Jordan Foster
Biographic Data
| ID | 3692825 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jordan Foster |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jordan |
| FAMILY NAME | Foster |
| SIGNATURE | FOSTER J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6902-0737 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 25 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
“Atlanta Is Like Wakanda … but With Real Big, Big Issues”
Tailored interventions recognizing community strengths and addressing specific health issues are crucial for improving outcomes in marginalized communities, necessitating a health-in-all policies approach considering social, cultural, and structural determinants of health
Navigating the Beauty Bind
The digital age exposes young people to a celebrity-saturated ‘beauty regime’ that reinforces ideals of physical perfection. Cultural sociologists and feminist scholars have highlighted the role of appearance as an important dimension of social stratification and demonstrated the prominence of celebrity images in popular culture and everyday imaginings. While beauty is increasingly recognized as an important element of culture and inequality, res…
Nepo Babies and the Myth of Meritocracy
Mainstream media reports on the rise of “nepo babies” have brought renewed attention to the advantages that famous and well-connected parents can provide. Drawing from a sample of 331 in-print and online articles, we apply a cultural frame analysis to study news media discourse around nepotism with a focus on how celebrity children are represented and whether these representations support or refute an ideology of meritocracy. We find that nepotis…
Platformed cultural production and calibration in the Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic created a period of social and economic crisis that introduced two distinct problems for social media influencers. At the same time that the pandemic made their work economically precarious, it also made their work morally hazardous, as large-scale human suffering made influencers’ lifestyle promotions appear out of step with their audiences’ day-to-day experiences. How did influencers and the personnel they work with organi…
Claudio Benzecry, The Perfect Fit
Trading Blame
Symbolic boundaries shape how we see and understand both ourselves and those around us. Amid periods of crisis, these boundaries can appear more salient, sharpening distinctions between 'us' and 'them' and reinforcing inequalities in the social landscape. Based on 50 in-depth interviews about pandemic experiences among Canadians with disabilities and chronic health conditions, we examine how this community distinguishes between the 'deserving' an…
Scatter my ashes at Saks Fifth Avenue’
Past research shows that intermediaries exercise a significant amount of authority and power in cultural fields. In this article, I investigate the case of cultural intermediaries who might appear to have a deficit of power and authority. Stylists and visual merchandisers in luxury fashion cater to elite clients who possess high levels of cultural and economic capital. How do these cultural intermediaries mobilize their cultural capital and exper…
It's All About the Look
Existing research on Instagram suggests that the mobile application is dominated by a cast of hegemonically attractive influencers. But calls for greater diversity and inclusion are on the rise, raising important questions about how social media influencers and the industry personnel who support them understand diversity and negotiate appearance ideals. Drawing on 40 interviews with influencers and industry personnel as well as a year of online o…
Muscles, Makeup, and Femboys
News reports and online comments suggest that social media applications like TikTok play an important role in challenging traditional notions of masculinity. Male creators who don jewelry and engage in dance in their videos are emblematic of a broader shift in social and mainstream media toward gender non-conformity. Do these videos represent a movement away from hegemonic ideals? Based on a visual content analysis of 205 TikTok videos across the…
My Money and My Heart”
YouTube videos document the purchase and “unboxing” of status goods, highlighting the intense emotional fervor that follows. Commenters respond with praise while expressing envy for the goods on their person. Taken together, online videos and the comments that attend them raise a number of questions about how we evaluate fashion purchases and the boundaries and inequalities these purchases bring to light. Using a sample of 10 widely viewed online…
A model who looks like me
Diversity in the fashion industry, it seems, is on the rise, with recent efforts poised to address the exclusion of people with disabilities. Based on a content analysis of editorials, advertising campaigns, and 213 online consumer comments between 2014 and 2019, we examine how diversity is showcased: specifically, whether images of disability serve to challenge or reinforce negative stereotypes. We find that market logics constrain the use of mo…
Muscles, Makeup, and Femboys
News reports and online comments suggest that social media applications like TikTok play an important role in challenging traditional notions of masculinity. Male creators who don jewelry and engage in dance in their videos are emblematic of a broader shift in social and mainstream media toward gender non-conformity. Do these videos represent a movement away from hegemonic ideals? Based on a visual content analysis of 205 TikTok videos across the…
It's All About the Look
Existing research on Instagram suggests that the mobile application is dominated by a cast of hegemonically attractive influencers. But calls for greater diversity and inclusion are on the rise, raising important questions about how social media influencers and the industry personnel who support them understand diversity and negotiate appearance ideals. Drawing on 40 interviews with influencers and industry personnel as well as a year of online o…
A model who looks like me
Diversity in the fashion industry, it seems, is on the rise, with recent efforts poised to address the exclusion of people with disabilities. Based on a content analysis of editorials, advertising campaigns, and 213 online consumer comments between 2014 and 2019, we examine how diversity is showcased: specifically, whether images of disability serve to challenge or reinforce negative stereotypes. We find that market logics constrain the use of mo…
Trading Blame
Symbolic boundaries shape how we see and understand both ourselves and those around us. Amid periods of crisis, these boundaries can appear more salient, sharpening distinctions between 'us' and 'them' and reinforcing inequalities in the social landscape. Based on 50 in-depth interviews about pandemic experiences among Canadians with disabilities and chronic health conditions, we examine how this community distinguishes between the 'deserving' an…
Scatter my ashes at Saks Fifth Avenue’
Past research shows that intermediaries exercise a significant amount of authority and power in cultural fields. In this article, I investigate the case of cultural intermediaries who might appear to have a deficit of power and authority. Stylists and visual merchandisers in luxury fashion cater to elite clients who possess high levels of cultural and economic capital. How do these cultural intermediaries mobilize their cultural capital and exper…
My Money and My Heart”
YouTube videos document the purchase and “unboxing” of status goods, highlighting the intense emotional fervor that follows. Commenters respond with praise while expressing envy for the goods on their person. Taken together, online videos and the comments that attend them raise a number of questions about how we evaluate fashion purchases and the boundaries and inequalities these purchases bring to light. Using a sample of 10 widely viewed online…
My Money and My Heart”
YouTube videos document the purchase and “unboxing” of status goods, highlighting the intense emotional fervor that follows. Commenters respond with praise while expressing envy for the goods on their person. Taken together, online videos and the comments that attend them raise a number of questions about how we evaluate fashion purchases and the boundaries and inequalities these purchases bring to light. Using a sample of 10 widely viewed online…
A model who looks like me
Diversity in the fashion industry, it seems, is on the rise, with recent efforts poised to address the exclusion of people with disabilities. Based on a content analysis of editorials, advertising campaigns, and 213 online consumer comments between 2014 and 2019, we examine how diversity is showcased: specifically, whether images of disability serve to challenge or reinforce negative stereotypes. We find that market logics constrain the use of mo…
Scatter my ashes at Saks Fifth Avenue’
Past research shows that intermediaries exercise a significant amount of authority and power in cultural fields. In this article, I investigate the case of cultural intermediaries who might appear to have a deficit of power and authority. Stylists and visual merchandisers in luxury fashion cater to elite clients who possess high levels of cultural and economic capital. How do these cultural intermediaries mobilize their cultural capital and exper…
It's All About the Look
Existing research on Instagram suggests that the mobile application is dominated by a cast of hegemonically attractive influencers. But calls for greater diversity and inclusion are on the rise, raising important questions about how social media influencers and the industry personnel who support them understand diversity and negotiate appearance ideals. Drawing on 40 interviews with influencers and industry personnel as well as a year of online o…
Muscles, Makeup, and Femboys
News reports and online comments suggest that social media applications like TikTok play an important role in challenging traditional notions of masculinity. Male creators who don jewelry and engage in dance in their videos are emblematic of a broader shift in social and mainstream media toward gender non-conformity. Do these videos represent a movement away from hegemonic ideals? Based on a visual content analysis of 205 TikTok videos across the…
Platformed cultural production and calibration in the Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic created a period of social and economic crisis that introduced two distinct problems for social media influencers. At the same time that the pandemic made their work economically precarious, it also made their work morally hazardous, as large-scale human suffering made influencers’ lifestyle promotions appear out of step with their audiences’ day-to-day experiences. How did influencers and the personnel they work with organi…
Claudio Benzecry, The Perfect Fit
Trading Blame
Symbolic boundaries shape how we see and understand both ourselves and those around us. Amid periods of crisis, these boundaries can appear more salient, sharpening distinctions between 'us' and 'them' and reinforcing inequalities in the social landscape. Based on 50 in-depth interviews about pandemic experiences among Canadians with disabilities and chronic health conditions, we examine how this community distinguishes between the 'deserving' an…
“Atlanta Is Like Wakanda … but With Real Big, Big Issues”
Tailored interventions recognizing community strengths and addressing specific health issues are crucial for improving outcomes in marginalized communities, necessitating a health-in-all policies approach considering social, cultural, and structural determinants of health
Navigating the Beauty Bind
The digital age exposes young people to a celebrity-saturated ‘beauty regime’ that reinforces ideals of physical perfection. Cultural sociologists and feminist scholars have highlighted the role of appearance as an important dimension of social stratification and demonstrated the prominence of celebrity images in popular culture and everyday imaginings. While beauty is increasingly recognized as an important element of culture and inequality, res…
Nepo Babies and the Myth of Meritocracy
Mainstream media reports on the rise of “nepo babies” have brought renewed attention to the advantages that famous and well-connected parents can provide. Drawing from a sample of 331 in-print and online articles, we apply a cultural frame analysis to study news media discourse around nepotism with a focus on how celebrity children are represented and whether these representations support or refute an ideology of meritocracy. We find that nepotis…
Political science (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Law (7 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Fashion and Cultural Textiles (5 works) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (5 works) · Public relations (5 works) · Law (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works)