Analyzing Cultural Texts: Resistance to Dominant Ideologies in Society

This essay delves into the concept of cultural resistance by analyzing how specific cultural texts challenge dominant ideologies and societal norms. The student focuses on the 1960s counter-culture movement in the US, particularly the feminist movement, and utilizes cultural theory to explain this resistance. The essay examines the text "Sexual Politics" by Kate Millett, highlighting its challenge to patriarchal structures and gendered norms within the political sphere. It explores how the text problematizes sexual relations, gender roles, and the historical dominance of men, arguing that the counter-culture movement, including feminism, significantly challenged societal norms and contributed to the development of equality, free speech, and new ideas, including the concept of "new women." The essay concludes by emphasizing the impact of such movements on various aspects of society and the ongoing need to challenge dominant ideologies.

Running head: CULTURAL TEXT AND CHALLENGE TO THE DOMINANT IDEAS
CULTURAL TEXT AND CHALLENGE TO THE DOMINANT IDEAS
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1CULTURAL TEXT AND CHALLENGE TO THE DOMINANT IDEAS
Choose a cultural text which can be argued to ‘resist’ dominant codes and ideologies, and,
utilizing appropriate theory, explain how this resistance is demonstrated and practiced in
the text.
Introduction
This paper aims to analyze the issue of cultural resistance to the dominant ideologies and
approaches. This paper will be highlighting the narrative approach which tends to portray the
voices of the counter cultural texts. It is important to consider the fact that the idea of subculture
and their relative impact in challenging the dominant culture and ideologies have largely
discussed and debated in the academic discourse of sociology. This is crucial to remember the
fact that the people practicing this counter culture tries to develop a body of culture by
differentiating them form the larger group and challenging the erstwhile norms it believed in.
this paper will be particularly considering one of the cultural texts in order to understand the
impact it creates in changing the dominant cultures. In discussing the counter cultural text based
in the context of 1960’s counter culture movement of US. This explanation will be useful in
understanding the context by referring to the culture theory. This paper will be analyzing the
fact that counter culture was able to pose serious challenges to the dominant ideas of society
which was guided y the gendered norms of the society.
Discussion
It is to be noted that the process of developing counter culture emerged due to the challenge it
posed to the dominant culture of the mainstream society(David, 2016). The aim of the counter
cultural aspects is aimed at challenging the dominant cultural norms of society and it is highly

2CULTURAL TEXT AND CHALLENGE TO THE DOMINANT IDEAS
critical of the specific population who has been following them blindly. Some of the examples of
the counter cultural ethos is feminism. According to the culture theory, it is the interplay
between the race, ethicality and other factors which contributes to the way of living, in simplest
terms, culture is nothing but the way of life(Mackay, 2015). The feminist movement within the
context of US has challenged a number of social and cultural norms in relation to the dominant
cultures of the society(Regis, 2017). It is to be noted here that the dominant ideologies of
society in terms of supremacy of the male gender has been radically questioned and challenged
time and again. The dominant perception of the society here is the context where the hippie
women transformed their movement for counterculture and raised slogans against the dominant
culture. They found refined understanding of the self that was essential to shape their identity,
their differences were celebrated across genders. One of the prominent literary text of this period
is the “ the Sexual politics”( Millett, 2016). The rationale behind the choice of this text is that it
challenged the dominant idea of politics and sexual identity, Kate Millet ion her books
challenges the dominant ideas of society that politics and political aspects are the domain of
men(Millett, 2016). This books has challenged the basic foundation of the understanding that
patriarchy is the normal norm of politics. It has also argued that the dominant idea of the
political field during this period has largely focused on the power structure of the society which
was also based on the unequal treatment of the women, This was associated by the process of
under representation of women in this field due to the expectation of women in the domestic
help. This is to be argued that the cultural aspects supported the gender specific roles and their
fulfillment which was vehemently criticized and challenged by authors like Millet(Schütz, 2016).
The challenges to the dominant ideology has been gender specific and particularly based on
patriarchy. The idea behind this text is based on the problematising the sexual; understanding of

3CULTURAL TEXT AND CHALLENGE TO THE DOMINANT IDEAS
the domain of politics. This explanation also included under its explanation the issue of
homosexuality, sexual violence and abuse of the women which has been subtly supported by the
dominant narrative of that time.
It is important to consider the ways in which the “ sexual politics” have problematicised the
dominant ideas of society(Schütz, 2016). This counter culture challenged the dominant idea of
the society in terms of sexual relation between men and women, here it has been argued that
patriarchy or the rule of the father has been the dominant role in society since all decision have
been largely guided by men and taken by them. In simple term, it is the world of men which has
been the guiding force in society(Wright, 2017). However in case of the counter culture
emergence, there are number of challenges in terms of literature to the arts and media that posed
serious threats to the “ status quo” of society. The rationale behind considering this movement as
part of the counter culture movement is the fact that there are instance where the role of women
in society is equally celebrated. However what is unique about the counter culture is that
women were treated as part of the private sphere and public is exceptionally kept for the men.
This dominant culture is based on the strictness of the societal norms that the internal focus on
self-control which is the essence of the counter culture movement(Wagner, 2016). The aim of
this text has been to understand the fact that power is not exclusively related to the narrow
domain of meetings and parties, it is about the power structure that is guiding the society. The
idea of critical theory can be related here in order to understand the essence of the counter
culture. According to this theory, it can be said that there is a need to develop any act that is
liberating and emancipator at the same time. Enslavement in all forms that restricts the fullest
development of the human being is to be challenged by the new emerging idea that can

4CULTURAL TEXT AND CHALLENGE TO THE DOMINANT IDEAS
contribute and challenges the dominant ideas of society which is able to bring the positive
changes in society(Wright, 2017).
This particular text has challenged the cultural pretext of society in the basis that sex is a status
category which is assigned to the men alone in society and it is considered to be imperfect and
tentative in nature(Wagner, 2016). This challenges against the dominant idea if patriarchy and
male dominance of the public sphere has been debated and discussed in the context of power
relation. It has been argued by Millet that the relationship between the two races are not
accidental moment in history, it is the general control of the women folk by the collective effort
of men. This is followed by the process of domination and subjugation of one collective group
by the other. Going back to the theory of Max Weber which mentions the idea of “herrschaft”
that mentions the relationship of sub ordinance and subjugation, it is based on the idea of male
ruling the female(Regis, 2017). It has been argued that the societal norms of male ruling the
female has been the dominant idea of all historical civilizations. Hence it can be argued that the
process of challenging this dominant culture is developing another counter culture. This counter
culture focused on the power within the society. This idea based on the cultural interpretation of
the male being superior to the female counter part in terms of their biological structures. The
development of the female counter part as secondary is the source of the gendered cultural
norms of the society and this is where such texts make an important impact towards positive
change in society(Mackay, 2015). This text helps us to understand the fact that male are not
superior to men in the context of physical strengths and it is more of the cultural practices that
have shaped the destiny of women to the large part of history. The role of the dominant ideology
in shaping the general sentiment of people have been able to successfully guide us in believing
that the existence of femininity is similar to weakness and it is only male personality that tends

5CULTURAL TEXT AND CHALLENGE TO THE DOMINANT IDEAS
to be successful in all endeavors(Wright, 2017). According to Millet, this idea of society is
guided by the belief that men are the bread earners of family hence they are the prime decision
makers of the society too(David, 2016). However what tend to ignore is that women have an
equal and even more important role than the counterpart which has been largely overlooked.
The significance of the counter culture in challenging the dominant ideas of society have been :
This movement led to the development of equality between sexes and the right to free speech
which were limited to great extent till now(Regis, 2017). It has also contributed to the factor that
this movement led to the large scale rejection of the dominant social norms that have shaped the
morale of people. Unconventional approaches and beliefs challenged and change the way the
dominant ideas shaped the world. The ideas posed of counter culture not only integrated some of
the beliefs of the dominant ideas, it also challenges aspects that were considered to be
unacceptable(Mackay, 2015). Another important contribution of this challenging behavior has
been generation of new ideas and beliefs. For example, the emergence of the “ new women” and
the demand for gender neutral norms have been shaping the future generation. This is also
significant from the point of view that such threats to the dominant ideas led to the creation of
new music and literature which criticized the dominant ideas of culture(David, 2016). The
development of dissent and free press has been one of the greatest contributions to the
emergence of counter culture. Lastly it is to be noted that the impact of such movement
challenging the dominant set of ideas have spilled over all aspects of society and life instead of
being restricted to one field of debates.
Conclusion
This paper made an analysis of the issue of counter culture and their nuances in challenging the
dominant ideas of society and culture. This can be argued that the issue of counter culture is the

6CULTURAL TEXT AND CHALLENGE TO THE DOMINANT IDEAS
response to the dominant ideas of society which has been largely biased towards one part of
history. However what is important here is to understand the fact that such counter cultures
have been the milestones that have created the foundation for the threat posed to the dominant
ideas of society. The chosen area of discussion has been the feminist ideology that has not only
questioned the basis premised of the gendered norms, it also has replaced some the prevalent
ideas associated with the patriarchy and male domination in both public and private sphere. It
can be argued form the above discussion that there is a enhance need to question and challenges
the dominant ideas of society that has been guiding the societal norms for long and it is also
relevant to consider the fact challenges in terms of new movement has been successful on the
global context, one of which is feminist movement that not only sustained the dominant
ideologies, it also challenged the existing power relations in society.

7CULTURAL TEXT AND CHALLENGE TO THE DOMINANT IDEAS
Reference
David, M. E. (2016). Feminism, gender and universities: Politics, passion and pedagogies.
Routledge.
Mackay, F. (2015). Radical feminism: Feminist activism in movement. Springer.
Millett, K. (2016). Sexual politics. Columbia University Press.
Raskin, J. (2017). Beatniks, Hippies, Yippies, Feminists, and the Ongoing American
Counterculture. The Cambridge Companion to the Beats, 36.
Regis, H. F. (2017). Feminist counterculture and race in Hettie Jones' writing.
Schütz, M. (2016). Counter-culture, Feminism and Politics: the challenges of Pop art seen
through the global lens. Critique d’art. Actualité internationale de la littérature critique
sur l’art contemporain, (46).
Thwaites, R. (2017). Making a choice or taking a stand? Choice feminism, political engagement
and the contemporary feminist movement. Feminist Theory, 18(1), 55-68.
Wagner, R. (2016). The invention of culture. University of Chicago Press.
Wright, R. S. (2017). Strategy Inversion: Engaging with the Counterculture. Research
Technology Management, 60(2), 53.