Melting Pot Metaphor And Popular Culture
Response Paper 2: The “Melting Pot” Metaphor and Popular Culture
People commonly describe America as a “melting pot” because it consists of a variety of cultures that all mesh together to form a cohesive, united whole. However, the analogy can prove to be problematic and inaccurate to describe American society when looking at the big picture. The problem with comparing American culture to a melting pot is that “it has never adequately captured the diverse experiences of exclusion and adjustment of non-White migrants with strong ethnic ties, or many immigrant groups who have lived in the United States for generations” (Sorrells, pp. 107-108). This means that the melting pot does not take into consideration that some immigrants do not easily adapt to the American culture. The ingredients of the melting pot do not simply form into one final result, but rather, form into a final product with some uncooked components. Not every migrant is going to be willing to conform to the cultures practiced in U.S. society, especially those with strong cultural and ethnic roots. …show more content…
The ideology of pluralism emphasizes on maintaining ethnic and cultural values, norms, and practices.
Pluralism serves as a challenger to the melting pot ideology, as it strives to illustrate the inaccuracy of the metaphor and focuses more on accepting other cultures other than the White culture practiced in American society. I believe a more suitable metaphor to describe the mixing of cultures in American society would be “salad bar.” When you think of a salad, you think of lettuce, tomatoes, dressing, and other vegetables all mixed in together. In a melting pot, you have a mixture of items all “melting” into one final product. With a salad, you have different ingredients that can be mixed and enjoyed separately, as well as together. This salad bar metaphor can also be used to illustrate the main objective of
pluralism.
Popular culture plays a large role in intercultural communication in the context of globalization. Popular culture can be defined as “systems and artifacts that the general populous or broad masses within a society share or about which most people have some understanding” (Sorrells p. 127). Its definition can also be expressed with three criteria: being central and pervasive in advanced capitalist systems, being produced by culture industries, and serving social functions. The television show, “The Jersey Shore,” serves as a perfect example of popular culture. In the SPICE panel discussion, Nepalese speaker Shikhar explained that “The Jersey Shore” has a huge following in Nepal, and that it is very surprising that Nepalese inhabitants may have more knowledge about “The Situation’s” personal life than Americans actually do. In fact, he claimed that many of the cast members’ Twitter and Facebook followers come from outside of the United States in general. Popular culture is often confused with the term “media”, which is defined as ways that messages are communicated. While it can be argued that the Jersey Show is a medium due to it being a “reality” television show, it portrays a message (albeit a stereotypical one) about how people in the Jersey Shore act and live. The portrayal is what has become known as popular culture. Other examples of popular culture include Hollywood, Disneyland, McDonald’s, hamburgers, celebrities, music videos, and sports.
Popular culture does not only have to be revolved around American media and systems. For example, the South Korean single, “Gangnam Style,” gained widespread attention all around the world and became an icon for Korean popular culture, along with artist Psy, who can thank media outlet and video sharing website, YouTube, for his widespread global attention. Popular culture is also part of the reason why the metaphor “melting pot” was assigned to describe the mixing of cultures in America. It allows for globalization and for synchronization of one culture, but it does not necessarily mean that those who have different, non-White cultural backgrounds are required to adapt to the social norm.
Works Cited
Shikhar. "SPICE Panel." SPICE Panel. California State University, Northridge, Northridge. 5 Mar. 2013. Lecture.
Sorrells, Kathryn. "Crossing Borders." Intercultural Communication: Globalization and Social Justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2013. 107-08. Print.
Sorrells, Kathryn. "Jamming Media and Popular Culture." Intercultural Communication: Globalization and Social Justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2013. 127. Print.
People commonly describe America as a “melting pot” because it consists of a variety of cultures that all mesh together to form a cohesive, united whole. However, the analogy can prove to be problematic and inaccurate to describe American society when looking at the big picture. The problem with comparing American culture to a melting pot is that “it has never adequately captured the diverse experiences of exclusion and adjustment of non-White migrants with strong ethnic ties, or many immigrant groups who have lived in the United States for generations” (Sorrells, pp. 107-108). This means that the melting pot does not take into consideration that some immigrants do not easily adapt to the American culture. The ingredients of the melting pot do not simply form into one final result, but rather, form into a final product with some uncooked components. Not every migrant is going to be willing to conform to the cultures practiced in U.S. society, especially those with strong cultural and ethnic roots. …show more content…
The ideology of pluralism emphasizes on maintaining ethnic and cultural values, norms, and practices.
Pluralism serves as a challenger to the melting pot ideology, as it strives to illustrate the inaccuracy of the metaphor and focuses more on accepting other cultures other than the White culture practiced in American society. I believe a more suitable metaphor to describe the mixing of cultures in American society would be “salad bar.” When you think of a salad, you think of lettuce, tomatoes, dressing, and other vegetables all mixed in together. In a melting pot, you have a mixture of items all “melting” into one final product. With a salad, you have different ingredients that can be mixed and enjoyed separately, as well as together. This salad bar metaphor can also be used to illustrate the main objective of
pluralism.
Popular culture plays a large role in intercultural communication in the context of globalization. Popular culture can be defined as “systems and artifacts that the general populous or broad masses within a society share or about which most people have some understanding” (Sorrells p. 127). Its definition can also be expressed with three criteria: being central and pervasive in advanced capitalist systems, being produced by culture industries, and serving social functions. The television show, “The Jersey Shore,” serves as a perfect example of popular culture. In the SPICE panel discussion, Nepalese speaker Shikhar explained that “The Jersey Shore” has a huge following in Nepal, and that it is very surprising that Nepalese inhabitants may have more knowledge about “The Situation’s” personal life than Americans actually do. In fact, he claimed that many of the cast members’ Twitter and Facebook followers come from outside of the United States in general. Popular culture is often confused with the term “media”, which is defined as ways that messages are communicated. While it can be argued that the Jersey Show is a medium due to it being a “reality” television show, it portrays a message (albeit a stereotypical one) about how people in the Jersey Shore act and live. The portrayal is what has become known as popular culture. Other examples of popular culture include Hollywood, Disneyland, McDonald’s, hamburgers, celebrities, music videos, and sports.
Popular culture does not only have to be revolved around American media and systems. For example, the South Korean single, “Gangnam Style,” gained widespread attention all around the world and became an icon for Korean popular culture, along with artist Psy, who can thank media outlet and video sharing website, YouTube, for his widespread global attention. Popular culture is also part of the reason why the metaphor “melting pot” was assigned to describe the mixing of cultures in America. It allows for globalization and for synchronization of one culture, but it does not necessarily mean that those who have different, non-White cultural backgrounds are required to adapt to the social norm.
Works Cited
Shikhar. "SPICE Panel." SPICE Panel. California State University, Northridge, Northridge. 5 Mar. 2013. Lecture.
Sorrells, Kathryn. "Crossing Borders." Intercultural Communication: Globalization and Social Justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2013. 107-08. Print.
Sorrells, Kathryn. "Jamming Media and Popular Culture." Intercultural Communication: Globalization and Social Justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2013. 127. Print.