Core Response #1 by Yiyan Pan

Reading Tania Modleski's "The Rhythms of Reception: Daytime Television and Women's Work" and Lynn Spigel's "Installing the Television Set: Popular Discourses on Television and Domestic Space, 1948-1955" together is interesting as they both touch upon the relationship between television and the domestic realm (especially domestic women’s role). Modleski focuses on the relationship between daytime television and domestic women’s work, which is typically fragmented and never-ending. The daily life of a housewife is defined by fragmented responsibilities and an absence of continuity. They are constantly juggling multiple tasks and do not have the luxury of focusing on a single, uninterrupted duty. Furthermore, their responsibilities are never fully completed, or in other words, a constant state of employment. Spigel, also, explores the role of television in the suburban family home in 1950s’ America, when it is viewed as a tool for unity but ultimately reinforces the patriarchal order and the exclusion of women from the family. One of the reasons is that women need to do housework and they are excluded from the fantasy of “togetherness” (Spigel, 21). In other words, it echoes Modleski’s point that the division still exists in the family/domestic space and the patriarchal order exists in the form of gendered temporality.

If broadening the scope beyond just women's relationship with television, I think the greater inspiration in these articles for their examination of the connection between the form of labor and television. This connection between labor form and class with television reception is also evident in the experience of migrant factory workers in China. As described in Wanning Sun's book Subaltern China, these migrant workers, who come from the countryside to work in the city, often find solace in commercial comedies after a hard day at the factory, despite the fact that these shows may not necessarily reflect their reality (or have nothing related to their factory life). This highlights the connection between their television viewing experience and mental state after a long day at work. Even though they have free time, it is clear that they lack the energy to fully enjoy and engage with television. Their viewing experience is not focused. Similarly, just as the housewives' lack of ability to focus on television highlights the exploitation, the exploitation of workers is also evident in their TV viewing experiences.