What is
popular culture, and what does it mean to you?
Popular culture is the system of
attitudes, behavior patterns, beliefs, customs, and tastes that define the
people of any society. It is the entertainment, diversions, icons, rituals, and
actions that shape a society and make it what it is today. Popular culture is
what we do in everyday life, while we are awake, what we think about and the
approach, and what we dream about while we are asleep. In a sense popular
culture is the way of life in which we inherit, practice, change, and then pass
along to our descendants. Popular culture is highly influenced in the Western
culture since the early to mid-20th century and the emerging global
mainstream of the late 20th and early 21st century. It is
also heavily influenced by mass media in which the collection of ideas infuses the
everyday lives of our society. Popular culture to me is what is popular at the
current time and place.
Why is an
understanding of popular culture relevant to you in a business environment and
in your present and future career?
It is
important for you to be able to recognize and to foresee certain social and
cultural movements in today’s society in order to understand the environment and
to be able to operate in the direction in which your business or company is
moving towards. As a leader you need to be able to anticipate what could happen
in the future to help make better decisions.
What would
you consider to be an example of a pop culture artifact? And why would you
choose it?
I would consider fashion to be an example of a pop culture
artifact. As we all know, fashion has been a part of our culture in one way or another
from the beginning of time. Fashion represents a popular style or practice from
clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, hair styles, body piercing, and tattoos.
Fashion is often considered a habitual trend in one’s style of dress to styles
in one’s behavior.
The reason I chose fashion is because it will always be an important part of pop culture and I would like to help the younger generation understand that fashion does not make you popular everyone has their own sense of style and they should not feel isolated if they are not up on the current trends. It is sad to see the young teenagers that think fashion consist entirely of models strutting up and down the runway. This is especially true for young teenage females, believe me I have a daughter!
What our younger generation needs to understand is that
fashion just doesn’t adhere to high-end clothing but rather an expression of
one’s behavior that may or may not apply to everyone. In regards to clothing
and apparel, fashion is always changing and it reflects the rapid pace of
change in popular culture and its affect on teenagers.
