So What Does This All Mean To Me?

American pop culture, what does that mean to me? As we near the end of our class I can honestly say it means a lot. Prior to taking this class I regarded pop culture as something that we hear about in the media and keep up with what we desire. Now I understand how much pop culture really impacts our society and all the different implications of it. Would I say I fully understand pop culture? of course not, to do so would be arrogant. There is still much to learn and understand but it feels nice to have a better understanding than what I had before this class.

Do I still have stereotypes toward people of different races? To answer the question truthfully I would say yes. As we have learned, many of the stereotypes found in society are not necessarily negative and many are done so subconsciously. Some stereotypes can be positive as they are a means to categorize things and place things into subgroups. It all depends on your intentions. I stereotype as a way to quickly identify certain groups of people and get a general image in my head. of course this has its problems, however it is effective for me. As a marketing major, stereotyping has it benefits as it's a way to classify groups of people into different demographics. For example, say I was promoting a new youth basketball stadium in a mixed neighborhood. Based upon the stereotype that African Americans like basketball, I might begin my marketing efforts by learning and targeting the trends of black students first and then branch out. Was this wrong of me? I would say no, just a starting ground.

When it comes to pop culture I have come to realize various values that I wasn't sure I had. After taking this class I greatly respect the roles of rituals and heroes in our society as well as how different people perceive different things. Understanding perception is the greatest value I will take away from this class. After speaking to different people in the class and better learning cultures and norms of different people, I have a stronger appreciation for different perspectives. Taking things from someone else's perspective instead of your own really allows you to critique different subjects as well as compare and differentiate your conclusions with that of someone else.

Through the rest of my career and life I will always take with me the aspect of perceptions. From a marketing standpoint, to understand how different people view the same material is crucial in understanding your demographics. Pop culture is always different and things come and go, to be able to understand how concepts such as rituals, stereotypes and myths are perceived by different people will the most powerful skill set I will leave with.

To those of you who enjoyed setting up a blog and utilizing it, I strongly recommend you maintain one and write about whatever interests you. To have a voice that can be read by virtually anyone is amazing and you really get some interesting feedback surrounding your subject.

May all of your future endeavors be bright,
-Chris-