FREE ESSAY ON POP CULTURE

POP CULTURE

Pop Culture
For thousands of years, men and women around the world have gone to redundant lengths to
change their natural appearance of their bodies in an attempt to make themselves feel
more attractive, to get attention, to conform to new customs of their particular cultural
group, to attract a mate or sex partner, to show of their wealth or social status, or to
just make an outgoing statement about themselves. Is body art really a pop culture?
Our dissatisfaction with the human body and its covering is expressed in endless change.
This results in the desire and adoption of a trend, these trends are shown through ways
such as piercing, body painting, and tattoos,
Body piercing has grown in popularity over the past five years especially among American
teenagers who pierce just about anything that can be pierced: ears, noses, tongues, and
navels. The most conventional form of piercing in the United States today is ear
piercing, and it has become more mainstream for both sexes than it once was. Ear piercing
can range from single hole in one or both ears to holes along the entire rim of the ear,
but why has piercing become so popular? Given the name as Generation X youth today are
known for being unable to follow a "Normal Persons" life and so express, and exaggerate
their body until they feel comfortable, but being comfortable has become a bizarre
competition, to see who can stretch their ear lobes the longest, or who has the most
earrings too who has the craziest piercing, thus creating a mass trend in body piercing
throught the worlds youth. Ear piercing struck America during the punk era, as a way of
rebelling against parental figures and their ideas of "good kids". And now during the
90's ear piercing has yet again became a popular culture, due to the influence of show
business and their perspectives of beauty. 
Tattooing is probably the most popular form of body art in America today. The reason
behind tattoos in society is to exaggerate the human body e.g. Intricate tribal armbands
attract attention to men's biceps, and simple small designs attract attention to various
parts of the female body especially on the lower part of the back and around the navel.
The designs can be small and discreet or large and obvious. Many people prefer discreet
designs that can be concealed for certain occasions. The reason for tattoos becoming such
a pop culture is due largely to Hollywood films and TV celebrities. The professional
wrestlers of the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) have not only become coarse, they have
become body art fashion statements for our youth. Tattooed armbands, and Chinese
lettering are seen so commonly that one would think that they are birthmarks. Although
tattoos have become today's pop culture, tattooing has actually been practiced since the
time of the ancient Egyptians. H.G Wells stated, "In all ages, far back into prehistory,
we find human beings have painted and adorned themselves…" In some cultures tattoos
are considered a sign of maturity, or nobility. In the American culture tattoos are a
sign of individualism and fashion.
When most people think of body painting, the image that come to mind is more likely that
of a Massai worrier. Yet we all paint our bodies for reasons of identification, ritual or
beauty. Pop culture comes into body painting when we talk about cosmetics. A daily ritual
for most women, consisting of early morning applying, afternoon touch ups and nighttime
removal has become a necessity and addiction for most women today. Wearing cosmetics is
undoubtedly the most prevalent type of body painting in the world. It's a multi-billion
dollar industry, with an increasing male market as well. On the top level, makeup is used
to cover up zits, scars or pimples. But on a deeper level, there are other reasons for
using makeup. Some would argue makeup mania in American society is a product of the
media, and that American men, women, and children are constantly presented with
attractive images of models, movie stars, and musicians and desperately want to imitate
the way they look.
Taking in all the evidence past and present on body art, from an anthropological view
point what is pop culture in today's world, has been popular culture for a millennia.