Loss of individuality——Culture industry
How to simply understand the cultural industry? It can be divided into the following parts: Industrialized Culture, Standardization, Commercialization, Impact on society, Loss of individuality. In essence, the culture industry is the mass production and commercialization of culture, often with a focus on profit and conformity, and it can have significant effects on society and individuality. Next I will expand on the analysis of the last part.
Some argue that this industrialization of culture can lead to a loss of diversity and individuality, as well as limit critical thinking. The loss of individuality in the context of the culture industry can manifest in several ways. For examples, standardized music. I don’t know if you have noticed that many popular songs follow formulaic structures and sounds in music production, which makes them sound very similar. This will lead to a loss of personal artistic expression, as most music producers will likely conform to these trends and achieve commercial success. This is an expression of catering to the masses and completely losing personal style.
In addition, consumerism is also one aspect. The culture industry often encourages consumerism, promoting the idea that happiness and identity are tied to the consumption of specific products. This can lead to people defining themselves by the products they buy, rather than buying products based on their own unique qualities. Just like some buyers of health care products, they look at the advertised effects and think they need them, but in fact they do not buy them according to their own needs. This will increase the burden on their kidneys.
Furthermore, fashion trends. In the fashion industry, designers and retailers promote certain trends and styles, or they leave these promotions to social media influencers or Internet celebrities. As a result, people often end up conforming to these trends rather than expressing their own unique style. Just like the Mailed style that fashionistas are embracing this fall.
These examples illustrate how the standardization and commercialization of cultural industries limits individuality by promoting compliance with established norms and trends, often for profit and mass appeal.
Reference
Gu pengfei and Zhao qin, (2013). Art anthropology. Available from https://www.artanthropology.com/show.aspx?id=1278&cid=11 [Accessed 22 October 2023]
Hi, Yuning, your blog is well organised, and you have emphasised the drawbacks of cultural industrialisation and provided further examples, such as music that tends to have consistent tones. I fully agree with what you mentioned in your blog, and I think that the cultural industry should not lose its own characteristics in order to cater to public taste.
Hi, Ruiwen! Thank you so much for your comment.