Chapter 2: Culture and the Media

http://articles.cnn.com/2007-08-22/us/gw.teen.christians_1_fire-rally-stadium-rallies-popular-culture?_s=PM:US

I found this article, regarding popular culture and the potential negative effects it can have on today's youth, very interesting.  The article was written in 2007and describes how a then 16-year-old was consumed by the music of The Beatles but rebels against popular culture by attending Christian protest rallies and concerts.

The Maasai tribe of Kenya and Tanzania are known for their unique lifestyle and unmatched culture.  In the picture above, tribe members are shown doing the "jumping dance".  This is a Maasai tradition and the man in the center of the circle jumps as high as he can while the surrounding spectators sing.

I found this video a perfect example of one of the issues discussed in Chapter 2.  Ethnocentrism is the  tendency to believe that one's ethnic or cultural group is centrally important, and that all other groups are measured in relation to one's own.  This is a current problem we face in countries worldwide and the video effectively addresses the issue and describes what we need to do to prevent the rise of ethnocentrism.

http://www.ethnicmajority.com/media_home.htm

This website caught my attention because it focuses on diversity in the United States and how people of color can create opportunities for themselves.  The site provides information and advice in a number of categories such as: Business, Politics, Housing, Media/Entertainment and Healthcare.

http://culturalpolitics.net/popular_culture

This Cultural Politics website describes the role popular culture has in our society and provides information about digital cultures, social movement and cultures, environmental justice and the cultural theory.

K'naan- Waving Flags (Official song of the 2010 World Cup) 

When I get older I will be stronger

They'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag

When I get older, I will be stronger

They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag

And then it goes back, and then it goes back

And then it goes back, oh

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome

A violent prone, poor people zone

But it's my home, all I have known

Where I got grown, streets we would roam

Out of the darkness, I came the farthest

Among the hardest survival

Learn from these streets, it can be bleak

Accept no defeat, surrender, retreat

So we struggling, fighting to eat

And we wondering when we'll be free

So we patiently wait for that fateful day

It's not far away, but for now we say

When I get older I will be stronger

They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag

And then it goes back, and then it goes back

And then it goes back, oh

So many wars, settling scores

Bringing us promises, leaving us poor

I heard them say 'love is the way'

'Love is the answer,' that's what they say

But look how they treat us, make us believers

We fight their battles, then they deceive us

Try to control us, they couldn't hold us

[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/k/k_naan-lyrics/wavin_-flag-lyrics.html]

'Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers

But we struggling, fighting to eat

And we wondering, when we'll be free

So we patiently wait for that faithful day

It's not far away but for now we say

When I get older I will be stronger

They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag

And then it goes back, and then it goes back

And then it goes back, and then is goes

When I get older I will be stronger

They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag

And then it goes back, and then it goes back

And then it goes back, and then it goes

And then it goes

And everybody will be singing it

And you and I will be singing it

And we all will be singing it

When I get older I will be stronger

They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag

And then it goes back, and then it goes back

And then it goes back, and then it goes

When I get older I will be stronger

They'll call me freedom just like a wavin' flag

And then it goes back, and then it goes back

And then it goes back, oh

When I get older, when I get older

I will be stronger just like a wavin' flag

Just like a wavin' flag, just like a wavin' flag

Flag, flag, just like a wavin' flag

As the official anthem of last summer's World Cup, this song discusses the fight for freedom through struggles, poverty and war.  I find that this song perfectly represents one of the main goals of the Word Cup; coming together to temporarily abandon civil war, racism among other issues for a month.  

I found both of the topics in this chapter very interesting and both seemed very applicable to my own life.  I have had the chance to experience a number of different cultures with all the traveling my family has done.  I enjoy learning about the way cultures function and how society embraces not only their culture but others as well.  I think it's important to become familiar with the various types of culture, i.e. global culture, counterculture, dominant culture, etc. and understand how they function in our society. 

As a Journalism and Mass Media major, it's obvious that I am passionate about the media's role in popular culture and culture in general.  We are surrounded by the media daily, whether we realize or not its almost inescapable.  Popular culture is also a part of our daily life and it's interesting to see the reaction the general public has to it.  Our lives are influenced by the media and as the world continues to globalize, we will see the media represented  more so than it is now. 

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Counterculture- Subculture created as a reaction against the values of the dominant culture	Norm- The specific cultural expectations for how to act in a given situation.
Culture Shock- The feeling of disorientation that can come when one encounters a new or rapidly changed cultural situation.	Popular Culture- The beliefs, practice, and objects that are part of everyday traditions.
Ethnocentrism- The belief that one's in-group is superior to all out-groups	Reflection Hypothesis- The idea that the mas media reflect the values of the general population.
Ethnomethodology- A technique for studying human interaction by deliberately disrupting social norms.	Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis- A theory that determines other aspects of culture because language provides the categories through which social reality is defined and perceived.
Mass Media- Channels of communication that are available to very wide segments of the population.	Subculture- The culture of groups whose values and norms of behavior are somewhat different from those of the dominant culture.