The Influence of Pop Culture

Pop culture helps determine and influence our choices on a regular basis. Watching the Kardashians or reading InStyle magazines creates ideologies of what we in a sense stand against. We start to believe that the material items we see in the media are a necessity. When I looked around my apartment for labels it wasn’t hard to come across them. The first one I noticed was my Lululemon book bag that I use for school. Lululemon is the new craze for people that participate in yoga or working out. The prices are extremely high, but since everyone is wearing this particular item with that specific logo it becomes almost a necessity in some peoples minds. Working out has become more than just a concern for your health, you are also expected to look good while doing it. The purse I wear on a regular basis is Rebecca Minkoff and although the label is hidden most people can automatically tell what brand purse it is because of the particular style. I see these purses all over including my neighborhood, television shows, and in online advertisements. It doesn’t just end at physical material items. I also read a fashion blog regularly, called Cupcakes and Cashmere. Emily Schuman, the blogger has created a career out of her blog. Brands such as Coach, Essie, Este Lauder, etc. pay Emily to post entries that include their brands to keep the readers aware of what items are being offered. I like reading the blog because I get ideas, but sometimes these ideas cause me to purchase items.

Although the two material items I purchased were both on sale, I was pushed to purchase them because they were on sale and they were that particular brand. When I see a name brand continuously it does to a certain extent make me want the item and also makes me believe that the item is more dependable and durable because many people choose that particular brand. The blog definitely holds a sense of value system for me because I trust that Emily knows the up to date styles and she posts brands that can fulfill that style. Pop culture influences everyone. We are surrounded by material items and advertisements daily and it influences our decisions to purchase. 

Beyond My Cultural Space

I decided to visit an ethnic restaurant to become more familiar with a cultural space that is not my own. The restaurant I chose is called, Irazu and specializes in Costa Rican food and is located in Bucktown, a neighborhood in Chicago. Although the neighborhood is not known to have a high population of Costa Ricans, the restaurant is one of the most well known and highly rated in the Chicago area. Upon my arrival there was a long wait, which gave me time to observe my surroundings. Since the restaurant was a ‘bring your own booze’ (byob) many people seemed very loud, talkative, and outgoing. The atmosphere seemed to be very free and friendly oriented. The wait for a table was taking much longer than expected so I gave the hostess my phone number and asked him to give me a call once the table was ready. The hostess replies by saying if he forgets to call just be back within 30 minutes and he will seat us. I thought that was a very interesting interaction and gave me the impression that he was either unprofessional or the restaurant is more relaxed than others in the city and strict rules is not part of their persona. I feel like in restaurants that I familiarize myself with wouldn’t have replied in that manner. Restaurants that I have been to would have either had rules against calling customers when their table was ready or they would have taken the phone number down and made sure to call once a table opens up.

While I was waiting in line for the restroom, a waiter asked me where I was from in Latin America. I was confused because I am Greek and Irish. I responded by telling him I wasn’t actually from Latin America and the conversation ended there. I wondered where he thought I was from and if that would have initiated a longer conversation than it did.

 The restaurants ambiance/setting was less personal and was more for larger groups and parties. I felt like, as I mentioned before, rules were not enforced and even people that were eating there felt they could unload and somewhat forget their manners. Putting napkins on your lap, using appropriate language, and watching how much you drink all seemed irrelevant.  It was a fun atmosphere, but was different from what I am used to.

It is clear that the restaurant has expanded from a small “hole in the wall” to a larger indoor and outdoor restaurant. With that being said, it shows that the restaurant is a popular establishment for people of many different backgrounds. I feel like if some people were not welcome it would create a much different atmosphere than it does now, maybe even negative. There is the possibility that the restaurant wouldn’t have the funds to expand and would still be a smaller establishment. People of other backgrounds wouldn’t have the opportunity to become familiar with the Costa Rican cuisine and food is a great way to have different cultures come together.  

Family Histories

My yiayia (grandma) turned 91 years old last month and was born in 1922. There have been drastic changes in the world and how we live from that time to now. My yiayia grew up on a farm in Michigan and her family of six helped raise and produce the vegetables and fruits. That is much different than how I grew up as a young girl. I grew up in a house in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and had much less responsibility. The households were much different as well. My parents got divorced at an early age and my yiayia mentioned that back in her time divorce never crossed anyone’s mind. Now, it is rare to see married couples making it without a divorce. My yiayia talked about how dating was much different than today. She said she used to go dancing at the Aragon ballroom and she can’t believe that people no longer go dancing. My yiayia and papou (grandpa) were married at a young age and worked extremely hard for their fortune. My yiayia said that if you worked hard you could make a great deal of money and now it’s much different. My papou worked as a salesman at a Chevrolet dealership and was one of the best. My yiayia was able to go on work trips with my papou and travel around the world. They went to work events where the wives were given costly gifts. This type of treatment in a work setting is very rare now. You are lucky if you are receiving a paycheck.

I learned that my yiayia’s sister traveled to Greece and caught a disease and died at the young age of 32. I knew her sister passed away early on, but I did not know the cause. My yiayia also mentioned that she enjoyed living in Chicago because many of her family friends lived in the Chicago area and it allowed her to keep in touch with her Greek heritage, as that was a very important aspect of her life. My yiayia married a Greek man and still to this day surrounds herself with people of the same culture. She attends church and enjoys the social aspect and continues to talk proudly of her heritage.

The community that my yiayia grew up in was much more closely knit than today. She surrounded herself by people that shared the same culture and spoke Greek and continued to hold onto her cultural roots through her life in the United States. 

Oral Histories of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina is one of the most devastating natural disasters that have happened in the United States. It cost many people to lose their families, homes, and basically anything that they have worked for their entire lives. After viewing a few survivor stories I chose to look further into Printiss Polk. I chose Polk because he was close to my age during the disaster and he has a different perspective compared to what I have heard or seen in the media. Polk was an active survivor and believes that there was a lack of response during the aftermath of the storm. This was also the case in the interview with the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin. I watched the CNN video clip about the aftermath of the storm and the reporters seemed to leave out most of the gruesome facts. They talked about affects of the storm, including health issues because of the water, but left out what was going to be done to help these people or what these people are doing to survive. Polk talks about how the police were killing people and going over the top instead of rescuing. Families were obviously separated during this time, but it is a lot different when hearing firsthand from someone that experienced it. He talked about how he hopes his mother survived and that he doesn’t know when he will see her again because she doesn’t have a cellphone. I was 15 years old when this disaster happened and I remember hearing about the actual hurricane and the affects of it instead of the perspective of the people firsthand. I feel like the media made a big deal of the situation, but didn’t offer the outsiders a good understanding of what was really happening to these unfortunate people. I believe that the social science approach is the most suitable choice when studying these particular oral histories. The approach observes subjects firsthand and asks questions according to what they are in search of. When viewing these oral histories on Hurricane Katrina it offers us some evidence of what happens in crises like these. It helps us determine how people might act in future natural disasters and prepares us for what may come.

Questions:

1.     Do you believe that there were more deaths caused by the hurricane or by the lack of response during the aftermath?

2.     Did the majority of your friends leave home or did they stick around?

3.     When hearing or listening to the media do you find many false statements?

4.     Do you think that Mayor Nagin did his part during this crisis?

5.     How do you view the country or even the state of Louisiana now that you see how this natural disaster was handled?

By: Caroline Donahue