Militarism Paper
“One of the most durable buttresses of militarism is found in the world of sport” (Martin and Steuter p. 131). Popular culture normalizes militarism in various ways, such as even a normal part of American culture as sports. Sports have done a lot of things for me in my life including changing my perspective of how I look at militarism. The military uses sports to advertise to a large group of people across America that will create a positive feeling towards war. Sports make the war seem normal to Americans when they associate it to militarism because many Americans play sports and can relate, but there are also consequences when normalizing the war. Popular culture normalizes militarism in so many ways, but the one aspect of it that normalizes war would be sports, through advertising and professional athletes, not only in a positive way, but it also recognizes the negative side of war.
When popular culture is associated with militarism it changes the way we regard war. Sports can do this in many different ways, for example advertisements in the Super Bowl is a massive way to get a large audience to hear a pro war commercial. After we attacked Iraq in the first Gulf War, “Super Bowl XXV featured a flurry of nationalism including American flag decals on the players’ helmets, images of soldiers in the desert throughout the pregame show, and a halftime address from President George H. W.
Bush, who described the Gulf War as his Super Bowl” (Martin and Steuter p.133). The military took advantage of the known widespread audience across America watching the Super Bowl using persuasion of American pride to produce positive attitudes towards war. Commercials about the military always affect me because every time I...
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...he propaganda that is shown to them about militarism, when we constantly see the good things that come out of war and never the negatives. Sports are not the only way that normalizes war but it is an important one that we tend to overlook. I never noticed the propaganda that was persuading me to be pro-war until reading “Pop Culture Goes to War: Enlisting and Resisting Militarism in the War on Terror.” I hope that people will realize what they are being exposed to so they do not make the mistake that many have made of going in to the army oblivious to the risks because unlike in sports the consequences are more severe than losing a game and being able to return home and continue on with your life.
Works Cited
Martin, Geoff, and Erin Steuter. Pop Culture Goes to War: Enlisting and Resisting Militarism in the War on Terror. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2010. Print.
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