Abstract
In this paper, the author applies Max Horkheimer’s and Theodor Adorno’s theoretical framework of the culture industry to modern literary works to demonstrate the ways in which motherization, or the process by which women are trained and conditioned within a societal context to expect and desire motherhood, is deployed within the culture industry. Horkheimer and Adorno argue that the Culture Industry destroys choice and alternative action to its audience. This process affects both the creator and the observer. It binds the choice of the artist (writer, composer, etc.…) and legitimizes the prescribed choice of the observer. Neither the creator of the piece nor the viewer is free. As Adorno explained “everything somehow appears ‘predestined’”. In other words, the Culture Industry exists outside of the people who produce and consume it. Horkheimer and Adorno were mostly concerned with general characteristics and consequences of the Culture Industry. In this paper, the author advances a more specific version of the Culture Industry. She argues that contemporary portrayals of motherhood in the Culture Industry are an integral part of both the motherization process. This is especially insidious in works targeting young women. Using Twilight, Hunger Games, and Herland, she demonstrates that portrayal of motherhood to young adolescent girls (especially those who are white) that becoming a mother is not a choice but a necessity. Furthermore, motherhood is not portrayed merely as an inevitability of womanhood rather motherhood must be of a particular type that produces women as a particularized docile body.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment, ed. Gunzelin Noerr (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002).
- 2.
Especially those that are affluent and white. The title of the articles discusses the millennial inclination to not have children are revealing several of which include “Should we worry” the implication is that it is a worrisome fact. Considering the fact that the United States population continues to grow, and minority populations are set to outpace white growth the growing alarm at the lack of fertility fits into a larger biopolitical paradigm that pushes the “right” sort of person to procreate.
- 3.
These are not the only examples I could use. From the popular show Grey’s Anatomy to the Dragon Riders of Pern, the portrayals of women in the Culture Industry underscores the notion that a woman’s only societally acceptable choice is to become a mother.
- 4.
Theodor Adorno, The Culture Industry , ed. J. M. Bernstein (New York: Routledge Classics, 1991), p. 161.
- 5.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment, ed. Gunzelin Noerr (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002), p. 106.
- 6.
Ibid., p. 99.
- 7.
Heinz Steinert, Culture Industry, trans. Sally-Ann Spencer (Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2003), p. 27.
- 8.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment, ed. Gunzelin Noerr (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002), p. 110.
- 9.
Theodor Adorno, The Culture Industry, ed. J. M. Bernstein (New York: Routledge Classics, 1991), p. 164.
- 10.
Deborah Cook, The Culture Industry Revisited: Theodor W. Adorno on Mass Culture (Lanham, MD: The Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), p. 61.
- 11.
Ibid., p. 61.
- 12.
David Jenemann, Adorno in America (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007), p. 127.
- 13.
Ibid., p. 124.
- 14.
Theodor Adorno, The Culture Industry , ed. J. M. Bernstein (New York: Routledge Classics, 1991), p. 193.
- 15.
When children are not integral to the plot they are often placed into the epilogue of a story indicative of the inevitability of their existence. Who you end up marrying is what is important, but children are a matter of fact.
- 16.
Simone Beauvoir, The Second Sex, trans. Parshley (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), p. 267.
- 17.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment, ed. Gunzelin Noerr (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002), p. 116.
- 18.
Sandra Lee Bartky, “Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power”, in Carole McCann and Seung-kyung Kim (eds.), Feminist Theory Reader (New York: Routledge, 1990), pp. 404–418, 416.
- 19.
Lisa Guenther, The Gift of the Other: Levinas and the Politics of Reproduction (New York: State University of New York, 2006), p. 112.
- 20.
Anastasia Steele in the “Shades of Grey” trilogy fulfils this requirement in almost the same manner as Bella Swan. However, it is not discussed here as the intended audience is assumed to be older and the work began as a fanfiction for the Twilight series. It is important to acknowledge the differences in the importance of motherhood between the series. In Shades of Grey the child is still much desired by the mother but the question of the pregnancy being life threatening and the child saving the day never enter into it. This is significant because the older audiences do not need the same convincing that motherhood is the ultimate goal of life and that whatever fears they have about motherhood are unimportant as there will ultimately be no unsolvable issues in the end.
- 21.
Her stereotypical iteration of the strong heroine who falls in love is one of those things that causes the audience to miss the alternative story that Bella is a weak character whose story line is not desirable. By finding fulfillment Bella indicates to the YA audience that this is the path to success. As the audience members fill in the pieces to create the happy picture they miss the impossibility of finding happiness through another.
- 22.
Simone Beauvoir, The Second Sex, trans. Parshley (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), p. 280.
- 23.
Ibid., p. 385.
- 24.
Simone Beauvoir, The Second Sex, trans. Parshley (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), p. 328.
- 25.
Ibid., p. 335.
- 26.
I am focusing on the connection between Beauvoir’s work and Twilight because it emphasizes the role that the Culture Industry plays in informing person’s desires. “Normalcy is perpetuated in film. Everyone must show that they identify wholeheartedly with the power which beats them…Everyone can be like the omnipotent society, everyone can be happy if only they had themselves over to it body and soul and relinquish their claim to happiness” (Horkheimer and Adorno 2002, p. 124).
- 27.
Simone Beauvoir, The Second Sex, trans. Parshley (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), p. 199.
- 28.
Ibid., p. 196.
- 29.
Simone Beauvoir, The Second Sex, trans. Parshley (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), p. 329.
- 30.
Ibid., p. 299.
- 31.
This is seen as a tragedy. To not be able to be a mother is a reason to become embittered and combative. The Culture Industry’s message here is that there is something sad when the ability to reproduce is robbed from a woman.
- 32.
Stephanie Meyers, Breaking Dawn (New York: Little Brown, 2007), p. 478.
- 33.
The message is just as clear in the movies if muted because you do not get to “hear” Bella’s thoughts in the same way as you do in the book. However, the immediate protective mother instinct, the unknown fetus that threatens the mother’s life, and the everything being resolved through Renesmee’s birth, in other words, the overarching message that motherhood is inevitable, desirable, and a solution to life’s difficulties remains intact.
- 34.
I am attempting to restrain my topic to the portrayal of motherhood in this discussion. However, there is much that needs to be analysed about Katniss Everdeen. From her political impotence to her hysterical persona Katniss represents a weak woman being portrayed as a strong one. This is a very dangerous message to young women and teaches them that to be weak is to be strong.
- 35.
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (New York: Scholastic Press, 2010).
- 36.
Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire (New York: Scholastic Press, 2013), p. 311.
- 37.
Ibid., p. 351.
- 38.
For example, J. K. Rowling in the epilogue of The Deathly Hallows chooses to focus on the next generation as if that is the most important thing for the readers to know after the conclusion of the book. The missing years are again not important to the overall schemata of the storyline. The story is not complete until a future generation has been guaranteed.
- 39.
Here is another message that a husband’s desire outweighs the wives. Katniss has made it clear throughout the series that her desire not to reproduce was just as strong if not stronger than Peeta’s desire for children.
- 40.
Suzanne Collins, Mocking Jay (New York: Scholastic Press, 2014), p. 389.
- 41.
The love-triangle trope is important because it allows for the illusion of choice which is necessary for the culture industry (insert quote) while motherhood is a foregone conclusion.
- 42.
Jennifer Eagan, “Unfreedom, Suffering, and the Culture Industry: What Adorno Can Contribute to a Feminist Ethics”, in Renee Hemberle (ed.), Feminist Interpretations of Theodor Adorno (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), p. 294.
- 43.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment, ed. Gunzelin Noerr (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002), p. 119.
- 44.
Ibid., p. 119.
- 45.
Ibid., p. 121.
- 46.
Ibid., p. 111.
- 47.
Deborah Cook, The Culture Industry Revisited: Theodor W. Adorno on Mass Culture (Lanham, MD: The Rowman and Littlefield, 1996).
- 48.
Jennifer Eagan, “Unfreedom, Suffering, and the Culture Industry: What Adorno Can Contribute to a Feminist Ethics”, in Renee Hemberle (ed.), Feminist Interpretations of Theodor Adorno (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), p. 295.
- 49.
Deborah Cook, The Culture Industry Revisited: Theodor W. Adorno on Mass Culture (Lanham, MD: The Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), p. 68.
- 50.
Ibid., p. 71.
- 51.
Theodor Adorno, The Culture Industry, ed. J. M. Bernstein (New York: Routledge Classics, 1991), p. 174.
- 52.
It is significant that Katniss Everdeen is unquestionably white in the movies while her skin-tone and race is left ambiguous in the book series. The person that inevitably becomes a mother fits into a prescribed biopolitical role. An analysis of other YA books to different audiences would most likely indicate a different message to its audiences. The lack of books to minority YA adult populations is likewise telling.
- 53.
David Jenemann, Adorno in America (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007), p. 154.
References
Theodor Adorno, The Culture Industry, ed. J. M. Bernstein (New York: Routledge Classics, 1991).
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment, ed. Gunzelin Noerr (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002).
Simone Beauvoir, The Second Sex (New York: Vintage Books, 1989).
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (New York: Scholastic Press, 2010).
Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire (New York: Scholastic Press, 2013).
Suzanne Collins, Mocking Jay (New York: Scholastic Press, 2014).
Deborah Cook, The Culture Industry Revisited: Theodor W. Adorno on Mass Culture (Lanham, MD: The Rowman and Littlefield, 1996).
Jennifer Eagan, “Unfreedom, Suffering, and the Culture Industry: What Adorno Can Contribute to a Feminist Ethics”, in Renee Hemberle (ed.), Feminist Interpretations of Theodor Adorno (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006).
Lisa Guenther, The Gift of the Other: Levinas and the Politics of Reproduction (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006).
David Jenemann, Adorno in America (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007).
Stephanie Meyers, Twilight (New York: Little Brown, 2007a).
Stephanie Meyers, New Moon (New York: Little Brown, 2007b).
Stephanie Meyers, Eclipse (New York: Little Brown, 2007c).
Stephanie Meyers, Breaking Dawn (New York: Little Brown, 2007d).
Heinz Steinert, Culture Industry. Translated by Sally-Ann Spencer (Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2003).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hubbard-Mattix, L. (2019). Bella Swan and Katniss Everdeen: The Expectation of Motherhood in the Culture Industry. In: Khandizaji, A. (eds) Reading Adorno . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19048-4_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19048-4_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19047-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19048-4
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)