The Interpretation of Aesthetic Capitalism in the Age of New Media

Abstract

Aesthetic capitalism,which stems from the Frankfurt Schools theory of the cultural industry,is profoundly revealing.Through social media, fashion trends, weight loss and slimming have become popular topics across age and culture, especially among women. People are setting more minute and demanding aesthetic standards for clothing, lifestyle products, and even their own bodies. As the public receives new aesthetic culture, new aesthetic demands are created, which in turn allows the industry to create a new wave of aesthetic consumption. This article aims to analyze how aesthetic capitalism run through consumers daily life in general, and the trend it shows when integrated with social media or new media. In order to examine changes throughout Aesthetic capitalism of the consumer market, this paper entails multiple essays on aesthic capitalism and cultural indeustry, written by professors from China and other countries, which provides the article a bigger picture. The analysis indicate a general characteristics of aesthetic capitalism under the development of new media such as globalization, industrialized production and sensory pleasure. The paper also discuss phenomenon arising from such characteristics. However, the findings need a further quantified data to examine.