My Issues with Consumption

We have recently started our discussion on consumption and so far I have found this topic to be one of the most interesting topics that we have discussed. I enjoy reading about the telenovela audience just as much as I enjoy actually learning about the telenovelas themselves.

There are several aspects of consumption that intrigue me. For example, it’s extremely hard for me to wrap my head around the thought of a man watching a telenovela everyday and being just as consumed and wrapped up in it as women are. In the States, men who watch soap operas are thought to either be homosexual or "in the closet." Simply watching a soap opera makes people view you as less of a man.

Now, I am one of those people who is very against stereotypes. I understand that we all, in some form or fashion, are guilty of stereotyping others but I try very hard to see people for who they are and not who society tells me they are. I think this comes from people stereotyping me so much—people assume that because I’m a black woman that I am loud, from the ghetto (or know someone from the ghetto), and that I like to say things like “What’s up my home skillet,” so I really try to go out of my way to look past stereotypes. I am also an equal rights advocate. I despise the double standards between men and women that exist in our culture, and I know that as a double minority I have to work twice as hard to get half as far as my Caucasian counterparts. I am kind of going on a tangent now but I suppose equality between the sexes could make for another blog topic…

All that being said, for some reason I still have a hard time picturing guys gossiping about the most recent episode of the telenovela they’ve been watching. I know that this is society keeping me from grasping this idea but I’m working on overcoming it. Maybe if I actually spoke with a group of guys and included myself in the conversation then it wouldn’t be so hard for me to picture. All in all I guess that I’m glad that men are free to engage in deep conversation about telenovelas if they want to. Equality between the sexes, whoop whoop!

Something else that I find interesting about the consumption of telenovels is that although everyone has an opinion about what they like and dislike about a telenovela, they still write their thoughts anonymously. Message boards dedicated to dialogue concerning telenovelas rarely display someone’s actual name. If so many people are openly voicing their opinions in everyday conversation, I don’t understand why the need to hide online? The beauty of the internet is that it has the ability to connect people from all over and allows them to communicate according to their interests.

For some people, participating in discussions under a pseudonym may be in their best interest (let’s say for researchers, directors, and actors this would be appropriate) but I do not see the need for the general public to hide their identities as well. Is it because they are afraid of what their governments will do? Or do people simply feel like they can be more candid if they use a pseudonym?

Maybe some of you have thoughts on why so many people hide their identities because I just don’t get it.