On the list of christmas songs I listen to every year, the classic Santa Claus is Coming to Town is at the top of the playlist. Not until myself and my classmate did a project on the Panopticon for Contemporary Social Theory, did I realize that Santa, yes Santa! Fit in to Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon and the belief that power should be Visible and Unverifiable (Foucault, 1975).
To keep us in check when we were acting out, my parents used to tell my brother and I that Santa is watching us and will know whether we are being bad or good and the song “Santa Claus is coming to Town” just reinforced this notion;
He sees you when you're sleeping He knows when you're awake He knows if you've been bad or good So be good for goodness sake!
Now grown up and knowing the difference, these lyrics now make me think of Bentham’s Visible and Unverifiable. As Foucault wrote in his book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Jeremy Bentham believed that power should be Visible and Unverifiable;
In view of this, Bentham laid down the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable. Visible: the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable: the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at at any one moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so (Foucault, 1975).
Santa is visible to children as his character makes special visits to malls and parades as the tall, plump, white bearded, rosy cheeked, jolly old man that we have come to know symbolizes Christmas. As a child we are told he lives in the North Pole where he has a workshop full of Elves who make toys for children who are on the “nice” list. Children often write letters and mail them to Santa in the North Pole and include their list of toys they want for Christmas which makes this magical character seem even more realistic. Santa and his workshop resemble the central the central tower, which inside, one sees everything without ever being seen (Foucault, 1975). Children believe Santa and his workshop exist, they can see the image of him at malls and in parades and his workshop on movies and television shows, however the unverifiable is whether they are being watched by Santa, but since he is magical they believe he has the power to see them at all times. Having the image of Santa visible to them, but not knowing for sure whether he is actually watching them at all times ultimately keeps children disciplined and well-behaved so they can stay on the “nice” list.
References
Foucault , M. (1975). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison .
Great example, I linked this post to one I wrote on Christmas as well! It's actually interesting when you stop and think of how many mundane experiences we live with that can be explained through the panopticon. I have a 3 year old niece and Santa's name is used quite often when she starts to act up! Christmas and Santa is an effective tool for self regulation. There has a major surge in consumerism in order for businesses to take full advantage of the present buying craze all in the name of Santa, on top. So parents must do their part to maintain the centralized figure and go to the dreaded mall in December!! The kids need to do their part and regulate their actions so that parents can fight over the last toy in the store!!
ReplyDeleteI also used this example in my blog to explain Bentham's panopticon theory! I remember as a child being told that my parents would call Santa and tell them if I was being bad just in case he didn't see himself. Not only did I have Santa watching me, but my parents were also watching too, all the time! I kind of like using Santa as the watchful eye, I look forward to using this tactic on my children to get them to behave during the holiday season.
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