Pop Culture

“Popular Culture is the new Babylon, into which so much art and intellect now flows, it is our Imperial Theater, Supreme Temple of the Western Eye. We live in the age of idols. The pagan past, never dead, flames again in our mystic hierarchies of stardom,” said Camille Paglia, who is an American author, teacher, and social critic. Pop culture affects teenagers negatively, because it changes the way they of themselves, how they associate with others, and how they express characteristics of their maturation. Popular culture is all around us and it influences many teens across the world. Teenagers are affected by pop culture in almost every aspect of life whether it is music, media, celebrities, fashion, and even literature. These kinds of things have become top priority for teenagers of today’s world. They have surrounded themselves by it and have grown to love, even worship pop culture.Popular culture has existed since the beginning of time. During every time period it has affected the people who live in it, affecting their thoughts, growth, development and actions. Popular culture has shaped the world in its own little way.

This is still happening today. Popular culture exists in every culture, changing them continuously. It also affects the interaction between cultures eventually affecting the culture of the world as a whole. An important characteristic of every teenager’s maturation is her self-definition. Self-definition can be defined as the way you see yourself. For teens, that image is influenced to a large extent by personal choices, which are, in turn, influenced by the images and associations teens glean from pop culture on a daily basis. Although researchers disagree on exactly the extent of these influences. For example, not every teenager that listens to gangster rap self-defines as a gangster. Researchers agree that pop culture has some impact on teenagers’ self-definition. Pop culture can provide benchmarks with which teenagers pin their self-definition. In this way, they see themselves take characteristics from the various celebrities and stimuli they see in pop culture. Lastly, self-definition can be intrinsically tied into self-esteem and confidence, two critical components of a healthy disposition throughout maturation and into adulthood.