The Culture Of Popular Culture Essay

Pop culture, or popular culture, is knowns as a term appeared in mid 20 century. It is defined as the categories of entertainment, politics, sports, fashion, technology, and have a way to influence a person's opinion to a certain topic.

Pop culture, what does this term even mean? It seems to be a word that contains subjects of media, social structure, and society as a whole. According to the dictionary, pop culture is defined as “cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people”. In the society we live in today, we are constantly surrounded by pop culture, either that is with television, magazines, different sources of social media and/or exposure to others. Due to pop culture being such a dominant contribution into our world today, it has effected many parts of society. The domination of social media has created idealistic views that are stressed upon female adolescents in particular. Upon media’s influence, traditional tactics and work have been modified in order to keep up with our technology oriented society. This alters the schools and education systems. Through the use of television, social media and other means of pop culture, serious study is necessary due to the negative effects it has on the younger generation and the effects it has for their futures.

Culture is the complex whole including customs, law, morals, belief, knowledge, arts and other abilities and habits that man acquires as a member of society. Culture occurs naturally in an individual's interactions in the society building his/her identity right from time of birth. Culture is acquired by people through interactions in the society ADDIN EN.CITE Lopes2006458(Lopes P., 2006)45845817Lopes P.,Culture and Stigma: Popular Culture and the Case of Comic BooksSociological ForumSociological Forum387-4142132006Springer08848971http://www.jstor.org/stable/4540949( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_1" o "Lopes P., 2006 #458" Lopes P., 2006). Popular culture includes social life aspects engaged in the public sphere. The determination of a popular culture is possible through interactions between people's everyday activities. Popular culture is influenced in the modern day by mass media that portray different aspect of the society including dressing style, greetings, eating habits and slang among others ADDIN EN.CITE Williams J.M.2010460(Williams J.M. & Rodgers J.S.,

Popular culture can be defined as “The knowledge of current or up-to-date events. It can refer to music, television, film, sports, and anything in the public domain.” (reference.com.n.d.). MTV operates globally and one may argue that MTV shapes their audience tastes however in present times the public has vast options and therefore can easily dictate by choosing the channel that best suits their tastes and wants. MTV’s power to adapt to change has worked to their advantage as they have been able to capture their target audience throughout their existence.

In the first chapter of The Rhetorical Power of Pop Culture by Deanna Sellnow, the author defines popular culture and explains the importance of studying the subject. Sellnow begins with a short explanation of ethics to convey that the influence popular culture has is not always used ethically. Secondly, Sellnow compares the different contexts of culture, elitist and diversity, to explain what popular culture is not. Popular culture is compiled of everyday things that influence people through subtle messages such as what is appropriate and inappropriate, good and bad, and so on.

Today’s societal norms and popular culture instills the idea that being health conscious and exercising is necessary. Most Americans idealize the “perfect” body and will do anything to achieve this image. We, as an American public, are attracted to members of society who present themselves in a fit and healthy manner. Accordingly, there are many studies proving that active lifestyles will even increase work productivity, which can in turn create job promotions. However, what about workers who are not characterized as slender or in shape? Are they at a disadvantage compared to their colleagues? In class lecture, we discussed what archetypes and myths are and their relevance within cultures. Archetypes are defined as widely recurring actions, objects, or events with a powerful meaning. Myths are composed of these archetypes along with other powerful signs that are ingrained in society because they are constantly retold. Myths can impact our biases and standards unconsciously, as we become accustomed to these widespread narratives in our communities. Within many industries, the myth of weight discrimination in the workplace prohibits many employees from advancing in their careers. Based on my personal experience, the video, lecture, and book, the myth of workplace discrimination towards overweight individuals exists and is furthered because popular culture overemphasizes the ideal body type.

Popular culture is culture found in a large, heterogeneous society, that shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristic. Popular culture can consist of: a popular song, performer,movie or tv show, comic trip, “super hero”, etc.

“Popular culture moves through our world at warp speed” (Aufses, Scanlon, Shea 707). For example, current events that take place by day are the main topics by night. Even videos posted on the internet can become the biggest trend overnight, but disappear just as quick. Without realizing it, everyday these trends of thought affect the way we dress, live and think. Whether we like it or not, these thoughts are manipulated by popular culture. It is undeniable that “we are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate” (Source A). Pop culture influences us through many forms: movies, television, music, art, and peers are some examples. This affirmation is supported through essays from

According to dictionary.com, pop culture can be described as,” contemporary lifestyle and items that are well known and generally accepted, cultural patterns that are widespread within a population.”

Popular Culture is all around us today. It is in the movies we watch, the television

Popular culture, on the other hand, is a form of 'low' culture and is based primarily on marketing, mass production and revenue. Low culture is what is sold to the masses, ergo, low culture equals mass culture. All these terms refer to popular culture, defined in the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology as: '…accessible to

However, what is popular culture in the context of society? Popular culture is the accumulated store of cultural products that are consumed primarily by non-elite groups such as the working, lower, and middle class. Thus, popular culture involves the aspects of social life most actively involved in by the public. As the people’s culture, popular culture is determined by the interactions between people in their everyday activities: the use of slang, styles of attire, greeting rituals and the foods that people eat are all examples of popular culture. Popular culture is also informed by the media; people have certain interests that appeal to them and they seek more information regarding it. Media thus helps to propagate this popular culture because in addition to reaching those who have already adopted society’s popular culture, so too can the people who have yet to be exposed to it join in. This is a phenomenon that we also see with the emergence of soccer. Soccer had first started out as a way for English elite to socialize among themselves. The inception of modern soccer was actually due to the ‘import’ of European soccer to the countries they were

The media influences how people experience social life. Media such as newspaper, television and film, are important sources of information, education and entertainment. It can be used to learn more about the world and the people in it. In this regard it can be said that the media represent, interpret and endorse aspects of social experience (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2005). The media are also implicated in social regulation, or in other terms, the government of society. The media are implicated in government and politics in an obvious way because modern systems of democracy are conducted through the media. But the media have a bigger role to play in government by structuring how society is controlled and maintained.

Your definition on what is popular culture is very clear. I agree that people are easily swept away by the popular idea at the time with little persuasion. I remember the time that everybody was playing Angry Bird and Candy Crush just because everybody else was doing it. During the summer Pokemon Go was pretty popular but it was all because of the hype and wanting to fit in. Some people that played weren't even fans of

From the newest music video to the latest Buzzfeed’s Tasty recipe, Americans express themselves through pop culture. What music someone listens to, who they follow on Instagram, what tweet they retweet on Twitter: all reflects who someone is. Americans reflect themselves through pop culture contrary to belief that pop culture creates Americans.