Popular culture

Throughout its history, the British Empire was obsessed with its own culture; yet, paradoxically, the nation wanted to understand how the “other” perceived the glory and dominance of the lion. However, this notion of culture seems straightforward until one begins to examine its connection to imperialism. The famed literary critic, Edward Said, defines culture in two different facets that include “the arts of description, communication, and representation, have relative autonomy from the economic…

Lindy Hop and The Argentine Tango Dance and music play an important role in the cultural traditions of various societies. I chose to focus on two social dances from different cultures that are still celebrated today. For my familiar dance, I selected Lindy Hop which originated in the United States. This dance form is often shown in movies, and the free flowing movements caught my attention. Through my preliminary research, I discovered the Argentine Tango which interested me due to its…

discussed race stereotyping in costumes. Montana brought up in his speech how you can dress up as whatever you want its your right but that we should first research or at least think about the story or culture behind what we are dressing up as. He gave the example of wear and chieftain headdress. Popular culture would have us believe that it just something that Native Americans get if they become a chief but according to Montana it’s more like a Purple Heart. That was one of the big concepts of…

The state of Oaxaca, Mexico is best known for its culture and indigenous people, it offers the best of Mexico, both old and new. Their oldest inhabited village, Teotitlan de Valle, can be traced back to 8,000 years ago (Penland, 2015). The cultures of the indigenous people have been preserved because the state remains isolated due to its rocky terrain. The state of Oaxaca is located in Southwestern Mexico, its most predominate features are its coastline on the Pacific Ocean and several mountain…

In this essay I will explore structuralism and evaluate the usefulness of the theory. I will look at examples of Structuralism in ethnography, such as observable binary oppositions and interpretations of the importance of myth, also exploring criticisms of the theory. I will explore the claim that Structuralism is too theory-based and cannot account for the experience of the individual, and whether this means that Structuralism can be relied on to inform us about human life from an…

371 7 April 2017 Feel The Noise and Step Up Cultural assimilation is defined as the “process by which a person or a group’s language and/or culture come to resemble those of another group”. (Webster) A good example of this is when someone from a foreign country immigrates to the United States and learns and eventually becomes a part of the American culture. Appropriation is defined as “taking something for one’s own use” (Webster). An example of appropriation is if someone builds a tree house…

Writing out (or in) Material Culture from the Past: Crossdressing and the Myth of the Frontier In America’s “frontier” history, crossdressing is rarely the focus of analysis. As a place that was yet to be conquered and “modernized,” it was affiliated with heterosexual, white manliness. In Peter Boag’s Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past, however, he specifically focuses on the acts of crossdressing in the form of female-to-male, male-to-female, and even more abstractly, non-Anglo-to-Anglo. In…

A birthday is an occasion when a person or institution celebrates the anniversary of their birth. Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures;, often with a gift, party, or rite of passage. There are many interesting facts about birthday and also, a lot of stories around it. Are you ready to find out? First, let’s figure out where did birthday traditional come from? There are several rumous about this. Some people assummed that birthday traditional had appeared a long times ago, around…

means to be civilized is defined by more than one source. It was ingrained in the culture I grew up; therefore, in myself as well. Now, when I analyze it, a lot of kids’ media I grew up with perpetuated the idea that people who are not white are barbarians. It reinforced the idea that Africa, Asia, and South America are savage places with a lot of cannibals, wild animals, and uneducated people. One of the most popular kids authors in the USSR and post-soviet countries (sort of local Dr. Seuss),…

Paris is Burning is an iconic film that gives the heterosexual world a look into the underground scene of queer culture that is the ballroom. The film presented new slang and phrases that people in the present still use, but the stories and the issues of the oppressed are often overlooked and forgotten. At the time of release in the 1990s, gay culture was still somewhat misunderstood, but Paris is Burning portrayed the struggles that gay individuals experience every day. The movie showed that…