With absolutely every media product we have studied, the (post)structuralist theory of binary oppositions has been extremely useful in understanding how meanings have been created. For example,
- In Black Panther, the diametric opposition between good and evil is made abundantly clear to help the film succeed with the largest number of audiences possible
- Woman magazine utilises gender binaries to communicate the ideological perspective that men and women are fundamentally different, in order to cultivate a patriarchal hegemony
- In Les Revenants, the diametric opposition between life and death is fundamental to understanding the complex and inscrutable narrative
- In Seventeen Going Under, Fender uses the binary opposition between innocence and experience to draw attention to the fundamental societal issues that exist in certain impoverished parts of the north of England
However, a student raised the observation with me (thanks James!) that Zoe Sugg's output has no discernable binary oppositions whatsoever. After floundering for a moment, I realised that he was absolutely right. Here was an example of a media product with no discernable binary oppositions!
Rather than embracing binary oppositions and difference, the YouTube channel of Zoe Sugg actively seeks to avoid binary oppositions, presenting a clean, straightforward life free of any conflict. While Zoella struggles with mental health issues, even her anxiety is smoothed out and becomes less of a problem. By emphasising similarity as opposed to difference, a simple, straightforward and non-threatening message is constructed.
This constructs a world for her audience where difficulty and complexity either do not exist, or have been eradicated. This sentiment is reflected in the output of her website, where simple books intended for younger readers are reviewed, generic fashion aesthetics are cultivated, and masturbation is discussed with a kind of giddy excitement. This is a reconstruction of a world without politics, philosophy, complex relationships and so on. This is clearly escapism, but it is not just an escape from the issues of life; it is a fundamental dissolution of every element of friction that makes life interesting. Without binary oppositions, we are left with an utter void.
