In “Country Cookin’ and Cross-Dressin’: Television, Southern White Masculinities, and Hierarchies of
Cultural Taste,” Greg M. Smith and Pamela Wilson (attached) present a model for analyzing the genre of
the televised cooking show. On the one hand, they are interested in how a particular show has achieved
success over many years by flouting the norms of the genre. On the other hand, they are interested in the
tension between the global and the local.
Using their general semiotic framework as your guide, analyze a successful cable show. What does this
show tell you about its conceptualization of audience? What messages does it appear to be sending about
gender and culture? Is it consistent in its messages? How does it differentiate the local from the global?