Abstract
In this chapter I focus on one development of media culture
which, I argue, connects to a set of messages about the manufacture of
the successful self—that is the production of the selfie as a personal project and
especially in relation to the worlds of paid work, careers, and economic security.
As will be seen, work-related selfies are deployed across the social spectrum. Both working-class and middle-class subjects are invited to present their best selves
via selfie culture. These are used to demonstrate their “passion” for work. Selfies
bind together our personal biographies and social media profiles in the pursuit
of advancement and financial security. I argue that worker subjects have become
figured as the heroes of their own lives and self-portraiture is one important
component of this self-fashioning. Bearing this in mind, I make the case for developing a new category of social role model, one which is fitting and theoretically useful for the current moment, namely the idol of self-production. I adapt the term from Leo Lowenthal’s work.
which, I argue, connects to a set of messages about the manufacture of
the successful self—that is the production of the selfie as a personal project and
especially in relation to the worlds of paid work, careers, and economic security.
As will be seen, work-related selfies are deployed across the social spectrum. Both working-class and middle-class subjects are invited to present their best selves
via selfie culture. These are used to demonstrate their “passion” for work. Selfies
bind together our personal biographies and social media profiles in the pursuit
of advancement and financial security. I argue that worker subjects have become
figured as the heroes of their own lives and self-portraiture is one important
component of this self-fashioning. Bearing this in mind, I make the case for developing a new category of social role model, one which is fitting and theoretically useful for the current moment, namely the idol of self-production. I adapt the term from Leo Lowenthal’s work.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Media and Class: TV, Film and Digital Culture |
Editors | June Deery, Andrea Press |
Publisher | Routldege |
Pages | 131-145 |
Number of pages | 14 |
ISBN (Print) | 1138229784 |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2017 |
Keywords
- selfie
- Work, Capitalism & Alienation
- social class
- aspiration
- production
- Consumption experience
- self branding
- digital culture