Is Pop Culture Really Mean?

Pop culture, what does this term even mean? It seems to be a word that contains subjects of media, social structure, and society as a whole. According to the dictionary, pop culture is defined as “cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people”. In the society we live in today, we are constantly surrounded by pop culture, either that is with television, magazines, different sources of social media and/or exposure to others. Due to pop culture being such a dominant contribution into our world today, it has effected many parts of society. The domination of social media has created idealistic views that are stressed upon female adolescents in particular. Upon media’s influence, traditional tactics and work have been modified in order to keep up with our technology oriented society. This alters the schools and education systems. Through the use of television, social media and other means of pop culture, serious study is necessary due to the negative effects it has on the younger generation and the effects it has for their futures.

Pop culture, or popular culture, is knowns as a term appeared in mid 20 century. It is defined as the categories of entertainment, politics, sports, fashion, technology, and have a way to influence a person's opinion to a certain topic.

One of the best known decades for music was the eighties. During this generation, there were a number of landmark events. This decade set a standard for music to evolve from for years to come.

In the first chapter of The Rhetorical Power of Pop Culture by Deanna Sellnow, the author defines popular culture and explains the importance of studying the subject. Sellnow begins with a short explanation of ethics to convey that the influence popular culture has is not always used ethically. Secondly, Sellnow compares the different contexts of culture, elitist and diversity, to explain what popular culture is not. Popular culture is compiled of everyday things that influence people through subtle messages such as what is appropriate and inappropriate, good and bad, and so on.

    The 1980’s was a time of prosperity throughout America. From the Calendar that went from January 1st to December 31st to the increase of jobs. This decade was full of good changes socially, economically, and politically.

The events that are affected by the 1980s decade was music, music has influenced the 1980s so much with Madonna and Michael Jackson. Madonnas hair was all the rage, big curly hair with ratted bangs as high as you could get them she was the queen of the 1980s her fashion influenced so much of the 1980s, girls were curling there bangs just like Madonna she was an icon everyone looked up to her.

The 80 's was an eye opener to a lot of new things, new music, new styles, new points of view on life and new technology. Music was a big hit for the 80 's and so was the technology. A home, family, job and fun was basically what everyone needed to live ahappy life. In the 80 's, people saw the American dream, as a simple task of success andthose years defined them. They were the generation in between differences and facing disagreement andnot turning our backs. The 80 's may have made them idealistic, but it 's idealism that will push themand be passed on to their children, the first children of the twenty-first century.

Michael Jackson had been making music for pretty much his entire life, for he started making music at a very young age. In fact, he started his music career at the age of 5 (“Michael Jackson”). He was considered to be the favorite out of the group by most people. “Michael Jackson was the youngest and most talented of five brothers whom his father, Joseph, shaped into a dazzling group of child stars known as the Jackson 5” (Vincent). The world soon became aware of how talented this young Michael really was. “Jackson was one of the nation’s finest 1960s rhythm-and-blues vocalists

Michael Jackson, a man that changed the music world forever. Jackson made his professional singing debut in 1964 with his siblings in a band called the Jackson 5. Jackson made it big with Jackson 5 having many singles reach the top 100 in the United States. But, when Jackson decided to start his own solo career in 1971 we were seeing a side of Michael Jackson that we have never seen before. Most importantly Jackson 1982, mulit-platinum selling album Thriller. Michael Jackson broke music barriers and made a change for racial equality in the music industry.

Michael Jackson was a famous American singer who rose to fame in the 1980’s for his pop music. He had millions of fans. In this essay I am going to write about Michael Jackson beginning of his life, Rising to fame, and his death. Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana in 1958. Michael Jackson was 5 when he started benning to sing, he started with his brothers and sisters

Popular culture or other known as pop culture reflects on society’s values all throughout the world. “In the past, popular culture was generally assumed to be superficial; training, experience, and reflection were not essential to appreciate it or produce it. Now, however, appreciating the importance of both high culture and popular culture has become the hallmark of an educated person” (Shea 707). Popular culture is the entirety of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images, and other pieces that are within the mainstream of a given culture. Popular culture is targeted to all people of all age groups and influences our thoughts, behaviors, trends, tastes etc, and can include songs, movies, celebrities, food, literature and food.

However, what is popular culture in the context of society? Popular culture is the accumulated store of cultural products that are consumed primarily by non-elite groups such as the working, lower, and middle class. Thus, popular culture involves the aspects of social life most actively involved in by the public. As the people’s culture, popular culture is determined by the interactions between people in their everyday activities: the use of slang, styles of attire, greeting rituals and the foods that people eat are all examples of popular culture. Popular culture is also informed by the media; people have certain interests that appeal to them and they seek more information regarding it. Media thus helps to propagate this popular culture because in addition to reaching those who have already adopted society’s popular culture, so too can the people who have yet to be exposed to it join in. This is a phenomenon that we also see with the emergence of soccer. Soccer had first started out as a way for English elite to socialize among themselves. The inception of modern soccer was actually due to the ‘import’ of European soccer to the countries they were

Due to the variety of different genres, not forgetting his pop music, nearly anyone could enjoy and feel the emotions in at least one of his songs that were created during the 80’s. When the word “globe” is mentioned, that literally means anyone in the world. From the South Americans to the Eastern Countries, his music spread quite quickly to all places around the planet. When people talked about popular artists around this time, many would instantly say this artist’s name. Whether they liked him or not, whether they listened to his music or not, Michael Jackson was recognized and is still recognized as a leader in the music industry.

Popular culture can be defined as “The knowledge of current or up-to-date events. It can refer to music, television, film, sports, and anything in the public domain.” (reference.com.n.d.). MTV operates globally and one may argue that MTV shapes their audience tastes however in present times the public has vast options and therefore can easily dictate by choosing the channel that best suits their tastes and wants. MTV’s power to adapt to change has worked to their advantage as they have been able to capture their target audience throughout their existence.

Today’s society focuses more on the idea of mass media and of things that are portrayed with this. Because of advancements in technology, a person could simply turn on a television set, a computer, or just their phone to find out things that are going on in the world. In dealing with pop culture, one would see that the ideas and objects generated by a society are being promoted by the media. Mcdonald's and other restaurants use this to promote their items.