...Popular American Culture 2 According to MSN Encarta: American Culture can be defined as the customs, behavior, and way of life in the United States, which can be expressed through clothing, food, recreation and through the arts among other things. Americas Culture has a unique mixture of different backgrounds such as, European, African, Asian –which is influenced through the arts, music, dress, entertainment and food. The Pop Cultures that are most prevalent in my life are internet and music: Internet browsing: The internet has become more of a way of life, it’s a means of communication there is the email, myspace, facebook, we don’t take the time to write a letter which used to be more personal for now we are living in such a fast paced society. It also helps to past the time/entertainment, shopping, bill paying etc., almost, everything nowadays can be done on the internet. I also use the internet at work to check for guest reservations online. You can even order your prescriptions online and have them delivered in the mail or for in-store pick-up. Gone are the days when friends used to hang out face-to-face, now we are IM’ing or chatting on line in chat rooms, or leaving messages on our online pages. The internet can also be used to do research, no more long days or nights at the library, it is also used for job hunting. You can also look for friends you haven’t seen or heard from in a while...
Words: 473 - Pages: 2
...Popular American Culture Twame M. Williams Introduction to Popular American Culture SOC/105 May 20, 2010 Ms. Ardra J. Norman, LMSW Popular American Culture Popular American culture is what’s going on now. It is the way we do things in America now. It is the way we make decisions in life. Based upon our population, popular American culture surrounds itself around food, music, technology, schools, books, people, places, and things to do. The actual definition for popular culture is the elements of everyday life. When things happen in the world, people change. The media puts information out there for America to view and have options. People tend to follow the trends, the fads, the way that everyone else is leading the world to be. The inventory list that was created to form this paper started with how I viewed society and what was in it. Music, fast foods, grocery stores, clothes, and shoes are many artifacts that society and culture are built upon. In this list, comparisons have been made and some are most common than others. The knowledge and beliefs that people have show their attitudes and expectations of how society is run. When trends are set in a community, it is normally driven into them to be that way. Knowing that everyday life thrives upon all of this, it makes you see why changes are continuing to exist. Artifacts There are many artifacts tied into popular culture. Music is one of them....
Words: 870 - Pages: 4
...Popular American Culture SOC/105 October 31, 2012 S. C. Culture and Pop Culture The official definition of culture is “the customary beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group” (Webster Dictionary.com, 2012) whereas popular culture is the opposite of high cultural art forms like the opera, historic art, classical music, traditional theater or literature. It includes many forms of cultural communication, including newspapers, television, advertising, comics, pop music, radio, novels, movies, etc. In the beginning of the 20th Century," High art" was the realm of the wealthy and educated classes while popular culture or "Low art" is commercial entertainment for the lower classes. In the 1950s and 60s the gap between them closed with the rise of Pop Art” (Kartha, 2011, p.1). Pop culture is so prominent in society that it is almost impossible to escape its influence. This is especially true in America. As a result of easy access, children absorb huge amounts of information presented by the pop culture world, which influences and shapes their identities. However, not all of it is negative and if parents educate themselves and monitor their children’s activities, pop culture is often a positive influence that helps mold the children...
Words: 821 - Pages: 4
...Popular American Culture Popular American Culture Culture can be defined as set of traditions past on for generations. Popular culture can be defined anything items or forms of media influencing society in its entirety. American popular culture can influence other nation’s popular cultures in the same manner. These influences include public attitudes, perceptions, and preferences. For instance, the rest of the world recognizes the word “football” as what American’s call soccer. American football is the most popular sport in the United States and fans of football teams have his or her own cultures. Major trends in American culture I follow daily are social media, sports, and music. I am a Beachbody coach. I use social media to get my message of fitness out. I am on Facebook every day attempting to motivate my friends to get off their butts’ and prepare for their future health. Instagram, allows people to motivate me by liking or commenting my fitness pictures or videos. I am a huge sports fan. From the first time I watched an NFL game when I was 11 years old, I was addicted. I played football, basketball and ran track all through middle and high school. I listen to sports radio all day. Football is the one sport that I will ignore the world for. Music is a huge part of my life. While writing this paper, I am listening to Pandora. I have a mix of high culture with my Tchaikovsky and subculture/popular culture with my Dirtyphonic Dubstep channels. As a Beachbody coach,...
Words: 461 - Pages: 2
...Running head: Popular American Culture Popular American Culture Cory James Soc/105 Clylinda Nixon June 13th, 2012 Popular American Culture Popular American culture is in one way or another is involved in everyone’s lives. Whether it is the music with listen to, the clothes we wear, the car we drive, or the movies we watch pop culture makes us who we are. Trends and Fads make up popular culture and tracts the ins and outs of what is going on from past to present. We look back and think about the fads that never stuck and the trends that define who we are today. Even in present time pop culture is constantly changing and us as people decide what stays and what goes. In pop culture it is important to look at the work culture to fully understand it. According to Live Science “culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts” Zimmerman (2012). Since different cultures are defined by their characteristics then pop culture makes up those characteristics. It is the music we listen to and the social habits we take up. Pop culture is the activities that are aimed at entertaining people in massive portions. In present time America pop culture as changed a lot due to the advancements in technology and the loss of religion in many homes. Some of the current fads that are here now but gone soon are reality TV shows like The Kardashian’s, Teen mom, and Jersey...
Words: 604 - Pages: 3
...Popular American Culture Eleonora Gars SOC105/WH11ELC01 January 18, 2010 Byron Williams Popular American Culture Culture is the essential character of a society that distinguishes if from other societal groups. The underlying elements of every culture are the values, language, myths, customs, rituals, and laws that shape the behavior of the people, as well as the material artifacts, or products, of that behavior as they are transmitted from one generation to the next. Cultural values and influences are the ocean in which individuals swim, and yet most are completely unaware that it is where. What people eat, how they dress, what they think and feel, and what language they speak, are all dimensions of culture. For some cultural critics working with in the mass culture paradigm, mass culture is not just an imposed and impoverished culture, it is clear identifiable sense an imported American culture. “If popular culture in its modern from invented in any one place, it was….. in the great cities of the United States, and above all in New York. (Maltby, 1989)” This claim that popular culture is American culture has a long history within the theoretical mapping of popular cultures. It operates under the term Americanization. In its most basic form cultural imperialism comprises the assumption that one nation deliberately attempts to impose its culture, ideology, goods, and way of life on another country. In the United States, critics of cultural imperialism...
Words: 718 - Pages: 3
...Popular culture has been traits that have been passed down from generation to generation. Today many people have come to understand culture to be everyone in today’s society. In today society the trends are what make up ones culture. Most people care about what everyone else thinks than what one actually feels or wants. Culture The study of culture is very important to our society some have been studying his or her past identities for years. Studying culture allows us as humans to understand each other as different people. American culture may be defined as a modern day way of life. The word culture can have many different meanings, for some people it can be appreciation of literature, music, art, food, and clothing. “Ray B Browne defined it as the cultural world around us that is our attitudes, habits, and actions: how we act and why we act; what we eat or wear; our buildings roads, our politics, and our religion.” (Wilson & Wilson 2001 p. 4) Trends When referring to the three major trends in popular American culture; one’s opinion it would be television, clothing, and video games. People in today’s society worry too much about what other people think about them. Take a young teenager in high school if she does not wear a certain type of clothing she can be bullied about it. If she wears a certain style of clothes that a re consider too revealing she will be stereotyped. When talking about television in one’s opinion the commercials that come on are always referring...
Words: 547 - Pages: 3
...Popular American Culture SOC/105 March 11, 2013 Popular American Culture When examining popular American culture it is critical also to look at culture in its entirety. Understanding culture and popular American culture, and all its intricacies provides a view of the differences of each person we encounter daily. This paper defines culture and popular culture and also identifies three major trends in popular American culture, and how popular American culture affects personal decision making. Defining Culture The culture of the United States is predominantly a Western culture; however, we see the influence of Native Americans, African American, Latin Americans, Asians, and many other cultures. Culture identifies the behaviors, beliefs, and social forms, which are characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group and may include language, religion, social traditions, and music and arts. Define Popular Culture According to Petracca and Sorapure (2007), “Popular culture represents a common denominator, something that cuts across most economic, social, and educational barriers” (p. 3). Popular culture involves the immediate and contemporary aspects of our lives. These aspects are continuously evolving specifically because of the exceedingly technological world we live in, which exposes people to ever-present, various forms of mass media. The term media is commonly used to identify radio, music, Internet, television, print, film, and video, and it is in these forms...
Words: 740 - Pages: 3
...Examination of Popular American Culture Sheri Wisniewski SOC/105 University of Phoenix Abstract In this paper I will examine popular American culture. My paper will define what culture is and what popular culture is. I will also identify three major trends in popular American culture and I will explain how popular American culture affects personal decision making. Keywords: culture, popular culture, trends Examination of Popular American Culture Definition of Culture What is culture? According to Merriam-Webster there are three definitions of culture. They are “the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time, a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc., and a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization.” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture) Two of the definitions are very similar speaking about the beliefs, arts, etc. Those are the definitions I will be focusing on in this paper as I am going to be concentrating on people and not an organization. Definition of Popular Culture In the eBook Reading and Writing About American Popular Culture, “popular culture encompasses the most immediate and contemporary elements in our lives – elements which are often subject to rapid changes in a highly technological world in which people are brought closer and closer by the ubiquitous mass media.”(p. 3) Having access to media literally twenty-four hours...
Words: 1024 - Pages: 5
...Trends in Popular American Culture Gwendolyn M. Riley University of Phoenix SOC / 105 Deciding what is popular seems easy enough. It is what everybody likes or has heard about, what people are currently doing, wearing, eating or feeling. Our word popular derives from a Latin word populous which means “the people” so what is popular is what is “of the people”, it is what is as the dictionary says in one meaning, “frequently encountered or widely accepted”. In today’s society, culture can be defined in many ways. It can refers to the following of life including but not limited to language, arts & sciences, thought, spirituality, social activity and interactions. We can understand that culture is everyone in a society. This is because everyone in a society influences individual through social, political, personal and religious aspect. In the social trend in American culture, we can see how cell phone has changed communication dramatically. This is because cell phone is now accessible. I believe in the olden days, cell phone was not a popular thing but now in the new generation, it has changed. It is also because cell phone use can do things like surfing the net, texting and so on. Another trend that has become another popular American trend in the social aspect is networking such as: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and these other entire dating website. It has become so popular that people are meeting other people through these sites. It is fascinating to see how...
Words: 535 - Pages: 3
...Popular American Culture Paper By. Jackie Thompson Soc. 105 June 7, 2012 Professor Susan Kessler American Pop Culture Culture is something that is learned from birth, it affects the way a person looks at themselves, and their surroundings. Someone’s culture influences their preference in music, food, clothing, hair styles, parenting skills, social skills, and the way someone reacts to their environment. Pop culture is everywhere we look from television, radio, magazines, billboards, newspapers, family, friends, co-workers, professors, and classmates all of these things influences our lives in one way or another. It influences the way we behave in public, what we say, and the way we react to our giving surroundings in a specific time period, which is forever changing depending on what society finds acceptable at that point in time. Three trends in today’s American culture, starting with the biggest is reality TV, such as “Keeping up with the Kardashians”, “Jersey Shore”, “The Bachelor”, and “Teen Mom”. These reality shows have became a huge hit here in America, being able to watch these peoples personal issues play out right before your eyes is fascinating to some and boring to other. The second major trend would be the body modification, such as tattoos and or piercings. I believe that people are enjoying decorating their bodies not only to make themselves even more unique, but to express their own personality. Thirdly there is the large variety of music in today’s...
Words: 784 - Pages: 4
...Running head: MUSIC TRENDS IN POPULAR AMERICAN CULTURE Music Trends in Popular American Culture University of Phoenix There have been many trends in American popular culture dating back since America was founded, anytime an activity or a lifestyle became popular people wanted to follow it and millions did. This is the case with music; it has evolved over time yet remains one of the most popular aspects of American Culture. From 1606-1776 religious music was the first music of early colonists in what was known as The Colonial Era. Traditional English hymns were brought to America and singing the psalms was an early form of hymns. Folk music and ballads were the rage from 1776-1860 in the Revolutionary War era. Popular music just before and during the Civil War had to do with political and military events such as; Amazing Grace, Battle Hymn of the Republic and Dixie and the Star Spangled Banner was written during this time. In 1897 different composers give birth to America’s popular music industry, ending reliance on Europe. The turn of the century arrived and there was a period of excitement for the American Music Scene. During this time the “Western” musical genre spreads throughout western states and featured steel guitars and singing cowboys (Johnson, 2007). The Blues were also created during this time by ex-slaves that sang work songs filled with irony, imagery and love, offering relief from the tensions in their lives. Jazz was also developed in the 1900s...
Words: 832 - Pages: 4
...American popular culture is many things. It tells us how we should live our life. It lets us know what is in or out. Some things it tells us are what to wear and what we should be watching on TV. The term popular culture was first used in the early 19th century. It was used to define the lower class. But now the term is used to describe what the majority of people like. (popular) Fashion trends seam like they are always changing. One popular fashion trend you see all the time is active wear. It used to be only acceptable to wear it to the gym. But now you will see woman wear it everywhere. Yoga pants are no longer restricted to yoga class; instead, they’re worn with a fancy fur vest for lunch with friends or a visit to Wholefoods. Sporty moisture-wicking zip-up jackets are layered between wool coats and cashmere sweaters. (Sherman)...
Words: 776 - Pages: 4
...American Popular Culture Cynthia Casillas SOC/105 Mrs. Angela Cranon American Popular Culture There is not a single definition that will describe culture since it evolves and goes for the same as beauty. Without a doubt, there is no answer to the definition of beauty, yet beauty is heavily involved and, associated in today’s media. Media is likely to have an enormous potent effect to the average man or woman about the criteria of beauty, forcing the definition of beauty to a new height because beauty never stops evolving and tends to play a very important role in the life of young teenagers and adults. Retailer catalogs such as Abercrombie and Fitch and Victoria’s Secret tend to feature airbrushed, scantily clad and altered photos of male and female models. Beauty pageants, fashion shows, the Internet, and movies have swamped the public with two-dimensional pictures of beautiful icons and celebrities. There are even television shows that have joined the delegation, playing a role in the image that it portrays such as Skin Deep, The Swan, and Extreme Makeover. America heavily relies on mass media to play a role in molding Americas view of the definition of beauty and reshaping culture at the same time. In present-day society, with the ever-changing idea that portrays images beauty, people rely on the media to help them find the latest trends on how to look and what to wear to stay “in fashion”. According with Hume (1742), “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Perhaps...
Words: 1570 - Pages: 7
...Trends in Popular American Culture University Of Phoenix Introduction to Popular American Culture SOC 105 Michael Hilley November 11, 2009 Trends in Popular American Culture Trends in popular American culture, what we value and idolize will influence where we go in life. Where we look in life will often determine where we go, and how we end up. From my viewpoint now and what I see in friends in the media and in the values of the groups I belong to I can see where my future is heading. These trends are setting the course. This can be changed and have a profound influence on others that I am around and even those that are seemingly unconnected to me once I begin to take a different viewpoint or approach. One can never have too many viewpoints in life but, also when you really think about it the change in viewpoints were probably constructed in a market focus group by people who engineer trends in popular American culture. A shocking trend is gaining ground in teen dressing. For example, last summer, my 13-year-old daughter needed a dress to attend a friend's birthday dinner. What we found was a black “something” (is what I will call it) with a neckline so low that my condition for buying it was a fill-in-the-gap black undergarment. She was not happy about it but complied. This June, for her eighth-grade graduation, my daughter debated between a slinky blue dress with a plunging neckline which to me had more of a lounge...
Words: 724 - Pages: 3
