it has also been argued that the association between social class and taste is no longer quite as strong as it used to be. for instance, theorists of the frankfurt school have claimed that the diffusion of mass cultural products has obscured class differences in capitalist societies. that is that products consumed passively by members of different social classes are virtually all the same, with only superficial differences regarding to brand and genre. other criticism has concentrated on the declassifying effects of postmodern culture; that consumer tastes are now less influenced by traditional social structures, and they engage in play with free-floating signifiers to perpetually redefine themselves with whatever they find pleasurable.