In the latest episode of the Kent Voices podcast, we discuss how the portrayal of relationships in popular culture and the media affects how we live out ours.
Have you ever watched a love scene in a film and thought, ‘it’s never like that in my life?’ or ‘if someone said that to me, I would not react that way!’ Perhaps you’ve listened to the lyrics of a song and thought that relationship dynamic being described is actually quite toxic?
Pop culture is our culture, right? It reflects and influences our everyday lives – and loves. But in responding to a world in which a lot of work remains on sex positivity, power dynamics, and equality, the way relationships are represented in popular culture can be complicated.
Kent Voices: Relationships in Popular Culture and Media
In the latest episode of Kent Voices (available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all your usual podcast places) we take a deep dive into how relationships are portrayed in the popular culture and media, both positive and negative.
Our guests include:
- Kent Union Officers Zaid and Thomas.
- Becky, Filipa and Kamila from Student Support and Wellbeing, who are behind the University’s sex-positive consent campaign, ‘Consent. Get it. Full stop.’
- Christina from the community action group Respect the No, who do great work on spreading awareness of sexual violence and assault and fostering a safer, happier campus.
You’ll also hear from Kent students in a an episode which includes discussions on unrealistic portrayals of relationships in TV and media, the promotion of toxic relationship dynamics, inappropriate age gaps and romanticising manipulation. It’s not all bad, though: we go on to chat about positive changes taking place in pop culture and the media, such as the long-overdue narrative-shift which is making consent cool, discuss how we can normalise conversations in relationships, and welcome the growing representation of non-heteronormative relationships.
We also learn about the pioneering initiatives and support at Kent, from the Consent campaign to specialist wellbeing advice.
Listen to the podcast
You can hear staff and students discuss relationships in the media and pop culture on the Kent Voices podcast. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or search your favourite podcast service.
Find out more
Check out campaign information by following @UniKent_CCL or @UniKentSSW on social media and look up #ConsentGetIt to see which other accounts are supporting this campaign at Kent, and how you can get involved.
For advice and information on accessing additional support or reporting an incident, please see the Sexual Assault and Harassment pages.
If you’d like to comment on or contribute to a podcast or article for Student Services, email us at StudentServicesWeb@kent.ac.uk.
Written by Kamila, Student Support and Wellbeing, and Joshua, Student Services, 20.10.22