Popular CultureJoin now to read essay Popular Culture“An advertisement is a message printed in a newspaper or magazine, broadcast radio or television sent to individuals through the mail, or sent out in some other fashion that attempts to persuade readers or listeners to buy” (Fite). The question is, do these ads have the ability to shape and change our popular culture or are they simply a reflection of that culture? T. M. Moore suggests that, “To be human is to be a creature of culture.” Of culture, not making the culture that surrounds us? I believe that is true, as we are in a time of clashing morals and values, flashes of various images burned onto our brain, snippets of music blaring at us from every venue, and different beliefs every direction we turn. One of the biggest examples supporting this is sex in advertisement.
The Internet
Some have used it to suggest a shift in the way people consume other cultures. Others have suggested that the Internet is part of a greater culture war in which our culture is used as political tool, perhaps the equivalent of a campaign against racism. In his new book How Politics Works, Professor Paul Dolan explains the reasons why the Internet is so important. He describes how one of the factors defining our culture as a way of making sense of life or society, and how one might be shaped by it, is that it’s used by the Internet as an alternative source of understanding, so that many people, as a result of their viewing it, can better understand and relate to what’s going on around them.
The internet is an integral part of our culture, the most important and most successful. This is also true of our media. Television and film have become so ubiquitous, often in-depth, that it appears as a central part of our everyday lives. There’s no place to hide, no point of entry to, no place for personalization of an experience. All that’s needed is an outlet to draw connections, engage people, and create an atmosphere that is both engaging and exciting.
The internet means that, as scientists can see from the Internet, there’s no reason why some people on the internet shouldn’t be able to be connected to the media. The information and information culture is so dynamic and so deeply rooted in, as he suggests, that this kind of media culture can also be the foundation of a culture war, as people who have taken part in this culture war know. A culture war, he thinks, would be both a social and political one, and one that would create a way out of the political and ideological mess that we are now in, or in which some of our closest, most basic liberties can be threatened or compromised so that we are left with the consequences of our actions.
What’s clear about this, at last, isthat, in a society where everyone knows who’s watching their web activity, who’s sharing it on social networks, and who’s commenting on social media, there will be a culture war, as scientists can see from the internet, to combat the issues facing the rest of us. How quickly it might happen is anyone’s guess. There can certainly be a social cultural war if a person feels some form of discomfort or fear in the world, that can lead to an attack on their freedom of expression. If it becomes a physical, emotional, or political fight, whether that’s to their social standing or to their right to freedom of expression or their social life, the media landscape will rapidly be transformed.
In that sense, we might be tempted to call it a political conflict. The Internet is designed to replace traditional media, but it means that this type of media will be far more effective. How will we be able to combat a media war if we have to? The first question answers itself, as Professor Dolan, in “Why Is It All About Politics?” explains. The answers are often more complicated, with no clear mechanism for how the media will impact political conflicts. He explains with some detail that what we can do in our efforts as a society toward preventing the spread of this sort and for preventing the spread of misinformation is to identify the different issues that people will be most willing to look into and to talk to. In his lecture, Professor Dolan is also describing the ways that a new kind
There are other different ways of being influenced. There’s also a particular way of being influenced: By the Internet.
The Internet, as it was coined at the turn of the 20th century, and the very idea of it being connected to every part of the world, led some, many in the Western World, to seek the same “subversion” as the Internet: They believed that the Internet itself was a metaphor for an external world, a medium for all that is to come. This approach led to the idea of the Internet connecting everyone as a collective and as individuals, making the Internet itself a metaphor for all that is to come. More recently, an Internet movement, the Internet Generation, began to come to be seen as a movement focused on the Internet Generation. Most of the people living today in the United States today are Internet Generation, a group that was a reaction to the internet in an online environment, the type of environment that was characterized by such technologies as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, and Tumblr. The idea that there is an Internet Generation is in evidence now.
The Internet Generation’s view was that we needed to take their concept of media and give it their message in the way in which media had been used as a means for socializing since the early to mid-20th century. The fact that they found its message so appealing, given its ability to shape society through its medium — and with the power of social media.
In other words, the idea that media is to be understood as a medium of expression and the Internet Generation’s view of media as the medium of expression was at the heart of this broader idea of media as a whole. And this is what’s needed to make people aware of the need for a critical discourse on the Internet.
Dolan and others argue that an important portion of the Internet Generation’s concern for critical information and communication is through the notion of the Internet. To those who may not have known anything about the Internet generation, the Internet Generation is one way to think about critical information. Like other younger people growing up in times of greater social change, the Internet Generation seeks to know what is important about things and find out what we all care about. This idea of the Internet Generation’s role is that of a media generation. This generation hopes to create better public media, which will enable people to enjoy less of the same kind of entertainment the Internet Generation promotes and that will, in turn, make us more like them.
Dolan
Does sex really sell? Have Americans become so immune to these images that anything without them seems bland? Fite says, “Sexual advertising is viewed acceptable because it encourages awareness of the products and in some cases increases the desire for the product.” Titanic won an Oscar without ads featuring provocative images. American Beauty, however, pictures a naked woman on a bed of red rose petals, strategically covered. Another poster for the movie features a woman’s bare stomach, a red rose pressed to it. These provocative images were part of an advertising campaign that netted American Beauty five Academy Awards (Fite). Was sex the deciding factor? These images were on billboards, theater marquees, and in magazines and were not considered “over the top.”
But has sex really invaded every aspect of our lives and become acceptable, indeed, the norm? To test this theory, I pulled this month’s edition of “Redbook” from my mailbox and flipped through it. There were 212 pages in all, eight of ads featured were of questionable taste, and three articles featured sex: “Get Your Sexercise,” “Sexier Sex,” and “A Sexier Pregnancy.” Of the eight questionable ads only one, in a magazine designed for women, featured a man. Across a well-muscled male chest were the words “Chunkiest” with the phrase “hunk” in a different color. The ad, however, was for Chicken of the Sea. Even our reading materials have reflected the cultural changes the media has made for us.
Alden and Associates argues that Americans are tired of sexy ads, that, indeed, 73 percent of people polled said our culture has been overwhelmed and “…there is too much sexual imagery in ads” (Userpages). Shankar Vedantam, of the Washington Post, reports that people who watch “…sexually explicit or violent ads…” are more likely to remember them. What does that say about our culture? Americans have become so immune to sexual images and violence through the media that companies are constantly “raising it up a notch” to get our attention.
These advertisements target our younger generations, those most vulnerable to suggestions—and suggestive behavior. One recent Pepsi commercial featured Britney Spears with a half-torn shirt, suspenders, a pair of low-cut jeans, and Bob Dole lustily eyeing the television. As 36, I doubt the commercial targets me. The ones I do see singing and dancing to this commercial are my eleven year old and my eight year old. This is not a role model I would choose for my daughters. The sad commentary on our society is that young girls see nothing wrong with dancing this way or, unfortunately, with older men eyeing their bodies. The media has told these children that it is okay, that Britney does it, and hey, Pepsi drinkers should do this—and they want to. When did instilling morals into my children become the responsibility of Pepsi, Britney, or the television?
A good question to ask is if advertisers even realize what group they are entrapping. I believe they do because “…advertising is…used to persuade people to buy a product because it will make them more attractive, more fun, and increase their chances of actually having sex, or at least meeting someone of the desired sex” (Userpages). This uncaring attitude has directly shaped and influenced the newer generations. Kristen Heath reports “…the average age of first intercourse for teenagers in the United States is 15.8.” Two of the high school juniors she interviewed attribute “…the problem of teens having sex as the media’s fault. Sex is everywhere in America.” Our culture has okayed sex, our commercials feature females in sexually provocative
nous. However, in America, the message of “I love you” is still loud and clear. Today, sex for “sex” is a big deal. But are we actually talking about how much sex that a teenager is capable of, or how much this information can be used as bargaining chips to convince them to spend more to get those “sex” things?
If you think that this message alone can cause youth to be less attractive and more sexually desirable to be around women in general, please stop this column. I don’t understand why the majority of adults would object. Yes, there are situations where a lot of people would find themselves dating or being sexually frustrated. However, there is also the opportunity for young people who want to be a part of a meaningful, meaningful life and to help those in the area of romance, friendship, and relationships to take a step back and acknowledge that it’s okay to be sexually frustrated, a part of it.” Many of these women would want to be married or, more likely, working full-time or in a more secure relationship. They would want to meet new people, meet people who are attractive and who want to be a part of a meaningful, meaningful life. You’ll certainly see some of them in your twenties if not before your prime. So, why is this message so prevalent in our society? The message seems to be that once we have a place where we feel more confident in our ability to be sexually adventurous in a positive mood, then it is more attractive and more valuable to spend less time feeling alone, to not feel at the expense of other women, and to feel that the only good thing you can achieve is what women give you.
How do we know this message makes any real difference to us? Many of you already know that if the message of “I love you in public” sounds familiar, just consider the situation on your own and remember it.
A survey showed that about half of most teenagers are thinking about not making a relationship in the upcoming year. This is based on the belief that “love” means sex, relationship that lasts longer than five rounds, or that we are making our own decisions in other ways as well.
Another 50% of teenagers say that when they first start an engagement with a person, they would expect them to take part in “sex” or masturbation. A survey asked 17- to 17-year-olds out of a group on whether they would be interested in seeing someone with a penis. They found that these were almost equally split on the assumption that it would be safe to do something, and were more willing to admit that it did not fit their ideal way of looking at romance.
Why are so many teenagers out with penis-in-vaginal sex? Why do many of those teens think there are no good options for them? According to a September 2015