Senior Lecturer in Digital Media Studies and author of The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). Research interests: Black women's media and creative work, digital remix culture, brand "woke-washing", the politics of pop culture and power.
Foodwork is a political matter, and baking is no exception. Many messages are associated with the... more Foodwork is a political matter, and baking is no exception. Many messages are associated with the symbolic significance of baking, such as idealised notions of white, middle-class domesticity, femininity and visibility. The rise in home-baking during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a surge in social media content, which conveys much about the different meanings ascribed to baking. Relatedly, scholarship on 'COVID-19 foodwork, race, gender, class and food justice' highlights that intersecting oppressions are implicated in such matters. Drawing on different lines of research that specify and address structural power relations (e.g. gendered whiteness), I analyse the aesthetics and accompanying attitudes conveyed via Instagram posts about #pandemicbaking and #quarantinebaking. In doing so, I draw and build on critical studies of whiteness and digital food media, and connections between consumerism and COVID-19. This work considers what such online content suggests about the relationship between a 'feminised, white, aestheticised ethos' and digital discourse and depictions regarding food, family, domesticity, work and rest. Consequently, this research ponders over whether the labour and framing involved in documenting #pandemicbaking and #quarantinebaking on Instagram reflects a neoliberal form of entrepreneurial 'freelance feminism', which is animated by the tension between the 'frequently polarized figures of "the feminist" and "the housewife"'. I examine the significance of three key themes related to #pandemicbaking and #quarantinebaking: (1) Gendered domestic labour and digital depictions and discourses of motherhood; (2) productivity, pausing and so-called 'soulfulness'; and (3) domestic minimalism and aesthetics of whiteness. In turn, this article critically reflects on the relationship between mediated constructions of gendered whiteness and baking, while echoing calls for more research that explicitly addresses dynamics between digital whiteness,
Digital racism and the online experiences of Black people have been foregrounded in vital contemp... more Digital racism and the online experiences of Black people have been foregrounded in vital contemporary research, particularly Black scholarship and critical race and digital studies. As digital developments occur rapidly there is a need for work which theorizes recent expressions of digital anti-Blackness, including since increased marketing industry interest in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2020. This paper explores digital racism related to online (re)presentations of Black people and associated racist marketplace logics, digital practices, and (re)mediations of Blackness in the service of brands. Focusing on computer-generated imagery (CGI) racialized online influencers, the spectacularization of Black pain and lives, digital marketing approaches, and digital Blackface, this work contextualizes anti-Black digital racism by reflecting on its connection to centuries of white supremacy and often under-investigated racial capitalism. Overall, this work examines the shape-s...
YouTube and video bloggers (vloggers) have been a source of academic interest, yet few studies ex... more YouTube and video bloggers (vloggers) have been a source of academic interest, yet few studies explore the representation or experiences of Black women on YouTube. The video blogs (vlogs) of Black women yield symbolic digital resources which young Black women may engage with in self-exploratory, self-educating, resistant and collective ways. This article reflects on 21 in-depth interviews with young Black women in Britain, aged 19–33 years. It addresses how their engagement with Black women’s vlogs intersects with identity and ideological work, including participation in Black digital diasporic dynamics. Influenced by research about Black women and media culture, resistant YouTube activity, as well as race and everyday uses of celebrity, this article explores the YouTube usage of young Black women in Britain, while reflecting on what this reveals about their lives in the early 21st century. This article forms part of ‘On the Move’, a special issue marking the twentieth anniversary o...
The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic has resulted in a wave of advertising and mark... more The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic has resulted in a wave of advertising and marketing approaches that are based on commodified concepts of human connection, care and community in a time of crisis. At the core of many brands’ marketing messages – whether these be supermarket advertising campaigns or celebrity self-branding – is the notion that ‘we’re all in this together’. While it is true that the impact of COVID-19 has affected the lives of many people around the world, not everyone is experiencing this crisis the same way, due to structural inequalities and intersecting oppressions. What is the relationship between COVID-19, capitalism and consumer culture? Who is the ‘we’ in the messages of ‘we’re all in this together’, and how might such messages mask distinct socio-economic disparities and enable institutions to evade accountability? This article examines sub-textual meanings connected to brand responses to COVID-19 in the UK context which rely on an amorphous ...
From its origins in Black grassroots activist and political consciousness raising spaces, the ter... more From its origins in Black grassroots activist and political consciousness raising spaces, the term 'woke' has shifted in its significance. Now broadly synonymous with statements on social media that are assumed to indicate an investment in tackling social injustices, specifically, antiblackness and racial injustice, it has also become the subject of heated critique. Using key case studies such as the 'I take responsibility' and Instagram 'blackout' campaigns of 2020, this commentary clarifies how the cultural conventions and affordances of both social media and celebrity have shaped conceptualizations of 'wokeness'. In its marketization, we suggest that 'wokeness' goes beyond the associations of progressive politics that advertisers attempt to attach to brands. Rather, we suggest that 'wokeness' is also conceptualized in terms of the quality of individual practices connected with antiracism and left politics more broadly. Observing that desires for 'wokeness' underpin its visibility and contestation, we explore the affective entanglements of 'wokeness' with whiteness, neoliberal identity culture, genres of social media content, and perceived expressions of sincerity. In doing so, we theorize the digital development, hyper-visibility, and marketization of 'wokeness', to grapple with how internet, consumer, and celebrity culture is implicated in contemporary understandings and expectations of social justice work.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to present unique challenges to governments... more The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to present unique challenges to governments and organisations around the world, but one sector has incorporated COVID-19 into its core mission with relative ease: advertisers have acknowledged the pandemic while continuing to draw on notions of 'normality' to activate our desire to consume. As the UK's series of lockdowns have come to an end, we look back over more than a year of unusual advertising and consider how the pandemic has changed approaches to marketing and the shape of consumer culture in ways connected to ideas about what constitutes 'normal' life. Discussions of the relationship between the pandemic and consumerism have included critiques of the prioritising of profit over people, and conceptualisations of Coronavirus as a brand itself, but the politics of notions of 'normality' promoted by consumer culture demand closer consideration. This article complements existing studies and debates by examining the tensions, contradictions and morally neutral positions revealed by the advertising response to the coronavirus disease pandemic. Through an analysis of UK advertising campaigns launched during and with reference to the pandemic, this work explores key themes and strategies, including their connection to power dynamics concerning race, gender, class and capitalism. We suggest advertising during crises may offer the opportunity to critique larger dynamics and trends of consumerism, including narrow notions of the defining features of 'everyday' life.
Woke-washing: "Intersectional" femvertising and branding "woke" bravery, 2020
This paper explores how and why "intersectional" feminist and Black social justice activist ideas... more This paper explores how and why "intersectional" feminist and Black social justice activist ideas are drawn on in marketing content related to the concept of being "woke" (invested in addressing social injustices). It considers which subject positions are represented as part of this and what they reveal about contemporary issues concerning advertising, gender, race and activism. This research involves an interpretive and critical discursive analysis of "intersectional" feminist advertising ("femvertising") and marketing examples that make use of Black social justice activist ideas. Findings illuminate how marketing simultaneously enables the visibility and erasure of "intersectional" feminist and Black social justice activist issues, with the use of key racialised and gendered subject positions; White Saviour, Black Excellence, Strong Black Woman (and Mother), "Woke" Change Agent. This research signals how brands (mis)use issues concerning commercialised notions of feminism, equality and Black social justice activism, as part of marketing that flattens and reframes liberationist politics, while upholding the neoliberal idea that achievement and social change requires individual ambition and consumption rather than structural shifts and resistance. This work can aid development of advertising standards regulatory approaches which account for nuances of stereotypical representations and marketing's connection to intersecting issues regarding racism and sexism. This research outlines a conceptualisation of the branding of "woke" bravery, which expands our understanding of the interdependency of issues related to race, gender, feminism, activism and marketing. It highlights marketing responses to recent sociopolitical times, which are influenced by public discourse concerning movements including Black Lives Matter and Me Too.
The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic has resulted in a wave of advertising and mark... more The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic has resulted in a wave of advertising and marketing approaches that are based on commodified concepts of human connection, care and community in a time of crisis. At the core of many brands' marketing messages-whether these be supermarket advertising campaigns or celebrity self-branding-is the notion that 'we're all in this together'. While it is true that the impact of COVID-19 has affected the lives of many people around the world, not everyone is experiencing this crisis the same way, due to structural inequalities and intersecting oppressions. What is the relationship between COVID-19, capitalism and consumer culture? Who is the 'we' in the messages of 'we're all in this together', and how might such messages mask distinct socioeconomic disparities and enable institutions to evade accountability? This article examines sub-textual meanings connected to brand responses to COVID-19 in the UK context which rely on an amorphous imagined 'we'-and which ultimately may aid brands' pursuit of productivity and profit, rather than symbolising support of and concern for people.
Digital racism and the online experiences of Black people have been foregrounded in vital contemp... more Digital racism and the online experiences of Black people have been foregrounded in vital contemporary research, particularly Black scholarship and critical race and digital studies. As digital developments occur rapidly there is a need for work which theorizes recent expressions of digital anti-Blackness, including since increased marketing industry interest in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2020. This paper explores digital racism related to online (re)presentations of Black people and associated racist marketplace logics, digital practices, and (re)mediations of Blackness in the service of brands. Focusing on computer-generated imagery (CGI) racialized online influencers, the spectacularization of Black pain and lives, digital marketing approaches, and digital Blackface, this work contextualizes anti-Black digital racism by reflecting on its connection to centuries of white supremacy and often under-investigated racial capitalism. Overall, this work examines the shape-shifting nature of anti-Black digital racism and commercial components of it which are impacted by intersecting oppressions.
YouTube and video bloggers (vloggers) have been a source of academic interest, yet few studies ex... more YouTube and video bloggers (vloggers) have been a source of academic interest, yet few studies explore the representation or experiences of Black women on YouTube. The video blogs (vlogs) of Black women yield symbolic digital resources which young Black women may engage with in self-exploratory, self-educating, resistant and collective ways. This article reflects on 21 in-depth interviews with young Black women in Britain, aged 19-33 years. It addresses how their engagement with Black women's vlogs intersects with identity and ideological work, including participation in Black digital diasporic dynamics. Influenced by research about Black women and media culture, resistant YouTube activity, as well as race and everyday uses of celebrity, this article explores the YouTube usage of young Black women in Britain, while reflecting on what this reveals about their lives in the early 21st century.
Chapter 4 in The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain, 2020
This chapter highlights issues to do with Black digital dias-poric content and communication. It ... more This chapter highlights issues to do with Black digital dias-poric content and communication. It discusses how Black women's digital activity can enable them to deal with experiences of oppression that are specific to their lives and in communal ways. This chapter explores resistant credentials of some of the digital experiences of Black women in Britain, while reckoning with potentially conflicting aspects of counter-cultural practices which exist in the context of digital consumerism. This discussion features analysis of how Black American popular and digital culture contributes to some of the digital encounters and lives of Black women in Britain in impactful ways. Overall, this chapter focuses on Black women's experiences of knowledge-sharing online, including via natural hair video blogs (vlogs) on YouTube. The twenty-first century is marked by the impact of globalisation and technology's significant role in cross-cultural communication which involves digital dialogue between individuals in different parts of the world-including Black people who connect with one another online.
Chapter 2 in The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain, 2020
This chapter outlines media developments and key matters concerning the on-screen depiction of Bl... more This chapter outlines media developments and key matters concerning the on-screen depiction of Black women in Britain in recent decades. It draws on material accessed at the Black Cultural Archives (BCA) in Brixton, London and the Spare Rib digital archive at the British Library. This chapter discusses self-representing and organising in relation to Black women and the media. The discussion explores the politics of representation in connection with superficiality, conceptualisations of Black women's media experiences and television representations, as well as the influence of variations regarding regionality and rurality. This chapter emphasises that due to the geo-culturally and socio-politically specific setting of Britain-and its consititutive nations-work focused on the lives of Black women (t)here demands a critical lens that is sensitive to this context's various characteristics.
Foodwork is a political matter, and baking is no exception. Many messages are associated with the... more Foodwork is a political matter, and baking is no exception. Many messages are associated with the symbolic significance of baking, such as idealised notions of white, middle-class domesticity, femininity and visibility. The rise in home-baking during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a surge in social media content, which conveys much about the different meanings ascribed to baking. Relatedly, scholarship on 'COVID-19 foodwork, race, gender, class and food justice' highlights that intersecting oppressions are implicated in such matters. Drawing on different lines of research that specify and address structural power relations (e.g. gendered whiteness), I analyse the aesthetics and accompanying attitudes conveyed via Instagram posts about #pandemicbaking and #quarantinebaking. In doing so, I draw and build on critical studies of whiteness and digital food media, and connections between consumerism and COVID-19. This work considers what such online content suggests about the relationship between a 'feminised, white, aestheticised ethos' and digital discourse and depictions regarding food, family, domesticity, work and rest. Consequently, this research ponders over whether the labour and framing involved in documenting #pandemicbaking and #quarantinebaking on Instagram reflects a neoliberal form of entrepreneurial 'freelance feminism', which is animated by the tension between the 'frequently polarized figures of "the feminist" and "the housewife"'. I examine the significance of three key themes related to #pandemicbaking and #quarantinebaking: (1) Gendered domestic labour and digital depictions and discourses of motherhood; (2) productivity, pausing and so-called 'soulfulness'; and (3) domestic minimalism and aesthetics of whiteness. In turn, this article critically reflects on the relationship between mediated constructions of gendered whiteness and baking, while echoing calls for more research that explicitly addresses dynamics between digital whiteness,
Digital racism and the online experiences of Black people have been foregrounded in vital contemp... more Digital racism and the online experiences of Black people have been foregrounded in vital contemporary research, particularly Black scholarship and critical race and digital studies. As digital developments occur rapidly there is a need for work which theorizes recent expressions of digital anti-Blackness, including since increased marketing industry interest in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2020. This paper explores digital racism related to online (re)presentations of Black people and associated racist marketplace logics, digital practices, and (re)mediations of Blackness in the service of brands. Focusing on computer-generated imagery (CGI) racialized online influencers, the spectacularization of Black pain and lives, digital marketing approaches, and digital Blackface, this work contextualizes anti-Black digital racism by reflecting on its connection to centuries of white supremacy and often under-investigated racial capitalism. Overall, this work examines the shape-s...
YouTube and video bloggers (vloggers) have been a source of academic interest, yet few studies ex... more YouTube and video bloggers (vloggers) have been a source of academic interest, yet few studies explore the representation or experiences of Black women on YouTube. The video blogs (vlogs) of Black women yield symbolic digital resources which young Black women may engage with in self-exploratory, self-educating, resistant and collective ways. This article reflects on 21 in-depth interviews with young Black women in Britain, aged 19–33 years. It addresses how their engagement with Black women’s vlogs intersects with identity and ideological work, including participation in Black digital diasporic dynamics. Influenced by research about Black women and media culture, resistant YouTube activity, as well as race and everyday uses of celebrity, this article explores the YouTube usage of young Black women in Britain, while reflecting on what this reveals about their lives in the early 21st century. This article forms part of ‘On the Move’, a special issue marking the twentieth anniversary o...
The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic has resulted in a wave of advertising and mark... more The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic has resulted in a wave of advertising and marketing approaches that are based on commodified concepts of human connection, care and community in a time of crisis. At the core of many brands’ marketing messages – whether these be supermarket advertising campaigns or celebrity self-branding – is the notion that ‘we’re all in this together’. While it is true that the impact of COVID-19 has affected the lives of many people around the world, not everyone is experiencing this crisis the same way, due to structural inequalities and intersecting oppressions. What is the relationship between COVID-19, capitalism and consumer culture? Who is the ‘we’ in the messages of ‘we’re all in this together’, and how might such messages mask distinct socio-economic disparities and enable institutions to evade accountability? This article examines sub-textual meanings connected to brand responses to COVID-19 in the UK context which rely on an amorphous ...
From its origins in Black grassroots activist and political consciousness raising spaces, the ter... more From its origins in Black grassroots activist and political consciousness raising spaces, the term 'woke' has shifted in its significance. Now broadly synonymous with statements on social media that are assumed to indicate an investment in tackling social injustices, specifically, antiblackness and racial injustice, it has also become the subject of heated critique. Using key case studies such as the 'I take responsibility' and Instagram 'blackout' campaigns of 2020, this commentary clarifies how the cultural conventions and affordances of both social media and celebrity have shaped conceptualizations of 'wokeness'. In its marketization, we suggest that 'wokeness' goes beyond the associations of progressive politics that advertisers attempt to attach to brands. Rather, we suggest that 'wokeness' is also conceptualized in terms of the quality of individual practices connected with antiracism and left politics more broadly. Observing that desires for 'wokeness' underpin its visibility and contestation, we explore the affective entanglements of 'wokeness' with whiteness, neoliberal identity culture, genres of social media content, and perceived expressions of sincerity. In doing so, we theorize the digital development, hyper-visibility, and marketization of 'wokeness', to grapple with how internet, consumer, and celebrity culture is implicated in contemporary understandings and expectations of social justice work.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to present unique challenges to governments... more The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to present unique challenges to governments and organisations around the world, but one sector has incorporated COVID-19 into its core mission with relative ease: advertisers have acknowledged the pandemic while continuing to draw on notions of 'normality' to activate our desire to consume. As the UK's series of lockdowns have come to an end, we look back over more than a year of unusual advertising and consider how the pandemic has changed approaches to marketing and the shape of consumer culture in ways connected to ideas about what constitutes 'normal' life. Discussions of the relationship between the pandemic and consumerism have included critiques of the prioritising of profit over people, and conceptualisations of Coronavirus as a brand itself, but the politics of notions of 'normality' promoted by consumer culture demand closer consideration. This article complements existing studies and debates by examining the tensions, contradictions and morally neutral positions revealed by the advertising response to the coronavirus disease pandemic. Through an analysis of UK advertising campaigns launched during and with reference to the pandemic, this work explores key themes and strategies, including their connection to power dynamics concerning race, gender, class and capitalism. We suggest advertising during crises may offer the opportunity to critique larger dynamics and trends of consumerism, including narrow notions of the defining features of 'everyday' life.
Woke-washing: "Intersectional" femvertising and branding "woke" bravery, 2020
This paper explores how and why "intersectional" feminist and Black social justice activist ideas... more This paper explores how and why "intersectional" feminist and Black social justice activist ideas are drawn on in marketing content related to the concept of being "woke" (invested in addressing social injustices). It considers which subject positions are represented as part of this and what they reveal about contemporary issues concerning advertising, gender, race and activism. This research involves an interpretive and critical discursive analysis of "intersectional" feminist advertising ("femvertising") and marketing examples that make use of Black social justice activist ideas. Findings illuminate how marketing simultaneously enables the visibility and erasure of "intersectional" feminist and Black social justice activist issues, with the use of key racialised and gendered subject positions; White Saviour, Black Excellence, Strong Black Woman (and Mother), "Woke" Change Agent. This research signals how brands (mis)use issues concerning commercialised notions of feminism, equality and Black social justice activism, as part of marketing that flattens and reframes liberationist politics, while upholding the neoliberal idea that achievement and social change requires individual ambition and consumption rather than structural shifts and resistance. This work can aid development of advertising standards regulatory approaches which account for nuances of stereotypical representations and marketing's connection to intersecting issues regarding racism and sexism. This research outlines a conceptualisation of the branding of "woke" bravery, which expands our understanding of the interdependency of issues related to race, gender, feminism, activism and marketing. It highlights marketing responses to recent sociopolitical times, which are influenced by public discourse concerning movements including Black Lives Matter and Me Too.
The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic has resulted in a wave of advertising and mark... more The current COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic has resulted in a wave of advertising and marketing approaches that are based on commodified concepts of human connection, care and community in a time of crisis. At the core of many brands' marketing messages-whether these be supermarket advertising campaigns or celebrity self-branding-is the notion that 'we're all in this together'. While it is true that the impact of COVID-19 has affected the lives of many people around the world, not everyone is experiencing this crisis the same way, due to structural inequalities and intersecting oppressions. What is the relationship between COVID-19, capitalism and consumer culture? Who is the 'we' in the messages of 'we're all in this together', and how might such messages mask distinct socioeconomic disparities and enable institutions to evade accountability? This article examines sub-textual meanings connected to brand responses to COVID-19 in the UK context which rely on an amorphous imagined 'we'-and which ultimately may aid brands' pursuit of productivity and profit, rather than symbolising support of and concern for people.
Digital racism and the online experiences of Black people have been foregrounded in vital contemp... more Digital racism and the online experiences of Black people have been foregrounded in vital contemporary research, particularly Black scholarship and critical race and digital studies. As digital developments occur rapidly there is a need for work which theorizes recent expressions of digital anti-Blackness, including since increased marketing industry interest in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2020. This paper explores digital racism related to online (re)presentations of Black people and associated racist marketplace logics, digital practices, and (re)mediations of Blackness in the service of brands. Focusing on computer-generated imagery (CGI) racialized online influencers, the spectacularization of Black pain and lives, digital marketing approaches, and digital Blackface, this work contextualizes anti-Black digital racism by reflecting on its connection to centuries of white supremacy and often under-investigated racial capitalism. Overall, this work examines the shape-shifting nature of anti-Black digital racism and commercial components of it which are impacted by intersecting oppressions.
YouTube and video bloggers (vloggers) have been a source of academic interest, yet few studies ex... more YouTube and video bloggers (vloggers) have been a source of academic interest, yet few studies explore the representation or experiences of Black women on YouTube. The video blogs (vlogs) of Black women yield symbolic digital resources which young Black women may engage with in self-exploratory, self-educating, resistant and collective ways. This article reflects on 21 in-depth interviews with young Black women in Britain, aged 19-33 years. It addresses how their engagement with Black women's vlogs intersects with identity and ideological work, including participation in Black digital diasporic dynamics. Influenced by research about Black women and media culture, resistant YouTube activity, as well as race and everyday uses of celebrity, this article explores the YouTube usage of young Black women in Britain, while reflecting on what this reveals about their lives in the early 21st century.
Chapter 4 in The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain, 2020
This chapter highlights issues to do with Black digital dias-poric content and communication. It ... more This chapter highlights issues to do with Black digital dias-poric content and communication. It discusses how Black women's digital activity can enable them to deal with experiences of oppression that are specific to their lives and in communal ways. This chapter explores resistant credentials of some of the digital experiences of Black women in Britain, while reckoning with potentially conflicting aspects of counter-cultural practices which exist in the context of digital consumerism. This discussion features analysis of how Black American popular and digital culture contributes to some of the digital encounters and lives of Black women in Britain in impactful ways. Overall, this chapter focuses on Black women's experiences of knowledge-sharing online, including via natural hair video blogs (vlogs) on YouTube. The twenty-first century is marked by the impact of globalisation and technology's significant role in cross-cultural communication which involves digital dialogue between individuals in different parts of the world-including Black people who connect with one another online.
Chapter 2 in The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain, 2020
This chapter outlines media developments and key matters concerning the on-screen depiction of Bl... more This chapter outlines media developments and key matters concerning the on-screen depiction of Black women in Britain in recent decades. It draws on material accessed at the Black Cultural Archives (BCA) in Brixton, London and the Spare Rib digital archive at the British Library. This chapter discusses self-representing and organising in relation to Black women and the media. The discussion explores the politics of representation in connection with superficiality, conceptualisations of Black women's media experiences and television representations, as well as the influence of variations regarding regionality and rurality. This chapter emphasises that due to the geo-culturally and socio-politically specific setting of Britain-and its consititutive nations-work focused on the lives of Black women (t)here demands a critical lens that is sensitive to this context's various characteristics.
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