Folk Popular Culture Why is Popular Culture Widely

Folk & Popular Culture Why is Popular Culture Widely Distributed?

l Popular culture varies more in time than in place l l What does this mean? ? ? Material Posessions Unlike folk culture, pop culture does NOT reflect the local environment; looks the same everywhere Some regional differences in MDCs, but much less than in past; l l l Food Clothing Shelter

Popular Housing Styles l l Influences of shapes, materials, detailing etc. Modern house styles (1945 -60) l l “Family room” added in 1950 s Neo-eclectic house styles (since 1960)

Clothing Styles l l Clothing habits as reflection of type of work rather than environment (suit vs. jeans) Higher income = up-to-date wardrobe (especially women) l l Communication speed, manufacturing Diffusion; Travel, TV, Internet

Can you think of a clothing style that was adopted from folk costume?

Jeans l Became mainstream in US in 1960 s l l Price of jeans? ? l l l Used to be associated with low status, manual laborers $10 -? ? Value of Levi’s around the world What do jeans have to do with communism? ?

Popular Food Customs l l l Consumption patterns of alcohol & snack-foods Fast-food/Restaurants Variations within US much less significant than differences between US & LDCs

l Regional Differences within the United States l Americans may choose beverages or snacks based on what is produced, grown, or imported locally. l l Wine consumption relatively high in California where most of the U. S. production is located. Cultural backgrounds affect the amount and types of alcohol and snack foods consumed. l Relatively little alcohol is consumed in Utah because of the strong presence of the Church of Latter-day Saints that advocates against drinking alcohol. § l High consumption in Nevada where resorts located. Texans may prefer tortilla chips in greater numbers because of strong Hispanic American presence.

Alcohol Preferences in the U. S. Fig. 4 -12: Per capita consumption of rum (top) and Canadian whiskey (bottom) show different distributions and histories of diffusion.

Popular Food Culture l Differences among Countries l Cola preferences can be influenced by politics. l l l Soviet Union: Pepsi permitted for sale in country Russia: Many former Soviets switched to Coke, because Pepsi was associated with communism. Cola preferences can be influenced by religion. l Southwest Asia: Predominantly Muslim countries boycotted products sold in Jewish Israel—e. g. , Coke

Diffusing Popular Culture Through TV l Significant pop. custom for 2 reasons l l Most popular leisure activity in MDCs Most important mechanism for diffusing culture Diffusion from the United States to the rest of the world = 50 years Internet follows similar pattern l l More rapid pace Diffusion from the United States to the rest of the world = 10 years

Diffusion of TV, 1954– 1999 Fig. 4 -14: Television has diffused widely since the 1950 s, but some areas still have low numbers of TVs per population.

Diffusion of the Internet: Late Twentieth Century l l In 1995, Internet users in the United States accounted for more than half of the global users. By 2011, 77 percent of the U. S. population accessed the Internet. l Accounted for 10 percent of the global users. l Global share decreased by roughly 40 percent in less than 10 years.

Diffusion of Social Media: Twenty-First Century l Same diffusion pattern as TV and Internet l Facebook l l l In 2008, Facebook users in United States consisted of 1/3 of all global users. By 2011, global share decreased to 1/5. Twitter l l United States was source of 1/3 of all tweets in 2010. Second leader of tweets is India.

Diffusion of Facebook Figure 4 -21

Gov’t Control of TV l Private corporations vs. Government owned l l How do they make $$ l l CTV, City. TV, VS. CBC, TVO Ads, licenses Satellites banned (China, Saudi Arabia) l Gov’t censorship