商業電視是樁既剝削又歧視的生意？─電視商品閱聽人的生產與家庭論述

Abstract

本研究以傅科的權力觀點聯繫馬克思主義與女性主義，嘗試瞭解臺灣商業電視產業買賣商品閱聽人過程中的勞動剝削、性別分工與歧視，特別是收視率調查所隱含的性別偏見與家庭論述。本文先從Smythe的「閱聽人商品」概念出發，檢討其在臺灣電視產業分析的適用性；在加入性別與權力意識的修正後，本文進而批判右派的擬似客觀閱聽人調查，也再次點明左派面對性別差異的「盲點」。本研究重要性在於批判商品閱聽人買賣的剝削與歧視，凸顯商業電視本質的不義，並且強調商品閱聽人與真實觀眾之間的差異，這差異的質疑不僅是閱聽人自主性的問題，更是不同性別、階級與種族在家庭收視這個戰場的角力。

Inspired by Foucault’s perspective of power, this paper uses Marxism and feminism to understand the unequal sexual division of labor as well as discrimination in the production and exchange of a commodity audience. Starting with a critique of Dallas Smythe’s concept of a commodity audience, the analysis highlights Marxist communication studies’ oversight of the gender issue. It further empirically questions the myth of objective ratings as commonly practiced in the commercial television industry. By doing so, the study aims to unearth exploitation and discrimination hidden in the family viewing process. As framed by mainstream family discourses and technologies of ratings, audiences have been disciplined and normalized for sale. Thus, audiences’ resistance cannot be separated from various social movements against sexual, racial, and economic injustices.