Cultural Imperialism
Another fascinating presentation... and one which really showed the scope of the issue. I have a few questions for you, of course!
You discussed how cultural imperialism can be either enforced or embraced... and I wonder if there could be something more subtle going on here? If Western countries have the most control over media forms and other scapes, it could be argued that their values and cultural ideas will dominate. That this is not so much a global marketplace of ideas which is free to everyone, but a marketplace constructed in such a way that our ideas are the only ones given any air time or credence. In other words, people around the world, especially in the US, might not get much choice. Thus, if someone seems to embrace a value it might be because in the 'circuit of culture' that's all there is. Also, think about the documentary The Corporation ... in light of the following clip, how much are values embraced and how much is embraced? Is something else going on, do you think?
I was also really fascinated by your work on sex, fashion, rap music and cars... and all of you touched on hybridity (how things change when they enter new cultural contexts)... You all highlighted, though, the way in which these cultural products change cultural values and mores. All these products have been used to actually RESIST cultural hegemony. For example, rap music (outside of the gangsta commercial rap we get mostly today) is often a form used to protest inequality and racism around the world. It has been a means to actually spread opposing ideologies.... Also, clothing. The sari was a great case study. The veil, while we think it has very negative connotations, has been used to counter Americanization. In Egypt, for instance, there was a movement to actually wear the veil (by women) who wanted to resist American values of femininity and Western notions of sexuality and commercialism. Any thoughts?
11 comments:
For whatever reason, I couldn't hear anything on either clip when I played them. Everything was on and plugged in, but i still didn't get any noise coming across. I do, however, remember what "The Corporation" was about. In light of the clip, I think that values are being embraced more than enforced. I do feel that it is heavily influenced the way that Western values and views are advertised and portrayed to the public. Yet, everyone is still given a choice whether to accept them or not. Therefore, if they choose to accept and embrace it, then it spreads among other cultures. How values are portrayed, as being good or bad, will either cause people to adopt it as their own or reject it. If that makes any sense.
That does make sense, Ashley... and this was partly what I was getting at. Values are seemingly embraced because the values themselves are presented as positive and desirable. Even within America this happens. The clip (which I can hear... what is going on!( showcases how powerful advertising is, and how much money is plowed into advertising which is circulated around the globe. Under these circumstances more traditional, 'local' values stand little chance as they are presented as parochial and out of date...
Alex
It is definitely true that there is probably more going on when it comes to the idea that the values are embraced. It seems as though they are embraced because most people often happily accept the values, but there is manipulation going on in order for that to happen. I agree with Ashley when she says values are embraced more because it is true that people can choose if they want to accept them but even though there is rarely any direct enforcement of the values, those values are often the only ones people can see. If you only see the same ideas over and over, it would seem very strange if you happened to follow anything different. The clip about how they seem to manipulate children through the media is a great example of this. The children grow up with these values and the media makes everything seem so desirable so it is natural that children be influenced greatly by the media.
The second thing posted about how things (such as rap, clothing, etc.) that spread due to imperialism are often used to resist it is very interesting. I had never thought about that before but it makes perfect sense. It just seems funny that ideas that appeared due to their spread are used to resist any such spread occurring again. The clip about the veil was interesting and it shows very effectively how values such as wearing the veil can spread between places and take on new meaning. I liked how in Egypt they are able to wear colorful veils to be fashionable and practice their privlege of making their own choices.
-Lauren
I definitely think that the presentation on Cultural Imperialism was the most thorough of the three and was very well done. I was pleased with the amount of work that went into it and the breadth of information that was presented. Going back to the movie "The Corporation" and the posed question, I think that the corporate ideology, if embraced, gives the average American a lot of consumer power. I think in the case of the First USA and the two boys that paid their college tuition, they made a great case that if the corporation is embraced, can bring great benefits to the American consumer. We do in fact earn money for a reason: to spend it! Well, of course the bills come first, but that's beside the point. Point said, I can be convinced that cultural imperialism is something that we embrace as Americans.
As for the video with Egyptian women wanting to wear veils, I did find this video interesting. I find it interesting because after Americans removed terrorists regimes from Afghanistan, a lot of women stopped wearing veils, and here's Egypt trying to get women to wear them. I see the veil being this evil identity and ideology that speaks out against America. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out and unfolds in the future. Anyway, a job well done to this group as well!
Shamus
Lauren, good points. I think the binary enforced/embraced is actually problematic... and I think somethign far more complex is going on. As we shall see when we look more closely at indigenization, some values are incorporated into a culture and yet, at the same moment, they are transformed into something new as they intersect with existing values. If we think about how affected 'we' are by advertising, and how we 'feel' we likely embrace our own culture, we have to be aware that even though it may feel like we want them, that we desire these things, that this is mostly a compelled embrace. In other words, we don't have too many alternatives.... And when there are alternatives, one of the choices is always represented as being lesser. Think of this globally, for a moment. You have tradiitonal values, say, and all of a sudden you're getting MTV broadcast into your home when teenagers and young people are depicted as having fun... they're happy, they're living life to the fullest, and people watching that want a part of that... they want to feel that happiness. Of course, this is not happiness, it is just what is being sold to us as happiness... but everyone wants to be happy. And so they, and us, integrate those meanings and definitions of happiness, and thus we embrace those values all in the belief that this is the good life... even if this is not the good life at all....
The appropriation of meaning is fascinating. For example, the veil in Egypt has actually been a tool of empowerment for many women. Their parents were of a generation which embraced Western ideals, and many young middle class people there were encouraged to dress in Western clothes, etc. However, some women have reacted AGAINST Western values (and their parents!) by wearing the veil as a means to showcase their own traditional culture, but also to assign more progressive, feminist meanings to the veil... In the West of course, the veil has come to be a symbol of oppression. Social context is EVERYTHING!
Shamus, good points once again. Think about how the veil has been used ideologically in America... For example, how has the veil been represented in the US? Usually as a sign of oppression and as a symbol which attempts to create a reason for why we need to occupy other nations. Were we really worried about the plight of women in Afghanistan? It's worth noting that Sadam had a very liberal policy towards women.... In contemporary Iraq, there has been a resurgence of female-oppression...
Alex
I think this presentation covered alot of very interesting subtopics that we may not necessarily consider on a day-to-day basis. For instance, we all know that McDonalds and other American fast food chains are all over the world. However, something a little more subtle, such as the ideologies being portrayed by advertisements is something we may take for granted. Here in the U.S., we are accustomed to seeing ads that are permeated with sexual imagery. However, we dont necessarily think of these ads in other countries and how people in different cultures may feel about them and react.
The part of the presentation on rap music was also very interesting. Again, we seem to think that the current American rap music is the standard. However, its very interesting to consider that there are versions of rap music in cultures all over the world that have much more depth and meaning in the lyrics than what is popular in American rap music today. We tend to assume that our culture is superior to others and that the music that is popularized here is the standard and should be embraced as popular elsewhere. Unfortunately, what is popular in music in the U.S. today tends to be very shallow in meaning, mostly focusing on sex and partying, rather than political and ethical issues (as in other countries).
I think there is a very specific mixing of enforcing and embracing with American marketing. By connecting products with positive ideologies and feelings force cause us to feel more familiar with the products. We connect with the products because we already have connected with the ideologies the marketing links to the product. We are effectively being forced to want these products; we are swayed to want these things whether we truly want them or not because marketing helps us to feel a connection to the products.
Marketing can also take advantage of our connection to sex and music ideologies. Even if the original purpose of the music or sexuality was meant to rebel against cultural ideologies, marketing can connect these ideologies with their products and, once again, help the otherwise opposed consumers to feel more comfortable embracing the product. This has taken a very interesting twist with the sari case study: women in other countries are resisting conformity with American culture by returning to their roots and wearing their veils. Women in Egypt are opposing the feminine views of America by wearing their veils and creating their own identity as empowered women who aren’t influenced by America.
Stuart
I think that there is no chance and choice for us in embracing the values. The values are so heavily enforced on us; we just do not realize it when we take them in to our lives and live by them. We are so heavily bombarded with advertisements that it is hard to tell if we want something because of our own desire or need, or because the way it was presented to us. The image of perfect life in an advertisement is so real, and it does seem that if I do purchase this item I will be happier, prettier, and my life will be much, much better. It is especially visible in the “Corporation” where little children are targeted. And the lady talking, is absolutely right about that if they get this child at the earliest age, they got him/her for the rest of that child’s life. It is not easy to differentiate what information or product is good and which one is bad because the way it presented to us it looks like it is the best product ever (and in the actuality the life stile that it comes with)! If we look at the car industry, the first manufactured cars in US were already heavily advertised with an image of comfort, where local transportation was made fun of as unreliable and needless. Why do you need to ride a train full of people if you can buy this big beautiful car and can go anywhere you want by yourself? That’s another point in the “Corporation”, the way advertisement separates all the human beings from each other (the man sitting on a sofa in his living room alone, staring at the TV screen) It is like we are being programmed every time we turn the TV on. It is wonderful that people do stand up against Western values. The video about women in Egypt is very powerful. I absolutely salute them for the strong sense of freedom and individuality, the way they holding on to the traditions and celebrate uniqueness and their view of femininity.
Natalia K.
I think that the choices are very limited for people who are exposed to the media. For corporation, they want people to spend money as much as they can. And, for people, it is easy to accept the ideology of consumption, because it actually makes fun or some kinds of convenient life. This happens in US, and it can spread around the world, since inbonr nature character of humans is same: they want to "good" or convenient life, and they want to make their lives better. So, people accept the ideology of consumption. Of course, it also depends on the products whether or not ohter countries people accept a particular product.
About wearing veil to counter Americanization, it is interesting. I think that fashion is very dependent on countries. Some countries may be influenced by Americanization, but I think most of countires develop the fashion in different ways. I don't see any similarity between students in America and Japan regarding about fashion. The ideology of fashion is influened by their environment or possibly media. But, if the advitesments of fashion doesn't fit the needs of the countries, the fasion would not spread. Or, it would not spread, just because to resist the ideology.
Susumu Ikeda
I'd have to say that this was my favorite presentation. Their srategy to focus on specific issues that related to their overall assigned topic, made it extremley interesting.
The info on sex imperialism, was something I had never thought of before. Sure I had thought of the way that "sex sells" and the reality that our media is overly infused with sexual images and how that affects our American youth; but I had never thought of the ads in terms of how it would affect other cultues worldwide.
I guess this is where your questions, Alex, come to mind. Are these ads and all the other media images projected to these other countries, embraced or enforced? I think it is definitely a combiniation, and also a subtle yet sly correlation kind of effect. Becuase if the only images that poorer countries are shown of American culture are these highly sexualized images; and these individuals want to become more Americanized. Well, then what choice to do they have but to buy the clothes featured in these ads and become like those models featured in the catalogues.
And not only to refer to sexual imperialism, but also media imperialism in general. The same kind of embraced vs. enforced conundrum will come up in American society. If we only see certain kind of images regarding other countries around the world, and if we are only given certain kind of biased information regarding other nations, and taught ideas of American superiority; we will definietly have some reluctance to accept and embrace other cultural ideas and values. Since the news every hardly addresses global concerns in America, we will tend not be too concerned with what is going on in the rest of the world.
I think that this is true for every global individual when I say; we cannot attmept to adapt to, change, and accept other cultures unless we are all given a chance to embrace them.
oops sorry to leave my name on the last post!!!
Brittany McIntosh
Post a Comment