American Culture Term Paper

American Culture

America is the land of contradictions: fast-food restaurants with low-carb menus; prefabricated pizza parlors next to organic juice stands; "Trading Spouses" and "Trading Spaces." With an income disparity as large as most third-world nations, the United States has clearly become a land of contrasts. Nowhere was this contrast as clearly visible as in the last presidential election. Perhaps more than any other in recent history, the 2004 results elucidated the currently conflicted character of the nation: America is divided into two camps: the red and the blue. During the election, news stations broadcasted what many citizens already knew: the country is divided, and these divisions characterize American culture. Rural America is almost uniformly politically conservative and Christian, at least according to the ways people in "red" states voted. More homogenous than our urban centers, rural America demonstrates a view of American culture that conflicts sharply from what we see in the cities. In urban centers like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, populations are diverse, multiethnic, and politically liberal. Cities are blue; the countryside is red. The population of America is more diverse than it ever has been in history, as whites of European decent have already become the minority in some regions. Many pockets of America reveal a more homogenous cultural fabric, but cities, on the other hand, can be almost dizzyingly heterogeneous. With such apparent political and social contrast, American culture is difficult to define. In fact, many feel that the term "American culture" is an oxymoron because the country is relatively new and because some of its liveliest cultural expressions include fast food and soft drinks. However, in spite of its rampant commercialism and seeming contradictions, American culture can be defined by its diversity.

The most prominent symbols of the United States include Nike, Coca Cola, and McDonald's because American culture has been created through mass-marketed commercial products and mass-marketed media. There are no parts of the United States in which Nike, Coca Cola, and McDonald's are unavailable. Moreover, Americans have exported their Nikes, Coca Colas, and McDonalds to other nations as commercial ambassadors. Just as many Americans associate wine and cheese with France, most non-Americans associate Coca Cola and McDonalds with the United States. In addition to products alone, America exports media materials that define our culture. In the 1950s it was "Leave it to Beaver," a portrait of the supposedly ideal and "average" middle class white American family. As Americans became increasingly conscious and proud of its ethnic diversity, "The Cosby Show" began to represent American culture. What most sitcoms have in common is that they depict the American nuclear family and social structure based on secular values and free enterprise. Although religion has always been important to certain segments of American…