“Whether we talk about gender, race or class, pop culture is where the pedagogy is; it is where the learning is.” So said Bell Hooks, a popular American author. Popular culture refers to the set of beliefs, practices, values, and actions practiced by a large number of people over a particular period. It relates to the emotions expressed by an individual in his/her way of dressing, choice of food, fashion trends, beliefs, or way of living.

At present, youths are living in a society dominated by technology and pop culture. Youths are highly influenced by the characters or artists on TV channels, social networking sites, blogs, films, etc. Indeed, pop culture has taken a toll on us.

The main essence of pop culture is to create social changes in the stereotypical society. It tends to bring uniformity among people. Pop culture has a main focus on reflecting the attitudes and values of the society to the young generation. Pop culture helps the individuals of different groups to unite together, building up a common identity and uniformity with the sense of equality among people.

Pop culture helps in developing the ideas of equality in gender roles where women are allowed to work outside of their houses, share their opinions, and dress up according to their will and men are allowed to show up their emotions which our typical culture would never accept. Similarly, pop culture has a great influence on music and fashion trends. The hike of the fashion trends seems to be jaw-dropping and extremely creative whereas the rocking taste of music is fabulous too. In this way, pop culture seems to be uniting the societies into the modernizing “global society.”

Although pop culture is fascinating, it seems to have pervasive aspects. The youths of today’s generation are influenced by pop culture and they are completely unaware of their own culture. Most of the teenagers seem to have no interest in learning about their authentic culture and most of them are ashamed of their culture. This trend seems to destroy the authenticity, originality, and diversity of our Nepalese culture and tradition. Also, the youths could feel the pressure of maintaining the beauty and behavioral standards of the popular culture to fit in the role of Gen-Z. This extreme imitation of pop culture creates insecurities and self-confidence among young and fragile minds. This culture has also created a sense of confusion and conflict in society and seems to have propagated negative stereotypes.

All of us need to understand pop culture. Understanding pop culture is crucial as it promotes individuality, social changes, and creativity. Pop culture provides an inclusive and diverse portrayal of gender roles to overcome negative stereotypes. It is upon us to balance our assumptions with critical thinking about what we see, think, act, and believe, rather than blindly imitating what others believe.

By: Rajasbi Bogati (Science, F2)