‘Catfished’ Again? The Era of Neoliberalism and Personal Relationships
In this paper, I will argue that the nature of personal relationships has changed dramatically for the worse in the era of neoliberal and global capitalism. In this manner, I will follow Bauman and Giddens who provide theoretical frameworks and compelling explanations for such a shift. The study and comparison of the forms that personal relationships have acquired in the past- before the era of neoliberalism with what can be observed now, will help me make my points. Furthermore, I will analyze the influence that neoliberalism has had on the way people form relationships by looking at how the ‘love world’ or the world of intimate relationships, and how ‘love’ is easily …show more content…
Neoliberalism tries to make people feel free, but they are not free. If anything, people are influenced by media to make decisions and purchases. The Ashley Madison scandal is simply another instance of our society’s attempts to putting a price on another thing, in this case on intimate relationships. Neoliberalism exists all over the world, Ashley Madison was a Canadian website that operated all over the world in: North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Oceania, South Africa, East and Southeast Asia, and Middle East and North Africa. The ideology of buying relationships is a global ideology. The new ways of forming relationships in 21st century, as opposed to the olden days, acquires a global dimension when one can choose from numerous potential partners living in different locations. So, one day one might want to have a boyfriend from Italy and they can simply select this option and have an intimate relationship with someone who lives halfway across the globe; “Neoliberalization has in effect swept across the world like a vast tidal wave of institutional reform and discursive adjustment” (Harvey 2007:23). Thus, neoliberalism is a global phenomenon that everyone in the world is effected by. More and more people crave being engaged in multiple, care-and labour-free relationships and are willing to pay money for it. People no longer have an interest in meeting other people face to face, the interaction with another person mediated through the screen had made an emotionally safer and easier environment though symbolic tokens and the lack of commitment becomes easier than face to face
In this paper, I will argue that the nature of personal relationships has changed dramatically for the worse in the era of neoliberal and global capitalism. In this manner, I will follow Bauman and Giddens who provide theoretical frameworks and compelling explanations for such a shift. The study and comparison of the forms that personal relationships have acquired in the past- before the era of neoliberalism with what can be observed now, will help me make my points. Furthermore, I will analyze the influence that neoliberalism has had on the way people form relationships by looking at how the ‘love world’ or the world of intimate relationships, and how ‘love’ is easily …show more content…
Neoliberalism tries to make people feel free, but they are not free. If anything, people are influenced by media to make decisions and purchases. The Ashley Madison scandal is simply another instance of our society’s attempts to putting a price on another thing, in this case on intimate relationships. Neoliberalism exists all over the world, Ashley Madison was a Canadian website that operated all over the world in: North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Oceania, South Africa, East and Southeast Asia, and Middle East and North Africa. The ideology of buying relationships is a global ideology. The new ways of forming relationships in 21st century, as opposed to the olden days, acquires a global dimension when one can choose from numerous potential partners living in different locations. So, one day one might want to have a boyfriend from Italy and they can simply select this option and have an intimate relationship with someone who lives halfway across the globe; “Neoliberalization has in effect swept across the world like a vast tidal wave of institutional reform and discursive adjustment” (Harvey 2007:23). Thus, neoliberalism is a global phenomenon that everyone in the world is effected by. More and more people crave being engaged in multiple, care-and labour-free relationships and are willing to pay money for it. People no longer have an interest in meeting other people face to face, the interaction with another person mediated through the screen had made an emotionally safer and easier environment though symbolic tokens and the lack of commitment becomes easier than face to face