Blog Post 2: Hegemony

The concept that the consensus of the population is more powerful than any one individual is the way in which hegemony is able to function with great effect.  The market targeting body image in accordance to what society views as acceptable is an example of hegemony in one of its most effective genres.

The use of hegemony takes on many strategies to influence the public:  advertisements, movies, and even the consumers of a product adding to its standardization within the society.  Advertisements present ideas for the public to accept or deny and the ones that are accepted become standard, thus the market gains control of public opinion through its dedicated consumers.  Movie stars give a dramatic example of hegemony by acting as lightning rods for consumers to flock upon and imitate.  Once an idea has become standard those who have not yet conformed are subjected to mockery, discrimination and exile, although it may not seem as though in all cases the subtle hints are still nevertheless present.  Through these and other tactics, media use hegemony to control the population by subtly controlling the thoughts of the people within it, not merely through forced acceptance. 

Hegemony allows for a concept to be twisted and construed exemplifying the disproportionate positive aspects of a product while simultaneously masking the all so present detriments.  Throughout nearly every mall in America it is almost impossible to go even a single step without being bombarded with a salvo of overly fantasized images of both men and women boasting immaculate figures, most of which are retouched at that.  These figures are allocated to every marketing niche they can effectively be used in, and society eventually falls under the impression that this form of biological perfection is commonplace and that the average person is the minority.  By enforcing this monopoly of public image, the media are able to force the idea that image is the most important thing and by purchasing their product that image can be obtained.  What is not presented to the population is the fabrication of these deities and the detrimental effects such an image can have.  Most of the models used to advertise to the public starve themselves and are over zealously modified to produce such an image which hardly ever has an actual correlation to the product.

Examples of these uses of hegemony are seen in the following advertisement for perfume which couples the idea of a perfect commitment between two attractive individuals with a perfume product.  In this example the producers of this media are presenting the common high standard of a perfect body and relationship as an effect of using the perfume.  This is a classic example of hegemony that constantly affects the thoughts of the consumer.  While many people claim to be unaffected by advertisements, they will still have the standard presented to them and will still be subjugated by the public for not trying to meet that standard. 

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The media also presents subtle images of the hegemonic standard through film  Movie actors and actresses seldom stray from the common image of perfect bodies and stunning features and constantly urge the public to follow their example.  Even in the newly investigated genre of animated films people, or human-like beings, are presented as having the standard muscular body for men and the slender silhouette for women as the images of the characters from James Cameron's Avatar exude.

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