Deirdre Straughan Cultural Hegemony Summary

Deirdre Straughan would agree with the photo of the Slovakian fan in the dracula mask. This photo would help to support her argument immensely because it shows a person supporting other cultures at their own free will and it is disproving cultural hegemony. Straughan defined cultural hegemony as, “ the idea that American culture, as represented in widely exported American movies, TV shows, fast-food restaurants, and brands, is overwhelming the traditional cultures of other countries.”
In the passage Cultural Hegemony: Who’s Dominating Whom, Straughan’s argument is that the theory of cultural hegemony is invalid and flawed. She claims the theory is “arrogant” and is also a subtle put-down of other cultures because it concludes other countries are weak and cannot be trusted to make decisions for themselves. America is not dominating any other country, but if anything other countries are the ones who are enforcing their customs upon us. For example, Straughan wrote about Indian directors succeeding well in Hollywood. She quoted, “ others bringing Indian or cross-cultural themes to Western audiences, and/or adding Indian spice to Hollywood-standard movies.” This shows how the Indians are bringing their customs into America. …show more content…
Ammar captured a Slovakian fan wearing the brand Adidas, which is from Germany. Additionally, the fan is wearing a Dracula mask that has originated from Romania, and is blowing into a South African soccer horn. This horn would be a traditional item from the other team, so in a way one could say he/she was supporting the opposing soccer team. Although, that wouldn’t be a necessarily true statement because the fan can still be supporting their team, only using the horn as a way to make noise to cheer on the Slovakian team. This person isn’t being forced to do/ wear any of this, instead he/she is making the choice for