Bopping is More than a Dance

By Ant Lewis & OJ Purnell

The largest stereotype going around about young black boys is that they will end up either dead or in prison. Unfortunately in current events, this stereotype is very true. However, in American pop culture, bopping, a new dance has decreased the black male incarceration rate and death rate in Chicago last year. Bopping can come from all ages, sizes, and genders. Bopping was really first called ditty bopping by a gang called gangster disciples. Then two kids who goes by the name of lil kemo and dlow started doing backyard, street, and basement videos and people really paid attention to the moves. We chose bopping because it keeps people occupied, and it brings people together. It also keeps young people, especially young black men, off of the streets. The better your moves the bigger your crowd. Parents started booking the bopkingz to come to birthday parties and schools called to book for events, and all the kids looked up to them and wanted to be like them. So if you cannot beat em join em. As time progressed lots of others joined the bopping movement and started uploading videos, and the bopping epidemic just blew out of proportion. Then last year dlow made a bop shuffle called the dlow shuffle which blew up overnight all over the world. Everyone love it and it got him instant fame and recognition. That caused more people to try and invent new shuffles and that got more and more black boys off the streets, and out the ground. Bopping has shaped the black American culture in the toughest neighborhoods, and it is just a matter of time before the death rates, and the amounts of black men locked up decrease. People say bopping is a way to express emotion or even to get a little exercise in, so choose how you want to bop.

Bopping is not just one dance. It is a type of dance. This means there is one basic style but not just one move. You can bop to almost any song, even if it looks funny. Bopping can be incorporated with a lot of other dances, new or old. Bopping makes you think fast and move fast. You are exercising your mind and body. Bopping gives you the opportunity to be creative. It gives you the opportunity to create your own moves or a combination of your own moves. Showing off your nice dance skills and your creativity is not the only opportunity you are opening up for yourself. You are opening up the opportunity to do something positive and get fame and fortune from it. You are creating opportunities for others, believe it or not. You are making a dance popular in your area or continuing the popularity. Someone may like what you are doing and end up joining you and making more opportunities as well. So they are practicing this dance instead of being buried or locked up.  This dance started as just a dance but turned into something more. It is a way to keep kids and young adults, especially young black males, off of the streets. Bopping adds to our course conversations and our understanding of America’s popular pop culture in a few ways. It makes us understand that popular culture is such a broad thing, and it can affect us positively or negatively. Bopping is just a piece of our popular culture that positively affects a large portion of us. This also lets us know that we follow popular culture. This dance is a movement. A positive movement. A stop the violence movement. It can also be a bringing us together movement. It started as a simple dance and pop culture and it’s followers made it more.

Homosexual Marriage

By Kyle Kite & Kate Sawyer

On the topic of homosexual marriage, there are many factors that lean towards the idea of it being legalized somewhere in the near future. A very important concept in this approach is the nature versus nurture conflict. Many people, as seen in this video, argue that being a homosexual is an idea or a thought that can be changed or “fixed”. But these same people, who are mostly religious, fail to realize that their views on homosexuals are the ideas that are being taught. They are also failing to realize the psychological evidence that has recently been discovered about homosexuality being linked to genetics. There was a study done on a pair of siblings, one homosexual and one heterosexual. The study revealed links between the father’s family having homosexuals in their family tree and the mother’s family not having homosexuals in their family. As we all know, genetics can be dominated by one of the parent’s genetics making it more possible for one kid to be a homosexual.

One thing that this video includes is the concept of popular culture taking on and accepting the struggle for homosexual marriage/rights. In the video Macklemore’s One Love is discussed where he openly states that people cannot change who they are. References and songs like this one are very important because of the influence that popular culture has on society. If millions of people listen to the same songs and are influenced by the same kinds of social media, then if more social media revolved around tackling the obstacles of homosexual marriage then more people would be influenced to stand up and fight for it. Popular culture can even encourage people to stand up for themselves, not influence others to stand up for them. The video talks about people who are too scared to openly admit that they are a homosexual. But if pop icons such as Macklemore or anyone else let them know that they support them, it’s possible that they will be encouraged to not accept who they are, but to know that other’s will accept them.

There is one kid in the video who is clearly against homosexual marriage and homosexuality completely. However, when this kid was asked why his views were the way they were, he said that he didn’t know. Now it’s not completely clear but if we were to assume why these kids’ views are what they are, it’s probably because his parents put those ideas in his head. I think what people don’t realize is that we are a new generation who has different ideals, just as our parents were a different generation to their parents. Parents should be letting kids decide what their social ideals are instead of impinging their own on their children. Not only does this promote autonomy but it also allows a gateway for homosexuals to be surrounded by a supportive community rather than a community that tries to tell them that their way of life is false.

All of these factors fight towards one goal and that’s the support of people being supported with who they are. Not what somebody else wants them to be or what they believe they ought to be. The main point being that nobody chooses who they are, who they have feelings for or who they fall in love with. Even people who don’t believe in or support homosexuality can agree with that. So for the future, allow your kids to make their own moral decisions, support your surrounding human beings in what they are and be open minded to things that may seem new because it can save people’s lives and make way for a brighter future.

Why Aren’t We Paid?

By Jovon Morris

My cultural artifact was about how college athletes deserve to be paid. The reason why I picked this topic is because it is a major concern to anyone that is a parent of a student athlete or someone who is a student athlete.  I really feel strongly that student athletes deserve to be paid because of the fact that they put in so much of their time and hard work into their schools and they’re not even getting paid for it. An average athlete puts in more work than an average working American, so that’s about 43 hours plus. Then on top of that they also have to be a full time student as well. Student athletes go through a lot of stuff throughout their time in school. They have the pressure of doing well inside of their classes and also outside on their sports as well. And when the student doesn’t perform well most of the time their scholarship or/and their grades go down as well. The have been many stories saying that most student athletes go to bed hungry because of the fact that they missed their meals because of practice and schoolwork and all these other things as well.  But I think the biggest reason why athletes should be paid in college is because of the fact that all of the money that the colleges make off them is ridiculously high. Div. 1 colleges make millions off of their players and the students don’t see a dime of that in their pockets. But they do see the big pay that the college that they play for is going inside of their coaches’ pockets. The highest paid college coach is the football coach at Alabama University. He makes about seven million dollars a year just by being their coach and his players don’t see no payment being brought to them by the university. I know that the big counter part to this whole argument is that the student athletes shouldn’t expect to receive any payment because the reason that they go to college isn’t for money; it is for an education. But my thing for those who make this statement is that if you were a football player at your school and you were the talk of the town because of the way you play and everyone wanted to be you and wear your jersey to the games and watch you play on the screen every time you come on TV and you’re so famous you’re on a video game that has your name, face, and talents on it. And plus on top of that you’re on commercials and things as well, but because of the rules you can’t be paid for none of it. But you’re the guy that coach is making millions off of and your teammates, would you want to get paid to do what you do as well? This is pop culture American topic because college football is a major thing and is always on TV, but not even that sport — all college sports are famous and watched by millions of fans all over the nation.

Youtube: An Overview

By Emily Sheffer & Scott Mitchell

The news has always been the place to go to be able to know about what is current.  These, that is not the case.  Youtube has taken over the world of the internet.  This invention was brought to us from California and reaches all over the world.  Any little crevice with wifi can access youtube.  This internet site that will bring to a person a video of their choice.  Pop culture underestimates how much youtube has a role in society.   Youtube has a unique way of defining ways in which people live their lives.

Youtube was invented by Chad Hurley of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  These three creators designed their headquarters above a pizzeria and Japanese restaurant in California.  Many investments were made from organizations such as Sequoia Capital and Roelof Botha.  With money being put into this website, it finally got going on February 14, 2005.  The first video posted in April 23, 2005 called Me at the zoo, which can still be viewed.

This site grew extremely fast.  Isn't it obvious?  With easy accessibility and virtually no limitations, people were attracted to Youtube.  At first, it was meant to post videos of funny things, family to see that don’t live near you, lessons given over video, and just for pure entertainment.  That has become the foundation of what Youtube is to people now.  What Youtube is to people now is a way to look at the newest music video, have a good laugh, learn tutorials, get taught homework, and to perform.  A majority of users admit to using Youtube as a way to watch their favorite music video and listening to different types of music.  It brings great ease to consumers.  People return to use Youtube because of the easy accessibility.

Not only do people go to Youtube to listen to music, it is way for young musicians to get recognized for their talents.  A prime example of this happening would be Justin Bieber.  He at first was posting videos to show his family.  Somewhere along the lines, a already famous singer found one of his videos and showed it to his record label.  Not too long afterwards, Justin Bieber was given a record deal and was a instant hit.  Youtube helps changes the lives of many in various different ways.

What is also great about Youtube is it not biased towards anyone.  Any single person can get an account on Youtube and post videos.  The videos can be anywhere from them picking in ingrown hair, to jumping on a trampoline off a roof, to teaching a lesson on quantitive physics.  Millions of people are on at one time.  Not one person is the same.  Every person is unique and Youtube adapts to that with they suggestions and a way for you to bookmark your favorite videos.  Youtube is truly for anyone to know anything.

Three college students had an idea and brought it to life in California with the help of some investors.  They didn’t know that they were going to open up the internet for something the world did not see coming.  Youtube is not just a site for fun and entertainment, it is a place to be found.  You never know who is watching the videos posted on Youtube, and it could just be someone’s lucky day.  Life is now just a little more easy and enjoyable when you have time to relax, have a laugh for a couple minutes while enjoying videos on Youtube.

Snuggie: A Parody

By Alec Landgrebe

Blankets have been around for a very long time.  They have been the go-to item people with a desire for warmth and comfort.  This has all changed as of recently.  Since the invention of the Snuggie, many things in our culture has changed because of it.  It is not just a blanket with sleeves that fits perfectly over your body and caresses you ever so gently.  It is an item that has redefined warmth/coziness and heating bills, and it has granted people total freedom of their hands while also providing warmth.  It has helped improve relationships with significant others, babies, and pets.

The invention of the Snuggie is supposed to help you save money on your heating bill.  This shows us that society is concerned with their spending.  People are willing to save every cent possible wherever they can.  This may mean there has been an increase in stinginess throughout the years.  It may also mean that people are smarter about how they spend money and are more aware of ways to lower their bills.

Snuggies have changed the meaning of warmth and comfort.  Blankets offer warmth to people who plan on staying mostly stationary for a good amount of time.  Snuggies allow you to prance about, free as can be, and stay very comfortable and warm.  This reveals to us the value society puts on convenience.  Blankets do a very satisfactory job of keeping people warm, but society felt there was still something missing, convenience.  This not only shows us societies thirst for convenience, but also its strive to make good things better and never stop improving.

While snuggling with a significant other under a blanket is nice, snuggling with Snuggies on is better.  What if the blanket is too small, or one of you is a blanket thief?  That leaves one person without the pleasures of proper warmth.  This may also lead to an argument, because of the frustrations of being inadequately warmed and/or being screwed by the other people.  Arguments like these are never good for relationships.  They leave both parties feeling down in the dumps.  Luckily, society decided that they value healthy relationships and will do anything possible to make sure couples are happy.

Snuggies may seem like no big deal, and may seem just like any other blanket.  This just simply is not true.  Snuggies have had an effect on our culture and the way in which we think about comfort and heat.  It has benefited relationships across the world by allowing them supreme comfort while snuggling and reducing the amount of arguments between partners over silly, solvable issues.  It has also helped decrease heating bills in every household that has invested in the technology of the snuggie.  All of these benefits provided by the Snuggie show us the values of society.  It tells us what the people in this particular period in time feel the standards of comfort in blankets should be.

Dark-Skinned vs. Light-Skinned

By Stephanie Yancey & Brittney Freeman

African American children and women struggle day to day with what is perceived as beautiful when it comes to skin tone. Imagine being 5 years old and already feeling inferior to those around you. The reason being is because your skin is a little darker than your peers. People try to convince you that you’re ugly or that you are unintelligent. You would think that at 5 years old you wouldn’t have to face that type of prejudice, especially among your own people.

Colorism is a big part of today’s society. Colorism is a practice of discrimination by which those with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin. It happens a lot today within the African American community. There’s a debate within the African American community about what’s considered beautiful skin. It’s creating a huge divide. All you see on Facebook now is Team light skinned or Team dark skinned. There should be no “teams” because all skin is beautiful. People shouldn’t be judged based on their skin tone but on their character. Some of us were taught this growing up but it’s not seeming to register with the ones who are promoting teams or whatever. No one is standing up to point out that it is wrong.

Our African American men are saying what they prefer in a woman, which is a woman of lighter skin. Women of darker skin are sometimes looked at as if they are less desirable by people of their own community. They are called names like "monkey" and "coon" and it makes them feel less than a person. The ones who think they are less than beautiful go to the extremes to try to make their skin lighter. They will do anything to feel better about their skin tone, to feel a part of the world. Skin bleaching is a big concept today. Some women will bleach their skin for all their life, not knowing that it’s only possible to lighten the skin one or two tones and that’s not doing much. They use chemical peels, bleaching creams, mercury injections, or even bathing in bleach. They are harming their skin and possibly even giving themselves skin cancer. They are so low in their self-esteem that they are willing to give their life to be what is perceived as beautiful.

It’s not only dark skinned women that struggle with colorism; it's light skinned women too. They get called "light bright," "high yellow," and all sorts of names. Lighter women face so many stereotypes. Some people think that light skinned women think they're above everyone else and they get alienated from their own community because of it. The skin tone that everyone is anxious to be aren’t even happy being lighter. So why is everyone trying to be that when in reality they would be sad and ostracized too? Why does skin tone even matter when in reality no one is happy?

All skin is beautiful and everyone needs to realize that. No skin tone is above anyone else’s. People should be defined by their character as a person and not by what they look like on the outside. Some of us are taught that in school and growing up but as we get older we seem to forget that. Some of us just want to be liked and loved so we go with the flow of colorism. We all need to be our own person and shut down those team light skinned or dark skinned notions. Once we do that it will eventually fade and people within the community will learn to love and respect each other based on character.

Music Today

By Santana Silcott & Elizabeth Pillow

Since the creation of mp3 files and digital music, the music industry and even how we personally approach listening to music has drastically changed. It’s affected not only what we listen to, but how we listen to it, who we share it with, and how we share it. In the past, people would share cassette tapes or vinyl records with friends, typically listening to it together in the same room to share the experience. Now almost everyone gets their music from CD’s or, even more commonly, from an online store. Whether it’s from iTunes or from an illegal, file sharing website, music has gone digital.

It used to be that if you wanted to share your music with friends you’d have to either let them borrow your copy, make them a whole new copy, or the most common way of sharing music, listening with them. These days, not only do you not have to go to someone that you know or to a record shop, you wouldn’t even have to go anywhere. A whole new copy can be instantaneously produced in our, now standard, digital format. Any time, anywhere, for only a dollar, you can get that song that’s been stuck in your head and it’ll only take a click of a button. Another popular way of getting music digitally, especially amongst teens, is pirating. You can also go to file sharing websites and illegally pirate just about any artist you can imagine; one click, two seconds, zero dollars.

Because music is so readily available to anyone and everyone, peoples’ musical horizons have greatly widened. Typically speaking, because you couldn’t sample music and record shops were limited in what they could hold and offer, most people could only choose between a handful of artists they new, liked, and were used to. Now, people are more inclined to try listening to new music from all around the world. It’s free, there’s no hassle, and exploring new music in general can be a lot of fun.

However, there is a consequence to this accessibility and personal exploration that no one quite expected. Due to the fact that our music is so easily accessible that the old- school methods have become nearly archaic, the social element of recorded music has turned into a much more personal experience. This has become especially true with the invention of high-end headphones and small portable music players, such as iPods. It used to be that, if you wanted to listen to your music, you’d have to play it loud and proud for all to hear. Of course headphones have existed for quite some time, even in many of our parents’ or grandparents’ days, but not only would you have to sacrifice sound quality, you’d also have to be anchored to a big clunky machine the whole time. Without a doubt, the days of walking down the street with a ghetto blaster are now long gone.

MP3 files have not only changed the music industry, but also the social aspect of recorded music itself. People listen to so many different types of music in so many different ways. They spend a lot of time being very introverted with music, whereas in the past music was very social pastime. Every song you could ever want is readily available to you with just the click of a button, this simple fact makes people more inclined to listen to all types of music.

The Evolution of Music

By Patrick McCowen, Nick Perry, & Chase Smith

The Before:

Music has changed so much over the past decades; and most would agree that it is not for the better. In recent culture, we have watched seemingly innocent music of all genres turn into sex, drug, and violence symbols. In the past, as recent as the early 2000’s, music was nothing compared to how it is now. The lyrics have become more vulgar, the fashion has become more sexually oriented, and the cultural impact is more negative than ever.

Song lyrics, in the past, had meaning; most of them told stories. It seems that, as the years go by, music becomes more and more offensive. Years ago, most of the rap music was about getting girls, hanging out, and most had the occasional drug or alcohol reference. Nowadays, every other word is about drugs, alcohol, violence, or sex. The greater majority of popular rap music is about nothing meaningful, at all. This is a direct reflection of our culture. As society becomes more violent and focused on illegal activity, rap music puts it to words and popularizes it for everyone. This is detrimental to our culture in ways that are easy to see. Young generations become desensitized to things they should still feel timid towards, and this makes them more comfortable around the things they hear in rap music. Rap music is changed by our culture; and rap music changes our culture.

Country music has also strayed away from its “roots”. It is easy to see the change in rap, but the country requires a deeper look into the lyrics to tell. In the past, country was primarily about loving

women. Today, country isn’t even country. We have all of these self proclaimed country music stars in modern society singing about drinking, partying, and various other things unrelated to the foundation of country. If you compare Johnny Cash to the modern day Florida Georgia Line, you can easily see how country music has evolved around our culture. This shows that Americans have also drifted away from their roots. Society used to have a more wholesome set of values and beliefs. Today, mostly everyone is concerned with drinking and partying, and country music shows it just as clearly as anything.

Music has also become a major sex symbol. Producers know that sex sells, and with the rising popularity of music videos, most artists are turned into sexual icons. In the past, there were some revealing outfits, but nothing like we see today. Women are commonly seen half naked, singing their latest hit songs, and people love it. Men have also become symbols of sex. In the early history of music, men would have never been seen stripping off their clothes while singing. Today, men strip just as much as women. This shows how our culture has been more focused on sex than in previous years. This all ties back to the loss of wholesome values our culture is seeing. Again, music is a direct reflection of the culture we live in.

Music may seem meaningless, but a deeper look can show a lot about popular culture. The impact music has on our society is huge. As stated above, people are being exposed to vulgar lyrics more and more every day. We all know that we idolize famous artists, and this could end up affecting our culture in a negative way. If we are continually exposed to partying, drinking, violence, and drugs, then we will become more prone to doing these things. If music does not take a turn for the better, then who knows what our culture could turn into. We have seen how music has evolved in all sorts of ways. It is clear to see that music affects culture, and culture affects music. Music has a major impact on our society, and it shows how the world is evolving more and more each year.

The After:

I Ain't No Size 2

By Elizabeth Potter & Jessica Ortiz

Women now a days have several insecurities of their bodies, but Meghan Trainor shows us with her song “All about That Bass” that there’s nothing wrong with having “all the right junk in all the right places.” By this she means regardless of not being a size two, you can still be proud of your body.  Because of media women feel insecure of themselves; in magazines, posters, and advertisements the women are more often than not thin or “size two” but now we know that that’s not always what the photographer’s lens is really shooting. As Meghan Trainor sings, “I see the magazines, workin’ that Photoshop.” As an example, of magazine editing, the video Body Evolution shows the before and after behind every photo. These photos are edited to give correct curves and shape.

In the video Body Evolution they “perfected” a model by taking away all that made her, her. First they begin with regular hair and make-up, yet they added hair extensions and curled her hair because in today’s society long hair is considered beautiful. The same editors, editing the photos are who tell us that the longer the hair the more of a beautiful woman you are. Often, women with short hair, go to extensions or wigs to beautify themselves. After the basics, her photo is taken and then the real transformation starts. First they begin with her face, her freckles are erased, because imperfections are not something society sees as beautiful. When a woman first goes through puberty, she gets different imperfections, in example; freckles, pimples, and a different body shape. Because editors do these edits, these young vulnerable girls think these natural changes are wrong and get these awful lifelong insecurities. In the video, they reshape the model’s nose making it skinnier and longer, along with making her lips bigger. Her eyes, are drastically made much bigger, and wider. Next they move to her upper body, lifting her shoulders, taking major portions of her stomach, and made her breasts smaller. At the lower body they elongate her legs, and take portions of her calves to make long and skinny legs, they then make her feet smaller and more narrow. Lastly they change her skin color, give her an allover glow.

This is exactly what Meghan Trainor is trying to reverse; she wants everyone to realize that bodies are different and “every inch of you is prefect from the bottom to the top.” Her theme of the video is “Barbie”, so that she can show how real people are, and you can’t be a perfect Barbie doll. In the video she tries helping Ken out and giving him a smile and changing his position. Meanwhile she will not be a ”Stick figure Barbie doll.” she will be her perfect self that her mother raised her to love and if “Ken” doesn’t love “a little more booty to hold at night” then “go ahead and move along.”

The extent that editors are taking to transform these girls is ridiculous, and in reality is causing more harm than good. No wonder models always look so perfect! They aren’t real. Yet no one is going to strive to be as beautiful as someone with imperfections. Women are starving, and spending countless hours trying to improve what needs no more work. Women should not change for anyone; before you try loving anyone…you need to love yourself.  Nobody says this better than John Legend: “All of me loves all of you. Love your curves and all your edges. All your perfect imperfections.”

Billions

By Andres Rivera & Colten Watrous

We live in a world that is greatly affected by advertising.  This can range from simple lifestyle choices to complex life theories.  What we find interesting though is the length that advertisers go to make their commercials catch the attention of people.  Even though this product is pretty small in meaning, the ad has a huge image surrounded by it.  Axe body spray is a very popular thing in a young man’s life.  We thought it would be a great idea to show what the ads are really telling people through this one commercial.

This commercial is definitely directed towards men.  It tells men that if they use this spray, women will come to them in the masses.  This is naturally assumed that men are encouraged especially at a younger age to go out and get experience with the other sex.  This ad encourages this ideology using beautiful women as a plus to using their product.  This is interesting because this reveals a double standard with how we view men and women in having experience with the opposite gender.  If this were a commercial for a women’s perfume, we might see it approached in a more subtle matter.  Maybe only one man would be in the shot, and we might assume that it would be more intimate.  A woman would not be shown with billions of men running for her because women are held to a different standard. In all honesty, if a woman was shown like the man in this commercial, we would assume that she was a slut.

Another social trend that we noticed is the over-sexualization of a product.  We have to remember that this commercial is about a body spray.  In this setting however, we connect this simple spray to a sexual feeling or drive which may make us more likely to buy the product.  This is a tactic that is very common and used by Axe very well.  They make it very clear that this product is intended for attraction of the opposite sex.  All the women in this ad are barely clothed and there is a reason for this.   This continues what may be a very apparent trait that sex sells in this country.

Men and women of this country respond to things that they can relate to when it comes to advertising.  This ad does this by showing an average man in the commercial. The man is not super buff like Arnold Schwarzenegger or extremely charming like Channing Tatum. This allows for other men to connect to the character and imagine what it would be like to be in his shoes.  The women are all in bikinis and the man’s life is great.  What does this prove for the women in this commercial?  This really only depicts women as sexual objects to a man.  The women in the commercial seem to be driven by a primal desire to be around this great smelling man.  These women don’t necessarily get to make their own decisions.  This might give men the wrong idea that men might be able to manipulate women which might turn out worse for them in the end.

With this ad being directed to young men, it is very easy for some people to be easily swayed by ideas on TV.  This ad shows a young man with tons of beautiful women and it sets a very high bar for what men expect women to be like.  Men enjoy thinking that all women look great in bikinis and that they will rush towards men at a whim.  However this goes back to the fact that the man in the video was a pretty average looking man.  This again represents a double standard for men and women that has a certain expectation for women and not for men.

Gendered Marketing

By Kaitlyn Rentner & Breeana Miller-Poehlein

It is instilled in children at a young age that they should be playing with toys that are specific to the gender they are. Girls are influenced to be playing with “girl” toys such as baby dolls, playhouses, pretend kitchens, and are normally softer colors of pink and purple. Young boys are influenced to play with toys that are manly, involve sports, and normally have harsher, more vivid hues of blues and greens. With young children growing up having these standards put onto them at such a young and innocent age, they learn that things are mostly separated by gender, not only toys, and they are specifically told that each and every item has the “girl” version and the “boy” version.

While shopping around a local grocery or convenience store, it is easy to notice that products are geared towards a specific gender. Humans are practically influenced by products on how they should act and how the gender specific products are what their gender should be buying and using. While walking up and down the deodorant aisle, the women’s and men’s sections are clearly separated. One way to tell the difference between the two portions of the deodorant are the colors and packaging used.

Similar to how toys are marketed, female deodorants, such as Dove, have a more slenderized package and use lighter pastel colors to show femininity. Male deodorants, such as Axe, have harsher edges on the packaging and use black and other darker colors to show masculinity. In addition to colors and package sizes, the names of the different deodorants are gender specific. For example, Axe’s names of deodorants are “Excite”, “Temptation”, and “Black Chill”, only being a few examples of the masculine names given to a product that guys put on their armpits.

Deodorants may be different among gender when it comes to scent and strength, yet what about products that are gender specific, yet are nearly or exactly the same? The video highlights Bic’s “For Her” pens, which are literally normal pens that are just pink and purple. The ad and packaging claims they are a better fit for “feminine hands”, yet they are the same as any typical pen.

The video also goes into how incontinence pads are even gender specific through packaging, color coordination used on the packaging, and the details given on the package. As the video says, the men’s pads use specific measurements whereas the women’s pads use pretty colors and designs to draw in the target audience.

Another thing to ponder is that feminine products tend to be much more expensive rather than their male-based counterparts, as shown in the video, no matter how identical the products may end up being. This gives us many questions as to what marketers tend to think of their female audiences, and why they may be wanting certain feminine-based products as opposed to the cheaper, male alternative to that particular product. In viewing this, questions about the feminine perceptions of beauty are posed, such as, do women buy these products to just to appear more feminine? And why does our society create such an importance on these specific gender-based products?

A question is raised as to if the gendered marketing will ever end. In regards to that, the video describes that Dove made over a million dollars in a year when they added Dove MEN+CARE to their line of Dove products. It is proven that when companies have gender specific products, that more money is made. With a society that is so heavily reliant on targeting certain genders for even the most trivial products, it is increasingly doubtful that gender specific marketing will come to an end.

Shake It Off

By Sarah Connell & Rachael Leek

“Shake it off” by Taylor Swift is both an inspirational video and song. In this song, Taylor Swift says personal stories of what people have said about her. She says that people tell her “she’s got nothing in her brain” and then she proceeds to say that she just shakes it off. This song is a great message to people of all ages. Taylor sends out the message that it doesn’t matter what people say about you, you just need to do what makes you happy. We chose this music video because we thought it sent out a great message through the words of the song as well as through the video itself. In the video Taylor is shown in groups of different styles of dance. Throughout the video she just does her own thing while others dance. There is a scene where everyone around her is dancing a beautiful ballet and she is just dancing to her own beat. This is a very powerful message. She sends out the message that it doesn’t matter if you stand out from others and don’t look like them. All that matters is that you do what you want, and what other people say or think about you isn’t important.

Another element in the video that really speaks volumes is towards the end when a bunch of every day people come in and start to dance. We thought that this was really cool, because she incorporated non-­famous people who weren’t apart of a uniform group. These individuals at the end of the video showed that going against the grain and being your own person is much more desirable than sticking to the status quo. We thought it was great how she showed all these people who were so comfortable in their own skin and dancing the way they want, and not the way they’ve been told. Not only are there individuals “shaking it off” that aren’t a part of a faction, but we also see those who were a part of those distinct groups breaking away to “shake it off”. Those who were once in their groups begin to split away from their original style of dance and begin to follow their own rhythm. What Taylor is saying is that she is going to be herself. This tells us that she is going to continue to be the artist that she wants to be and not a mannequin that the music industry can move into any position they want.

In the song Taylor addresses her so called haters. Taylor addresses her oppressors in a very dignified way. Instead of calling specific people out and coming back with more insults, she retaliates with a positive message. In today’s pop culture it is easy to find celebrities that come back at their “haters” in a very negative way. Taylor could have name dropped and said screw you, but instead she remained poised. Taylor just tells us that “haters gonna hate” but it is up to us if we let it effect us. Taylor has said that “They’re [haters] just building you up to knock you down. But for me, they haven’t.”

We think that today’s society definitely needed a positive message like this. So many things in this world make us feel inadequate and it’s great to see a music video that shows that being just you is enough. In popular culture today there are so many complicated messages. You have to go through so much work to decipher the hidden meanings of popular culture. This video is extremely straightforward: just be yourself no matter what. We think this is a super important message for the people of today. We have too much stuff to worry about and it takes too much energy to be someone who we aren’t.

BO$$

By Jesal Sheth & Danise Esswein

The song serves as a feminist anthem, encouraging young girls to be independent and depend on no one but themselves. They mention successful women like Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama, which shows that women can also be bosses, not just men. The Fifth Harmony proudly sing about the fact that they don’t need a man as they “pledge allegiance to my independent girls.” They prove they mean business and show off their fiery side by beating the men in arm wrestling matches, kicking off chairs in their white jackets and shimmering in style during photo shoots. The ladies compare themselves to the first lady Michelle Obama because of their heavy purses and the “Oprah dollars.”

My show and tell partner and I chose this video, because this video tells that men should respect women for their body appearance. We see nowadays that women are being portrayed in hip hop songs as slutty and nasty, which is totally rude. The whole point of the song is for girls who are the about the ages of the Fifth Harmony band is to turn it on and feel confident because at that age, being insecure is a normal thing. The lyrics like “Every day is pay day, swipe my card and do nae nae” tells the audience that the women care about money and then after they do the ‘nae nae’ which means dance in excitement. The lyrics like “I ain’t thirsty for a bae” shows us that the ladies don’t care about their ex-boyfriend and they want to be independent and free. So this song sends positive messages to all girls of their age to be independent, strong and never give up.

Music videos can be very important to a song, but the song itself doesn’t change at all once it’s played over a video. Popular music tends to get a bad reputation for being lazy, over-sexualized, stereotypical, and for being performed by stars who apparently “have no talent.” It’s also often stated that pop isn’t “real music.” One of the many beauties of music is that there’s something for everyone. Not everyone enjoys pop music, and that’s okay. But saying that someone else’s method of expressing themselves is invalid just because some people don’t like it is unnecessary and ignorant. There is no such thing as “real music” or “fake music.” Pop is a valid genre of music and being a pop singer is a valid career. Writing, producing, and performing pop songs isn’t as easy as it seems.

Fifth Harmony is made up of five young women between the ages of 17 and 21. Our culture has tons of varying “expectations” on how young women should look and behave that often create double standards and the unnecessary pressure to fit an unattainable perfect image. The girls of Fifth Harmony appear proud and confident of their bodies and personal values, which is what the song is all about. Women constantly have to prove themselves in order to get respect, but men often get rights and respect just handed to them.

Of course, women face tons of stigma in our society based on appearance and personal sex life. The outfits that the women wear in this video make them look sexy and proud of their bodies. Not every woman, or any other person, is comfortable or confident enough to wear things like that, so it only makes sense that dressing this way should be celebrated instead of ridiculed.

The whole idea that female public figures need to be perfect role models for young girls everywhere is ridiculous. First of all, nobody should live their life solely based on how someone else lives their life. That’s not how life works. It also creates unneeded pressure on female celebrities when they already have enough to deal with every day. When people talk about these famous “role models” they only seem to talk about the effect it has on women, especially young women, but no other gender. Treating young women this way almost gives them the idea that they aren’t smart enough to live their own life, so they have to look up to someone else to choose how they live their life. Fifth Harmony proves that never needs to be the case. Women have just as much power as men do.

It’s really sad that our culture views women as degrading and trashy when they just want to show off their body a little bit (or a lot.) Even if a woman really is a stripper or a pornstar, that doesn’t give anyone the right to give them complete disrespect. Nobody deserves that.

Fifth Harmony is a group of extremely talented and beautiful, strong women. This song and music video served its purpose and the entire production was done remarkably well. Despite all the stigma surrounding something like this, it shows a truthful, positive image of pop culture today.

Vinyl

By Lucas Stimach & Mattie Hubbard

Vinyl records are known though out almost all age groups of people. Some age groups know more about them than others. Vinyl has a story just like every record has an album on in. First off there are a few things you need to know about Vinyl records. Vinyl is not just a form of playing music, having vinyl records is a lifestyle and hobby.  Vinyl tells the history of music and how it has changed over the years. It also has been there to show us the history of our society. Lastly is that it is one of the few forms of music that is still played today. 

Vinyl has different meanings to different age groups. Many people who listened to vinyl during the 1970s and 1980s most likely was listening to the rock genre. Which consisted of bands including Journey, Bon Jovi, Foreigner, The Eagles, Boston, Meat Loaf, Survivor, Kansas or one of the many other bands from that time period. These people grew up during a time when both rock and vinyl were popular and everyone knew about it. It was very cool to have vinyl but at this time people listened to the vinyl they owned on a daily bases. There was not really any other way to listen to the music that you liked. People did not always just buy vinyl to collect it. Even though some people back then did collect vinyl because certain records had limited runs. They therefore later became worth a lot of money.

Vinyl has a different meaning to today’s modern age group, vinyl is not as well known. People today might have never even heard of vinyl but the ones who have do not probably understand it fully. Those who do understand what vinyl is, feel the historic feeling that comes with it. To collect and play vinyl makes you feel like you own part of pop culture’s history. Also the sound vinyl brings is very warm and welcoming. The classic old school look is seen as very fashionable. People sometimes own vinyl just for the look that it gives off. It is very hipster like and presents a classic feel to the atmosphere.

These are the ways in how each group is attracted to vinyl. They both use vinyl for different purposes. The one thing that they both do is, enjoying the sound and feel that vinyl brings. Vinyl is always going to give off the feeling of owing your own personal piece of pop culture. This is because the history of how vinyl has lasted over 60 years and has played a Hugh role in music. Vinyl also has the ability to connect the younger generations to the older generations. 

Vinyl is something that anyone can get into, all you need to do is enjoy music. Younger generations can get access to vinyl pretty easily by using a computer. All they need to do its to first look up the artist name. Second is to find the name of the album that they want or like. The last step is to see if they are able to purchase that album as a vinyl record. Now this gives them the old school look because it vinyl. But it has the new school music on the vinyl which is really neat. This always records to stay alive and popular it also helps to teach people a little bit more about vinyl and how big of a part it plays in music. 

Vinyl is also very popular today, because of looks alone. Many people will buy vinyl just for one of these three reasons besides listing to the record. The first reason is for the album’s cover art. People will purchase vinyl records just because they find the album covers attractive. Also the art on albums of the CD version will sometimes be different than those of art on the records, usually the record covers are more interesting. The second reason is because the vinyl is rare and has become a collector’s piece. This meaning that this person is a collector and owns vinyl mainly for its rarity. Collections are hard to accomplish fully because of all the vinyl that is out there and some people just don’t want to part with their vinyl.  Also some records are just very rare and hard to get a hold of. The third reason is the look that it gives off. Not because of the cover art or if it is rare. Just the general feeling and look of just owning vinyl. They just like the feeling of it being present.

Vinyl has a lot to offer. It is a tie between younger and older generations. Allows people to look cool and collect a piece of history. Lastly is makes good decorations and brings its own feelings to rooms. This is how vinyl plays an important role in today’s society. 

Pretty Hurts

By Erica Mendez & Jess Houston

Society today tries to create the perfect image of a woman’s body. Everywhere you look beautiful women are defined by having a thin body, perfect skin, perfect hair, and basically no flaws. That image has caused an issue of how women and girls view themselves. Previously, in pop culture the perfect image of a woman has always been flaunted. Even in music, men describe how they want a woman to be, and those qualities are mostly unrealistic. For example, in 2 Chainz songs, The Birthday Song, he states, “all [he] wants for [his] birthday is big booty hoe”.  Even in 1977, women were judged by their body types. This is seen in the song Brick House by the Commodores, where they give specific measurement for a perfect woman’s body. However, today it is clear that women are starting to break down the pressure for being ideal. This is evident through the songs, music videos, interviews, books, and many other mediums written or performed by notable women. For this reason, we decided to use Beyoncé’s music video to her song Pretty Hurts as our cultural artifact.

In the video it shows a woman struggling with herself based on how others view her. She is a pageant girl; therefore, maintaining the perfect image of a woman is a big part of her life and who she needs to be. This is revealed to us by her throwing up, getting Botox, always looking in the mirror, getting spray tanned, and her endless crying. At one point in the video a man asks her “What are your ambitions?” She replied by saying, “Nobody has ever asked me this…my ambition is to be happy”.

This video pinpoints the problem with the stress that comes with being a woman in a society where popular culture emphasizes the need to be perfect. We felt like this was a very relevant topic because we have seen this happen with the women in our lives. This shows that the culture we live in is obsessed with being the best, which causes many issues for woman and girls.

As we were analyzing this video, we found it interesting that the concept of self-image was only focused on women. However, even though it is not as common, guys do struggle with the same issues. This reveals that our society and pop culture is very narrow and one-sided when it comes certain topics. In reality, men can struggle with the same things women go through.

At the end of this music video we see that the woman finally is able to look herself in the mirror and genuinely smile, showing that she is happy with herself.  Having women like Beyoncé speak out on the issue is crucial to healing our society. If someone as powerful as she can stand up and speak on the struggles that she had and how she overcame them, that gives people a point of connection so they don’t feel alone. It’s also very brave for a woman in our society today to stand up and speak out on subjects as touchy as body image.

This is relevant to our class because there are many signs of our culture displayed in one music video. The fact that the video was made to show the hardships of being a woman goes against our cultural norm. By doing this, Beyoncé has broken the stereotype that being beautiful and famous automatically means that you have a perfect life. She has now opened up a door for society to see how gruesome being a woman can truly be.

Tweet, Tweet: The New Way to Communicate

By Kaylee Hoffman & Jasmine Serrano

Let’s pretend your name is Johnny for just a moment. You're in your pitch-dark room on a perfect 70-degree Friday night.  The only light you can see is coming from underneath your blanket fort you have created without even noticing. “Johnny! Dinner’s ready!” You hear your mother, but you don’t really acknowledge her. She calls for you again and you groan loudly.  She opens your door and you don’t notice because you’re in your fort. She annoyingly walks back down the stairs and eats alone. You’re too wrapped up in your social life on twitter to even have dinner with your own mother. It’s not even a real social life. Being social would require you to actually get up, go out, and socialize with real life human beings. Making pointless tweets and retweeting is the world’s new way of socializing. It’s depressing.

There are so many things about twitter that have taken over society today. For instance, the fact that some people don’t even know that the hash tag we use today in our twitter world is actually the pound sign or stands for the word “number” is ridiculous. Twitter has changed many words into other meanings that wouldn’t make sense to most people. The word “thot” is a word made through twitter but is now used by many people today as if it were just a regular word out of the dictionary. We, as people, used to bring new things to the World Wide Web. People would have great ideas and find ways to incorporate them into the Internet and social networks. Now it’s the other way around. The people behind their computer and phone screens are the new inventors of the world. If you make up a new catchy phrase that makes people laugh, you could get that trending. You could start a whole social war if you really tried to. That was never a thing…until now.

People are too revolved around the mystery Hollywood world and everyone in it. Celebrities on twitter tweet about their fabulous lives and get millions of retweets and favorites. They could post a picture of a spoon and get tons of feedback and attention from it. Nobody cares about the real world anymore. Nobody cares to walk outside or look out a window anymore to check the weather because instead, you could just check twitter. All the people you “follow” will be tweeting about it: “Oh god, I hate lightening.” Twitter is seriously taking over the world by being able to make you think that everything you need to know is on there. They make you think that everything on twitter is what you should know and what you should care about. It’s wrong but it can not and will probably never be stopped.

Kids of all ages have twitters already. It’s been around for a while but it got popular a few years ago. People are so nosy nowadays. On Facebook, you would post every day. Twitter has taken it to a whole new level by making it a normal thing to be able to tweet every hour. Most people tweet more than that! What is tweeting taking away from us? It’s taking away our attention from the real world. We cross the street and rely on the world around us to stop for us. We assume that everything around us stops for us. We finally get bored after five hours of scrolling through an irrelevant newsfeed and look up to see that the day is over, your homework is not done, and your mother is upset because she has eaten dinner alone every day for months. Wake up and stop being a slave to this fake world the stupid blue bird has made.

Anaconda + The Ellen Parody

By Brandon Fornwalt & Josh Inglis

In Anaconda, Nicki Minaj displays how men only desire women that have big butts. She took the song “Baby Got Back” that was released in 1992 and remixed it to fit today’s culture. Nicki sings about different men and their “anacondas.” Anaconda, in this video, refers to the male penis and how men do not want to have sex with women if they do not have a big butt. In the other video, Ellen creates a parody of Nicki Minaj’s music video. In this video, Ellen tries to fit in with the music video by twerking in the same clothing as the women in the music video are wearing. This comes off very funny but yet true in many ways. 

Nicki Minaj’s music video was published on August 19th, 2014 and shows how American culture has changed. Her and her back-up dancers are wearing very little clothing and showing of the size of their butts by doing numerous amounts of twerking. This throws off the stereotype that men only like women with big butts and if you do not have a big butt then you will not get the “anaconda.” Women are doing things to make men more attracted sexually than ever before. From wearing less clothing to putting on a ton of make-up and perfume, some women will do almost anything to get a man’s attention.

Nicki explains in her lyrics of the different types of guys that all are attracted to the same thing. Troy the dope dealer who lives in Detroit and Michael who used to ride motorcycles buy Nicki what she wants for sex in return. Also, Nicki gives Drake a lap dance in the video. When Drake tries to grab her butt, she walks away from him showing him that she was in complete control of the situation. This portrays that as long as women have attractive body’s they can get whatever they want from men. 

Ellen shows that this is accepted in our culture on how attractive women should look. By doing this parody, she gets a good laugh out of the audience revealing that the American people accept women that act and dress like the women in the music video. By revealing so much of the women’s body, it would have offended many people in the past and still does in today’s society but not as many. Just by airing on a television show shows that the television company believes that American culture has changed enough to be comfortable with these stereotypes. Ellen is making a statement about what is acceptable in society with this video. Nicki tries to seduce the male audience with her appearance but Ellen is a lesbian. Considering her video was not aimed at the male audience, you could make a case that she was aiming her video at the female audience. 

These two videos differentiate themselves in many ways. Nicki is very serious about her music video and wants men to be attracted to her sexually. Ellen, however, is making Nicki’s video a joke. She tries to do the dance moves that Nicki does but by bringing out the humor in them rather than the sexiness in them.

Society would have never accepted this as an appropriate stereotype 10 years ago or longer. This kind of behavior is very different from the kinds of things women would do to get attention during that time. Women used to be controlled by men but over the years the role of who is in control has reversed. Women are independent now and if they are in need of anything they can use a man to get what they want. 

What's Going on Here?

Hello and welcome to the ongoing class blog for the Fall 2014 course "Pop Culture America" at Millikin University. In this course, which fits into the larger first-year Critical Writing, Reading, and Research sequence, my students and I are exploring the semiotics of American popular culture. That is, we are examining the many aspects of our entertainment and consumer culture, and asking questions about what these might signify in terms of our larger cultural values and norms.

As part of the class, we are reading a lot of articles discussing the "deeper meanings" behind our popular culture. But we also realize that popular culture is not just the subject matter of academic literature -- rather, it is the stuff of our everyday lives. Thus, in order to enrich and expand our class discussions, I have assigned my students to look to the popular culture that surrounds them for artifacts that they feel reveal something significant about who we are as a society and what we believe. I have asked them to "curate" these artifacts of pop culture: alongside the item itself -- be it song, film, advertisement, social media, etc. -- they are to explain the larger ideas they see at work in the object, and to discuss the implications of the values and norms they feel are being reflected and reinforced, whether for better or worse. This blog continues a similar venture from 2013, found here.

I look forward to what is to come in the ensuing weeks and months. One of the great pleasures of teaching for me has always been how much I can also learn from my students, and I have high hopes that this project will offer me -- and all of us -- a deeper glimpse into how we relate to (and are shaped by) the ever-changing world of American popular culture.

Enjoy!