Trends in Popular American Culture
American culture has evolved so much in the last 40 years, it is amazing. So many things that are acceptable now, would have never been considered in the past. I will be discussing the social trend of using my space on the internet to create friendships and more serious relationships, the newest political trend of a women name Sarah Palin with a very controversial pasts running for vice president, the personal trends of drug use among young people, and last the religious trend sexual abuse cases in the roman catholic church.
Myspace.com was started in July, 2003 for the purpose of social networking. Friends who want to talk online, single people who want to meet other singles, families that want to keep in touch, classmates, artists, and business people can all benefit from the use of myspace.com. (Myspace.com) The thing about social networking online is that 10 years ago if people used to internet to make relationships they would be considered to be a “Loaner.” Now myspace.com is so popular that they have over 100 million accounts, which is quite a big change from the 90’s. (Mashable.com)
On December 4, 2006 Governor Sarah Palin made history by becoming to first women to be elected as governor, she became the 11th governor of Alaska. (McCain & Palin, 2008) The 2008 republican candidate for president, John McCain has chosen Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate in the election this year. (McCain & Palin) Many mixed feeling exist about McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin. Some American’s are happy about the decision; however, many people are unsure about Palin, due to the fact that she is currently under investigation. Palin is currently under investigation to determine if she abused ...
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...tholic Church. All of these trends are different aspects of life that have helped define the 21 century.
Resources
KTVA 11. (2008). Investigation to begin into whether Governor Sarah Palin abused her power in firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://www.ktva.com/ci_10026165
McCain & Palin. (2008). Retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://www.johnmccain.com/ about/governorpalin.htm
Myspace.com. (N.D.). Retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://www.myspace.com/
Parenting Teens. (N.D.). Prescription drug abuse among teens. Retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://www.parentingteens.com/index/Teen+Drug+Abuse/ Prescription+Drug+Abuse+Among+Teens
Religious Tolerance. (2002). Child and youth sexual abuse by clergy. Retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://www.religioustolerance.org/clergy_sex6.htm
Robinson B.A “The Episcopal Church and Homosexuality” Religious Tolerance. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 28 Oct. 2003. Web. 29 Oct 2013 www.religioustolerance.org
In the article “Christianity and child abuse – the survivors’ voice leading to change”, Kennedy (2000) argued how children’s Christianity background can cause additional concerns in the issue of child sexual abuse. Kennedy justified her argument by presenting the fact how spiritual concepts like “the evil/sin of being abused” (126,127,129), “God’s will” (127,129), “sources of God’s grace” (128) have been wrongly used to warrant perpetrators’ inhumane acts. Moreover, she pointed out that both the subliminal messages children perceived of these concepts (128) and “silencing factors”, such as “the doctrine of forgiveness” (131) and no pre-marital sex (130) in Christian context, lead to further shame and guilt in children (131,132,133,134). Apart from the spiritual side, Kennedy also criticized Christian churches’ intention of protecting its own reputation rather than solving the issue (133). Christian communities practiced an unjust demand of forgiveness from the victim and a patriarchal culture (135). Also, Christian communities failed in offering objective policy guidance (136) and ensuring active implementation of the policy document (137). Kennedy ends the passage by prompting the idea that state and church should tackle the problem hand in hand (139), and the engagement of more practitioners with sound religious and psychology understanding (139).
In 1970, a national survey said 70% of Americans believed “homosexuals are dangerous as teachers or youth leaders because they try to get sexually involved with children” (Herek). The idea that homosexuals are prone to child molestation has lessened in later years, however, another poll taken in 1999 stated 19% of heterosexual men and 10% of heterosexual women believed gay men are likely to molest children (Herek). Catholic officials are considering whether to ordain homosexuals as priests. This debate has been sparked by allegations, mostly by young boys and men, that priests sexual molested them. The Boy Scouts of America have declared homosexuals are not welcome in their organization, despite the fact that scoutmasters accused of molestation tend to be married. Fundamentalist Christians are determined to keep homosexuals away from children, claiming, “homosexuals molest children at a much higher rate than heterosexuals” (Traditional). This assertion is wrong, and an unfounded stereotype. Homosexuals are no more prone to child molestation than anyone else. In this paper, I will show the lack of a correlation between homosexuality and child molestation.
Clearly, his study shows that prescription drug abuse among teens has risen a lot, and is becoming a bigger problem than it once was. In fact, each day, over 1,000 teenagers start abusing prescription medication (3). Although personally I have not met anyone who has ever abused prescription drugs, the problem is prevalent and should not be ignored.
Surname 1Student’s nameInstructor’s nameCourse numberDateProject about Pop-CultureIn order to study and understand pop culture we must first and foremost confront the difficulty posed by the term itself. This is because it is used in quite different ways and are of inquiry and theoretical definition and analytical focus. Popular culture is generally defined as signifying practices that produce meaning, has mass accessibility and appeal. Origin of popular culture can be traced to the creation of middle class generated by the industrial revolution. Popular culture was mostly associated with the poorly educated or the lower class while the official culture which was mostly associated with the well-educated and the upper class citizens. However,
Years ago, the common image of an adolescent drug abuser was a teen trying to escape from reality on illegal substances like cocaine, heroin, or marijuana. Today, there is a great discrepancy between that perception and the reality of who is likely to abuse drugs. A teenage drug abuser might not have to look any further than his or her parent’s medicine chest to ‘score.’ Prescription drug abuse by teens is on the rise. Also, teens are looking to prescription drugs to fulfill different needs other than to feel good or escape the pressures of adulthood. Teens may be just as likely to resort to drugs with ‘speedy’ side effects, like Ritalin to help them study longer, as they are to use prescription painkillers to check out of reality. Pressures on teens are growing, to succeed in sports or to get high grades to get into a good college (Pressures on today’s teens, 2008, theantidrug). Furthermore, because prescriptions drugs are prescribed by doctors they are less likely to be seen as deleterious to teens’ health. A lack of awareness of the problem on the part of teens, parents and society in general, the over-medication of America, and the greater stresses and pressures put upon teens in the modern world have all conspired to create the growing problem of prescription drug abuse by teens.
Rossetti, S. J. (1996). A tragic grace: the catholic church and child sexual abuse. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=JAgyfIkgNSoC&dq=A+tragic+grace+:+the+Catholic+Church+and+child+sexual+abuse+/+Stephen+J.+Rossetti.&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Prescription drugs are making parents more overwhelmed than ever before about their teenaged child! Why must they worry so much about their teenaged child? “When you can stop you don’t want to, and when you want to stop, you can’t…” (Davies). This quote signifies that adolescents and adults have the option to quit or not try the drug when being introduced, but when they get started on the drug and they are thinking abouting quitting, they cannot because of the addiction they have on the drug. Each day they try to stay away from the drug, but they are having really bad withdrawals. Rockingham County Schools should inform parents about the strategies for preventing, recognizing, and addressing prescription drug abuse.
In over a period of years, an increasing amount of attention has been shed to the problem of child sexual abuse in the church. While churches, and other facilities which care for children, have had their experience of this problem, most attention has been brought to the abuse in the Catholic Church. Around the world, case after case has been seen in the press of clergy and members of religious orders being charged with sex offenses against children. Some of these cases go back decades. The issue has certainly brought attention around the world. The reason why, is the question that ponders in everyone mind.
(The motive behind a teenager abusing a prescription drug correlates directly with the types of abused medications. I would now like to inform you about the most commonly abused prescription
"The CBHSQ Report: A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update." The CBHSQ Report: A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update. N.p., 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2K13/CBHSQ128/sr128-typical-day-adolescents-2013.htm
The Effects of Popular Culture on Society Popular Culture is music, dance, theatre, film,T.V., poetry and Art which is enjoyed by a wide group of people. Some people would argue that popular culture in the 1960's cause harm. Other people however argued that other factors brought harm and change to society. Some people would argue that music would cause harm because of the lyrics in pop songs. Lyrics like 'Lets spend the night together' by The Rolling Stones, influenced young people to have casual sex.
There are many ways to define popular culture. Many individuals have grappled with the question what is popular culture? And how to critically analyze and deconstruct the meanings. Looking at the root words of popular culture is where to begin. Raymond Williams states ‘popular’ means: “well liked by many people" or “culture actually made for the people themselves (Storey, p.5). This is part with the word ‘culture’ combine to look at how the two words have been connect by theoretical work within social and historical context. John Storey approaches popular culture in six categories, they are as followed: “Popular culture is simply culture that is widely favoured or well liked by many people”, Popular culture is “the culture that is left over after we have decided what is high culture”, Popular culture is “mass culture”, “Popular culture is the culture that originates from ‘the people.” and “Popular culture as a site of struggle
Support and Resources for Parents Dealing with Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse. Web. Retrieved from http://www.drugfree.org/drug-guide/steroids.
Pop culture is a reflection of social change, not a cause of social change” (John Podhoretz). It encompasses the advertisements we see on T.V, the clothes we wear, the music we listen too, and it’s the reason Leonardo DiCaprio has not won an Oscar yet. It defines and dictates the desires and fears of the mainstream members of society; and it is so ingrained into our lives that it has become as natural as breathing. Moreover, adults never even bat an eyelash at all the pop culture and advertising that surrounds them since it has become just another part of everyday life. Pop culture is still somewhat seen as entertainment enjoyed by the lower class members of society; but pop culture standards change over time. A notable example of this is the sixteenth century author, William Shakespeare, since his works were considered pop culture, entertainment that could be enjoyed by everyone, but now they are considered literary classics. While pop culture encompasses most aspects of our lives, its influence is most obvious through each generations reaction to media,