John Storey discusses about how “whiteness” is known as a privileged race in the chapter 8. Richard Dyer ‘s article “matter of whiteness” is a good example to dissect this issue. Dyer discusses about the racial portrayal of white people in the media and popular culture. In popular culture, the term “race” is mostly related to the non-white people and whiteness is portrayed as a human norm therefore white people are not racially seen. As Dyer states: “ as long as race is something only applied to non-white people, as long as white people are not racially seen and named, they/we function as a human as a human norm. Other people are raced, we are just people”(1). We can see so many examples of these racist comments in old style comedian shows where the comedian associates each characters with their races like Japanese, black or Indian, however, there is no recognition of the white character as being white. Dyer strongly suggests that it’s important to recognize whiteness as a race and avoid acknowledging it as a normativity. One of the most problematic issues related to recognizing whiteness as a human norm is that it gives power and authority to the white people and makes them the dominant race while the other races suffer from inequality. As Dyer’s puts it: “ white people need to learn to see themselves as white, to see their particularity. In other words, whiteness needs to be made strange” (13). I believe once we stop identifying “whiteness” as “the normal human race”, we can start criticizing against racism and discriminations.

•Dyer, Richard. “ The matter of whiteness” in white privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism. Ed: Paula Rothenberg 2005.p1-14. Print.

•Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. 6th ed. Harlow, England; New York: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2012. 183-184. Print.

In “ gender and sexuality” reading by John storey what interested me the most is the identification of the four repertoire described by Hermes based on the consumption of women magazines (which were collected through interviews).
The first repertoire is described in the reading as “ easily put down” which is Basically describing that women’s magazines are created in a way that reading them could be part of everyday life (159). The second repertoire recognizes women’s magazines as a form of “relaxation”. In other words, it helps women to get away from reality for a short amount of time. The third repertoire is the repertoire of “ practical knowledge” which I personally find really interesting. This practical knowledge is consisting of useful tips and instructions, which can range from cooking recipes to the love life. The last repertoire is called “ emotional learning and connected knowing” which is similar to the “practical knowledge” repertoire. However, in this case the learning process depends on oneself and their problems. For example, the person who explains his/her problem is usually given tips for overcoming their troubles by the magazine. Hermes believes that these 4 repertoires in women’s magazine gives authority and empowerment to women, however, she also argues that this empowerment is temporarily.
Reading about this subject made me think about the women magazines that are in stores or online nowadays. I realized that there are still traces of these four repertoires in women’s magazine. Here are few headlines from different women’s magazine: “It’s good to be you! Feel better and look younger with the best workout routines, easy eating plans” (www.womenshealthmag.com), “women’s magazine that Targets contemporary women, featuring beauty, fashion, career and sex advice” (www.cosmopolitan.com).

•Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. 6th ed. Harlow, England; New York: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2012. 158-160. Print.