Pop culture freaks : identity, mass media, and society / Dustin Kidd

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. The Matrix in everywhere : an introduction to the sociology of popular culture -- 2. The Revolution will not be available on iTunes : racial perspectives -- 3. Movin' on up : class perspectives -- 4. Men are from marlboro country, woman are from Wisteria Lane : gender perspectives -- 5. Not that there's anything wrong with that : sexuality perspective -- 6. Handi-capable : disability perspectives -- 7. Translating Harry Potter : global perspectives -- 8. Freaks in the matrix : a conclusion and an invitation

Love it or hate it, popular culture permeates every aspect of contemporary society. In this accessibly written introduction to the sociology of popular culture, Dustin Kidd provides the tools to think critically about the cultural soup served daily by film, television, music, print media, and the internet. Utilizing each chapter to present core topical and timely examples, Kidd highlights the tension between inclusion and individuality that lies beneath mass media and commercial culture, using this tension as a point of entry to an otherwise expansive topic. He systematically considers several dimensions of identity (race, class, gender, sexuality, disability) to provide a broad overview of the field that encompasses classical and contemporary theory, original data, topical and timely examples, and a strong pedagogical focus on methods. Pop Culture Freaks encourages students to develop further research questions and projects from the material. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses are brought to bear in Kidd's examination of the labor force for cultural production, the representations of identity in cultural objects, and the surprising differences in how various audiences consume and use mass culture in their everyday lives.