Written Analysis: Rituals & Stereotypes

The topic I chose for the popular culture class is Hip-Hop for a number of different reasons mainly because it has been apart of my life for long as I could remember. The culture is something that has grown with me as an adult. I wanted to keep focus on making sure I can find information based on my topic throughout the entire class. There are two popular theories that were asked to be discussed the first is stereotypes.

In Hip-Hop there is are per-conceived notions about the artists in general such as they are prior drug dealers, thugs, pimps and criminals just to name a few. Now granted this is the reality for some but we cannot group all these artists in the same group many are not given opportunity to identify themselves properly or fairly. “Their purpose can be toward either the good or the ill of a particular people or group, and although they can be intended to favor or disfavor a particular group, more likely than not they will be used for negative purposes” (Browne 2009, p.102)

Rituals in for this particular topic is a little tougher topic but I can definitely see how rituals play a part in this topic. I would say that the core of hip-hop has remained the same over the years and what it represents. Even with the sounds they have remained consistent over a long period of time. They also have award shows that celebrate the triumphs and pay homage to artists in the hip-hop industry. “Ritual is arguably a universal feature of human social existence: just as one cannot envision a society without language or exchange, one would be equally hard-pressed to imagine a society without ritual.”(Carrico)

I think that I would gain allowing others to see different perspectives that may not been seen if not choosing to use these theories. I want to allow people who may not be familiar with the culture and be able to look at the entire spectrum and it will make my analysis well-rounded.

REFERENCES

Carrico, K. (n.d.). Ritual — Cultural Anthropology. Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://www.culanth.org/curated_collections/4-ritual

Brown, R. B. (2005). Profiles of Popular Culture a Reader. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.