>I have a question. Why is it that every major cultural event, or
>fad, or persona must be examined for political significance.... and
>almost always found to indicate a resurgence of conservative,
>tribal, or otherwise regressive beliefs? (Except Madonna and _Queer
>Eye_. They're _transgressive!_)
Queer Eye isn't so much transgressive as it is a marker of social evolution. Madonna is a field of study unto Herself.
But it's not true that all cultural events are read as reactionary. It'd be pretty hard to see The Simpsons or South Park as reactionary. The standard orthodox left critique of cultural studies, for example, is that it reads too much resistance into pop culture.
Doug