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Impact of Popular culture
Negative effects of popular culture
Media violence and violent actions
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Recommended: Impact of Popular culture
Popular culture surrounds the lives of everyone. It is reflected in every form of mass media, and it can be seen everywhere people go. With its prevalence, many are beginning to question its negative themes and their influence. Popular culture’s constant production of unhealthy body images and messages have begun reshaping the thoughts of people and are causing them to reform to fit its ideals. Popular culture causes this social deviance, because it endorses sexual promiscuity, unhealthy body images, and destructive decisions.
Sexuality and popular culture have become somewhat synonymous. Celebrities, magazines, and movies produce themselves in a way that exploits sexuality in order to sell a greater number of products and gain widespread fame. An iconic example of this scenario is Miley Cyrus’ Vma performance. “Cyrus, 20, kicked off her performance by singing her hit summer single, ‘We Can’t Stop.’ The pop star (who described herself as a ‘pro-twerker’ in the ABC Celeb Quiz) appeared on stage with a multitude of dancing teddy bears while she wagged her tongue out to the cameras and slapped a woman’s butt on stage. The former Disney star eventually stripped off her bear-inspired ensemble and revealed a nude bikini underneath as her dancers surrounded her with giant teddy bears strapped to their backs. The weirdness turned into raunchy when Robin Thicke appeared on stage to perform ‘Blurred Lines.’” (News)Although this performance goes against the social standards of sexuality placed on women, it has received more than seven million views (Bruinius).
This shows that society has become more accepting of such sexual promiscuity. However, with society’s acceptance media is become more apt to use this selling point.It is projected t...
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...een Ink. N.p.,N.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
Daniels, Mike. “ Do Violent Vidoes Beget Violence?” Asbury Park Press. 07 Apr. 2013: N.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Heimach, Nick. “Blurred Lines: The Uneasy Relationship Between Sex and Pop Culture.” Porch-Drinking. N.p., 5 Sept. 2013. Web. 07 Feb. 2014.
Hoover, Shelby. “Pop Culture’s Effect on Body Image| Popular Culture.” Popular Culture. N.p., 21 Feb. 2011. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
Mckee, Jonathan, and David R. Smith. “ Promiscuous Programming Promotes Promiscuity” The Source for Youth Ministry- The Source4YM.com. N.p., 24 Aug. 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2014.
News, ABC. "Miley Cyrus’ VMA Performance Stuns Crowd." ABC News. ABC News Network, 26 Aug. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Rollins, Ron. “Are Movies, T.V., Video Games Causing More Bloodshed?” Dayton Daily News. 18 Aug. 2013: A.18. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
In recent years, sociologists, psychologists, and medical experts have gone to great lengths about the growing problem of body image. This literature review examines the sociological impact of media-induced body image on women, specifically women under the age of 18. Although most individuals make light of the ideal body image most will agree that today’s pop-culture is inherently hurting the youth by representing false images and unhealthy habits. The paper compares the media-induced ideal body image with significant role models of today’s youth and the surrounding historical icons of pop-culture while exploring various sociological perspectives surrounding this issue.
In Countering the Culture of Sex, Goodman addresses teenage sex and the media. Sex is sold throughout the United States by the television and music. Goodman thinks is the media is going to continue to propagate this material to the youth of the nation, then there needs to be a complete view of sex and the consequences. The images teenagers see today are only positive images of sex. They do not put the bad facts: sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, and pregnancy, with all the good advertising sex has developed in their minds. Goodman stands for a movement towards correct portrayal of sex in the media.
Recently, the effect that violent media has on society has been the focus of many psychological studies. According to an article published in the New York Times, research has found that: “Exposure to violent imagery does not preordain violence, but it is a risk factor” (Pozios, Kambam, Bender, 2013). There has yet to be a direct link between violence actually causing people to go on these massive shooting sprees that have been so common lately. It is natural and understandable for the
Countering the Culture of Sex is an article by Ellen Goodman dealing with the entertainment industry’s plague upon society. With sex rooted deep in children’s minds it creates this idea of what life revolves around. Digging deeper, Goodman brings up the point of why one never sees the consequences of sex. If the media were to show the consequences of people’s actions, the industry could create a sense of fear into the public.
psychcentral.com. 15 Nov 2013. “Violent video games are not so bad when players cooperate”. youthsciencejournal.com. 10 Dec 2013. “Growing Up With Media: Exposure to violent material”.
Arthur’s e-book offers honest facts about the influences on the instruction of sexuality on tv. She discusses how the digital revolution was one of the main agents for sparking publicized sexuality. She than discusses the different theories that people have including feminist theories. She closes her discussion with sexual citizenship in the digital age. She differentiates between the sexual citizen and the sexual consumer by explaining the issues behind the negative issues it causes.
Wright, Paul. "Sexual Socialization Messages in Mainstream Entertainment Mass Media: A Review and Synthesis." Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.
There is this idea currently surrounding the music industry, that in order for a woman to achieve success they will have to sexualize themselves. This idea is seen in the controversy surrounding Miley Cyrus with her new “movement” in order to strip the Disney Start Hanna Montana image. This controversy thickened after Miley’s Video Music Awards (VMA) performance this August. This year VMA’s is know for Miley Cyrus Twerking on stage with little clothing, a foam finger and dancing bears. Since the end of the performance the controversy over Cyrus grew like a wild fire all over the media outlets. The majority of people believe that Miley Cyrus is sexualizing her self in order to gain fans and supporters in the music industry. This idea of selling your body in this industry is not a new idea but dates back even before Miley Cyrus started her already long career as an entertainer. This idea of the sexualizing of women in the music industry does not stop with the performer or concert but it has a greater and lasting impact on the youth in this country.
Scott, K. M. (2008). Reading the porn of America: The rise of porn culture, what is means, and where we go from here. Boston: Beacon Press.
A common trend in the entertainment industry today is the objectification of women in society. Sexualizing women are seen in media such as; movies, advertisement, television show and music video, where their main focus is providing the audience with an image of women as sexual objects rather than a human. This is detrimental to society since the media is producing social stereotypes for both genders, which can further result in corrupted social habits. Objectification in media are more focused on females than male, these false images of women leave individuals with the wrong idea of the opposite sex. As media continuously use sexual contents regarding women, the audience starts underestimating women. Specifically movies, it allows media to shape the culture’s idea of romance, sex and what seems
The most trending music genre gets a lot of listeners because of its the discrimination. As the songs and advertisements gain followers, it starts to become realized by the citizens. Pop culture artists sing about drugs, alcohol and women. The portrayal of women by these composers is dreadful because it degrades the significance and importance of their existence. Pop culture has always been a home for gender domination and discrimination. It is becoming increasingly “pornified.” As Valenti quotes, “After all, while billboards and magazines ads may feature a ripped guy from time to time, it’s mostly women who make up what sexy is supposed to be. And it’s not just sexy-it’s straight-up sex” (Valenti, 44). The pornography has been a part of the culture and has been accepted by younger women. Feminists have argued that this has increased the inculcation of “raunch culture” in the lives of younger women who fall into it as they feel it empowers them. However, it is a kind of faux empowerment. This illustrates that the media is promoting and utilizing pop culture to change the social norms in an attempt to instruct women on their role in the society. In essence, pop culture with its propaganda desires to change women’s view on nudity until it can become inherent in American culture, and thus eliminating opposition to benefit pop culture in the long run. Valenti persuades her readers by saying, “ the ‘show’ is everywhere. In magazines like Maxim and Playboy. And in the insanity of Girls Gone Wild, with teens putting on fake lesbian make-out sessions so guys will think they’re hot.” Levy also mentions a character, influenced by raunch culture and a reader of Playboy magazines, named Erin who is piqued her curiosity and provided her with inspiration because of this culture. Erin says, “There’s countless times in my life where I know I’ve turned people on just by showing off (by putting on a
“Year after year, twenty-something women come to New York City in search of the two L's: labels and love” is the very catchy line that opens the film with Fergie’s ‘Labels or Love’ as the soundtrack and The Big Apple as its introductory shot. The scaling deduced from the bird’s eye-view-point of New York City, showing its Metropolitan atmosphere with skyscrapers and the famous Brooklyn Bridge; to the urbanites of the City; then to the lead actors of the film. A fifteen year-old girl watches the film, mesmerizing the ecstatic city while admiring the skinny white bodies of the ladies. And last but never forgotten, she gets carried away with the funky upbeat rhythm of the song emphasizing “Gucci, Fendi, [and] Prada . . .” That is the introduction of Sex and the City and the focus of its cinematography. With its elements, the movie can honestly influence teenage girls. Yet as much as critics such as Maya Gordon of Psychology of Women Quarterly say how media contributes to the sexual objectification and values women “based on their appearance,” this film should be an exemption.
The Effects of Popular Culture on Society Popular Culture is music, dance, theatre, film,T.V., poetry and Art which is enjoyed by a wide group of people. Some people would argue that popular culture in the 1960's cause harm. Other people however argued that other factors brought harm and change to society. Some people would argue that music would cause harm because of the lyrics in pop songs. Lyrics like 'Lets spend the night together' by The Rolling Stones, influenced young people to have casual sex.
However, postmodernism offers no clear path to action, Judith Butler identifies this. What Butler (1995) argues is there are various reasons and solutions to women’s subordination. In the case that the term ‘postmodernism’ is so vague that it has to be meaningful. Therefore, the attempts of postmodernists to alter the representational system seem to be futile. In addition, the representation of sex in the media has steadily turned women to become more and more sexualized. Using music video as a deliberate example; Women’s open, moist and lipstick-red lips, half-closed eyelids which can be seen as visually pornographic are all over the place (Juvonen et al., 2004). ‘Adore You’, for example, is a music video of Miley Cyrus, which seems symbolically pornographic. It is very alluring as she moaning, rolling around and pointing a video camera down her panties. Such video would attract more viewings than the ordinary as it is sexually suggestive. As we can see, pornography has been used as a consumer product for profit-gaining purposes and commodified to bring in value. It also connotes a kind of commodified sex; in this way, media recognizes sex for a mass market and make it as a selling point to increase their profits (Nead, 2004). This is the visual implication of pornographisation which we can see solely from watching the video or listening to the music. In this way, pornographication and
Pop culture is a reflection of social change, not a cause of social change” (John Podhoretz). It encompasses the advertisements we see on T.V, the clothes we wear, the music we listen too, and it’s the reason Leonardo DiCaprio has not won an Oscar yet. It defines and dictates the desires and fears of the mainstream members of society; and it is so ingrained into our lives that it has become as natural as breathing. Moreover, adults never even bat an eyelash at all the pop culture and advertising that surrounds them since it has become just another part of everyday life. Pop culture is still somewhat seen as entertainment enjoyed by the lower class members of society; but pop culture standards change over time. A notable example of this is the sixteenth century author, William Shakespeare, since his works were considered pop culture, entertainment that could be enjoyed by everyone, but now they are considered literary classics. While pop culture encompasses most aspects of our lives, its influence is most obvious through each generations reaction to media,