Signs Abound

Life is a Party

From every ethnic group, language, counterculture, social status, and state: everyone loves to have a good time and let loose in America. Partying is a universal language that everyone knows how to speak. Where drinking games, dance floors, and even lending a cigarette can become the ultimate icebreaker. Although the party scene can be expressed in various forms and rituals, they all possess an ecstatic allure that colonizes its own egalitarian society. This underground subculture always seems to offer various ethnic groups, those guys that “can out drink you all night,” the latest music, and every high school cliché you can imagine. “Only by breaking the rules do we discover who we are” becomes the underlying motto of this counterculture (Frank 165). It’s an intangible feeling that lets us escape from that work-a-holic mindset during the week, and find that rebellious care free lifestyle we value during the weekends. Subsequently, that universal “frenzied sensibility of pure experience,” life on the edge, immediate gratification, and total freedom from moral restraint is what unites the American party subculture (Frank 164). Every generation has adopted their own trends of this revolution-from the rock n’ roll rebels of the sixties, the disco club scene in the eighties, and the techno/rave scene of the third millennium. It’s a universal quest for self-fulfillment and lifestyle experimentation that inevitably uncovers an eccentric wild side that yourself and others has never seen before. The products of the party subculture, experiences with friends, and the trips to strange lands with stranger people are memories that will last forever.

Frank, Thomas. "Commodify Your Dissent." Ed. Jack Solomon and Sonia Maasik. Signs of Life in the USA. Sixth ed. Boston/St. Martins, 2009. 165. Print.

  

'Meet you at the POV wash!'

In an elongated sit down at the car wash on Camp Pendleton, it became quickly apparent that the only existence of "class" with regards to peoples origin or ethnicity existed in the shiny new car they drove.  Over a period of just 2 hours, a multitude of beautiful luxury cars, sleek sports machines, and ground pounding trucks of colossal size made their way up and into the wash zone.  Not every POV (Personally Owned Vehicle) was deliciously classy though, as there were a few clunkers and "middle class" cars present.  As opposed to the lifestyle contradiction that America Ferrera lives in in her hit show 'Ugly Betty', economic and cultural origin are of little importance when cruising your newly washed luxury sedan on a military base that houses an almost equal amount of ethnic groups.  The nicer the car you see driving through the suburbia, usually the richer and more privileged the driver would as well be.  On base though, one can see that quite the opposite applies.  Of all the most expensive POV's I observed being scrubbed down, it was shocking to see that a majority were owned by either military men and women of lower rank.  Although, these younger, more materialistic warriors don't make nearly as much as the Officer ranks and senior enlisted, they purchased their very own class level by means of their car.  To them, a squeaky clean 8 foot tall Dodge Ram with a 4" lift and 34" tires is there way of escaping their lowly ranked economical origin and feeling connected with a higher class of style, luxury, and money.  Much like Ugly Betty's makeover though, in her home town, she is looked at like "goddess to men" (Traister 676), but once she stepped foot into Manhattan, her "classy" change is met with the backfired response that "Queen's pretty is not Manhattan pretty. Poor pretty is not rich pretty" (Traister 676) In the case of the "boots" or low ranking Marines with the fancy, debt causing cars, "Lance Corporal classy is not Liuetenant classy".  Even still, young Marines with not nearly a big enough pay check continue to endulge in the most fancy of cars just to try to appeal to all as high and mighty and above their pre-judged expectations.  This isn't the best portrayal of class,as the car sits in a barracks parking lot, gasless.

Traister, Rebecca.  “Class Act.”  Signs of Life in the U.S.A.  Ed. Sonia Maasik & Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 676. Print.

Wed March 24: Uncertain Internet Access for Jim Tonight!

Sorry scholars, my Internet access seems spotty tonight from my home. So if you try to reach me and do not get a response, please know that I am not ignoring you!

See you tomorrow!

Jim

Go Home Kook!

Not only did I observe the kind of class discrimination found in Traister and Price's essays, but I was a contributer to it. The other day I went surfing at my favorite spot, a reeling point break over a beautiful reef in Carlsbad. A pretty serene and tranquil environment, definitely not the place you'd expect to find hatred based on where you're from. Once in the lineup, I observed that most of the locals where already in their respective spots, gazing longingly towards the horizon, scanning for the next wave. I did however, also notice a few new-comers, and to add insult to injury, they were on foam boards! This, I could tell, would not stand well with the locals, or me. I took off on a wave that I was particularly stoked about, and all is well until one of the newbies drops in on me with their ungainly styrofoam water-craft. I nearly collided with him and have to kick out of the wave early. Needless to say, I was fuming. A couple of the older locals noticed what the guy had done and they started calling him out on it, and for the rest of the session, didn't let him get a single wave. Becuase these "transplants" had not taken the time and committment to wait their turn for their waves, after the locals had gotten their share, they were effectively blackballed from surfing. They were the lower class, and the locals were the upper class, and just like Price says, "the class to which we are born, in which our formalitve years are spent, is the guiding principle with which we view other groups"(682), these invaders were viewed with animosity because of class.

CLASS-y Restaurant

 

For this weeks blog post I spent some time at the fancy restaurant called The Chart House. Now this restaurant is very fancy and elegant and although you see a variety of people everyone seems to be on their best behavior and dressed as nice as possible.  Although the restaurant gives off welcoming vibes, you know not all people will be able to enjoy its luxuries due to its high prices. Unless your very well off most people only attend this restaurant on special occasions. Even though the restaurant shows "communal egalitarianism" because everyone is together and enjoying themselves it also has an underlined meaning of "elitism" because not just anybody can eat there due to its excessively high prices (Soloman 524). I learned a lot from being at this restaurant and I found it very amusing to compare the way people were dressed and acting at the Chart House compared to other restaurants, even fancy ones. This showed me that Americans mold to the environment they are in, they adjust. One particular couple I saw in the parking lot of the chart house was dressed casually but when I saw them later eating, they had a change of outfits and were both dressed very elegantly. The Chart house represents a place where class determines who can and can not attend the restaurant.  

Solomon, Jack. "Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising." Signs of Life in the USA 6th Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 524-535 Print.

Gender Roles At the Wellness Center

Entering the world of fitness at the Wellness Center at MiraCosta College made me apprehend the reasons why Americans conform to gender roles. When I went inside the gym on a cloudy sprinkling morning I noticed about eight girls inside with their gym clothes on and ready to sweat like a man. While the girls were exercising I saw three men exercising. One was young in his 20s, another seemed to be the same age, however, there was an older man maybe in his 50s. As I exercised and noticed that many of the women who had being inside the gym for about 30 minutes were already sweating so much their shirts were full of sweat. These women who are trying to be fit because they want to be beautiful in the eyes of a man, feel the need to “incessant barrage [themselves on] diet pills fads and skinny supermodels” idea of skinny (Martin 611). On the other hand, the men are lifting weights competing on who can lift more and how many pull-ups they can do lifting 50 pounds. Even though these men are lifting and competing - their faces are saying something else. Their faces are turning red, their veins popping out as if they are about to explode. Even though they are unable to lift the weights they wished they were able to and show off that they are real strong men who are capable of anything.Even though the weather was not a perfect sunny day these people came to the gym and put gender roles in effect. They do not want to  In the Wellness Center I noticed gender roles be put on displayed as a sign of Americans’ idea to keep up with what “we” believe should be done by woman at all times and what men should do at all times to be a man.

Martin, Courtney E. "The Famine Mystique." Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for                 Writers. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2009. 607-12. Print.

A Night of Theater

 
On Saturday, my friend and I went to the La Jolla Playhouse to see actor John Leguizamo’s one man show, Diary of a Mad Man. In short, the show was excellent. It was interesting to see the “competitive elitism” that transpired that night (Solomon 526). For some reason people felt compelled to dress to the nines perhaps because it was La Jolla and they wanted to project an image of affluence and wealth. On our approach to the box office, we noticed a man in a tuxedo and long wool coat greeting guests. We said to ourselves, “He’s a tad overdressed." After entering the theater, we noticed more people, who judging by their attire, appeared to be very well to do. The men were not wearing tuxedos like the man who greeted us, but nevertheless, they were very well dressed and the women were absolutely stunning. Many looked like they walked right out of  Vogue magazine. Needless to say, my friend and I stuck out like sore thumbs. I was wearing a ball cap, button up shirt, jeans and my dirty "chucks", my friend was not dressed any differently. I felt the show did not warrant such attire, but for others, the need "to rise above the crowd" necessitated ostentacious modes of dress (Solomon 526). In an effort to quell our social insecurity, my friend and I decided to wait outside until the show began. It was then we noticed a man enter the theater frumpishly dressed in sweatpants, a sweatshirt and a beanie. We suddenly felt better about ourselves and we walked back in.

Solomon, Jack. “Masters of Desire: The Culture of Advertising.” Signs of Life in the USA. Ed. Sonia Maasik & Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2009. 524-534. Print.

Rollerblades and iPods?

           

While at Mission Bay this past week I became aware of how many Americans want to be communally present, but still strive for individualism. There were many people out and about doing various activities such as; rollerblading, bicycling, and running, just to name a few. I noticed a couple rollerblading together and instead of talking to each other they were both individually hooked up to their iPods while at the same time holding each other’s hands.  This kind of behavior reflects on how Americans create their “personalized lifestyle cocoons” where they want to be part of the community, but they seem to be trapped in their own little worlds (Solomon 485).  This wasn’t just a onetime occurrence either, I saw at multiple times people being out in public, connected to their electronics, blocking out the people around them. This could be seen as a paradox, where people seek their own individualism by being hooked up and connected to their electronics, but are pressured to conform to the norm by going with someone else (Solomon 484). These people could have easily left their electronics at home and enjoyed the company of those around, but their quest for individualism led them not to.

Soloman, Jack. "Culture and Contradictions in the U.S.A". Signs of life in the USA. Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Soloman. 6th ed. Boston. Bedford / St. Martins. 2009 (484-485). Book. 

Ballin'

  

In my time at La Fitness (San Marcos), I observed sports as a “socially constructed institution…[that] was created by and for men” (Messner 636). In my hour of playing 6-8 man pick-up games, not one woman came onto the court. Indeed the room was filled with testosterone and competition, which reinforces Messners’ observation that women tend to not intrude when men are exercising their “male rite” of sports (636). The games were competitive yet fun and controlled -- there were very few fouls and no crowd present for players to “bask in the limelight” (637). This atmosphere demonstrated that sports are not purely used for public recognition or competitive elitism, but rather to have fun and keep an active lifestyle. The games displayed the American paradox between competitive elitism and communal egalitarianism (Solomon 524), as everyone desired to make shots and be the star player yet each team member worked together to move the ball around and spread the fun for everyone.

 

Messner, Michael A. “Power At Play: Sport and Gender Relations.” Signs of Life in the USA. 6^th Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 635-645. Print.

Shames, Laurence. “The More Factor.” Signs of Life in the USA. 6^th Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 86-92. Print.

Why so serious?

 

    I was driving by the 78 freeway when I saw a big top tent with a huge printed clown face on the side. It’s that time again for Circus Vargas to entertain the whole San Diego County with their high quality performance. First thing I noticed when arrived was the price of the tickets and it ranges from twenty dollars for the general admission, forty dollars for the arena section and fifty-five dollars for the VIP section, which interferes with the relationship between the elite and the lower class. Inside was like a fantasyland, there were popcorns, cotton candies, ice creams, snow cones and all were guilty pleasures. Since I got the last full show, my seat was at the very corner, which does not have the most fascinating view of the show. However, I had the opportunity to scrutinize the audience which I found interesting. The show was full of entertainment and almost unbelievable, from their rendering unparalleled artistry and comical acts, to juggling, balancing, hula-hooping, aerial ballet, trampoline acrobatics and many more. Everyone seem to have enjoyed the presentation and so I realized that we all share the same fantasy, “a dream world promising instant gratification no matter what the facts may be” (Solomon 530). This kind of entertainment takes us away from stress and boredom, and it felt so refreshing to be entertained, even “if the irony of the ‘new realism’ is that it is more unrealistic, [and] more artificial” (534).

Solomon, Jack. "Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising." Signs of Life in the USA 6th Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 524-535 Print.