What is Feminism?
The belief that all men and women should be equal in all ways, social, sexual etc.

What is the objectification of women?
This is how women are presented in the media as sexual objects, mainly for no reason other that a male audience. This can be clearly seen in many rap videos such as Candy Shop - 50 Cent. Also it can be seen in advertising such as the recent Sheba cat food advert.

How can gender be seen as a social construct?


First Second and Third Wave feminism differences?
The first wave of feminism was in the late 1800s/early 1900s, and women were appealing for political quality, eg the right to vote. They used violent tactics such as invading parliament and hunger striking in prison to fight for womens equality. The second wave of feminism was in the 50s and 60s, and women were concerned with their social status against men, being known as the housewives and on less money than men at work. The women in the second wave of feminism fought for their equality against men in hierarchy above women. The third wave of feminism were concerned with the pressures placed on women in society today to conform to an un-achievable image. This took place in the 80s, 90s and 2000s and to some degree is still happening today.

Characteristics of femininity in fairy tales?
Female characters in fairytales are characterised as passive, beautiful, innocent and victimized, basically damsels in distress. This means that they are automatically set to be saved by the male lead role, who in every fairytale is seen as the hero (such as Cinderella, even though her father didnt protect her from her stepmother), who is portrayed as vulnerable from the beginning of the film. Another example of this is Rapunzel, who is seemingly strong to begin with but really has to rely on a man to make her way through the world. Jasmine from Aladdin also represents this as she is really of no political worth until she is married (relying on the male counterpart).

How can the portrayal of women in fairytales effect the real world?
The portrayal of women in fairytale films, especially Disney, is a slim figured, big breasted and beautiful woman who unfortunately have to lean on their male counterpart to be secure in life. This message and representation is imprinted on us since children as Andrea Dworkin says, and therefore we grow up believing these stereotypes and so strive to be the 'princesses' we have always seen as role models. Women can get breast implants and force themselves to love a man in order to feel complete.

The 'Male Gaze':
The male gaze is the ideology that everything is seen through a males perspective in the media, such as through advertising and in magazines. This can be argued as the reason a lot of women are objectified in the media, as men would like to see big breasts and less clothing on a woman.

What does the male gaze suggest about power of genders in our society?
The male gaze suggests that men still have hierarchy in our society, as men would never be objectified to such extremes as women are today (through mens choice presumably). An example of this is Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke, where women are dancing on set naked to a song about rape. A feminist version was released as a parody, yet has no where near as many views and has been criticized by men for being too out of context. The original version is www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyDUC1LUXSU and the feminist version is www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC1XtnLRLPM

How are 'normative standards of beauty' formed?

Whats the difference between capitalism and normative standards of beauty?

How might these beauty standards affect womens health?