Module 9 - Hegemony

Cultural hegemony refers to the power that a specific person or thing holds in social institutions. By having this strong representation in culture, hegemony tends to rule the culture, by first holding a strong spot in culture and then spreading it throughout the culture. An example of cultural hegemony I would like to use is the strong representation that fast food/ franchises hold in the world. Similar to the video “Cultural Hegemony” it is defined as something that has a dominant society, with something made up of that society such as people and places, with something added that may be considered radical/ dangerous. In my example, fast food franchises would be the radical or dangerous aspect of cultural hegemony being added to the dominant society, weakening it. The changes that fast food can have an effect on would be making people reliant on quick service fast food options, often not being the healthiest of options to consume but rather the more convenient option. Rather than spending time shopping for ingredients and preparing dishes to eat, the convenience of stopping somewhere where you can have food prepared for you in a quick way and delivered to your finger tips makes it easier for the consumer, often times adding to the laziness of the average American. Similar to the effect that having a smartphone (computer) attached to your hand at all times while you’re awake, it makes the consumer reliant on something which would cause mass confusion if it were to be pulled from the consumers. 

Hegemony and Modeling

With the 20+ cycles of America’s Next Top Model promoting different and culturally inappropriate bodies through the scope of super modeling, the idea of cultural hegemony is prevalent within the culture of modeling. Today’s models are almost always white, thin, and generally under 30. The public’s call to change these statistics is barely acknowledged, with hopes for a better future In Fall 2016, less than 25% of all models attending Fashion Week were people of color. There were designers that didn’t even feature any models of color at all. Body diversity was even rarer at Fashion Week. Out of all of the shows in New York, Paris, Milan, and London, there were only six plus models in Fall 2016. Moreover, of the six plus sized models, not one was over a size 12. As far as age, only eleven models were maturely aged, meaning they were over 40 years old.

To battle these kinds of facts, Tyra Banks and America’s Next Top Model have had cycles where they opened casting to plus sized models and waived the age restriction (which was 27 years old) to be more diverse and open. The show has produced 9 non-white winners out of 22 cycles. None of which that are plus sized or over 40. But there was a white, plus sized winner and a single contestant that was 42, who placed 6th overall.

Taking all of that into consideration. The show’s success and diversity have had some type of impact on the fashion model industry. But only minimally. Many of the designers at Fashion Week that chose to be inclusive, did it minimally, which doesn’t necessarily do anything about the bigger picture of people of color, plus sized, and older being underrepresented in the fashion world. Since opening the castings in cycle 3, there have only been 6 plus size models on the show. So with insignificant attempts on a show that is supposed to promote diversity in the modeling world, the fashion world has responded with a slight nod, not really changing anything.

http://www.thefashionspot.com/runway-news/685109-runway-diversity-report-fall-2016/

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/fashion/americas-next-top-model-deconstructed.html

Photo: https://www.buzzfeed.com/norawhelan/theres-more-than-one-plus-size-model?utm_term=.qb6VzgyA79#.eflr1z3GDW

Gun Control - Hegemony

Although Im not quite sure the debate over gun control and gun laws can be defined as popular culture, in the past years it has clearly made it's way in to the spotlight and most recently after the school shooting in Florida it has become a huge topic of debate. Now it's difficult for me to distinguish dominant and subculture with this one. To me the dominant culture is people who are against gun control laws (although the media will never make it seem that way). The recent March for Our Lives movement comes very much in conflict with basic American ideas and even the ideas set forth in the constitution allowing Americans to own guns. The NRA has become a focal point of the pro gun movement and everyone is quick to place blame on them for mass shootings claiming that they are responsible. However in my opinion it is difficult to place this blame on a single group or organization that doesn't even sell firearms. This current March for our Lives movement has come in to severe conflict with people who support the second amendment, the NRA, and people who advocate gun rights in general. However although they are getting their voice heard, I do not believe they will be able to make the significant change they hope for. Calling for gun control in American where part of our culture is having the rights to own weapons is a very difficult hill to climb. The are essential calling for our rights a citizens to have guns to be taken away due to these school shootings. While I think something needs to be done in regards to the mass shootings and killings that are taking place I do not believe this is the correct way to do it. Creating significant change and more gun control is effectively taking away some of our rights as Americans which is why i believe this significant change they are pushing for will not occur.

Module 5: Eminem

        Eminem is an individual who has been breaking racial stereotypes his entire career. For almost two decades now, he has created such a difference in rap culture. Rap culture being predominantly black, it was unheard of to have such a successful white rapper in the rap game. At the start of his career, Eminem was an underground rapper who was ridiculed by black people and called "rabbit". Black people called him "rabbit" because he was white and all primary public bunny figures were white rabbits such as the Easter Bunny and Peter Cotton Tail. Another stereotype this comment "rabbit" contributes to is that Eminem could be considered a white feminine man because it is a stereotype that white men in the rap game are more feminine.

   

      He has mentioned numerous times in his songs the struggle of being or becoming a rapper as a white man in the industry. For example, in his song "Without Me" he states, 

Though I'm not the first king of controversy

I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley

To do black music so selfishly

And use it to get myself wealthy

Hey, there's a concept that works

Twenty million other white rappers emerge

But no matter how many fish in the sea

It will be so empty without me

These lyrics show how others used to or might still see him as using black music to make money. Similarly, as referenced in the lyrics, Elvis Presley's hit song "Hound Dog" was originally sung by a black woman. Both Elvis and Eminem used black music to further their career. Eminem despite the criticism he received, continued to write and perform music, and above all break the stereotype that only black people are able to be successful rap performers. No matter the criticism he received/receives, he's always been very favorable in his craft and is a bestselling artist. 

Starbucks

Coffee is something that people worldwide consume. While Dunkin Donuts is a crowd favorite in New England, Starbucks is a crowd favorite worldwide. The Starbucks logo is a familiar coffee symbol. the green and white logo represents a familiar expensive cost/ taste associated coffee brand. Similar to that of the trendy Whole Foods Market shopper, often times customers will ask for a bag from Whole Foods Market with the large logo to signify that they have the money to shop at a high end, expensive grocery store. Many customers go to Starbucks not necessarily because they are fans of the coffee itself, but the image that carrying the Starbucks cup gives them as being trendy. The signifier for Starbucks would be coffee, and the signified can be explained as cool, trendy, and taste that comes along with the purchase of a Starbucks coffee. While the logo symbolizes the company, its also a reminder, or a symbol known in modern day society as “coffee”. When looking at this symbol, many don’t think “Starbucks” necessarily, but the caffeinated beverage they will be purchasing there. Starbucks is looked at quite often as superior to competitor coffee shops. Part of the reason for this, is amongst social media platforms as well as in public, we see celebrities drinking out of the Starbucks cup setting a trend. Similar to products like Apple, it’s more of a name or brand recognition rather than a quality thing. Although Starbucks is considered to be one of the leading coffee names, it’s interesting to see that they don’t seem to have a strong presence in ads or commercials. By becoming available to people throughout the world, rather than just one country, Starbucks is building their branding, the myth that Starbucks is the best of the best coffee. Over the years, the logo hasn’t changed much at all, which helps to keep the name and the brand recognizable throughout many different cultures.

McDonald's Worldwide

This week, I chose the the McDonald’s “M”, known as the golden arches, for my sign. It is signified by two yellow arches in the shape of an “M”. It signifies McDonalds, the fast food restaurant, the drive through, hamburgers, fries, and broken ice cream machines. The myth surrounding McDonald’s is immense. At the surface, it is seen as fast food, fulfillment, happiness, nostalgia, and satisfaction. Deeper, it is seen as a revolution for the way McDonald’s expanded their business all over the world. Due to its universal appearance and consistency in product, the golden arches are an example of the importance of assigning a brand to a specific logo. It creates thoughts that tie directly to the product and symbolize the globalization of the brand. 

I found it most interesting that the symbol has changed through the years. To me (and most of the world) the golden arches will always be recognizable, but there has been many changes, additions, and subtractions to the arches since their unveiling in 1968. I think the evolution of the arches is a little way for the brand to say ‘hey we’re still at the top’. There isn’t a need for change, as McDonald’s is and always will be the leader in global fast food.

 

https://www.wisdells.com/member-media/rest/mcdonalds_01.jpg

Semiology - Apple Logo

The Apple logo is something that is recognized worldwide. It's a very simple logo just an apple with a bit taken out of it but it represents much more than just that. The signification is Apple as a company, it represents them as a company but also all of their products and services. The signifier is the picture of the apple with a bite taken out of it.  The signified is apple as a forward thinking company and leader in technological innovation. Apple is thought of as the premium provider of laptops, tablets, and cellphones. Although there is not a huge amount of different between their products and other companies their products are still seen as superior to other PC's. This is also part of the myth surrounding apple - that their products, software, and services are premium quality and that why consumers are willing to spend so much more for iPhones and apple computers compared to other laptops and phones. It's interesting how Apple has always had a sort of mystique surrounding their products and services. Since their first computers and cellphones they have always been thought of as superior to their competitors and because of this, able to charge much more for their products.

Music (Week 7)

Music

This week I decided to look at music as an example of the culture industry and the way it has developed over time. There is definitely an abundance of music in all different forms. There are also a few ways to interpret the word “form” here. Form could be used to describe all of the different genres, or it could be used to describe all of the different ways there are to listen to music. The way people listen to music has developed over time. It began just being live, moved to record players, radio, cassette tapes, CDs, and now with the internet, streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. 

It continues, year after year, to produce new versions of itself. Genres evolve, and the technology to access music evolves. Music can definitely be considered a distraction from real world change. A lot of music does not talk about the news and things going on in the world, which is good because it acts as an escape from the news and the drama it brings.

I think music is something that will definitely continue to evolve and that’s why it stays so relevant as a part of the culture industry. It keeps people invested into pop culture, and there are ways for people to experience in whatever way they like.

Fashion

Fashion is something in modern day society that is changing frequently, almost never staying the same for longer than a few months time. In popular culture, fashion refers to terms like purchase of clothing, marketing, changes in production, and more. Fashion is constantly evolving, as it is a competitive business. Throughout fashion, strong celebrity names hold a strong presence in not only the fashion world, but popular culture in general. Fashion role models such as Jay Z have progressed the world of fashion throughout his career, often times being noted for the way he dressed.
Fashion can show up in different parts of society, from boutiques to runways, in clothing shops as well as on the streets. Continuously producing new versions of itself throughout different channels, fashion is a competitive business between designers, often times fighting for the most popular celebrities to "promote" their styles and fashions to society. By doing this, designers are marketing their products, to go along with and follow a certain type of consumer fashion style that is currently popular. By having a specific type of fashion, designers and brands often times grow their follower base, cementing people in society to specific cultures. Often times, designers and big name clothing brands will use a point person, or marketer such as professional athletes to promote their products, most of the time being able to control what current fashion statements are considered popular or "in" at the moment. Fashion plays a big part of popular culture as it is something that will always play a role in society, and it is constantly evolving. By constantly evolving, and becoming "better", fashion creates a self - perpetuating reinvestment aspect within popular culture.

Baseball bats

          In this post I will be discussing baseball bats. I played baseball almost my whole life, and one thing that immediately stood out to me in this section was how it almost perfectly applies to the production and use of baseball bats.  Over the years undoubtedly production methods have made baseball bats better. They’re more comfortable, have larger “sweet spots," and higher exit velocities than previous generations. However year to year all companies continually produce newer versions of the same bat from the previous year with little to no difference among performance. They may have different color schemes, different names, possibly even a different weight distribution throughout the bat but otherwise they are all relatively the same thing. To me this is especially true since baseball leagues now have to stick to a BBCOR standard for all bats. This is meant to level the playing field between hitters and pitchers and make metal or composite bats more comparable to wooden ones. This also had an effect on decreasing exit velocity as well as making sure if bats did break they would not splinter and hurt any players. However although these bats are fairly similar hitters always have a certain type of bat they feel more comfortable with or “hit better” with. If a hitter uses an Easton Stealth bat for a year and has the best year of his career hitting, then he will undoubtedly keep using that bat, regardless of whether the bat made any difference or not. Eventually however baseball bats do wear out, and after they do you can be sure there will be a newer model of the same bat that somehow improved upon the last one in some way that companies are able to market it as better. We can spend all the time we want looking through bats, other peoples opinions on them, whether to use a two piece or one piece bat. In the end however the amount of work put in by the player will have a much greater effect on his performance than the bat ever will.

Apple Products

On the subject of Apple products there aren’t too many choices or variations of the Apple brand. Of course there are the basics iMac, Macbook, and iPhone, but their only real branch off of these products are the Apple Watch and the iPad / iPod. Within these products each model is almost identical to the last, with the exception of the first generations. The only real difference, however, between the first gens and now is the size and materials they are made out of. Other than that they are basically the same thing. Not to mention it used to be years between new models or generations or upgrades, whatever you would like to call them, but now it seems like every 6-9 months there is a new and “improved” version. Having been around since 1977, with the Apple I, Apple has been keeping a select group of people in the “know” with their versions of computing. Compared to PC, Apple has a huge disadvantage when it comes to computers, but is one of the top companies for cellular devices and tablets. Unfortunately it is because of the constant production of newer models that people tend to be more worried about being the first one in line then they are to know what is going around them. For example on September 25, 2015 Volkswagen had taken on Matthias Mueller, former head of Porsche, in order to get them out of the emissions-test cheating scandal. This scandal involved over 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide giving off false emission readings to falsify the tests and ensure that Volkswagen would be rated number one in emissions-testing. This obviously backfired (no pun intended) and was hidden in the shadows of the release of the iPhone 6S Plus. There are countless historical happenings or even just regular local news that people have missed out on because they were waiting in line for a phone. However, with every new Apple product that hits the market, people become more entranced with their social medias, music, photos, or whatever else they are in to, because Apple has a knack for making their products geared toward a specific audience. 

Click this link if interested in more events that happened during the release of the iPhone 6S Plus:

http://theweek.com/10things/575011/10-things-need-know-today-september-25-2015

Click this link to see the “differences” between models of iPhones:

https://www.lifewire.com/compare-iphone-models-1999430

Culture Industry and Sneakers

Culture industry is a theory that an industry is jeopardizing culture and society. If you look at sneakers, there are only a handful of big brand names, but almost every shoe brand has tried an athletic shoe design. In this case, the price isn’t necessarily as important as the product, but it does play a factor when comparing between social classes. Those in the lower class will save up, borrow, or steal to get the latest pair of sneakers, just to have them. The average price of Nike Air Max sneakers, for example, is about $150. If you have the means to afford spending $150 every week or so on shoes you are going to wear once in a while, fine. But if you don’t have the money, it puts a strain on your other responsibilities and things you need to pay for. 

As far as design, while there are different color combinations and ‘uses’ for the shoes, they’re ultimately all of the same thing. There aren’t many professional runners in the world, but there are hundreds of people that have multiple pairs of seemingly different running shoes. Also, this culture industry cements people to their popular culture. People that collect sneakers often have no real use for them and they collect because its cool and something to do. It doesn’t take them out of their element or open their eyes that these shoes are often made in third-world countries where people are being exploited for their work and are usually not making livable wages to produce these shoes. This has to do with the exchange value being off. The cost of production is less than what the product is worth. Therefore, it brings looking at the sneakers as ‘what can they be sold for?’ over ‘how much are they worth?’ 

In March, there over 30 different Nike designs being released. There is a shoe for every day, with a few to spare. The different designs create a self-perpetuating reinvestment in the culture because in order to support your favorite basketball player, you need to buy his shoes. But you can’t wear them because they won’t look good for long, so you at least need another pair to wear everyday. 

These ideas and actions are the enslavement in capitalism. Within the culture, there is a false sense of need made up, consumers are willing to overlook their true needs to fulfill their false needs, as the false needs are met new forms of false needs are made, the purchase power makes people believe they are buying happiness, the consumption further enslaves them because they cannot fulfill their true needs with the way capitalism works. So there is a constant reinvestment in capitalism because as long as people will keep buying new sneakers, they’ll keep making them.

Industry culture - shoes

Industry culture - shoes

SHOES ! We all have a pair, even more than a single pair. Individuals have several at a time, and this can be considered normal. We all have shoes, whether if it’s for walking, or running, or working, and so on. I myself have my normal walking shoes, a pair of steel toed shoes for work, a pair of winter boots, and finally a running pair. My wife has more shoes than I’d like to mention, I can’t necessarily say they all have a purpose. Shoes are always improving, whether if it’s the material they are made with, or their intended purpose. This can include shoes or boots for sports or rock climbing, or hiking and so on. We always seem to need a pair of shoes for specific events. This also creates its own subculture within the shoe culture, as I mentioned things such as sports or outdoor enthusiasts. We are even told we need a new pair of shoes at about every six months. We even have shoes for the elite culture too. Although some would argue the release of Jordan’s are not necessarily for elites but at a price tag of $400+ for a pair of limited editions, I could not afford this. Everyone seems to need to have them though, whether if it’s for collecting or wearing. Our popular culture loves shoes as for the most part, we can all afford a pair, and we all usually have more than one. Some even light up, which appeals to the younger generations in our shoe culture but whose to say it’s limited to them. We are always feed the idea that we need shoes for just about everything, and surprisingly we do own several pairs. We just do not think about it too much because this is considered normal in our culture at this point. 

We are forced fed by culture industry that we need the latest and greatest. For the most part, we willfully give up our hard earned money just to keep up with the industry as it’s always changing. These changes can be compared to the iPhone. As in Lance Eaton’s blog for this learning module, he mentions the changes between different generations of iPhones are all superficial for the most part, while functionality remains the same. The changes between all the new shows as well can be considered superficial as well. Most of these new releases, between shoes or iPhones are part of the culture industry, as capitalism and telling us we need this new product. Whether if we do need it or not. Once again, this can go hand in hand with all the other subcultures releases within the culture industry as well. As I mentioned previously about the ridiculously expensive Jordan’s that individuals collect. Not necessarily to wear but just to collect it due to the rarity of the shoe, even though it’s production costs are at the expense of sweatshops across the world. We as culture industry are willing to exploit others to have the latest and greatest because we are told we need it or we will not up to societies’ standards. Another point is that if everyone else has it, you should too. This gives the false impression that you need to spend all your money just to keep up with the constant culture industry, even in 4 weeks, another pair of shoes will be released that you suddenly need. Even though you have survived just fine with your current pair.