Core Post-5

In her article, Lisa Parks rightfully points out how we should think the technological convergence between TV and internet in relation to the politics of gender, race and class. She calls the resulting new industrial model around personalized TV as “ flexible micro casting” (Parks, 134), and argues that this model functions by turning a certain mode of individuality into profit. It commodifies social distinctions and creates a cycle by pushing certain content to the viewers who are assumed to fit into a social group or niche, while keeping the illusion of individual choice at the same time. She analyzes the classical network response to this new convergence era through a case study of the return of quiz show, then looks at two other examples of convergence era TV, the Oxygen Media and Den.

Even though her argument makes sense, I find myself a bit disappointed at her analysis of Oxygen Media. She claims that differences between classical TV and internet are perceived in a gendered way: the former is associated with a passive female audience whereas the latter is directed towards a masculine viewer who is tech savvy enough to take charge and navigate the territories of digital entertainment. According to Parks, we can see Oxygen Media as an attempt to overcome this distinction and emphasize the presence of female audience in the convergence era. She acknowledges how Oxygen Media represents a mainstream feminism that defines empowerment through consumption and encourages women to shop instead of actually creating space for discussing structural problems and encouraging solidarity. It turns feminism into a profitable enterprise, but Parks is willing to accept that in return for the space they provide for female audiences. Do we need to make such compromises? Projects such as Oxygen Media brand themselves as platforms putting women to foreground and emphasizing how women’s media are “ubiquitous as air”, but all they really do is to normalize the idea that female audiences are only a niche, and do the exact opposite of what they claim to be.