Popular culture according to Browne & Browne is “the system of attitudes, behavioural patterns, belief customs and tastes that define people of any society” (2005, p.3). An artefact of popular culture from my daily life is the JanSport bag. This essay will describe the JanSport bag and explain why it is part of my experience with popular culture by using the ideas of mass culture, global culture and hegemony to support. An artefact of popular culture from my daily is the JanSport bag. The JanSport bag was created in 1967 along with a range of outdoor gear that was totally new and alternative to anything on the existing market, primarily because the design went against the traditional top loading hiking bag and opted for a front panel design,
Global culture can be described as a type of hybridization as different societies adopt the ideals of others, making what is global more local (Storey, 2005). What is global can be seen in our fashion sense, our cuisine and what we watch on television (Storey, 2005). For many countries, it is a type of Americanisation, the imposing of western ideals onto native or indigenous cultures, making the western ideals the new local. Storey says “what is exported always finds itself in the context of what already exists” (2003, p.112) this is a good description of outside ideals being adopted into society; nothing belongs to one continent anymore, especially with exposure to television, radio and social media. In an article about post colonial studies, comments were made about Ecuadorian children wearing JanSport bags which looked out of place when compared to their compulsory traditional cultural attire, everything they wore and how they spoke was indigenous to Ecuador, except the JanSport bag. What was an originally American produced product has become an international functional and fashionable accessory, and is being adopted by indigenous cultures into their daily life (Desai, 2011). This could be because of their place of manufacturing, or it could be because it is seen as popular in the Western world. Global culture has made the JanSport bag popular culture in my experience
Hegemony is “one powerful section of the society are “universalized” as the interests of the society as a whole” (Storey, 2005, p.48) meaning one dominant section of society decide what is popular for the majority. It is often referred to as a arena which the dominant and non dominant groups of a society come to an agreement, a blend of what each want, much like the mass idea you can agree that something is popular but it is your decision whether to buy into it or not. Hegemony has impacted my experience with JanSport bags as I wanted to fit in with the popular kids, and what was popular was the JanSport bag. I still see them everywhere, majority of the designs are the same with variation of colour and pattern. Hegemony can be lead by celebrities and athletes who endorse the product when they attend public events or know they are going to be televised, which makes the consumer want what they have, and fortunately with JanSport being so cheap, we can afford them, “the shaping and packaging of most urban popular culture…results from sophisticated celebrity and product marketing” (Storey, 2005, p. 54) In some was hegemony “reduces culture to material goods” (Storey, 2005, p.111) as the product becomes a symbol that stands for culture, like JanSport bags became a symbol of being popular. Being the elite and best selling bag in the world, I bought one because it was popular; convenient
Zizek, S. (2006). From Reality to the Real (Vol. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader). (J. Storeys, Ed.) Harlow: Pearson.
Culture is an aspect of everyone's life. It helps others to understand another person's beliefs and actions. There are multiple cultures in the world which are opposed to their own kind seeking help for a mental illness. There is an infinite number of cultures that are represented in the United States. “Many cultural and religious teachings often influence beliefs about the origins and nature of mental illness, and shape attitudes towards the mentally ill.” (1). One's cultural beliefs can make them think about whether or not they should seek to get help for a mental illness. Among the cultures around the world and particularly in the US, many Asian cultures do not want the community members to be receiving help for their mental illness. In these cultures mental illness is seen as shameful, because these cultures influence the “conformity to norms, emotional self-control, and family recognition through achievement.” (1). There are many cultural factors that play a role in whether or not a person will receive therapy. These factors include: language, level of acculturation, age, gender, occupational issues, family structure, religious beliefs, and traditional beliefs about mental health (2). Language limits the access of therapy. If a person living in the United States does not speak English very well, it could influence them to not seek therapy. There is a large focus on “in-group/out-group” in many Asian cultures, as in everyone who is in the family/community around them are in the “in-group” and everyone else who is not like them are in the “out-group.”
Introduction: In Culture Making Recovering Our Creative Calling, Andy Crouch exposes the fallacies way in which proponents of worldview have analyzed the concept of culture and argues for the need and responsibility for Christians to create and cultivate culture, rather than merely analyze it (Chaplin, 2010). Crouch (2008) seeks to answer the following questions: “What is it, exactly, that we are called to do in the world? Are we called to transform culture or to change the world?” (p. 11). Crouch attempts to define the concept of culture and why it matters by introducing academic research on the nature of culture with extensive theological study, and Crouch and defines how we may create culture within our own sphere of influence (Culture Making, 2008). Major Points: Part
According to Webster’s Dictionary, culture is defined as tradition or a way of life. It is also a defining principle in how we live our life and the type of people we become. The Salish Indians of the Montana and Celie, the main character of the book The Color Purple, are two examples of cultures that made them who they are. Celie is a poor, black, woman growing up in Memphis, Tennessee in the mid-twentieth century. The men have constantly put her down, through beatings and rape, for being a woman with no talent at all. Her husband’s lover comes to town and gives Celie a chance to see a culture where a woman can stand up for herself and teaches her that love is possible. The Salish on the other hand have a culture that has gone on through the ages and still is a part of each person today despite the obstacles they have had to face. Culture does shape us because from birth it is what tells us our ideals, laws, and morals that we live by each day.
Culture defines people’s values, beliefs, and personal interests. Culture is important because it allows people to maintain a unique identity society. Many cultures have common interests, while others may have customs that differ greatly from that of another. Technology has had a huge impact on present day cultures. Many culture have been altered including my own, and some have been created due to the rise of technology. Cultures differ so greatly that someone belonging to one culture may not agree with the values of another, which then causes social and ethical issues. My culture shares many similarities with others around the world; most of which have connected more people in recent years than ever before. Cultural gaps, and lack of understanding for peoples’ values and beliefs are significant reasons why cultures fail to understand one another.
“Culture” is a term that over the years, has taken many forms, served many purposes and has been defined in a variety of contexts. At the rise of the industrial era, inhabitants of rural areas began to migrate to cities, thus starting urbanization. As this new era began to unfold, urbanization, mass production, and modernization became key ingredients in the transformation of culture. As more people became literate and the production of mass media such as magazines, pamphlets, newspapers etc. increased, many had the option and desire to identify collectively – popular culture began to rise. Popular or “mass” culture can be described as a “dynamic, revolutionary force, breaking down the old barriers of class, tradition, taste, and dissolving
The term ‘popular culture’ is a particularly difficult one to define. The word ‘culture’ alone is, according to Ray Williams, “one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language” (Storey; 2006, 1). Popular culture must also be a term that is equally hard to define. Popular culture is an ambiguous phrase in cultural theory. In its simplest form: popular culture can be seen as the culture of the working class and minority cultures such as; folk and youth culture.(Brooker; 2003).
Popular culture, or pop culture, is defined as cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people. Its aim it to provide the masses with something that contains qualities of mass appeal that therefore provides consumerism. Popular culture isn’t a stranger to any topic including, music videos, advertisements, art, television programs, movies, performances, fashion statements, forms of leisure, toys, and other endless possibilities. Though pop culture entertains the masses, it is also very influential within our society. It provides us with both positive influences, such as economic effect in pop music and other cultural forms, a unifying effect for a global audience, freedom of speech and its cultural transmissions to the rest of the world helps represent diversity, racial equality and tolerance and negative influences, such as glamorizing violence and sex, it cheapens the value of education, emphasizes the importance of material things versus hard work, education, and well-made relationships with family and friends, and most importantly, it contributes to the stereotypes of ourselves and others, including women. Popular culture portrays a fantasy life and that is what seems to appeal to all of us, but instead of trying to stop the influence of pop culture, we need to learn how to think for ourselves, stop believing everything we see in the media and demand to stop portraying certain groups in a negative way. The type of popular culture that I will be speaking about is women in the music world and how certain artists exploit women, making them look more like objects than actual human beings.
'Hegemony' meaning is like leadership, and social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group. Media is one of the key institutions that perpetuates hegemony, influencing mass consumers to unconsciously accept notions of inequality. There must be thousands of commercials that illustrate patterns of hegemonic culture. Cultural hegemony gives good things or bad things to other countries because cultural hegemony destroys the other country culture. Accept good thing adds traditional culture of the own country. It means that if accept cultural hegemony, accept country losing their own culture. For example,
Hofstede (1997) defined culture as the “collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from others” (p. 6). He referred to mental programming in order to explain patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. Cultural manifestation is identified as symbols, heroes, rituals, and values as a learned programming that is dependent on a social environment. Values represented the deepest manifestations of culture and are considered culture’s building blocks (Hofstede, 1980).
Storey, John. An Introduction to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. 2nd ed. Georgia: The University of Georgia, 1998.
Globalization is becoming one of the most controversial topics in today’s world. We see people arguing over the loss of a nation’s cultural identity, the terror of westernization, and the reign of cultural imperialism. Through topics such as these we explore the possibilities or the existence of hybridization of cultures and values, and what some feel is the exploitation of their heritage. One important aspect that is not explored is that such influences can also be more than just a burden and an overstepping of bounds. These factors can create an educational environment as well as a reaffirmation of one’s own culture.
The purpose of this essay is to firstly explain what John Fiske means by ‘popular culture lies not in the production of commodities so much as the productive use of industrial commodities’ (Fiske, J. 1990 p.28). Secondly this essay will go on to compare Fiske’s interpretation of popular culture to MacDonald’s theory of mass culture.
Penny, Eschen M. "Globalizing Popular Culture in the "American Century" and Beyond." Academic Search Complete. OAH Magazine of History, 1 July 2006. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
in this segment are often brand conscious and enjoy the latest fads and trends. They...