American Music And Pop Culture Influence On Adolescent Identity

American popular culture and music play a large role in molding the thinking and forming the personalities of youngsters and adolescents, as American media targets young Americans. Once attached, it’s very difficult for an American adolescent to rid themselves of the sneaky messages infiltrating their mind. The advancement of technology has helped the media in taking control of American youth, controlling them into imitating what is on television, online, music and other American media. When an American celebrity like Miley Cyrus or Lindsay Lohan are seen promoting an appearance or style, young Americans will make a trend out of it the following day. The media in America has a strong grip on its nation’s youth and on the youth around the world,
Nowadays adolescents escape from their true identity, and instead are influenced by what is secretly infused into their minds through the music they listen to and pop culture their identify with. The low self-confidence growing inside of American adolescents because of their appearance discourages them to mold their identity in a manner they prefer. Alternatively they would prefer to have smaller noses, a fake buttocks or larger breasts to avoid self-induced depression and other mental worries caused by not “fitting in” an artificial society. Adolescents are influenced to follow popular culture standards, instead of forming their own beliefs and being more individualistic from society. Adolescents are made dependent on popular culture and music in order to be told how to act, speak and dress. If for example, Iggy Azalea, a singer, sings about being raised in a bad neighbourhood, and succeeding by working hard, gaining autonomy and having self-confidence, but simultaneously, Azalea has went through plastic surgery to grow her hip, buttocks and breasts, because she believes this is accepted in the popular culture
While appearance has always been significant, mainstream acceptance of cosmetic procedures has formed a society that praises looks over talent. A paper authored by Maria Munoz,“The Perfect Me: Cosmetic Surgery and the Social Body” described a woman’s body as a “historically colonized territory,” exclaiming that society always viewed a woman’s body as something it owns and can manipulate freely. Media and advertisers portray certain norms, and “females who do not follow through, risk being ignored by men and forgotten by society (30).” This is why female adolescents imitate famous people in order to form their own personalities, because celebrities are the icons of music and popular