Across
- 3. A strategy of reading or analyzing something in a way that challenges assumptions about what is “normal,” especially regarding gender and sexuality.
- 6. culture paradox The idea that popular culture can both challenge and reinforce dominant power structures.
- 8. The study of signs and how they create meaning.
- 11. A type of ideology that has become solidified in cultural objects or practices.
- 12. Quo The existing state of social, political, or cultural affairs.
- 14. Any cultural product that can be “read” for meaning (film, ad, book, etc.).
- 15. culture Cultural forms considered elite or refined (e.g., opera, classical literature).
- 18. Anything (words, images, sounds) that communicates meaning.
- 19. culture Culture produced for large audiences through industrial means.
- 21. An economic system where private individuals own businesses and operate them for profit.
- 22. Cultural stories or ideas that make certain beliefs seem natural or common sense.
- 25. A product made to be bought and sold.
- 26. The real-world thing or idea that a sign refers to.
- 27. value The profit made by paying workers less than the value of what they produce.
- 28. needs Artificial desires created by capitalism that distract from real needs.
- 29. culture Traditional cultural practices created by communities and passed down over time.
- 30. Institutions like police, courts, and military that maintain order through force.
- 32. practices Physical activities and real-world behaviors that produce culture.
- 34. A smaller cultural group within a larger culture that has its own norms and values
- 38. Institutions like schools, media, religion that shape beliefs and maintain ideology.
- 39. needs Basic human needs necessary for survival and well-being.
- 40. The arrangement or sequence of elements in a structure.
- 42. signs Signs that resemble what they represent.
- 44. An approach that studies systemic racism and how laws and institutions maintain racial inequality.
- 46. garde Innovative, experimental art that challenges conventions.
- 47. The capitalist class that owns the means of production.
- 48. A theory that analyzes society in terms of class struggle and economic power.
- 49. Dressing up as a character from media (film, comics, games, etc.).
- 51. The quality of being genuine or “real.”
- 52. culture Culture associated with dominant or upper classes.
- 53. The relationship between texts and how they reference or influence each other.
- 56. The illusion of uniqueness in mass-produced cultural products.
Down
- 1. A movement and theory advocating gender equality.
- 2. appropriation Adopting elements of one culture (often marginalized) by another, usually dominant, culture.
- 4. The belief that men and women have natural, unchangeable traits based on biology.
- 5. of feeling Shared values and emotions characteristic of a particular time period.
- 7. The set of possible elements that could be chosen in a given position within a structure.
- 9. culture The merging of media platforms and audiences across technologies.
- 10. Categories of cultural products defined by shared conventions.
- 13. practices The ways meaning is produced and communicated through signs.
- 16. Related to signs and meaning-making.
- 17. intent The creator’s intended meaning behind a work.
- 20. The physical form of a sign (word, image, sound).
- 21. industry The mass production of culture for profit under capitalism.
- 23. The working class who sell their labor for wages.
- 24. The literal, surface meaning of a sign.
- 31. set A category with unclear or flexible boundaries.
- 33. Made by hand, often emphasizing craftsmanship and uniqueness.
- 35. The analysis and evaluation of cultural texts.
- 36. School A group of Marxist scholars who critiqued mass culture and capitalism.
- 37. codes The technical elements (camera angles, lighting, sound) used to create meaning in media.
- 41. A reference to another text, event, or cultural element.
- 43. studies An academic field that examines culture, media, and power relations.
- 45. The belief that gender and identity are socially constructed by culture and environment.
- 50. press Media aimed at a mass audience (e.g., tabloids, entertainment news).
- 54. Masculinity Harmful cultural norms associated with masculinity, such as aggression and emotional suppression.
- 55. A system of signs and rules that create meaning (e.g., fashion as a gender code).