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111 Popular Culture Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Popular culture is a fascinating and ever-evolving aspect of society that influences our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. From music and movies to fashion and social media, popular culture shapes our daily lives in countless ways. If you're looking for inspiration for your next essay on popular culture, we've got you covered with 111 topic ideas and examples to get you started.

• The impact of social media influencers on consumer behavior
• The evolution of hip hop music and its influence on society
• The portrayal of mental health in popular culture
• The rise of reality TV shows and their effects on viewers
• The cultural significance of memes in the digital age
• The representation of gender and sexuality in popular culture
• The influence of celebrity endorsements on consumer choices
• The role of fashion in popular culture and self-expression
• The impact of streaming services on the music industry
• The cultural appropriation of minority cultures in popular culture
• The influence of video games on youth culture
• The representation of race in Hollywood films
• The phenomenon of binge-watching TV shows and its effects on mental health
• The popularity of true crime documentaries and podcasts
• The rise of K-pop and its global impact
• The portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters in popular culture
• The influence of technology on popular music production
• The nostalgia trend in pop culture and its appeal to millennials
• The role of fan communities in shaping popular culture
• The impact of social media on celebrity culture
• The representation of women in superhero movies
• The influence of TikTok on music trends
• The phenomenon of viral challenges on social media
• The portrayal of mental illness in TV shows and movies
• The popularity of superhero movies and their cultural significance
• The evolution of online dating and its portrayal in popular culture
• The cultural significance of tattoos in modern society
• The impact of streaming platforms on the film industry
• The representation of disability in popular culture
• The influence of gaming culture on mainstream media
• The rise of eco-friendly fashion in popular culture
• The portrayal of drug use in popular music
• The influence of celebrity fashion on trends
• The cultural significance of sports in popular culture
• The representation of body image in advertising
• The impact of cancel culture on celebrities and public figures
• The influence of political satire in comedy shows
• The portrayal of mental health in music lyrics
• The popularity of true crime podcasts and their appeal to audiences
• The role of nostalgia in marketing and advertising
• The representation of technology in science fiction movies
• The influence of social media on beauty standards
• The evolution of dance trends in popular culture
• The cultural significance of food trends
• The impact of social media on body image
• The representation of race and ethnicity in TV commercials
• The influence of celebrity endorsements on fashion trends
• The role of fan fiction in popular culture
• The portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships in TV shows
• The popularity of ASMR videos and their effects on viewers
• The influence of Instagram on travel trends
• The representation of women in advertising campaigns
• The impact of streaming services on the film industry
• The cultural significance of street art
• The evolution of language in popular culture
• The influence of reality TV shows on beauty standards
• The portrayal of mental health in young adult literature
• The popularity of conspiracy theories in popular culture
• The role of nostalgia in music trends
• The representation of gender in video games
• The influence of social media on fashion trends
• The cultural significance of emojis in communication
• The impact of celebrity scandals on public perception
• The portrayal of addiction in TV shows and movies
• The influence of social media on body positivity movements
• The phenomenon of influencer marketing in the beauty industry
• The representation of race and ethnicity in fashion advertising
• The popularity of true crime documentaries on streaming platforms
• The evolution of internet slang and its impact on language
• The influence of gaming culture on fashion trends
• The cultural significance of street style photography
• The portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters in young adult literature
• The impact of social media on mental health awareness
• The role of nostalgia in music festivals
• The representation of disability in children's literature
• The influence of celebrity chefs on food trends
• The popularity of DIY culture in the digital age
• The evolution of online dating apps and their impact on relationships
• The cultural significance of drag culture
• The portrayal of race and ethnicity in social media influencers
• The influence of social media on travel destinations
• The phenomenon of viral challenges on YouTube
• The representation of mental health in comic books
• The impact of streaming services on the TV industry
• The role of fan art in popular culture
• The influence of celebrity fashion on street style
• The cultural significance of dance trends
• The evolution of slang in rap music
• The popularity of wellness trends in popular culture
• The portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships in romantic comedies
• The representation of race and ethnicity in beauty advertising
• The impact of celebrity endorsements on skincare trends
• The role of fan fiction in shaping TV show narratives
• The cultural significance of streetwear fashion
• The evolution of language in pop music lyrics
• The influence of social media on body image
• The phenomenon of influencer marketing in the fitness industry
• The representation of mental health in young adult novels
• The popularity of true crime podcasts and their appeal to listeners

These are just a few examples of the many ways popular culture influences our lives and shapes our society. Whether you're interested in exploring the impact of social media on beauty standards or the representation of race in Hollywood films, there's no shortage of topics to explore in the world of popular culture. So pick a topic that interests you, do some research, and start writing your next essay on popular culture today!

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by Writing Workshops Staff

• #Creative Writing Classes
• #How to Write About Pop Culture
• #Pop Culture
• #Writing Creative Nonfiction
• #Writing Tips

How to Write Personal Essays About Pop Culture

"It was mostly through pop culture, through hip-hop, through Dungeons & Dragons and comic books that I acquired much of my vocabulary." -Ta-Nehisi Coates

Write about Pop Culture with Lit Hub and Crime Reads contributing editor Lisa Levy

We all engage with pop culture every day: we check gossip sites, we hit Spotify, we read about a new movie; we play an alphabet soup of games, we scan websites, or watch a YouTube video, or binge a Netflix show. There are as many forms of popular culture are there are ways to write about it.

We start engaging with pop culture as soon as we're able to perceive the world around us. You know when you're a teenager, and you have all these obsessive interests that might seem strange to anyone who doesn't understand the rabbit hole you've gone down (or live in)? Your entire world revolved around a grunge band from the 1990s that only released one album with five good songs, but you listened to those songs on repeat and learned every lyric.

Or you were obsessed with this one character in an animated show about animals that was too odd for adults, but it was just so funny, even now. Or, you followed every move of some boy band from the early 2000s that you can only find on YouTube now (a few rungs below LFO). 

Some of these obsessions follow you into adulthood, or you're discovering them for the first time years later. What do all of these things have in common? They are all obsessively obsessed with pop culture. And while they might seem trivial or silly, they also offer a lot of great insight into who we were as younger people. Or who we are now. Or who we have discovered ourselves to be through some portal into the long-forgotten. 

Why did we love  this  particular thing or moment so much? How did it impact us as young people in forming our own identities? Why did we like it so much at the time? And would others benefit from our intelligent and incisive commentary?

Want a great example?  Read  The Ecstasy of Frank Ocean  by Doreen St. Félix,  MTV News.

What Is a Personal Essay About Pop Culture?

In the Washington Post , Sonny Bunch wrote, "the best writing about popular culture — about music, about movies, about TV shows, about books, about whatever — interrogates the way we think rather than what we think." Indeed, pop culture is an integral part of the development of a person's personality and identity.

And a personal essay about pop culture can be like any other essay you've written. You might have fond memories of watching  The Office  and choose to write about how it worked its way into your life at the time, how it shaped your sense of humor, or the conversations you had at school or work. You can look back on it and recognize a link between how you felt about the show and how you feel about it now. If you enjoyed it back then, you might still enjoy it now, but you might also notice flaws you didn't see at the time. It can be the starting point for a personal essay that takes a second (or third or fourth) look at the pop culture that shaped or changed you.

Want a great example?   Read  The Grace of Keanu Reeves  by Angelica Jade Bastién,  Bright Wall/Dark Room

Writing Your Essay About Pop Culture

Of course, writing about  The Office  is but one of infinite possibilities. Writing your essay about pop culture is about finding the small details that link your past (recent or otherwise) to the present day. How does the fictional character you were obsessed with or the album you cared so much about still inspire you in your life now? Or, how does it show the flaws in the way you might have thought about culture then as now? 

Do you think about the plot of the movie or book you read often? What do you think about the music or song lyrics that impacted your life? How do you think that specific moment shaped who you are today? 

When you write your essay about pop culture, try to focus on specific details that link you to the time; you don't have to try to go for some grandiose idea of how it changed your life, but that is fine if you do. What matters is the emotional connection you make on the page. As the cliche goes, to be genuinely universal, you need to be specific, so write into the details that stand out, are personal, and will be relatable to your reader.

Want a great example?  Read  As Not Seen On TV  by Pete Wells,  The New York Times

We live in an age of democratized criticism: the only thing stopping you from writing about your favorite show or game or app is you.

When you write a personal essay about pop culture, you might be trying to praise or critique the cultural artifact in question. However, to make your piece of writing more impactful, you should focus on how it impacted your life and how it still impacts you in the present day in some way. 

Pop culture connects us and, in many cases, shapes who we become and what we like and molds our worldview and ethos, and it's important to reflect on these moments that shaped us and our identities.

Want a great example?   Read  The Weight of James Arthur Baldwin  by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah,  BuzzFeed

More Examples:

Read  The Babysitter's Club  by Jesse Barron,  Real Life

Read   The Confessions of R. Kelly  by Chris Heath,  GQ

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Free Pop Culture Essay Examples & Topics

Popular culture essays are becoming an increasingly prevailing task for students from different majors. Yet, if you want to write an indeed great paper, you should first figure out how to define the phenomenon.

Popular culture is the set of trends that predominates at the current time. It is determined by several aspects, including clothing style, language use (slang, traditional greetings, etc.), food choices, and social media use.

The role of pop culture in the modern world cannot be underestimated. First and foremost, it helps teenagers find themselves in the social context. Secondly, popular culture sets the acceptable norms of behavior. This way, people clearly understand how to act in society to fit in. Finally, pop culture enhances the connection between the community members.

Our team has prepared tips for writing popular culture essays. They will help you to deal with any topic in this area. Besides, we have some excellent ideas for your paper or practice. Under the article, you will find pop culture essay examples written by fellow students.

If you’re interested in how to write a pop culture essay, this section is for you. Here, we have collected some essential pieces of advice that will assist in composing your paper.

Try the following pop culture writing tips:

• Check some samples or opinions.

Are you familiar with that feeling when you have a blank Word document in front of you and zero ideas of what to write about? Other essays can help you! Read some samples on this subject and get inspired to compose your paper. Besides, checking examples can assist you in figuring out the structure and argumentation.

• Pick a topic or come up with your own.

Getting an idea for your essay is the first step of preparation. Try to stay creative and reasonable while choosing a topic. Make sure that it is neither too narrow nor too broad. Also, check if you have enough information to develop solid arguments and support your claims.

• Research the idea or celebrity of your choice.

This step provides a ground for the entire paper. Ensure that you get only credible information and use reliable sources. Think critically and evaluate every source you use.

• Formulate and embrace your position.

Clearly formulate your thesis statement . It will be your position and key message. Keep in mind that all people have different points of view. So, be ready to defend your position. Present strong arguments, valid supportive details, and appropriate examples.

• Think of a bigger picture.

Try to understand how your research topic can be integrated with the real world. What practical applications will your paper have? How to put your essay idea in a real-life context? The answers can give you the right direction for your essay writing process.

• Decide on how to start your paper.

The hook of your pop culture essay should be dynamic. Think about the most creative ways to grab the readers’ attention. Make them desire to read your paper till the very end. These are some ideas: a memorable quote, a personal story, an anecdote, shocking statistics, or anything that you find engaging and catchy.

• Outline and write your essay.

Make a clear outline that would include an introduction (with a thesis statement), body paragraphs, and conclusion. Present your ideas in a logical order and have valid evidence for each of your arguments. Then write a coherent and well-structured pop culture essay. And don’t forget to proofread the completed assignment before submitting it!

Now, as we have discovered the theoretical part, let’s move to practice! In the list below, you will find 13 popular culture essay topics. Use one of them to write your original work. If these ideas are not enough for you, you can use our title generator .

Here are some topics for you to look through:

• Media and pop culture: how does the image of a perfect life in social media influence teenagers’ emotional state?
• Do pop culture’s positive effects on youth outweigh the negative ones?
• The impact of pop culture on society.
• How does pop culture influence the development of teenagers’ identities?
• In what ways can pop culture be in conflict with religion?
• The worldwide spreading of American pop culture as the key cause of globalization.
• Can Madonna be considered an idol?
• How does pop culture form the ethical norms of communication?
• In what ways does pop culture support feminism?
• The issue of gender equality from the perspective of pop culture.
• Cultural studies: the perception of art and music in various countries.
• How can cultural references evoke memories from the past?
• Does pop culture accept or reject homosexuality in society?

Thank you for your attention! You can now move to the pop culture writing examples below. And to read them faster, use the summarizing tool .

65 Best Essay Examples on Pop Culture

How do celebrities influence society celebrity culture positive effects.

• Words: 1734

Emojis Role in the Modern World

• Words: 1669

Celebrity Culture and Its Influence on Society

Disney and its impact on popular culture and society, science and scientists in media representation.

• Words: 1714

Marvel vs. DC Characters Debate

Popular culture and art definition, brief history and new opportunities.

• Words: 1168

Hello Kitty as a Kitsch and Anti-Feminist Phenomenon

• Words: 1109

Hills’ Analysis of Fun Culture

• Words: 1921

Harry Potter Stories and Impact on Pop Culture

Popular culture in america today: evolution, features, and impact in other parts of the world, autistic spectrum disorder: the case of sheldon cooper, western pop culture and street fashion of japanese youth.

• Words: 3876

Culture and Representation in Comic Books

• Words: 1371

Superhero Captain America in Marvel Comics

“the culture of celebrity” by epstein joseph.

• Words: 1272

Standards of Beauty in Baywatch

• Words: 1939

Popular Culture Resistance: Causes and Goals

• Words: 1129

Modern Korean Body Concept in “200 Pounds Beauty”

High culture and low culture: disneyland products.

• Words: 1052

The “Harry Potter” Movie vs. Book Comparison

The future of the korean wave study by jin & yoon, popular culture and williams’ life of the mind, a comparison of ariana grande and ed sheeran, export of popular culture products in asia, the popular media trap of meritocracy.

• Words: 2170

The Influence of Radio on American Culture and Popular Music

Issues mentioned by hans rosling in his videos, global, imperial, and divided city in mirzoeff’s “how to see the world”, “the neighbourhood” sitcom’s implicit message to society, successful afro-latinos from the dominican republic.

• Words: 1110

Anthropological Study of the Zombies

• Words: 1264

Precis on the “Superhero Smackdown” by Douglas Wolk

Bts’ map of the soul: 7, influence of harry potter and the hunger games, “the mother’s daughter” video clip analysis, cosplay: anime community craftmanship, consumerism and american popular culture, american pop culture impact on decision-making, trends in america through different lenses: social, political, and religious, american studies: fan culture around pulp fiction.

• Words: 1477

Punk Movement Versus Popular Culture: Background and Development

• Words: 2789

Ecstasy and Rave Culture: Influence on Society

• Words: 2054

“Brazil” by Terry Gilliam and “Love Conquers All” Film

• Words: 2463

How Pop Art Reflects the Values and Culture of the U.S.

• Words: 1990

Popular Culture and Contemporary Life. The Matrix

• Words: 1017

“Barbie: Queen of Dolls and Consumerism” by Amy Lin

Soft power of south korean culture.

• Words: 2215

Spider-Man Character’s Popularity and Influences

Asian studies: k-pop in japan and in the world.

• Words: 1025

Cultural Appropriation Concept in Asian Cultures

Superhero movies in contemporary western culture, effects of famous people on the culture, pop cultural influence on american youth, viacom mtv and its influence on world culture, an evolutionary window on the worlds of pornography and romance, disney’s representation of couples and families.

• Words: 1377

Korean Popular Culture and Western Influences

Korean popular culture and national identity, media and popular culture in east and south east asia: kyoung-hwa.

• Words: 1396

Popular or Mass Culture: Mimetic Analysis, Semiotics and Narrative

• Words: 1144

Roles and Functions of a Supervisor in Popular Culture

• Words: 2079

Billboard as an Element of the Popular Culture

• Words: 3498

A Theoretical Analysis of the Act of Cell Phone Texting While Driving

Popular culture of tv watching in usa and china.

Essays about Culture and Identity: 9 Examples And Prompts

Writing essays about culture and identity will help you explore your understanding of it. Here are examples that will give you inspiration for your next essay.

Culture can refer to customs, traditions, beliefs, lifestyles, laws, artistic expressions, and other elements that cultivate the collective identity. Different cultures are established across nations, regions, communities, and social groups. They are passed on from generation to generation while others evolve or are abolished to give way to modern beliefs and systems.

While our cultural identity begins at home, it changes as we involve ourselves with other groups (friends, educational institutions, social media communities, political groups, etc.) Culture is a very relatable subject as every person is part of a culture or at least can identify with one. Because it spans broad coverage, there are several interesting cultural subjects to write about.

Our culture and identity are dynamic. This is why you may find it challenging to write about it. To spark your inspiration, check out our picks of the best culture essays. 

1. Sweetness and Light by Matthew Arnolds

2. how auto-tune revolutionized the sound of popular music by simon reynolds, 3. how immigration changes language by john mcwhorter, 4. the comfort zone: growing up with charlie brown by jonathan franzen, 5. culture and identity definition by sandra graham, 6. how culture and surroundings influence identity by jeanette lucas, 7. how the food we eat reflects our culture and identity by sophia stephens, 8. identity and culture: my identity, culture, and identity by april casas, 9. how america hinders the cultural identity of their own citizens by seth luna, 1. answer the question, “who am i”, 2. causes of culture shock, 3. your thoughts on dystopia and utopia, 4. gender inequality from a global perspective, 5. the most interesting things you learned from other cultures, 6. the relationship between cultural identity and clothes, 7. describe your culture, 8. what is the importance of honoring your roots , 9. how can a person adapt to a new culture, 10. what artistic works best express your country’s culture, 11. how has social media influenced human interaction, 12. how do you protect the cultures of indigenous peoples, 13. are k-pop and k-drama sensations effectively promoting korea’s culture , 14. what is the importance of cultural diversity.

“… [A]nd when every man may say what he likes, our aspirations ought to be satisfied. But the aspirations of culture, which is the study of perfection, are not satisfied, unless what men say, when they may say what they like, is worth saying,—has good in it, and more good than bad.”

Arnolds compels a re-examination of values at a time when England is leading global industrialization and beginning to believe that greatness is founded on material progress. 

The author elaborates why culture, the strive for a standard of perfection, is not merely driven by scientific passions and, more so, by materialistic affluence. As he esteems religion as “that voice of the deepest human experience” to harmonize men in establishing that ideal society, Arnolds stresses that culture is the effort to “make reason and the will of God prevail” while humanizing gained knowledge to be society’s source of “sweetness and light.”

“Few innovations in sound production have been simultaneously so reviled and so revolutionary. Epoch-defining or epoch-defacing, Auto-Tune is indisputably the sound of the 21st century so far.”

Reynolds shows how Auto-Tune has shaped a pop music genre that has cut across cultures. The article maps out the music landscape Auto-Tune created and examines its impact on the culture of song productions and the modern taste for music. While the author debunks accusations that Auto-Tune destroyed the “natural” process of creating music, he also points out that the technology earned its reverence with big thanks to society’s current custom of using technology to hide blemishes and other imperfections.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about culture shock .

“… [T]he heavy immigration that countries like Italy are experiencing will almost certainly birth new kinds of Italian that are rich with slang, somewhat less elaborate than the standard, and… widely considered signs of linguistic deterioration, heralding a future where the “original” standard language no longer exists.”

American linguist McWhorter pacifies fears over the death of “standard” languages amid the wave of immigration to Europe. On the contrary, language is a vital expression of a culture, and for some, preserving is tantamount to upholding a cultural standard. 

However, instead of seeing the rise of new “multiethnolects” such as the Black English in America and Kiezdeutsch in Germany as threats to language and culture, McWhorter sees them as a new way to communicate and better understand the social groups that forayed these new languages.

“I wonder why “cartoonish” remains such a pejorative. It took me half my life to achieve seeing my parents as cartoons. And to become more perfectly a cartoon myself: what a victory that would be.”

This essay begins with a huge fight between Franzen’s brother and father to show how the cultural generation gap sweeping the 60s has hit closer to home. This generation gap, where young adults were rejecting the elders’ old ways in pursuit of a new and better culture, will also be the reason why his family ends up drifting apart. Throughout the essay, Franzen treads this difficult phase in his youth while narrating fondly how Peanuts, a pop culture icon at the time, was his source of escape. 

“…Culture is… your background… and Identity is formed where you belong to… Leopold Sedar Senghor and Shirley Geok-Lin Lim both talks about how culture and identity can impact… society…”

In this essay, Graham uses “To New York” by Senghor and “Learning To Love America” by Lim as two pieces of literature that effectively describe the role of culture and identity to traveling individuals. 

The author refers to Sengho’s reminder that people can adapt but must not forget their culture even if they go to a different place or country. On the other hand, Lim discusses immigrants’ struggle to have double identities.

“Culture is something that surrounds all of us and progress to shape our lives every day… Identity is illustrated as the state of mind in which someone or something distinguishes their own character traits that lead to determining who they really are, what they represent.”

Lucas is keen on giving examples of how his culture and surroundings influence an individual’s identity. She refers to Kothari’s “If you are what you eat, then what am I?” which discusses Kothari’s search for her identity depending on what food she eats. Food defines a person’s culture and identity, so Kothari believes that eating food from different countries will change his identity.

Lucas also refers to “Down These Mean Streets” by Piri Thomas, which argues how different cultural and environmental factors affect us. Because of what we encounter, there is a possibility that we will become someone who we are not. 

“What we grow is who we are. What we buy is who we are. What we eat is who we are.”

Stephens’ essay teaches its readers that the food we grow and eat defines us as a person. She explains that growing a crop and harvesting it takes a lot of effort, dedication, and patience, which mirrors our identity. 

Another metaphor she used is planting rice: it takes skills and knowledge to make it grow. Cooking rice is more accessible than cultivating it – you can quickly cook rice by boiling it in water. This reflects people rich in culture and tradition but who lives simpler life. 

“Every single one has their own unique identity and culture. Culture plays a big role in shaping your identity. Culture is what made me the person I am today and determines who or what I choose to associate myself with.”

Casas starts her piece by questioning who she is. In trying to learn and define who she is, she writes down and describes herself and her personality throughout the essay. Finally, she concludes that her culture is a big part of her identity, and she must understand it to understand herself.

“When it comes to these stereotypes we place on each other, a lot of the time, we succumb to the stereotypes given to us. And our cultural identity is shaped by these expectations and labels others give us. That is why negative stereotypes sometimes become true for a whole group or community.”

In this essay, Luna talks about how negative stereotyping in the United States led to moral distortion. For example, Americans are assumed to be ignorant of other countries’ cultures, making it difficult to understand other people’s cultures and lifestyles. 

She believes that stereotyping can significantly affect an individual or group’s identity. She suggests Americans should improve their intellectual competence by being sensitive to other people’s cultures.

14 Prompts on Essays about Culture and Identity

You can discuss many things on the subject of culture and identity. To give you a starting point, here are some prompts to help you write an exciting essay about culture. 

If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips and our round-up of the best essay checkers .

Understanding your personality is vital since continuous interaction with others can affect your personality. Write about your culture and identity; what is your personality? How do you define yourself? Everyone is unique, so by writing an essay about who you are, you’ll be able to understand why you act a certain way and connect with readers who have the same values. 

Here’s a guide on writing a descriptive essay to effectively relay your experience to your readers.

Sometimes, people need to get out of their comfort zone and interact with other individuals with different cultures, beliefs, or traditions. This is to broaden one’s perspective about the world. Aside from discussing what you’ve learned in that journey, you can also focus on the bits that shocked you. 

You can talk about a tradition or value that you found so bizarre because it differs from your culture. Then add how you processed it and finally adapted to it.

Dystopia and Utopia are both imagined worlds. Dystopia is a world where people live in the worst or most unfavorable conditions, while Utopia is the opposite. 

You can write an essay about what you think a Dystopian or Utopian world may look like, how these societies will affect their citizens, etc. Then, consider what personality citizens of each world may have to depend on the two worlds’ cultures.

Today, more and more people are fighting for others to accept or at least respect the LGBTQ+ community. However, countries, territories, and religions still question their rights.

In your essay, you can talk about why these institutions react the way they do and how culture dictates someone’s identity in the wrong way. Before creating your own, feel free to read other essays and articles to learn more about the global gender inequality issue. 

The world has diverse cultures, traditions, and values. When you travel to a new place, learning and writing about your firsthand experiences with unique cultures and rituals will always be an interesting read.

In this prompt, you’ll research other cultures and how they shaped their group’s identity. Then, write about the most exciting aspects you’ve learned, why you found them fascinating, and how they differ from your culture.

Those proud of their culture will wear clothes inspired by them. Some wear the same clothes even if they aren’t from the same culture. The debate over cultural appropriation and culture appreciation is still a hot topic. 

In this essay, you may start with the traditions of your community or observances your family celebrates and gathers for. Then, elaborate on their origins and describe how your community or family is preserving these practices. 

Learning about your roots, ancestors, and family cultures can help strengthen your understanding of your identity and foster respect for other cultures. Explore this topic and offer examples of what others have learned. Has the journey always been a positive experience? Delve into this question for an engaging and interesting essay.

When a person moves country, it can be challenging to adapt to a new culture. If there are new people at work or school, you can interview them and ask how they are coping with their new environment. How different is this from what they have been used to, and what unique traditions do they find interesting?

Focus on an art piece that is a source of pride and identity to your country’s culture, much like the Tinikling of the Philippines or the Matryoshka dolls of Russia. Explore its origins and evolution up to its current manifestation and highlight efforts that are striving to protect and promote these artistic works.

The older generation did not have computers in their teen years. Ask about how they dated in their younger years and how they made friends. Contrast how the younger generation is building their social networks today. Write what culture of socialization works better for you and explain why.

Take in-depth navigation of existing policies that protect indigenous peoples. Are they sufficient to serve these communities needs, and are they being implemented effectively? There is also the challenge of balancing the protection of these traditions against the need to protect the environment, as some indigenous practices add to the carbon footprint. How is your government dealing with this challenge?

A large population is now riding the Hallyu or the Korean pop culture, with many falling in love with the artists and Korea’s food, language, and traditional events. Research how certain Korean films, TV series, or music have effectively attracted fans to experience Korea’s culture. Write about what countries can learn from Korea in promoting their own cultures.

Environments that embrace cultural diversity are productive and innovative. To start your essay, assess how diverse your workplace or school is. Then, write your personal experiences where working with co-workers or classmates from different cultures led to new and innovative ideas and projects. Combine this with the personal experiences of your boss or the principal to see how your environment benefits from hosting a melting pot of cultures.

If you aim for your article to effectively change readers’ perspectives and align with your opinion, read our guide to achieving persuasive writing . 

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Pop Culture Essay – Thoughts on Writing

The very concept of culture is rather broad – that’s why in order to write a good paper, it is better to focus on some kind of culture. For the purposes of this blog post, let’s focus on pop culture.

The benefits of writing on pop culture is that you, as the writer, have already experienced it and are experiencing it almost every day of your life.

What you hear from your car’s radio, what you see on TV, and what you find browsing online make up the pop culture of the modern time. In other words, a pop culture is the combination of images, perspectives, opinions, ideas and other components that are mainstream within a certain national culture.

The emergence of the pop culture

The term itself appeared in the 19th century and at first was associated only with those social strata that lacked education and were on the lower end of the income ladder. The pop culture was opposed to the official culture with its higher education and income standards.

After the World War II, the term acquired the new meaning of “mass” culture, or “consumerism” culture.

Even though the word “pop” is short for “popular,” the two have a difference in meaning. While “popular” is used to characterize a phenomenon that acquired popularity, “pop” has a narrower meaning of something that has qualities of mass appeal.

There are as many as six definitions of popular culture, none of which covers the full range of meanings.

How to write about pop culture?

There are SO many ways to write about pop culture, and we will only name a few possible directions you could follow.

• High class and low-class cultures – what are they?
• The message that the pop culture sends
• The impact of pop culture on religion
• The roots of counterculture
• The responsibility of those producing popular culture to those consuming it
• The issue of low-quality popular culture – is it possible for a pop culture to be of a low quality at all?
• Can popular culture be an advocate of positive social changes?
• Pop culture values – why people trade genuine talent for mass appeal?
• The likely development of pop culture
• Comparison of pop cultures of different decades
• What could and could not be predicted in the development of the pop culture of the previous years?
• The chances and the mechanism of a niche cultural movement being destroyed by people who don’t understand it
• The influence of pop culture on shaping the personality
• All things Andy Warhol as the father of pop art movement
• The tattoo art as a part of the pop culture
• Hip hop and its appeal for masses
• The influence of pop music on social events
• The influence of music on our social choices
• The subjectivity in evaluation of classic and popular music quality
• Where does the line between low class and high-cžlass music lie?
• Pop music and its role in promoting the values of globalization
• The current state of pop music
• All things The Beatles
• Narcotics abuse by major pop music figures
• Michael Jackson as a key figure in the development of pop music
• The complicated relationship of online piracy and pop culture
• The influence of reality TV on the development and shaping of popular culture
• The role of soap operas in popular culture
• Media as sources of pop culture
• The influence of the online world on popular culture and our choices within it
• The impact of advertising on popular culture
• The contribution of reality TV into the development of pop culture
• All things The Simpsons as a quintessence of pop culture
• Celebrity worshipping as a part of popular culture
• The difference between celebrity worshipping and hero worshipping

Music, art, literature, movies – there are virtually no limits as long as you make a point by carefully choosing and presenting arguments. This is the beauty of writing creative papers, so use it as much as you can.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Popular Culture

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Popular Culture by Dustin Kidd LAST REVIEWED: 28 February 2017 LAST MODIFIED: 28 February 2017 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0193

Popular culture is the set of practices, beliefs, and objects that embody the most broadly shared meanings of a social system. It includes media objects, entertainment and leisure, fashion and trends, and linguistic conventions, among other things. Popular culture is usually associated with either mass culture or folk culture, and differentiated from high culture and various institutional cultures (political culture, educational culture, legal culture, etc.). The association of popular culture with mass culture leads to a focus on the position of popular culture within a capitalist mode of economic production. Through this economic lens, popular culture is seen as a set of commodities produced through capitalistic processes driven by a profit motive and sold to consumers. In contrast, the association of popular culture with folk culture leads to a focus on subcultures such as youth cultures or ethnic cultures. Through this subculture lens, popular culture is seen as a set of practices by artists or other kinds of culture makers that result in performances and objects that are received and interpreted by audiences, both within and beyond the subcultural group. Holistic approaches examine the ways that popular culture begins as the collective creation of a subculture and is then appropriated by the market system. Key issues in the sociological analysis of popular culture include the representation of specific groups and themes in the content of cultural objects or practices, the role of cultural production as a form of social reproduction, and the extent to which audiences exercise agency in determining the meanings of the culture that they consume.

Classical sociologists spoke generally to the concept of culture and culture’s role in shaping human social life, but without distinguishing the specific form of popular culture. The Frankfurt and Birmingham Schools, discussed in Classic Works , fostered interdisciplinary analyses of popular culture that include a number of sociological perspectives. The general overviews listed in this section offer broad social and sociological analyses of popular culture. Storey 2015 has used cultural studies to open new lenses for the study of popular culture, and this book is now in its seventh edition. Grazian 2010 and Kidd 2014 are both written as introductory texts for the sociology of popular culture, but they also serve well as field guides for scholars studying popular culture. Similarly, Holtzman 2000 and Danesi 2012 provide an introduction to the study of media and popular culture from the perspectives of communications and anthropology, respectively. Gaines 1998 is a study of youth music cultures in the 1980s, while Gaines 2003 is a memoir of writing a sociological analysis while also participating in the rock and roll culture of New York City in the 1980s. Gamson 1994 provides a detailed history of the celebrity concept in American culture. Lopes 2009 provides a broad historical account of the development of the comic book industry.

Danesi, Marcel. 2012. Popular culture: Introductory perspectives . London: Rowman & Littlefield.

Anthropologist Danesi presents a broad introduction to the study of popular culture organized around specific media formats such as radio, television, film, and music.

Gaines, Donna. 1998. Teenage wasteland: Suburbia’s dead end kids . Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

This ethnographic analysis of rock youth subculture began as a Village Voice article about a suicide pact among four teens in suburban New Jersey.

Gaines, Donna. 2003. A misfit’s manifesto: The spiritual journey of a rock & roll heart . New York: Villard.

Gaines presents a unique memoir about becoming a sociologist, studying your subculture, and participating in the rock culture of 1980s New York.

Gamson, Joshua. 1994. Claims to fame: Celebrity in contemporary America . Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.

Gamson unpacks the concept of celebrity in American popular culture using both historical and sociological lenses. He then takes the concept to the audiences to unpack the varied ways that audiences respond to or utilize celebrity fetishes.

Grazian, David. 2010. Mix it up: Popular culture, mass media, and society . New York: Norton.

This widely used introductory text to the study of popular culture emphasizes foundational theories and concepts from sociology.

Holtzman, Linda. 2000. Media messages: What film, television, and popular music teach us about race, class, gender, and sexual orientation . Armonk, NY: Sharpe.

Holtzman presents a series of studies about representations in popular culture, focusing on race, class, gender, and sexuality.

Kidd, Dustin. 2014. Pop culture freaks: Identity, mass media, and society . Boulder, CO: Westview.

This book focuses on issues of identity in the labor force, representations, and audience for commercial popular culture.

Lopes, Paul. 2009. Demanding respect: The evolution of the American comic book . Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press.

Lopes examines the origins of the comic book and its evolution across the 20th century. He focuses on how comics moved from the margins of nerd culture to the center of American popular culture.

Storey, John. 2015. Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction . 7th ed. New York: Routledge.

Storey’s texts on popular culture have helped move the study of popular culture into the classrooms of colleges and universities. This book applies a range of social and literary theories to the analysis of popular culture objects as texts.

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What Is Culture Essay Writing – Expert’s Guide

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Culture is an important component of human life, which helps to find like-minded people. We should not forget that culture can be expressed in different situations, such as food, music, outlook on life, and even clothing. It is important to understand that despite differences in different cultures, you should always respect and be friendly to others.

Culture Essay Explained

To begin with, let’s figure out what a culture essay is. Simply put, this is a kind of description of a culture, starting from your thoughts and opinions. In society, culture helps to understand what norms exist for people. You can write culture essays on completely different topics related to culture because it manifests itself in all components of our lives. These are dances, art, technology, and even music.

Culture determines what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in any society. Based on this, it can be understood that a culture essay is a popular writing style because it can describe your personal opinion about culture and express your thoughts and views.

What Is the Importance of Culture in Human Life?

Culture plays a very important role in our life. It helps people to ensure social well-being in society and find like-minded people. Culture in society is one of the main life factors that help people express their education and development. You can understand a cultured person or not by the way he communicates with people in society.

For many people, culture is as important a factor as their personal lives and family values. Watching people, you might notice that people who adhere to the same culture immediately have an inextricable connection and many common interests because such people are connected not only by common views on the world but also by tastes in food, traditions, and much more.

How to Write a Culture Essay Outline

To write a successful culture essay, it is important to understand where to start and stick to a clear plan. A writing plan should be in each piece so the reader can understand and navigate the article’s essence.

This is especially true for a research paper and an argumentative essay because, in such reports, you must specifically describe the subject of research and argue your conclusions. But writing structure is just as important for culture essays, so here are the important steps in writing a plan:

First, you need to consider the introduction because it is regarded as one of the most important parts of the essay. Here you should present the most important information discussed in the main part so that the reader is interested and wants to read the text further.

Create a short thesis with which you will convey the essence of the essay to the audience and briefly express your opinion on this topic.

Work on the basic information you will be using. It is very important to write about those things that are interesting to you and that you understand. Suppose this is a new topic for you. In that case, it is best to check the integrity of the information on several sources several times so as not to misinform the reader and arouse the desired interest in your article.

Write your findings. In many essay examples, the author writes his conclusion based on personal experience and thoughts. Never try to write similarly. For a successful culture essay conclusion, noting how you feel and conveying your emotions from personal experience and knowledge is important.

Writing an Introduction to a Culture Essay

The introduction is one of the most important parts of any essay. When starting to write an introduction, you should already understand what you will talk to the reader about in the future. It is important to remember that the information you use in this section should be discussed in the main part and be argued with facts and supported by your real-life examples.

Writing an introduction is often difficult and energy-consuming for a writer because this paragraph should contain only the most important information from your text that will be able to interest the reader.

To make it easier, you can write the introduction after you’ve completed the main text, but it’s important to decide on the topic and abstract first. For example, at the beginning of the culture essay, you need to tell the audience about the issue you will be discussing and then familiarize the readers with the thesis.

Next, talk with the reader about your opinion on this topic and tell a little about yourself so that people can imagine the person who writes about the issue of interest to them.

Writing a Body of a Culture Essay

The body of your culture essay should introduce the reader to the culture you are researching. Therefore, it is important to convey all the emotions when writing so that people have a clear picture and understanding of the culture. A culture essay is a combination of a descriptive essay and an argumentative essay where you also describe and argue your opinion on a given topic.

The body of your essay may include several paragraphs and headings. In each paragraph, you will describe different aspects of this culture and your arguments for them. This section should explain to the reader why you have chosen this particular topic for writing so that people clearly understand your interest in the topic of culture.

Using personal examples and arguments from your life best draws the reader. It is important to write in a language understandable to the reader. Try to use simple, uncomplicated phrases with which you will arouse confidence and pleasant emotions in your audience. Imagine that you are talking to a reader. Writing an essay is a simple and accessible language that will help connect the reader and keep them interested.

Writing a Conclusion for a Culture Essay

After you have written the main part of your essay, you should summarize all of the above. To do this, you must analyze all the information and briefly state it to the reader. It is important not to deviate from your opinion and only try to back it up with appropriate phrases. In conclusion, you can once again repeat your statement about this culture or emphasize its main nuances.

In many essay examples, the authors write a huge paragraph with conclusions, touching on other topics there that have nothing to do with this, so you shouldn’t do it because, in conclusion, the main thing is to write it short and clear so that the reader can immediately understand the whole essence of what you wrote on this section.

Try to choose the right words and not pour water just like that. The main thing in this paragraph is the logical compilation of the results of all of the above.

The Most Interesting Cultural Topics

Culture essays are one of the best ways to do personal research about culture. In this kind of descriptive essay, you can analyze a huge number of topics and traditions of a particular culture and learn about the cultural origins of different types of people.

When choosing a topic for writing a culture essay, you need to be very serious and try to select the case that you will be interested in discussing, and you can describe all aspects of culture in such colors so that the reader can share your point of view and get carried away reading the article. So here are some interesting topics to talk about in your culture essay:

• Similarities between different cultures
• The influence of religion on culture
• The difference between the cultures of other continents
• Gender characteristics and the impact of cultures on them
• The role of culture in the personal growth of a person
• Popular cultures
• How is the Internet changing culture?

Tips for Writing a Successful Culture Essay

It’s no secret that before you start writing an essay, you need to create a so-called draft, in which you indicate for yourself all the most important points of the article and determine the sequence in which information is presented.

In a culture essay, it is important to adhere to the structure for the reader to understand what you are writing about. Here are some tips on how to make your essay successful and interesting:

Be Responsible in Your Topic Selection Process

The cultural topic is very relevant and extensive, so you should have no problem choosing. However, suppose you cannot decide which topic you would like to consider. In that case, you have the opportunity to look at a list of interesting and relevant issues on the Internet and then write an essay with a personal opinion on this matter. You can read other essay examples, but the main thing is not to use another author’s opinion in your article; this essay should be written based on personal experience and your own opinion.

Choosing a topic can seem quite complicated because you have to decide what you will have to communicate with your readers about, having previously studied all the nuances and made certain personal conclusions about it.

Make Sure to Express Your Unique Views

Culture essay aims to express personal views and thoughts on the topic you are discussing. Therefore, try to describe your opinion and understanding of this topic as clearly and reasonably as possible.

Despite this, you can use knowledge and information from other sources, but if you use it in your text, it is important to indicate exactly where you got this information from so that no plagiarism is detected during the critical writing report assessment, which is very important for an essay of this kind.

Avoid Repetition

For example, if you use the same phrase several times in the text, the best option would be to rephrase it so that it does not change its meaning but sounds different at the same time.

Use Only Proven Information

Imagine that you are writing a research paper and carefully studying the chosen topic. In no case do not use fictitious facts in the text. Instead, only reliable information should be supported by your arguments.

Utilize Linear Writing Style

Use the linear writing style of the culture essay. This will help the reader to read your article in a logical and structured way continuously.

Write a Clear Thesis and Stick To Your Position Throughout the Essay

Write in plain language that is easy for the reader to understand. Do not use complicated terms and phrases. The reader should feel as if you are talking to him.

Example of a Culture Essay and Essay Writing Services

We will look at the culture essay, which reveals the meaning of culture and how it changes and develops in the modern world. This one of the decent essay examples discusses how culture affects our lives and explains how different cultures exist worldwide.

Introduction

1.1 Definition of the term “Culture”

1.2 A story about the origin of culture and its development

1.3 Thesis: Culture is one of the main factors in our life and the lives of every person. Although culture changes over time, it remains in each of us

• What does culture mean?

2.1 Culture reflects the inner qualities of a person

2.2 Culture develops according to the development in our life

• Differences between different cultures

3.1 What are the differences, and why do you need to understand cultural differences

• What is the purpose of culture in human life?

Culture is a kind of collection of all parts of society. This is a huge complex of different beliefs and thoughts of people that were created over time. Culture can change depending on the other factors that influence it, as it keeps up with the times, and we all know that concepts and views can change over time. Each country has its own culture and traditions, and people in different countries express themselves in this way.

Having studied the culture of another country, you can understand the way of thinking of the people who live there and understand their values. To understand a person of another nation, it is enough to study his culture in detail.

Since culture is an indicator of human fulfillment, it can change at different times and places and remain individual for each nation.

What Does Culture Mean?

Culture describes the concepts and attitudes of people in different groups. People themselves create their own culture, this does not happen immediately, but after a long time, despite this, it exists. Other groups of people can be of the same culture, but they will still have completely different views on life and concepts. In the process of life, a person’s opinions and thoughts may change, but faith in one’s culture remains unchanged.

Differences Between Different Cultures

The differences between different cultures can depend on many factors, personal moral principles, political views, and even differences in musical tastes or food tastes. For example, in many countries, people do not eat pork meat, while in others, it is the norm. Therefore, when communicating in or coming into a society where there are people of other cultural concepts, it is important to consider other people’s interests so that respect appears in the group.

Understanding cultural differences of this kind will help to find mutual understanding among people and make them a single whole. Each person must respect the culture and views of other people, and only then will understanding and love reign in our world.

What Is the Purpose of Culture in Human Life?

Culture is important in all moments of human life, especially when you are in society. For example, when you come to a new job, you find yourself in a team where everyone has different thoughts and views. Therefore, it is important to respect the opinions of other people and in no case try to prove your point of view to others. Culture is also very important because, to some extent, it helps to find like-minded people and create a warm and friendly atmosphere in society.

If you have any difficulties writing a culture essay, you can always turn to essay writing service , where you will meet real professionals who will answer all your questions and do the hard work for you at an excellent price and in a short time. Moreover, you can be sure that each author has a degree in the field of culture, and your essay will be written with high quality and success.

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Popular culture refers to the set of ideas, practices, images, and phenomena that are prevalent and widely accepted within a society at a given point in time. It encompasses various aspects of daily life, including entertainment, fashion, music, sports, and technology, reflecting the shared interests and preferences of the general public. Popular culture is dynamic and evolves over time, influenced by social, political, and technological developments, making it a key area of study within the realm of social science.

1. Introduction

Popular culture, a term often used but not always clearly understood, refers to the prevailing ideas, practices, images, and phenomena embraced by a society at a specific period. In the context of social science, studying popular culture provides valuable insights into the shared interests, preferences, and dynamics that shape societies. This article aims to delve into the multifaceted nature of popular culture, tracing its historical evolution, analyzing its components, exploring its relationship with society, examining its interaction with technology, addressing critiques, and discussing research approaches and future trends.

2. Historical Evolution of Popular Culture

2.1. early influences and origins.

The roots of popular culture can be traced back to the earliest human societies, where cultural expressions were deeply ingrained in communal practices. Oral traditions, folklore, and rituals played a pivotal role in shaping the collective identity of communities. Anthropologist Clifford Geertz, in his seminal work "The Interpretation of Cultures," argues that these cultural symbols are not mere expressions but crucial components of social structures [ 1 ] . In this context, popular culture served as a means of communication, transmitting shared values and narratives across generations.

2.2. Impact of Industrialization and Urbanization

The 19th century witnessed a seismic shift in the nature of popular culture with the advent of industrialization and urbanization. The Industrial Revolution brought about mass production, making cultural products more accessible to a broader audience. This democratization of culture marked a departure from exclusive, elite cultural forms. Sociologist Herbert Gans, in "Popular Culture and High Culture," explored the emergence of a dichotomy between high culture and popular culture during this period [ 2 ] . High culture was associated with the intellectual and artistic elite, while popular culture became synonymous with the tastes and preferences of the general public.

Urbanization further accelerated the transformation, creating spaces where diverse cultural practices converged. The city became a melting pot of traditions, fostering the exchange of ideas and influencing the emergence of new cultural expressions. The dynamic interplay of diverse cultural elements laid the foundation for the vibrant tapestry of popular culture seen today.

2.3. Technological Advances and Popular Culture

The 20th century witnessed unprecedented technological advances that revolutionized the production, distribution, and consumption of cultural content. The introduction of radio and later, television, had a profound impact on how people engaged with popular culture. Scholar Raymond Williams, in "Television: Technology and Cultural Form," analyzed the transformative role of television in shaping cultural narratives and social interactions [ 3 ] . Television became a powerful medium for the dissemination of popular culture, bringing entertainment, news, and cultural commentary into the living rooms of millions.

The proliferation of technology not only broadened the reach of popular culture but also facilitated the emergence of new cultural forms. The music industry, for instance, saw the rise of genres that transcended geographical boundaries, contributing to a globalized popular culture. The interplay between technology and culture became a defining characteristic of the historical evolution of popular culture, influencing how societies engaged with and consumed cultural content.

3. Components of Popular Culture

3.1. entertainment.

Film and Television: One of the most prominent components of popular culture is the realm of film and television. Hollywood, as the epicenter of the global film industry, has wielded significant influence over cultural narratives and entertainment preferences. Blockbuster movies, ranging from classic films like "Gone with the Wind" to contemporary franchises like "Marvel Cinematic Universe," become cultural phenomena, shaping societal conversations and influencing trends. Television series, on the other hand, have evolved into powerful cultural forces with shows like "Friends" or "Game of Thrones," creating devoted fan bases and leaving lasting impacts on popular discourse.

Music and Dance: The auditory and kinesthetic dimensions of popular culture are encapsulated in the realms of music and dance. Musical genres such as rock, hip-hop, and pop have not only reflected but also shaped cultural movements and societal attitudes. Iconic musicians like The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Beyoncé have become cultural touchstones, transcending mere musical influence to impact fashion, language, and even social movements. Similarly, dance forms like breakdancing, salsa, and contemporary dance not only provide entertainment but also serve as outlets for cultural expression and identity.

Literature and Books: The written word, too, plays a crucial role in popular culture. Literature, encompassing a wide range of genres from novels to comics, contributes to the cultural landscape. Bestselling books like J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series or J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" not only captivate readers but also spawn entire subcultures and fan communities. The impact of literature extends beyond the written page, influencing adaptations into films and television series, demonstrating the interconnectedness of various cultural forms.

3.2. Fashion and Style

Trends and Influences: Fashion is a dynamic and integral aspect of popular culture, reflecting and influencing societal values and trends. Fashion trends emerge through a complex interplay of factors, including the influence of designers, celebrities, and subcultures. The 1960s, for instance, witnessed the rise of countercultural movements like the hippie movement, which significantly influenced fashion with tie-dye, bell-bottoms, and bohemian styles. In contemporary times, social media platforms contribute to the rapid dissemination of fashion trends, allowing for quicker and more widespread adoption.

Cultural Symbolism: Fashion serves as a language of cultural symbolism, conveying messages about identity, status, and affiliation. Clothing choices often reflect cultural heritage, subcultural affiliations, or statements of resistance. Roland Barthes, in "The Fashion System," explores the semiotics of fashion, emphasizing how clothing becomes a form of communication, conveying meanings and symbols that extend beyond mere aesthetics. Examples include the punk movement's deliberate rejection of mainstream fashion norms and the incorporation of unconventional clothing items as statements of rebellion.

3.3. Sports and Recreation

Role in Society: Sports and recreation are integral components of popular culture, embodying physical prowess, competition, and communal spirit. The role of sports in society goes beyond entertainment, serving as a reflection of societal values and aspirations. Major sporting events like the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics capture global attention, fostering a sense of shared experience and national pride. The significance of sports in social dynamics is explored by Pierre Bourdieu in "Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste," where he delves into how sports preferences contribute to the construction of social distinctions.

Globalization of Sports: As societies become increasingly interconnected, sports have become a global phenomenon, transcending geographic and cultural boundaries. Athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo and Serena Williams are not just sports figures but global icons shaping cultural narratives. The globalization of sports is examined in "Global Sport: Identities, Societies, Civilizations" by Fan Hong and Jinming Zheng, highlighting how sports contribute to the formation of global identities and cultural exchanges.

In summary, the components of popular culture encompass a rich tapestry of entertainment, fashion, and sports that collectively shape and reflect societal values, trends, and identities. The interconnectedness of these components underscores the dynamic nature of popular culture as a multifaceted and ever-evolving phenomenon.

4. The Relationship Between Popular Culture and Society

4.1. reflecting social values and norms.

One of the fundamental aspects of popular culture lies in its role as a reflection of societal values, norms, and ideologies. Popular media, including films, television shows, music, and literature, often mirrors the prevailing attitudes and beliefs of a society at a given time. For example, during periods of social change or upheaval, popular culture serves as a barometer of the collective consciousness, addressing and sometimes challenging societal norms.

Sociologist Stuart Hall, in his work "Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices," delves into the ways in which media constructs meaning and influences perceptions of reality [ 4 ] . The representation of gender roles, cultural diversity, and social issues in popular media contributes to the formation of societal attitudes. For instance, shifts in the portrayal of gender roles in popular culture over the decades reflect broader changes in societal expectations and discussions surrounding gender equality.

4.2. Shaping Identity and Belonging

Individuals often find elements within popular culture that resonate with their personal experiences, shaping their identities and fostering a sense of belonging. Benedict Anderson's concept of "imagined communities," as discussed in his seminal work "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism," explores how shared cultural symbols contribute to a sense of belonging and community [ 5 ] . Popular culture provides individuals with shared reference points, creating a cultural vocabulary that helps shape personal and collective identities.

For example, fans of a particular music genre, film franchise, or sports team often form subcultures around their shared interests. These subcultures not only provide a sense of belonging but also contribute to the diversity and richness of societal tapestry. The influence of popular culture on identity formation is particularly pronounced in youth cultures, where musical preferences, fashion choices, and cultural references play a significant role in shaping individual and collective identities.

4.3. Influence on Cultural Hegemony

Antonio Gramsci's concept of cultural hegemony, presented in "Selections from the Prison Notebooks," provides a framework for understanding how dominant groups use popular culture to maintain control and shape societal ideologies [ 6 ] . Cultural hegemony refers to the dominance of a particular worldview, shaping societal norms and values to serve the interests of the ruling class. Popular culture becomes a powerful tool in this process, as it helps disseminate and reinforce the dominant ideologies.

For instance, media representations of success, beauty standards, and societal norms often align with the values of the dominant social groups. The perpetuation of these representations in popular culture can contribute to the normalization of certain ideas and behaviors, reinforcing existing power structures. However, popular culture is not a monolithic force; it can also be a site of resistance and subversion, challenging established norms and providing a platform for marginalized voices to be heard.

In summary, the relationship between popular culture and society is intricate and dynamic. Popular culture reflects and shapes societal values, serves as a vehicle for identity formation and belonging, and plays a role in the construction of cultural hegemony. Understanding this relationship is essential for grasping the ways in which culture and society coalesce, influencing each other in an ongoing and reciprocal process.

• Geertz, C. (1973). "The Interpretation of Cultures."
• Gans, H. J. (1974). "Popular Culture and High Culture: An Analysis and Evaluation of Taste."
• Williams, R. (1974). "Television: Technology and Cultural Form."
• Hall, S. (1997). "Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices."
• Anderson, B. (1983). "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism."
• Gramsci, A. (1971). "Selections from the Prison Notebooks."

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Reading Popular Culture: An Introduction to Cultural Studies - Semester 2, 2017

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This course explores the relations of cultural artifacts in the contemporary world to their various social contexts. Culture is understood as the material expressions and images that people create and the social environment that shapes the way diverse groups of people experience their world and interact with one another. The course focuses on the critical analysis of these various forms of media, design, mass communications, arts, and popular culture. DETAILED COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES The present era is often characterized as an age of global integration and a truly world economy as well as an era of social and environmental crises. In the midst of these changes we can often hear " culture " invoked as both a positive expression of this globalism and sometimes as something that opposes it. The full meaning of culture remains a topic of fierce debate and so " culture " is used as a political weapon, a claim of privilege, a rallying point for identity, a reservoir of resistance, or refers to various artifacts and practices that must be either preserved (good culture) or eliminated (degenerate culture). Cultural Studies emerged from the attempts to understand these complex social and political uses of " culture " in such debates as those over " high & low " art, the value of the artifacts of popular culture (cinema, television, music, etc.), the deployments of knowledge and authority in the social relations of everyday life. We will examine how Cultural Studies offered a critical understanding of what Max Horkheimer termed " life as it is lived. " Attention will be paid to the fate of Cultural Studies as it became accepted and absorbed by various academic disciplines. In the final sessions, special attention will be given to the reception of Cultural Studies in the United States. This course is designed to give you a foundation in Cultural Studies. It will show you how Cultural Studies emerged and its subsequent variations and lines of descent. You are not expected to already know this, nor are you expected to already be familiar with the texts we will use and issues that will be raised. You are expected to engage the course materials seriously. You will finish the course with an introduction to different ways of understanding the history of the present day and the social relations of everyday life.

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An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US

People, politics, and power, jenn brandt (author) , callie clare (author).

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Description

Winner of the Popular Culture Association's 2018 John G. Cawelti Award for the Best Textbook / Primer What is popular culture? Why study popular culture in an academic context? An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US: People, Politics, and Power introduces and explores the history and contemporary analysis of popular culture in the United States. In situating popular culture as lived experience through the activities, objects, and distractions of everyday life, the authors work to broaden the understanding of culture beyond a focus solely on media texts, taking an interdisciplinary approach to analyze American culture, its rituals, beliefs, and the objects that shape its existence. After building a foundation of the history of popular culture as an academic discipline, the book looks broadly at cultural myths and the institutional structures, genres, industries, and people that shape the mindset of popular culture in the United States. It then becomes more focused with an examination of identity, exploring the ways in which these myths and mindset are internalized, practiced, and shaped by individuals. The book concludes by connecting the broad understanding of popular culture and the unique individual experience with chapters dedicated to the objects, communities, and celebrations of everyday life. This approach to the field of study explores all matters of culture in a way that is accessible and relevant to individuals in and outside of the classroom.

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About the contributors

Jenn brandt.

Jenn Brandt is Associate Professor of Women’s Stud…

Callie Clare

Callie Clare is Assistant Professor of Communicati…

The book does a good job in offering a through survey of the fundamentals, the theoretical terrain together with the principal investments, especially the cultural politics of everyday life and the power relationships that are to be found in taken-for-granted, commonplace encounters. Written in a bright and breezy style, it also offers an up-to-the-minute view of popular culture.

The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory

This book picks up where other popular culture texts leave off, providing a fine blend of theory and up-to-date examples that resonate with today's students and teach them to better understand not only popular culture but also the contemporary world. The text is smart, accessible, well-written, and substantive. It is concise and on-point, providing a solid framework for making sense of the popular culture around us from the Super Bowl to Fifty Shades of Grey to Harry Potter to YouTube memes. Every popular culture text is value-laden; no popular culture text is value-free. Jenn Brandt and Callie Clare give students the tools they need to discover the meanings and power relationships embedded in the books, movies, television show, digital media, and material culture that they take for granted every day. This book is essential for helping students to learn the critical thinking skills they need to understand and navigate today's world.

Kathy Merlock Jackson, Professor of Communication, Virginia Wesleyan University, USA and Editor of The Journal of American Culture

An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US offers a thorough and accessible introduction to the study of popular culture in the US. It covers a range of concepts such as myth, genre, identity, material culture, and consumption, and uses recent examples from “Deflategate” and “fake news” to Netflix and The Bachelorette to promote a deeper understanding of key theories, approaches, and concepts. It is both an informative and enjoyable read.

Lisa Funnell, Co-Director of the Center for Social Justice and Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, University of Oklahoma, USA

An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US presented a well-rounded and creative approach to the myriad of ways popular culture affects a society. This text is not only readable and accessible, it is also entertaining! Through the use of current events the authors frame and re-frame what it means to live in a celebrity-driven world while also diving deep into the scholarship that makes the study of popular culture so integral to 21st century academics.

Adrienne Trier-Bieniek, Chair of Sociology and Anthropology, Valencia College, USA

An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US: People, Politics, and Power gives students a comprehensive overview of popular culture studies by explaining why and how their daily activities, not only the consumption of media products but food, holidays, schools, etc. are considered popular culture through ample examples. Moreover, the authors' attention to diversity issues, i.e., race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and disabilities, with regard to power, ideologies, and social stratification shows students that popular culture is not merely fun and entertainment but a site of struggle for power.

Yasue Kuwahara, Director of Popular Culture Studies and Professor of Communication, Northern Kentucky University, USA

An Introduction to Popular Culture in the US by Jenn Brandt and Callie Clare is an essential addition for both teaching and studying popular culture today. The book centers on the investigation of everyday life, which is fundamental in understanding our lives and the contemporary world. Ray Browne, the godfather of American popular culture studies, would have been proud of how Brandt and Clare help readers appreciate the central role of popular culture in their lives, as well as provide the contextual and critical thinking skills to assess these impulses.

Bob Batchelor, Visiting Professor, Miami University, USA

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Cultural Theory and Popular Culture

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In this ninth edition of his award-winning introduction, John Storey presents a clear and critical survey of competing theories of, and various approaches to, popular culture. Its breadth and theoretical unity, exemplified through popular culture, means that it can be flexibly and relevantly applied across a number of disciplines.

Retaining the accessible approach of previous editions and using appropriate examples from the texts and practices of popular culture, this new edition remains a key introduction to the area.

New to this edition:

• updated throughout with contemporary examples of popular culture
• revised and expanded sections on Richard Hoggart and Utopian Marxism
• brand new discussions on Black Lives Matter and intersectionality
• updated student resources at www.routledge.com/cw/storey

This new edition remains essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of cultural studies, media studies, communication studies, the sociology of culture, popular culture and other related subjects.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 | 17  pages, what is popular culture, chapter 2 | 20  pages, the ‘culture and civilization' tradition, chapter 3 | 21  pages, culturalism into cultural studies, chapter 4 | 35  pages, chapter 5 | 21  pages, psychoanalysis, chapter 6 | 22  pages, structuralism and post-structuralism, chapter 7 | 13  pages, class and class struggle, chapter 8 | 37  pages, gender and sexuality, chapter 9 | 18  pages, ‘race', racism and representation, chapter 10 | 28  pages, postmodernism, chapter 11 | 14  pages, the materiality of popular culture, chapter 12 | 24  pages, the politics of the popular.

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Philippines — A Look at Philippine Popular Culture and Customs: Uniquely Filipino Identity

A Look at Philippine Popular Culture and Customs: a Unique Filipino Identity

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Published: May 17, 2022

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Introduction: philippine popular culture, filipino traditions, religion and beliefs.

• Philippine Culture. (2016, Aug 15). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/philippine-culture-essay
• Filipino Culture and Traditions. Retrieved from https://family.lovetoknow.com/cultural-heritage-symbols/filipino-culture-traditions
• Department of Education, Culture and Sports. Fact Sheet, 2000.
• Europa World Factbook, 1999.
• Goodno, James R. Philippines: The Land of Broken Promises, 1991.
• Karnow, Stanley. In our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines, 1989.
• Oleksy, Walter. The Philippines, 2000.

Should follow an “upside down” triangle format, meaning, the writer should start off broad and introduce the text and author or topic being discussed, and then get more specific to the thesis statement.

Provides a foundational overview, outlining the historical context and introducing key information that will be further explored in the essay, setting the stage for the argument to follow.

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Essay About Popular Culture

In the contemporary living of the humankind in the 21st century, the popular culture plays a vital role in our own lives especially in youth. Hence, we future teachers and all adults must be more acquainted and involved in advancing our critical understanding to everything we read, watch and hear in all sorts of media than the youth to guide them properly in attaining more accurate and holistic knowledge inside or outside the classroom. As a student of Developments in education, I realized the advantage of how proper understanding Philippine cultures can contribute to effective teaching, because someday we will be in contact with Filipino children who will grow into adults of tomorrow. It will become essential for us, future teachers to have …show more content…

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John Storey Cultural Theory And Popular

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culture , behaviour peculiar to Homo sapiens , together with material objects used as an integral part of this behaviour. Thus, culture includes language , ideas, beliefs, customs, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, and ceremonies, among other elements.

The existence and use of culture depends upon an ability possessed by humans alone. This ability has been called variously the capacity for rational or abstract thought, but a good case has been made for rational behaviour among subhuman animals, and the meaning of abstract is not sufficiently explicit or precise. The term symboling has been proposed as a more suitable name for the unique mental ability of humans, consisting of assigning to things and events certain meanings that cannot be grasped with the senses alone. Articulate speech—language—is a good example. The meaning of the word dog is not inherent in the sounds themselves; it is assigned, freely and arbitrarily, to the sounds by human beings. Holy water, “biting one’s thumb” at someone ( Romeo and Juliet , Act I, scene 1), or fetishes are other examples. Symboling is a kind of behaviour objectively definable and should not be confused with symbolizing, which has an entirely different meaning.

The concept of culture

Various definitions of culture.

What has been termed the classic definition of culture was provided by the 19th-century English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in the first paragraph of his Primitive Culture (1871):

Culture . . . is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief , art, morals , law , custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.

In Anthropology (1881) Tylor made it clear that culture, so defined, is possessed by man alone. This conception of culture served anthropologists well for some 50 years. With the increasing maturity of anthropological science, further reflections upon the nature of their subject matter and concepts led to a multiplication and diversification of definitions of culture. In Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions (1952), U.S. anthropologists A.L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn cited 164 definitions of culture, ranging from “learned behaviour” to “ideas in the mind,” “a logical construct,” “a statistical fiction,” “a psychic defense mechanism,” and so on. The definition—or the conception—of culture that is preferred by Kroeber and Kluckhohn and also by a great many other anthropologists is that culture is an abstraction or, more specifically, “an abstraction from behaviour.”

These conceptions have defects or shortcomings. The existence of behavioral traditions—that is, patterns of behaviour transmitted by social rather than by biologic hereditary means—has definitely been established for nonhuman animals. “Ideas in the mind” become significant in society only as expressed in language, acts, and objects. “A logical construct” or “a statistical fiction” is not specific enough to be useful. The conception of culture as an abstraction led, first, to a questioning of the reality of culture (inasmuch as abstractions were regarded as imperceptible) and, second, to a denial of its existence; thus, the subject matter of nonbiological anthropology, “culture,” was defined out of existence, and without real, objective things and events in the external world there can be no science.

Kroeber and Kluckhohn were led to their conclusion that culture is an abstraction by reasoning that if culture is behaviour it, ipso facto, becomes the subject matter of psychology; therefore, they concluded that culture “is an abstraction from concrete behavior but is not itself behavior.” But what, one might ask, is an abstraction of a marriage ceremony or a pottery bowl, to use Kroeber and Kluckhohn’s examples? This question poses difficulties that were not adequately met by these authors. A solution was perhaps provided by Leslie A. White in the essay “The Concept of Culture” (1959). The issue is not really whether culture is real or an abstraction, he reasoned; the issue is the context of the scientific interpretation.

When things and events are considered in the context of their relation to the human organism, they constitute behaviour; when they are considered not in terms of their relation to the human organism but in their relationship to one another, they become culture by definition. The mother-in-law taboo is a complex of concepts, attitudes, and acts. When one considers them in their relationship to the human organism—that is, as things that the organism does—they become behaviour by definition. When, however, one considers the mother-in-law taboo in its relationship to the place of residence of a newly married couple, to the customary division of labour between the sexes, to their respective roles in the society’s mode of subsistence and offense and defense, and these in turn to the technology of the society, the mother-in-law taboo becomes, again by definition, culture. This distinction is precisely the one that students of words have made for many years. When words are considered in their relationship to the human organism—that is, as acts—they become behaviour. But when they are considered in terms of their relationship to one another—producing lexicon, grammar, syntax , and so forth—they become language, the subject matter not of psychology but of the science of linguistics. Culture, therefore, is the name given to a class of things and events dependent upon symboling ( i.e., articulate speech) that are considered in a kind of extra-human context.

Universalist approaches to culture and the human mind

Culture, as noted above, is due to an ability possessed by man alone. The question of whether the difference between the mind of man and that of the lower animals is one of kind or of degree has been debated for many years, and even today reputable scientists can be found on both sides of this issue. But no one who holds the view that the difference is one of degree has adduced any evidence to show that nonhuman animals are capable, to any degree whatever, of a kind of behaviour that all human beings exhibit. This kind of behaviour may be illustrated by the following examples: remembering the sabbath to keep it holy, classifying one’s relatives and distinguishing one class from another (such as uncles from cousins), defining and prohibiting incest, and so on. There is no reason or evidence that leads one to believe that any animal other than man can have or be brought to any appreciation or comprehension whatever of such meanings and acts. There is, as Tylor argued long ago, a “mental gulf that divides the lowest savage from the highest ape” ( Anthropology ).

In line with the foregoing distinction, human behaviour is to be defined as behaviour consisting of, or dependent upon, symboling rather than upon anything else that Homo sapiens does; coughing, yawning, stretching, and the like are not human.

Next to nothing is yet known about the neuroanatomy of symboling. Man is characterized by a very large brain, considered both absolutely and relatively, and it is reasonable—and even obligatory—to believe that the central nervous system , especially the forebrain, is the locus of the ability to symbol . But how it does this and with what specific mechanisms remain to be discovered. One is thus led to the conclusion that at some point in the evolution of primates a threshold was reached in some line, or lines, when the ability to symbol was realized and made explicit in overt behaviour. There is no intermediate stage, logical or neurological, between symboling and nonsymboling; an individual or a species is capable of symboling, or he or it is not. The life of Helen Keller makes this clear: when, through the aid of her teacher, Anne Sullivan , Keller was enabled to escape from the isolation to which her blindness and deafness had consigned her and to effect contact with the world of human meanings and values, the transformation was instantaneous.

But even if almost nothing is known about the neuroanatomy of symboling, a great deal is known about the evolution of mind (or “ minding ,” if mind is considered as a process rather than a thing), in which one finds symboling as the characteristic of a particular stage of development. The evolution of minding can be traced in the following sequence of stages. First is the simple reflexive stage, in which behaviour is determined by the intrinsic properties of both the organism and the thing reacted to—for example, the contraction of the pupil of the eye under increased stimulation by light. Second is the conditioned reflex stage, in which the response is elicited not by properties intrinsic in the stimulus but by meanings that the stimulus has acquired for the responding organism through experience—for example, Pavlov’s dog’s salivary glands responding to the sound of a bell. Third is the instrumental stage, as exemplified by a chimpanzee knocking down a banana with a stick. Here the response is determined by the intrinsic properties of the things involved (banana, stick, chimpanzee’s neurosensory-muscular system); but a new element has been introduced into behaviour, namely, the exercise of control by the reacting organism over things in the external world. And, finally, there is the symbol stage, in which the configuration of behaviour involves nonintrinsic meanings, as has already been suggested.

These four stages exhibit a characteristic of the evolution of all living things: a movement in the direction of making life more secure and enduring. In the first stage the organism distinguishes between the beneficial , the injurious, and the neutral, but it must come into direct contact with the object or event in question to do so. In the second stage the organism may react at a distance, as it were—that is, through an intermediate stimulus. The conditioned reflex brings signs into the life process; one thing or event may serve as an indication of something else—food, danger, and so forth. And, since anything can serve as a sign of anything else (a green triangle can mean food, sex, or an electric shock to the laboratory rat), the reactions of the organism are emancipated from the limitations that stage one imposes upon living things, namely, the intrinsic properties of things. The possibility of obtaining life-sustaining things and of avoiding life-destroying things is thus much enhanced , and the security and continuity of life are correspondingly increased. But in stage two the organism still plays a subordinate role to the external world; it does not and cannot determine the significance of the intermediary stimulus: the bark of a distant dog to the rabbit or the sound of the bell to Pavlov’s dog. This meaning is determined by things and events in the external world (or in the laboratory by the experimenter). In stages one and two, therefore, the organism is at the mercy of the external world in this respect.

In the third stage the element of control over environment is introduced. The ape who obtains food by means of a stick (tool) is not subordinate to his situation. He does not merely undergo a situation; he dominates it. His behaviour is not determined by the juxtaposition of things and events; on the contrary, the juxtaposition is determined by the ape. He is confronted with alternatives , and he makes choices. The configuration of behaviour in stage three is constructed within the dynamic organism of the ape and then imposed upon the external world.

The evolution of minding is a cumulative process; the achievements of each stage are carried on into the succeeding one or ones. The fourth stage reintroduces the factor of nonintrinsic meanings to the advances made in stages two and three. Stage four is the stage of symboling, of articulate speech. Thus, one observes two aspects of the evolution of minding, both of which contribute to the security and survivability of life: the emancipation of behaviour from limitations imposed upon it by the external world and increased control over the environment. To be sure, neither emancipation nor control becomes complete, but quantitative increase is significant.

The direction of biologic evolution toward greater expansion and security of life can be seen from another point of view: the advance from instinctive behaviour ( i.e., responses determined by intrinsic properties of the organism) to learned and freely variable behaviour, patterns of which may be acquired and transmitted from one individual and generation to another, and finally to a system of things and events, the essence of which is meanings that cannot be comprehended by the senses alone. This system is, of course, culture, and the species is the human species. Culture is a man-made environment, brought into existence by the ability to symbol.

Once established, culture has a life of its own, so to speak; that is, it is a continuum of things and events in a cause and effect relationship; it flows down through time from one generation to another. Since its inception 1,000,000 or more years ago, this culture—with its language, beliefs, tools, codes, and so on—has had an existence external to each individual born into it. The function of this external, man-made environment is to make life secure and enduring for the society of human beings living within the cultural system. Thus, culture may be seen as the most recent, the most highly developed means of promoting the security and continuity of life, in a series that began with the simple reflex.

Society preceded culture; society, conceived as the interaction of living beings, is coextensive with life itself. Man’s immediate prehuman ancestors had societies, but they did not have culture. Studies of monkeys and apes have greatly enlarged scientific knowledge of their social life—and, by inference , the scientific conception of the earliest human societies. Data derived from paleontological sources and from accumulating studies of living, nonhuman primates are now fairly abundant, and hypotheses derived from these are numerous and varied in detail. A fair summary of them may be made as follows: The growth of the primate brain was stimulated by life in the trees, specifically, by eye-hand coordinations involved in swinging from limb to limb and by manipulating food with the hands (as among the insectivorous lemurs). Descent to the ground, as a consequence of deforestation or increase in body size (which would tend to restrict arboreal locomotion and increase the difficulty of obtaining enough food to supply increased need), and the assumption of erect posture were other significant steps in biologic evolution and the eventual emergence of culture. Some theories reject the arboreal stage in man’s evolutionary past, but this does not seriously affect the overall conception of his development.

The Australopithecines of Africa, extinct manlike higher primates about which reliable knowledge is very considerable today, exemplify the stage of erect posture in primate evolution. Erect posture freed the arms and hands from their earlier function of locomotion and made possible an extensive and versatile use of tools. Again, the eye-hand-object coordinations involved in tool using stimulated the growth of the brain, especially the forebrain. It is not possible to determine on the basis of paleontological evidence the precise point at which the ability to symbol (specifically, articulate speech) was realized, as expressed in overt behaviour. It is believed by some that man’s prehuman ancestors used tools habitually and that habit became custom through the transmission of tool using from one generation to another long before articulate speech came into being. In fact, some theorists hold, the customary use of tools became a powerful stimulus in the development of a brain that was capable of symboling or articulate speech.

The introjection of symboling into primate social life was revolutionary. Everything was transformed, everything acquired new meaning; the symbol added a new dimension to primate—now human—existence. An ax was no longer merely a tool with which to chop; it could become a symbol of authority. Mating became marriage, and all social relationships between parents and children and brothers and sisters became moral obligations, duties, rights, and privileges. The world of nature, from the stones beside the path to the stars in their courses, became alive and conscious spirits. “And all that I beheld respired with inward meaning” (Wordsworth). The anthropoid had at last become a man.

Thus far in this article, culture has been considered in general, as the possession of all mankind. Now it is appropriate to turn to particular cultures , or sociocultural systems. Human beings, like other animal species, live in societies, and each society possesses culture. It has long been customary for ethnologists to speak of Seneca culture, Eskimo culture, North American Plains culture, and so on—that is, the culture of a particular society (Seneca) or an indefinite number of societies (Eskimo) or the cultures found in or characteristic of a topographic area (the North American Plains). There is no objection to this usage as a convenient means of reference: “Seneca culture” is the culture that the Seneca tribe possesses at a particular time. Similarly, Eskimo culture refers to a class of cultures, and Plains culture refers to a type of culture. What is needed is a term that defines culture precisely in its particular manifestations for the purpose of scientific study, and for this the term sociocultural system has been proposed. It is defined as the culture possessed by a distinguishable and autonomous group (society) of human beings, such as a tribe or a modern nation. Cultural elements may pass freely from one system to another (cultural diffusion), but the boundary provided by the distinction between one system and another (Seneca, Cayuga; United States , Japan) makes it possible to study the system at any given time or over a period of time.

Every human society, therefore, has its own sociocultural system: a particular and unique expression of human culture as a whole. Every sociocultural system possesses the components of human culture as a whole—namely, technological, sociological, and ideological elements. But sociocultural systems vary widely in their structure and organization. These variations are attributable to differences among physical habitats and the resources that they offer or withhold for human use; to the range of possibilities inherent in various areas of activity, such as language or the manufacture and use of tools; and to the degree of development. The biologic factor of man may, for purposes of analysis and comparison of sociocultural systems, be considered as a constant. Although the equality or inequality of races, or physical types, of mankind has not been established by science, all evidence and reason lead to the conclusion that, whatever differences of native endowment may exist, they are insignificant as compared with the overriding influence of the external tradition that is culture.

Since the infant of the human species enters the world cultureless, his behaviour—his attitudes, values , ideals, and beliefs, as well as his overt motor activity—is powerfully influenced by the culture that surrounds him on all sides. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the power and influence of culture upon the human animal. It is powerful enough to hold the sex urge in check and achieve premarital chastity and even voluntary vows of celibacy for life. It can cause a person to die of hunger, though nourishment is available, because some foods are branded unclean by the culture. And it can cause a person to disembowel or shoot himself to wipe out a stain of dishonour. Culture is stronger than life and stronger than death. Among subhuman animals, death is merely the cessation of the vital processes of metabolism, respiration, and so on. In the human species, however, death is also a concept; only man knows death. But culture triumphs over death and offers man eternal life. Thus, culture may deny satisfactions on the one hand while it fulfills desires on the other.

The predominant emphasis, perhaps, in studies of culture and personality has been the inquiry into the process by which the individual personality is formed as it develops under the influence of its cultural milieu . But the individual biologic organism is itself a significant determinant in the development of personality. The mature personality is, therefore, a function of both biologic and cultural factors, and it is virtually impossible to distinguish these factors from each other and to evaluate the magnitude of each in particular cases. If the cultural factor were a constant, personality would vary with the variations of the neurosensory-glandular-muscular structure of the individual. But there are no tests that can indicate, for example, precisely how much of the taxicab driver’s ability to make change is due to innate endowment and how much to cultural experience. Therefore, the student of culture and personality is driven to work with “modal personalities,” that is, the personality of the typical Crow Indian or the typical Frenchman insofar as this can be determined. But it is of interest, theoretically at least, to note that even if both factors, the biologic and the cultural, were constant—which they never are in actuality—variations of personality would still be possible. Within the confines of these two constants, individuals might undergo a number of profound experiences in different chronological permutations. For example, two young women might have the same experiences of (1) having a baby, (2) graduating from college, and (3) getting married. But the effect of sequence (1), (2), (3) upon personality development would be quite different than that of sequence (2), (3), (1).

Cultural comparisons

Ethnocentrism is the name given to a tendency to interpret or evaluate other cultures in terms of one’s own. This tendency has been, perhaps, more prevalent in modern nations than among preliterate tribes. The citizens of a large nation, especially in the past, have been less likely to observe people in another nation or culture than have been members of small tribes who are well acquainted with the ways of their culturally diverse neighbours. Thus, the American tourist could report that Londoners drive “on the wrong side of the street” or an Englishman might find some customs on the Continent “queer” or “boorish,” merely because they are different. Members of a Pueblo tribe in the American Southwest, on the other hand, might be well acquainted with cultural differences not only among other Pueblos but also in non-Pueblo tribes such as the Navajo and Apache.

Ethnocentrism became prominent among many Europeans after the discovery of the Americas, the islands of the Pacific, and the Far East. Even anthropologists might characterize all preliterate peoples as being without religion (as did Sir John Lubbock) or as having a “prelogical mentality” (as did Lucien Lévy-Bruhl) merely because their ways of thinking did not correspond with those of the culture of western Europe. Thus, inhabitants of non-Western cultures, particularly those lacking the art of writing, were widely described as being immoral, illogical, queer, or just perverse (“Ye Beastly Devices of ye Heathen”).

Increased knowledge led to or facilitated a deeper understanding and, with it, a finer appreciation of cultures quite different from one’s own. When it was understood that universal needs could be served with culturally diverse means, that worship might assume a variety of forms, that morality consists in conforming to ethical rules of conduct but does not inhere in the rules themselves, a new view emerged that each culture should be understood and appreciated in terms of itself. What is moral in one culture might be immoral or ethically neutral in another. For example, it was not immoral to kill a baby girl at birth or an aged grandparent who was nonproductive when it was impossible to obtain enough food for all; or wife lending among the Eskimo might be practiced as a gesture of hospitality, a way of cementing a friendship and promoting mutual aid in a harsh and dangerous environment, and thus may acquire the status of a high moral value.

The view that elements of a culture are to be understood and judged in terms of their relationship to the culture as a whole—a doctrine known as cultural relativism—led to the conclusion that the cultures themselves could not be evaluated or graded as higher and lower, superior or inferior. If it was unwarranted to say that patriliny (descent through the male line) was superior or inferior to matriliny (descent through the female line), if it was unjustified or meaningless to say that monogamy was better or worse than polygamy, then it was equally unsound or meaningless to say that one culture was higher or superior to another. A large number of anthropologists subscribed to this view; they argued that such judgments were subjective and therefore unscientific.

It is, of course, true that some values are imponderable and some criteria are subjective. Are people in modern Western culture happier than the Aborigines of Australia? Is it better to be a child than an adult, alive than dead? These certainly are not questions for science. But to say that the culture of the ancient Mayas was not superior to or more highly developed than the crude and simple culture of the Tasmanians or to say that the culture of England in 1966 was not higher than England’s culture in 1066 is to fly in the face of science as well as of common sense.

Cultures have ponderable values as well as imponderable, and the imponderable ones can be measured with objective, meaningful yardsticks. A culture is a means to an end: the security and continuity of life. Some kinds of culture are better means of making life secure than others. Agriculture is a better means of providing food than hunting and gathering. The productivity of human labour has been increased by machinery and by the utilization of the energy of nonhuman animals, water and wind power , and fossil fuels. Some cultures have more effective means of coping with disease than others, and this superiority is expressed mathematically in death rates. And there are many other ways in which meaningful differences can be measured and evaluations made. Thus, the proposition that cultures have ponderable values that can be measured meaningfully by objective yardsticks and arranged in a series of stages, higher and lower, is substantiated . But, it should be noted, this is not equivalent to saying that man is happier or that the dignity of the individual (an imponderable) is greater in an industrialized or agricultural sociocultural system than in one supported by human labour alone and sustained wholly by wild foods.

Actually, however, there is no necessary conflict between the doctrine of cultural relativism and the thesis that cultures can be objectively graded in a scientific manner. It is one thing to reject the statement that monogamy is better than polygamy and quite another to deny that one kind of sociocultural system contains a better means of providing food or combating disease than another.

Cultural adaptation and change

Every sociocultural system exists in a natural habitat, and, of course, this environment exerts an influence upon the cultural system. The cultures of some Eskimo groups present remarkable instances of adaptation to environmental conditions: tailored fur clothing, snow goggles, boats and harpoons for hunting sea mammals, and, in some instances, hemispherical snow houses, or igloos. Some sedentary, horticultural tribes of the upper Missouri River went out into the Great Plains and became nomadic hunters after the introduction of the horse. The culture of the Navajos underwent profound change after they acquired herds of sheep and a market for their rugs was developed. The older theories of simple environmentalism, some of which maintained that even styles of myths and tales were determined by topography , climate, flora, and other factors, are no longer in vogue. The present view is that the environment permits, at times encourages, and also prohibits the acquisition or use of certain cultural traits but otherwise does not determine culture change. The Fuegians living at the southern tip of South America , as viewed by Charles Darwin on his voyage on the Beagle , lived in a very cold, harsh environment but were virtually without both clothing and dwellings.

“Culture is contagious,” as a prominent anthropologist once remarked, meaning that customs, beliefs, tools, techniques, folktales, ornaments, and so on may diffuse from one people or region to another. To be sure, a culture trait must offer some advantage, some utility or pleasure, to be sought and accepted by a people. (Some anthropologists have assumed that basic features of social structure, such as clan organization, may diffuse, but a sounder view holds that these features involving the organic structure of the society must be developed within societies themselves.) The degree of isolation of a sociocultural system—brought about by physical barriers such as deserts, mountain ranges, and bodies of water—has, of course, an important bearing upon the ease or difficulty of diffusion . Within the limits of desirability on the one hand and the possibility of communication on the other, diffusion of culture has taken place everywhere and in all times. Archaeological evidence shows that amber from the Baltic region diffused to the Mediterranean coast; and, conversely, early coins from the Middle East found their way to northern Europe. In aboriginal North America , copper objects from northern Michigan have been found in mounds in Georgia; macaw feathers from Central America turn up in archaeological sites in northern Arizona. Some Indian tribes in northwestern regions of the United States had possessed horses, originally brought into the Southwest by Spanish explorers, years before they had ever even seen white men. The wide dispersion of tobacco, corn (maize), coffee, the sweet potato , and many other traits are conspicuous examples of cultural diffusion.

Diffusion may take place between tribes or nations that are approximately equal in political and military power and of equivalent stages of cultural development, such as the spread of the sun dance among the Plains tribes of North America. But in other instances, it takes place between sociocultural systems differing widely in this respect. Conspicuous examples of this have been instances of conquest and colonization of various regions by the nations of modern Europe. In these cases it is often said that the culture of the more highly developed nation is “imposed” upon the less developed peoples and cultures, and there is, of course, much truth in this; the acquisition of foreign culture by the subject people is called acculturation and is manifested by the indigenous populations of Latin America as well as of other regions. But even in cases of conquest, traits from the conquered peoples may diffuse to those of the more advanced cultures; examples might include, in addition to the cultivated plants cited above, individual words ( coyote ), musical themes, games, and art motifs.

One of the major problems of ethnology during the latter half of the 19th and the early decades of the 20th centuries was the question “How are cultural similarities in noncontiguous regions to be explained?” Did the concepts of pyramid building, mummification, and sun worship originate independently in ancient Egypt and in the Andean highlands and in Yucatán or did these traits originate in Egypt and diffuse from there to the Americas, as some anthropologists have believed? Some schools of ethnological theory have held to one view, some, to another. The 19th-century classical evolutionists (which included Edward Burnett Tylor and Lewis H. Morgan , among others) held that the mind of man is so constituted or endowed that he will develop cultures everywhere along the same lines. “Diffusionists”—those, such as Fritz Graebner and Elliot Smith , who offered grand theories about the diffusion of traits all over the world—maintained that man was inherently uninventive and that culture, once created, tended to spread everywhere. Each school tended to insist that its view was the correct one, and it would continue to hold that view unless definite proof of the contrary could be adduced.

The tendency nowadays is not to side categorically with one school as against another but to decide each case on its own merits. The consensus with regard to pyramids is that they were developed independently in Egypt and the Americas because they differ markedly in structure and function: the Egyptian pyramids were built of stone blocks and contained tombs within their interiors. The American pyramids were constructed of earth, then faced with stone, and they served as the bases of temples. The verdict with regard to the bow and arrow is that it was invented only once and subsequently diffused to all regions where it has been found. The probable antiquity of the origin of fire making, however, and the various ways of generating it—by percussion, friction, compression (fire pistons)—indicate multiple origins.

Evolution of culture—that is, the development of forms through time—has taken place. No amount of diffusion of picture writing could of itself, for instance, produce the alphabetic system of writing; as Tylor demonstrated so well, the art of writing has developed through a series of stages, which began with picture writing, progressed to hieroglyphic writing , and culminated in alphabetic writing. In the realm of social organization there was a development from territorial groups composed of families to segmented societies (clans and larger groupings). Sociocultural evolution, like biologic evolution, exhibits a progressive differentiation of structure and specialization of function.

A misunderstanding has arisen with regard to the relationship between evolution and diffusion. It has been argued, for example, that the theory of cultural evolution was unsound because some peoples skipped a stage in a supposedly determined sequence; for example, some African tribes, as a consequence of diffusion, went from the Stone Age to the Iron Age without an intermediate age of copper and bronze. But the classical evolutionists did not maintain that peoples, or societies, had to pass through a fixed series of stages in the course of development, but that tools, techniques, institutions—in short, culture—had to pass through the stages. The sequence of stages of writing did not mean that a society could not acquire the alphabet without working its way through hieroglyphic writing; it was obvious that many peoples did skip directly to the alphabet.

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Winner Announcement: TGC’s 2024 Essay Contest for Young Adults

More by staff.

Gen Z is a generation that faces the temptation to avoid hard things. With phones to hide behind, it’s easier than ever to get lost in a virtual world instead of facing the real world . Scripture tells us we shouldn’t be surprised when we face trials in this life as if something strange were happening to us, and that we can even rejoice in trials (1 Pet. 1:6–7; 4:12–13). Our young writers are learning this countercultural lesson. We have a God who cares more about our Christ-conformity than our comfort, and this is good news.

Over the past few months, we’ve had the privilege of reading the submissions to The Gospel Coalition’s 2024 Essay Contest for Young Adults . Nearly 200 young writers submitted original essays, and the editorial team reviewed them. These writers shared personal testimonies of their wrestling with God as they faced debilitating illness, societal pressure, and unfulfilled desires. We were impressed by their self-reflections on what they were pursuing more than God, whether it was acceptance into university, dream jobs, or the phones in their pockets.

Their writing displayed their desire to treasure Christ above all else.

Thoughtful Writers

The essays TGC received came from 183 young writers:

• They ranged in age from 16 to 22. Many were high school students; others were in college or just beginning their adult lives.
• As with last year’s contest , two-thirds of the writers were female.
• They’re members of local churches—Presbyterians, Baptists, and Anglicans predominated, with many nondenominational churches also represented.
• They submitted their essays from all over the U.S. and 14 other countries including Canada, South Africa, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Many of these young writers poured out their hearts as they shared about times when God, in his love, withheld something from them. Others wrote of how they moved from clinging to their phones to clinging to Christ. Some shared how they see the need for men and women like themselves to give their lives to vocational ministry to reach the 3 billion people with no access to the gospel.

Our hearts were warmed as we read stories of Gen Z Christians refusing the lies their culture is feeding them. Instead, they’re inviting us to taste and see with them that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8).

Personal Reflections

In TGC’s contest guidelines , we provided three prompts that allowed writers to reflect on their own lives as a means of speaking to their generation. Gen Zers are stereotypically called “screenagers” for spending a considerable amount of time on the internet. One prompt asked, “How has the gospel changed your relationship with your phone?” Many who chose this prompt were aware of their temptation to depend on their devices. They want to view their phones as tools, not as extra limbs.

Other writers shared why they’re considering full-time vocational ministry, knowing it’ll come at great cost. They’re willing to lay aside dream jobs with well-paying salaries for the sake of serving the Lord. Having to stand firm in the faith amid a deconstructing culture, they see themselves as equipped to reach their generation.

The most selected prompt was “When did the Lord love you by not giving you what you wanted?” By withholding something these young people wanted (though it was often a good thing), the Lord in his kindness revealed sin in their lives, drawing them closer to himself. What a beautiful picture of what our loving Father does for us, his children (Heb. 12:5–11).

We pray your hearts will be warmed and your souls edified as you read these essays (and TGC will be publishing more of them over the coming months).

Among the essays, three pieces stood out as well-crafted, thoughtful, and engaging. Our editorial team was clear about which winners to select, and we’re delighted to publish them on the site for you to read.

First Place: “ Who Was ‘i’ Without My iPhone? ” by Luke Simon

Luke opens his essay with these words: “Steve Jobs might’ve been a prophet. Or he at least predicted how his device would shape my future. After all, he placed the ‘i’ next to ‘Phone.’” Behind his screen, Luke Simon became luk3simon, forging a new identity and avoiding reality—and ultimately God. Eventually, he realized he needed a digital detox. Luke gives us practical ways to unhitch our identities from our phones, pointing us to the hope found in Jesus alone.

Second Place: “ How God’s ‘No’ to My Dream School Was a ‘Yes’ to the Local Church ” by Logan Watters

In her inspiring essay, Logan tells of how membership in a faithful, gospel-preaching church was a better pursuit than her dream school. And this made no sense to her friends. When we seek the Lord’s will and his plans above our own, the self-seeking world around us is left confused. Logan writes, “After a taste of [God’s] plans compared to mine, I don’t want anything else.”

Third Place: “ The Lord Loved Me by Giving Me a Broken Family ” by Karsten Harrison

In his essay, Karsten sees God’s love through unanswered prayer. Speaking to those who come from broken families, Karsten brings hope by pointing to the Lord’s steadfast love and the rich fellowship found with our church family. He writes, “God doesn’t simply give whatever we ask. Instead, we pray that his will would be accomplished, thus aligning our wills with his.” May we learn with him that God’s “No” always comes from his love for us and invites us to depend on him.

Take time today to read these essays and praise God for his faithfulness in his love toward us:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lam. 3:22–23)

Read more essays from young adults: 2022 and 2023 Contest Winners.

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Sheetal Devi, paralympian archer, captivates the world with a bull’s-eye in opening round

Team India's archer Sheetal Devi introduced herself to the world at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris by way of a perfect bull's-eye.

Devi, 17, is one of four armless archers competing at the Paralympics, and the only woman.

Team USA's Matt Stutzman, Belgium’s Piotr Van Montagu, Mexico’s Víctor Sardina Viveros do not have arms and use other body parts, like their feet, to load and fire a bow and arrow.

Devi has gone viral, with nearly 50 million views in one clip posted to X , for firing a bull’s-eye during the 1/8 elimination round of the women’s individual compound open event.

"Oh, what a start for Devi," the announcer said as the crowd roared.

Devi thanked the person who posted the clip.

"You’re the inspiration of billions of people now," the person responded. "May you always keep shining bright."

Responses to the clip have praised Devi, who went on to lose the round by a single point and was unable to advance to the quarterfinal.

Devi went on to win bronze along with Rakesh Kumar in the mixed compound archery event on Sept. 2.

She has other titles to her name. In 2023, she became the first female armless archer to win a medal at the Para World Championships, Olympics.com reported. She was also a gold medalist in at the Asian Para Games in 2023.

"Look how calm she is .. brilliantly done," one user wrote in response to a video of her bull’s-eye.

"Sheetal Devi is poetry in motion," another said.

"Pure bullseye! Absolutely impressive!!" a third added.

Devi was born without fully formed arms due to a rare congenital disorder called phocomelia that leads to underdeveloped limbs, Olympics.com reported.

She has been "athletically gifted" since childhood, per Olympics.com. She got into archery following a youth event organized by the Indian Army in 2021. Army coaches saw her "innate athleticism and confidence," the outlet reported.

U.S. archer Matt Stutzman, who was born without arms, has been a mentor to Devi, according to Paralympics.org.

“I want her to be successful,” Stutzman, who pioneered the technique Devi uses, told Paralympics.org.

Stutzman, who is at the 2024 Paralympics, also told the publication archers like Devi make him "OK" with the idea of retirement.

“I can retire now and be OK with everything. I’ve done really well, but the fact that we have other armless archers is way more important. It builds archery,” he said.

Randi Richardson is a reporter for NBC News' TODAY.com based in Brooklyn.

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