Week 5-1 analysis

Personal Media devices such as the iPod have changed popular culture by the way people communicate with friends and family. Before personal media devices were created, friends and families would spent their time enjoying media such as radio and TV together. For example, American families in the 70’s would gather around the TV and spend a whole evening watching and enjoying the same piece of media as their friends and family. Another example would be the fireside chats. During a fireside chat, the president would talk to the nation as the American people sat with their family and listened to the radio. Since the invention of the Walkman, people have had a personal media player that will play what they want to hear when they want to hear it. Although the Sony Walkman paved the way for media devices such as the iPod it could never stick as a long lasting part of popular culture.

Personal Media devices died off until the invention of the iPod. The iPod was the first personal media device to be able to get people’s attention and hold on to it. People now could enjoy countless hours of music selfishly by themselves in their room and in their heads. The popular culture of the iPod and personal media devices had begun.

The iPod popular culture has contributed to societies change from a social based culture to an individual based culture. For example, two people are on a bus, before the iPod culture they would talk and be social until one of them got off the bus, however in the iPod culture they would prefer to listen to the music that makes them happy and not concern themselves with socializing with others. The iPod culture teaches children and adults that they should only care about what they personally want to hear and not to worry or care what other people think about personal media or life in general. The popular Culture of the iPod and media devices will dictate how American’s interact with each other in the future. With this is mind, one can only hope somehow someway the future effect of the iPod culture on society will be a positive one.

Week 4-1 analysis

Cell phones have slowly become a part of popular culture. It was not too long ago when Americans main means of communication was in person or by rotary telephone. With the introduction of the cell phone the good old home telephone was all but lost. Cell phones were starting to creep up in popular culture as early as the “Saved by the Bell” days. Who can forget Zack Morris talking on the huge analog cell phone ordering pizza’s to his classroom. Although this was the beginning of the cell phones the size, style, and cost made it almost impossible for cell phones to be a popular culture icon. Finally in the mid to late 1990’s cell phones were starting to be made smaller, cheaper, and with the new digital cell phone signals which allowed the batteries to last longer and improved audio quality. Cell phones slowly became more popular and began changing the way Americans communicated. For the first time in history the American people could commutate outside via cell phone. Cell phones however, were still used mainly by adults and did not yet display the characteristics of a popular culture item.

Once a new service called text messaging was created cell phones were well on their way to becoming part of popular culture. For example, a person that goes to school could now use text messaging to talk to friends during class and the teacher would have no idea what was going on. Now that text messaging was out the appeal of cell phones when through the roof. Text messaging and cell phones made it where people could communicate outside the home and did not have to see the person or hear their voice in order to communicate. For example, instead of dealing with all the emotion of a face to face or telephone break up some people began to break up using text messaging because it is a far less emotional experience. Text messaging played a huge part in cell phones being a part of popular culture

Once most people began to use cell phones they became a part of everyday life and popular culture. The color, style, and features of a cell phone became oh so important. A cell phone is absolute requirement in the popular culture of today. With new cell phones being able to access the internet cell phones are a popular culture as well. Cell phones have done so much for American popular culture by changing where and how people can communicate.

Week 3-1 analysis

The Internet has changed the way people access popular culture. In the past 10 years communication between humans has increased dramatically with the ability to start a conversation with anyone in the world at any time. For instance, a person from the United States could get on the internet and chat to a person from Japan at 4am EST. Before the internet, many Americans viewed the world as a place with only the United States, however, since the internet Americans have communicated with people all over the world and given themselves a more general view.

On the Business side of things the internet has helped to improve the productivity of Businesses and lessened the workload of employees. For example, a journalist can now use the internet to check for spelling and research information for their article which saves a lot more time than a typewriter and a dictionary. With a decrease in the amount of work this leaves extra time for people to explore things in Popular Culture via Internet. There have been countless stories about how people were surfing the internet while they were at work, wasting as much time as possible. This Popular culture change has turned America from a culture of hard work to a culture of less work, which could have a long-term effect on the economy. The internet has made it easier to do business and provided people with more time for exploring popular culture.

The internet popular culture affects not only the Business part of life but the personal side as well. With the massive communication via Internet people are able to make multiple love connection at the same time. For example, before the internet a person could talk to one person face to face and one person on the phone at the same time, but since the internet a person can now talk to 50 or 100 people at the same time using software and their internet connection. The internet popular culture is affecting people’s personal relationships dramatically. For example, if a married couple have the internet and interact with a lot of people on a regular basic this would increase the chances of them finding another relationship type connection like the one with their husband or wife. When married people make other connects it sometimes is the reason for ending their marriage and therefore increases the divorce rate. The Internet popular culture is significantly changing how people are developing personal relationships.

The internet effects popular culture through business and personal means. Improving productivity for a business allows for extra time to access popular culture via internet but also allows for wasted work time which results in the business losing money. Internet popular culture is effecting the interaction in personal relationships by proving a way to communicate with a large number of people at the same time. The internet popular culture is one popular culture item that looks to be sticking around for some time to come.

Week two Analysis

Online video games have become a vital part of Popular Culture. Many people devote as much time everyday to online video games as they do to reality. In some cases, a person that plays an online video game loses a total since of reality and begins to actually live their life in the online video game. With extreme graphics, surround sound, rewards and punishments online gaming can very well compete with life itself.

Online video games are starting to become a major factor in dating both positively and negatively. For instance, my cousin Brandon met a woman he played with on an online video game called world of war craft or (WOW). He married her shortly after meeting her and moved all the way from Ohio to Canada to be with her. On the negative side of things my other friend Josh, who also plays WOW, ended up getting divorced because he was not spending anytime with his wife and she was tired of coming 2^nd to an online video game.

Online video games have even been brought up in court and seen as assets. For example in this one divorce case, Mr. and Ms. Wang met on an online video game and got married. Mr. Wang saved Ms. Wang from being killed on the online video game which caused them to get married (Pacifice Poch, 2005). “They built of a joint online game account worth 50,000 dollars” (Pacifice Poch, 2005). Mr. Wang is willing to give up their home for the online game account and Ms. Wang wants to split everything evenly(Pacifice Poch, 2005).

Online video game popular culture greatly affects the way people spend their money. For example, I know a person involved in online video games that paid the online gaming monthly bill before his heating bill. Online video gaming is helping popular culture and society go from a needs first focus to a wants first focus. Over time, the amount of money spend on video games can effect things like retirement .The worst effect online video game popular culture has is the effect on the relationship between children and the parents. If the parents are spending more time on online video games this means they are spending less time with their kids. The days of the father-son fishing trip is over and is being replaced by the father-son trip to the video game store. The role online video games are playing is shaping popular culture is critical to say the least.

Jornal article 1.3

Journal Article Analysis

The author of the article “Grapping with Dominant Ideologies: Fox Network weighs in on Girl/Boy Wrestling” does well with describing the problems that occur when girls play mainly guy sports such as wrestling and football. This author, Theresa Walton’s, main focus is on the effects of girls wrestling boys and how it is viewed by the public. Girls playing guys sports seem to cause problems for the boy, the girl, and society in general. With subject-specific vocabulary such as patriarchal hierarchy and hegemonic masculinity the author explains her ideas well in everyday terms which help communicate with her general audience. The author seems to have a general audience because the message of the article is to alert everybody to the problem by using everyday examples. To illustrate the effects of girls playing guy sports the author, Theresa Walton, uses three absolutely brilliant examples of girls wrestling boys on the Fox network. The three shows and episodes are King of the Hill “Bobby Slam”, Malcolm in the Middle “The Bully”, and Boston Public “Chapter Ten”.

The “King of the Hill” episode “Bobby Slam” focuses on how girls’ wrestling with boys prevents the boys from gaining their masculinity. For example, if a boy wrestles a girl instead of another boy the boy does not get a chance to prove his masculinity due to society’s view that girls are weaker than boys. The result of the wrestling match is a draw which allows both the boy and the girl to be successful, but still hurts bobby’s masculinity.

The “Malcolm in the Middle” episode “The Bully” takes a difference approach by focusing on the harassment a boy faces when losing to a girl and how that effect social order. Malcolm’s Brother Reese gets beaten badly by a girl wrestler which causes Reese to change his ways and give up being the school bully. Once Reese finds out him being a bully was in fact a good thing he reverts back to a bully and beats kids up to regain control of the school. The approach “Malcolm in the Middle” takes is that if a boy beats a girl chaos will emerge and it will put a boy’s masculinity into question. “Malcolm in the middle” focuses on social disorder and public humiliation of losing to a girl.

The “Boston Public” episode “Chapter Ten” focuses on what the girl endures when she wants to play in guy sports. In this show, the girl, Christine is being picked on and referred to as "The Blob" because of her size and response by beating the boys up who made fun of her. Christine gets away with beating up the boys because they will not tell anyone the shame of being beaten up by a girl. The example given that Christine dies in a later episode was concrete in showing society’s readiness to eliminate girls who tests its boundaries. Boston public focus on what affects the girl who is wrestling which is complementary to the effects it has on the boy who is wrestling and society as a whole.

Fox shows evidence of the increasing boy/girl wrestling phenomenon of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The writers of these three shows express the results of what happens when girls do well in boy sports. The author of this article expresses the negative things that happen with girls wrestle boys. One thing is when girls wrestle boys it takes away their chance to gain their masculinity and the other thing is the girls that enter into the boys sports might be in danger. When the girls start to wrestle in a male sport the media undermines them by not including them much in the story line or simple killing them off. The social view around the physical defenses between girls and guys creates a male dominated institution of organized sports. Sadly the fictional shows on Fox choose to follow the social injustices of reality.

References

Walton, T. (2007).Grapping with dominant ideologies: Fox network weighs in on girl/boy

wrestling. The Journal of Popular Culture. 40, 714-727.

Icon Analysis

Britney Spears, The Bachelor, and Saturday Night Live are three contemporary popular icons. Britney Spears is a pop music artist and sex symbol that has influence over teenagers and young adults. The Bachelor is a television reality show that has a group of women competing for the love of one man which is, of course, the bachelor. Saturday Night Live is a live comedy show that has been on the air for the last few decades. Saturday Night Live features guest hosts which are usually the top popular icons of that time and is a popular icon its self. These three contemporary icons have an effect on society.

I chose Britney Spears as a contemporary popular icon, because of her parenting and lifestyle being called into question as of late. Britney Spears parenting could be influencing young mothers to follow in her footsteps and party. Those have cost her custody of her children and should serve as a great example to young mothers of what not to do. I chose the Bachelor as a contemporary popular icon because it represents a culture change in relationships between men and women. Men and women have a more casual attitude towards dating and sexual contact. The Bachelor does a great job at putting the pleasures of America such as money, success, and sex appeal all in a single show. I chose Saturday night live, because the show always stays updated with popular icons. Popular icons host, and are involved in comedy on Saturday Night Live. The constant changing in guest and comedy bits keeps Saturday Night Live fresh and up to date with popular icons.

Britney Spears to me represents the slacker party generation. Britney is a prime example of young men and women not getting the parental skills and guidance necessary to take care of children. Britney is the result of a greedy and selfish society. The Bachelor to me means very little because it promotes dating people based on success, money, and genetics. The Bachelor is a prime example of a negative contemporary icon. Saturday Night Live to me represents a great comedy show that showcases contemporary icons. The way I see it with comedians like Adam Sandler and Chris Farley, Saturday Night Live must be respected as a contemporary popular icon.

Great Blog

I like your blog, its great that you used a retro cultural artifact. The Beatles have certainly made an impact on our culture, and influenced climate of the war in Vietnam. It also shows how one popular culture icon can contribute to the voice of a nation, in that without the Beatles voiceing thier oppinon, i think less americans would have come forward.

Week One Analysis

The website myspace.com has changed popular culture forever. Before MySpace came along many aspects of a person’s life were hidden from the rest of the world. For example, a person goes on a date Saturday night this information is limited to a few friends and kept private, but since the MySpace culture this information is posted online for the world to see 24 hours a day seven days a week. In the MySpace popular culture, privacy is no longer a concern and popularity is gained by sharing entertaining personal experiences. The MySpace popular culture is transferring our lives from the real world to the World Wide Web. Everything people enjoy such as music and friends has been relocated to MySpace. The social lives of today’s teenagers are starting to take place on MySpace more than in reality. The MySpace culture has a major effect on how parents raise their children. A Parent must spend extra time monitoring their children’s MySpace pages and postings to ensure they do not post any violating or obscene photos, video’s or text. The good thing for parents is that the MySpace popular culture allows parents to look at their children’s MySpace page and see an overview of their child’s life. The MySpace popular culture has even effected law enforcement which is forced to collect evidence and information from MySpace pages. For example, a 15 year old boy says he is going to rob a store if he holds up that store and gets arrested the police will find his MySpace page and enter his comments about the robbery into evidence. Between the music, movies, friends, and celebrities Myspace.com has the assets required to hold people’s attention for long periods of time. The MySpace popular culture in some cases seems to offer more than reality it’s self. This popular culture has worked its way into our everyday lives and is here to stay. In a single post a person could get wrote up or lose their job. For instance, a 16 year old girl calls off from work and tells her work she is sick but she later posts a blog about her day at the beach. The girls’ employer could now check the MySpace page and see the blog and decide to fire the girl for being dishonest. The personal information posted will be available for employers and law enforcement to view, which can and will be used against you. With the change to a MySpace popular culture the question is no longer to be or not to be, but to post or not to post that is the question.

Summary assignment 1-2

Popular culture is any product of entertainment, communication, or media that has an impact on culture or that culture has an impact on. For instance, the Beatles where very popular and sold countless copies of their music, as well as influenced the anti war movement of the 60’s and 70’s. Popular culture affects my life in many ways from what shirts I wear to what music I listen too. Popular culture often comes up and could affect my relationships with a co-worker, a boss, or even a client. It is extremely important I know a basic level of pop culture, in order to keep my relationships in the best possible condition at work.

My example of a pop culture artifact is the Beatles song “I’m looking through you”. The guitar in the song represents the pop style of music in the early 60’s and the lyrics of the song represent the philosophical style of music of the late 60’s early 70’s. This artifact illustrates The Beatles involvement in two totally opposite popular cultures one of dance and one of higher thinking.