Pop Icon- Taylor Swift

Popular Culture Blog - Weekly Analysis 1

Due: February 28, 2016

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an icon as a very successful person who is also admired (Icon, 2016). This same dictionary defines a myth as “a story that was told in an ancient culture to explain a practice, belief, or natural occurrence” (Myth, 2016).

            Taylor Swift is a true icon. She started out as a country singer and made the decision to switch to purely pop music in 2014 (Scott, 2015). This helped sky rocket her career. She, of course, was a star when singing country, but when she made the change to pop music she became a mega-star. Her music is 100 percent relatable and meaningful; so many young girls look up to her. She has won numerous awards for her music including album of the year at the Grammy’s. In her acceptance speech she spoke to young women watching and listening about success and wanted them to know that focus and determination will help accomplish anything, however there may be those that try to falsely take recognition. She went on to say that the best feeling will be realizing that it was you who obtained that success. She is such an inspiration in life and her music, which is why she is an icon.

            So many of Taylor Swifts’ song lyrics are myths, myths of romance and myths of hope, all perfectly complied together to create stories. These are typically stories of her life that has either already happened or are stories that she hopes to happen in the future. Taylor sings of her break-ups and lost loves and of the “perfect” relationship or the “perfect” man that she hopes to stumble upon and live happily ever after with. These are examples of myths of romance and myths of hope. What sets her apart from the others though, is that these songs are not always slow and gloomy, they are upbeat and fun. These song lyrics are so relatable to every young girl listening which gives Taylor and her fans that special connection.

References

Icon. (2016, February 23). Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/icon

Myth. (2016, February 23). Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth

Scott, N. (2015, December 21). FTW culture’s woman of the year: Taylor Swift. FTW! Culture. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/12/ftw-cultures-woman-of-the-year-taylor-swift

The next Contemporary Icon is...

Popular Culture Blog- Icon Analysis
Due: February 25, 2016

The three Icons that come to mind when I think of contemporary icons, are Princess Diana, One Direction, and Pope Francis. These three all have a great deal of fame and followers and have truly become idolized by society.

Princess Diana was so well loved and idolized by the people that everyone was captivated by every move she made. She was not only known for being the Princess of Wales, but mostly because of her intense work with numerous charities. Her love and support for these charities created many followers and increased her fame. Unfortunately, this fame and is what caused her death in 1997. A media photographer trying to get a close up of her in a car and caused her car to crash and Princess Diana passed. To this day, many still show great love for her, proving that she was and is still an idol.

One Direction is a "boy band" that formed in 2010 with 5 members from the United Kingdom. When their record launched in America 12-18 year old girls all over the country went crazy for them. They have been topping the charts since day one with their singles and their album sales and their concerts sell out in a matter of minutes. It doesn't hurt that the band members are good looking.  In 2015 one of their members Zayn quit the band and went solo, but that did not stop the fans, it only made them love the band even more and sympathize for them. You cannot go a hour without hearing a One Direction song on the radio now a days. I feel that this band is an icon because of the number of followers they have and how fast that number grew. I feel they will be around for a while. 

Pope Francis is the Holy Father of the Catholic Church. To me, he is an Idol. I do not idolize him but he has certainly regained faith for some people who have been struggling within the Catholic church. He actually has a twitter page, and at one time, he had the largest number of followers. He loves to be involved and actually touch people. He wants to be among his people and when he visits places, he doesn't just drive through, he stops, walks around and greets people. He even stops to bless crippled children. He is someone that I look up to and I think that is what an idol ultimately is-- someone to look up to!

Staying Connected

Popular Culture Blog

Due Sunday, February 21, 2016

What is popular culture, and what does it mean to you?

Popular culture is the belief, behaviors, attitudes, customs, traditions, and artifacts, shared by a group of people. It is learned by how people develop arts and practices; therefore, it is not determined by race, age, or sex. 

To me, popular culture means a person, thing, idea, event, and place that has a large part to do with society as a whole. Something that has even potentially changed society.

Why is an understanding of popular culture relevant to you in a business environment and in your present and future career?

It is important to understand popular culture in the business world because it is ever changing. I am in the accounting field and I need to stay relevant in popular culture just as much as other fields would. If I would want to change jobs or if a job hunter would be looking for someone like me, I would want to have myself out there. Also, clients are typically up to date with popular culture to stay ahead of the game; I would also want to make sure I know what is going on with popular culture so that I do not lose a potential client. Finally, being relevant on social media sites such as Linked In could help my future career by other employers seeking me out for a job based on endorsements of others.

What would you consider to be an example of a pop culture artifact? And why would you choose it?

Social Media is my example of a pop culture artifact. All of the sites described below connect friends, businesses, strangers, long lost loves, and family to one another across the Internet. Linked In is a social media tool that is used to help recruit candidates for job placement, endorse others for their knowledge, and increase ones reputation. Facebook and Twitter can help businesses put their names “out there” and market for free. These two websites have also connected friends over the Internet for some time now. Instagram is a bit newer but growing in popularity with the younger crowd. Pintrest helps people share ideas through pictures and videos and people can even sell things there. I do not think that our children will know a world without these social media outlets or at least some sort of social media!