Introducing Popular Jane...

The idea for this blog came from the lecture, "Race and Ethnicity" and focuses on the idea of culturelessness among the white race. I think it is important to define race and the definition given in the lecture states that race is "a way of classifying or grouping people based upon physical/biological traits which have been given social significance." Another interesting topic discussed was the idea that many white people carry around a sense of guilt for the domination white groups have traditionally practiced over non-white groups. The "invisibility" of whiteness was discussed and the fact that the norm is to assume that white is not a race and does not have a culture. It was mentioned that the words diversity and multiculturalism only pertain to non-white groups.

I think that this is a feeling that pervades many Caucasians and drives them to construct an identity for themselves that is not based around race. Ethnicity is a common way for many people to do this, but younger generations are using very different tools. For the under-30 set, it seems very common to identify yourself by what you like, instead of who you are. This is where pop culture comes in. Pop culture is, essentially, only what is popular among the masses and it seems that what is popular is defined by the media. We can see what trends are in through television, radio, movies, magazines and the Internet. So it seems that for many young Caucasians white culture is popular culture. We have adopted what is portrayed in the media as cool for our sense of identity. The sense of guilt that many white people feel about the past treatment of other races has led to the idea that having an idea of "white culture" is a bad thing. We do not want to be perceived as setting ourselves apart or above other races for fear of seeming racist. This also contributes to the adopting of pop culture, because this doesn't force us to identify with out race. We do not want to identify ourselves as white, we want to identify with out ethnic backgrounds, with a certain subculture or through the things we like, because this is easier than identifying with a race that has a background of unfair domintion of other people.

So, because we now see many elements of pop culture as white culture, this blog features different popular things, such as subcultures, websites, fashion choices and music. By looking at these different things and understanding them, we can get a sense of what Caucasians use to construct their identities and sense of culture. By looking at what is popular in the media, we can see the tools that many youth use the construct their identites around what is popular instead of what is "white."

This blog contains twelve different posts about all different things and you can scroll down to the bottom and click "older posts" to see those that are not shown on this page. You can also use the tool on the right side of the page to choose specific posts. Because this is media, and to be a part of media you must have an audience, you can choose to view the comments readers have left, or look at the polls they have voted in. Enjoy!

Cyber (subculture)

This one is a little less visible than either the Hipster or the Emo kid, and you aren't likely to find any Cybers hanging around campus. A Cyberkid hangs out at trance clubs and listens to hardcore electronica. If you're at a rave or a hard dance club, then you're likely to be surrounded by Cyberkids. As you might guess, many of them are also interested in technology, existing and new. Wikipedia tells us that Cybers are also interested in things like hackers, artificial intelligence, and depictions of a dystopian future and these are common themes in the music they listen to. This group is still relatively small and definitely not mainstream, but you can still find them in certain clubs throughout Canada and the UK. So far, this subculture has only been found in small patches in the United States. The clothes androgynous, industrial, robotic and include a lot of neon and glow-in-the-dark plastic hair.

So if you're a lonely Cyber in Ottawa, having found no club that caters to your needs you can head to The Savage Garden Nightclub in Toronto or Les Foufounes Électriques in Montreal...

Wiki It...

To begin at the beginning, Popular Jane focuses on Pop Culture and all things trendy. For a good definition, we'll use one of the most POPULAR web tools around today, Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_culture
It mentions that pop culture is really just what is popular within a social context and it gives examples of films, fashions or music but I think that it encompasses more than that. To me it includes television, electronics, websites, cultural identities, Internet phenomena and more. In this blog I will attempt to introduce all kinds of examples of popular culture. Which brings us to our first...Wikipedia!

With over 10 million articles, you can can learn just about anything you care to know on Wikipedia. Though it's not considered a scholarly source, the website has defined many a tricky concept or word for the confused student. It is also an excellent way to procrastinate as you can get lost in the website, starting with Andy Warhol, moving to Campbell's Soup company, until you end going from the Meatballs page to Bill Murray. Sadly, I actually did this.

So, go ahead, consume the knowledge Wikipedia has to offer. Want to know the exact size of a Smartie? Just Wiki it...

Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like is a blog devoted to all things, well, that white people like. Though it's name may seem controversial, this website isn't about racism or white supremacy or anything like that. It's just about stuff that a certain sect of society may like, and this sect is the white middle-class. Again, this may seem a bit one-dimensional, but I think there's more to this blog than that. The idea that white is not a culture has been discussed in our lectures and I think that this blog attempts to address this. It's trying to give a culture to an otherwise (perceived) culture-less race. So check it out, with an open mind and the idea that any other race can talk exclusively about their culture without punishment, but because of the history of the white race we feel guilt in excluding anyone. I even feel uncomfortable writing this in case I'm coming off as racist...

So feel no guilt and enjoy the hummus...apparently white people like hummus...

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

Tickle me Emo...

Though the term Emo actually refers to music from the mid 1980's to 90's, it has been appropriated by a subculture made up mostly of teens. Though Emo, which is short for emotional, is on it's way out in most circles, you can still find patches of young teens who identify themselves as Emo. Calling yourself Emo used to be about music, but today's Emo kid culture actually revolves around fashion. There is a musical element to it, such as listening to bands like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance or Paramore, but it seems to be more about your hair.

Wikipedia tells us that "Today emo is more commonly tied to fashion than to music, and the term "emo" is sometimes stereotyped with tight jeans on males and females alike, long fringe (bangs) brushed to one side of the face or over one or both eyes, dyed black, straight hair, tight t-shirts (sometimes short sleeved) which often bear the names of emo bands (or other designer shirts), studded belts, belt buckles, canvas sneakers or skate shoes or other black shoes (often old and beaten up) and thick, black horn-rimmed glasses. This fashion has at times been characterized as a fad."

So as this one goes out, what mark will the Emo kids have left on us? How to look good while being sad?

The kind of girl who wears a headband around her forehead...

A trend that came from Hollywood and has mainly been tried by Boho girls, the skinny headband around the forehead is in. It has been called many things, usually some variation of either "fashion-forward" or "stupid and ugly." Though it's still somewhat of a risk to try it, especially if you don't have the right hair, I've seen signs of it moving into the more mainstream girls wardrobe. I mean, if all the girls on this cycle of America's Next Top Model are wearing them in the opening credits, then they must be cool right? I've seen friends wearing them for a night out or a girl or two wearing them in class.
But the scariest part is their growing influence on me. A year ago, when they were still a very new trend, on any given day you could have asked me about them. And do you know what I would have said? A lot of different things, but all basically meaning, "stupid and ugly."
Now it seems that I secretly want to be the kind of girl who can pull off a headband around my forehead. I can see myself walking around, with some sort of Boho outfit that compliments my braided headband and when people ask if it's new, I'll say, "No I wear this all the time." Which isn't true, because all day I'll be worrying if it looks silly, or if my hair is properly puffy enough above the headband and it'll be so stressful that I'll never wear it again. But I'll be able to identify as Bohemian Chic for that day...

Chick Lit

Chick Lit is a fairly new (only about 10 years old) genre of literature that is aimed at single, middle-class professional women. This same women is usually our heroine and the plot will usually include a love interest, an obsession with shopping and a career change. Sex is discussed frankly, along with self-esteem issues. Many times the heroine's life has fallen apart or become dull and through the course of the novel, she is healed. They are written in a light-hearted style that keeps readers entertained and interested in the plot.
Though some would say Chick Lit novels are becoming as formulaic as a romance novel, there are definitely some out there that are worth the read. Helen Fielding's novel Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination, is part chick lit and part spy novel, with Olivia following someone she believes to be a terrorist all over the world and trying to expose him.
This style of novel has become some popular (many novels have been on the bestseller list) that is has spawned sub-genres. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez writes Chica Lit and there's also Christian Chick Lit, Matron Chick Lit, Teen Chick Lit and Indian Chick Lit.
As these novels continue to grow in popularity, we are seeing the birth of a new genre in literature. Though these novels may not always deal with serious themes, they may be turning a whole new generation of women on to reading and that's never a bad thing.
So if you're stuck on an airplane or heading for the beach, pick up some Chick Lit. I would recommend starting with the basics - Bridget Jones Diary.

Blogging is so fin, I'd rather go bust a Moby...

Translation: Blogging is so bad/undesirable, I'd rather go dance...

To give you a taste of this post, I thought I'd throw some Hipster slang into the title. An alternative subculture, the Hipster derives it's name from the word hip or hep, and hip is what it's all about. The Hipster Handbook gives us an excellent definition "Hipster - One who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed cool by the cool. (Note: it is no longer recommended that one use the term "cool"; a Hipster would instead say "deck.") The Hipster walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them and shuns or reduces to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream. A Hipster ideally possesses no more than 2% body fat."

You know you've seen them. They are (according to themselves) impossibly cool, so cool that they no longer use that word. The girls are almost exclusively dressed in American Apparel and that guys own the same jeans that I do! I've noticed the Hipster is far more prevalent in Ottawa, than in my home-base Vancouver, but this could be attributed to the fact that my main environment is now a university campus.

The thing that defines this subculture is the interest of all things "deck." Unlike many other identities, this group doesn't have a unifying political or social cause. They base their identities on what they like, not who they are or what they believe. Which, when you think about it, seems to ring true for most Canadians. It's all about being cool, just don't confuse them with scenesters...

Formerly PageSixSIxSix

Internet fixture and celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton, spends his days writing all the juicy gossip about celebs. He seems to get information earlier than most tabloids and constantly tries to "out" those celebrities he feels are in the closet. While his information seems to be earlier than most and his doodling over the stars' pictures is amusing, when did he become famous? He has a TV show, a radio show, a blog, has just released a song, appears in numerous magazines, newspapers and music videos and is evening winning awards such as the Terra Hispanic of the Year. But his influence is also a bit frightening. When Perez recommends a song or an artist, chances are that in a few weeks that artist will be all over the radio and one of the top downloaded songs on iTunes. It's said that Mika and Katy Perry owe their initial success to Perez Hilton. When he says a Celeb is now "over," it seems they fall from fame. Now he's even influencing politics and famously bashed McCain and endorsed Obama. Perez has become a part of the media, but uses his stance as a blogger as an excuse for bias. Whether hes dangerous or not, his site can still become addicting!

http://perezhilton.com/

The Great Facebook Addiction

You know it had to be done. Today's popular culture cannot be discussed without Facebook. Though it was only launched in 2004, Mark Zuckerbergs creation has exploded. With 110 million users worldwide, it's obvious that we're all addicted. Whether we're "creeping" someones profile, looking at pictures or joining groups, it seems we can't get enough. It has expanded, with applications that some people love but most find annoying, (Seriously, I do NOT want to play zombie tag with you, so stop asking.) There's the Facebook Marketplace, where you can sell or buy online. And I personally know someone who found their current roommate through the roommate search application. That still doesn't answer the question of why we're so addicted, checking Facebook at least once a day...

My answer is that we're all nosy. We all like to know what going on with our Facebook "friends" - most of whom are actually slight acquaintances.

It also goes in the routine of procrastinating. Check email, check facebook, check whatever blogs I'm into at the moment, start homework after 50 minutes.

Whatever it is that attracts us to faceb - oh, gotta go, somebody just wrote on my wall...

www.facebook.com

High Fugshion

Celebrities and fashion go hand in hand and both are deeply entrenched in pop culture. We have a fascination for what famous people do and especially what they wear. Personally, I find it MOST entertaining when celebs are in between stylists and their bad taste in clothes runs wild! Enter the FUG.

http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/

This has been named in one of the top 25 most powerful blogs and is Internet equivalent to the fashion police. Behold, an example of fug:



As Heather and Jessica would say, "Fugly is the new pretty!"

10 Dollar Mix

Want to know what music has everybody singing in the shower and dancing alone in their bedrooms? For only 10 dollars, you too can own the music that the youth of Canada are listening to - today. Artists come and go but it's a pop culture experts job to be well versed in all of them. You can't be seen listening to the wrong Pussycat Dolls song, singing along to Don'tcha! It changes pretty fast, but you can always keep up to date on the biggest hits by checking out iTunes. The iTunes Store keeps a list of its top ten most downloaded songs and it's constantly updated. So what's fashionable in music right now? iTunes gives us this:

1. Womanizer - Britney Spears
2. If I Were a Boy - Beyonce
3. Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
4. Let it Rock - Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne
5. So What - Pink
6. Gotta Be Somebody - Nickelback
7. Disturbia - Rihanna
8. Live Your Life - T.I. featuring Rihanna
9. Love Lockdown - Kanye West
10. The End - Andrew F

So there you have it, the most downloaded songs in Canada. Danced to in cars all over the country, though I'd be inclined to throw Nickelback out the window...