Milk as Political Aesthetic: Alt-Right Symbolism and Trolling to Culture Jam
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Authors
Bridenbaker, Jonathan
Issue Date
2021-05
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Academic theses , Milk , Symbolism , Online trolling , Politics and government--Humor , Rhetoric--Political aspects , Right-wing extremists
Alternative Title
Abstract
In this thesis, I analyze the use of milk as a symbol for white supremacy and masculinity in four different case studies: the protest of Shia Lebouf’s He Will Not Divide Us art installation, the 4chan thread “Enter the Milk Zone,” Richard Spencer’s 2017 Twitter bio, and PewDiePie’s S O Y B O Y S. In this ideological criticism, I examine the use of milk as a means of culture jamming, the act of taking an entities’ message/symbol and appropriating/changing it to level criticism. I first examine the arguments being made with milk appropriation to construct an ideology of the alt-right. Then, for milk appropriation, I argue that the alt-right is culture jamming the political left by muddying our understanding of the alt-right by the appropriation of normative symbols, utilizing superiority humor to differentiate themselves, and establishing an affective political identity of trolling that exists as a means of subverting the political and social order. Ultimately, I argue that this analysis is useful for developing further solutions in opposing and countering the alt-right’s harmful rhetorical practices.
Keywords: Alt-Right, Culture Jamming, Political Aesthetic, Superiority Humor, milk
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This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.