Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Alternative vs. oppositional



Roy Rosenzweig called the saloon an “alternative” rather than an “oppositional” culture.  Which other pieces of popular culture would you classify as alternative?  Does alternative culture seem to plant the seeds for eventual opposition to the mainstream, or can it happily coexist with mainstream culture? 

12 comments:

  1. Leisure time could be a part of pop culture that is "alternative", because it is a way for one to gain pleasure that he/she cannot gain from everyday life. I would also consider vacation an "alternative" aspect because it allows for an escape from monotonous daily events. I think that alternative culture can exist with mainstream culture. For example, people can go on vacations and then go back to work and get right back into the routine of things.

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  2. I think that during the time of when amusement parks were starting to become a thing they would have been considered "alternative" culture. I think this would classify as alternative because at the time is existed on the fringe of mainstream. It was still a new idea and people had different opinions of the idea, not everybody was a fan of them originally. I think that alternative culture can definitely coexist with mainstream culture. I think that for their to be diversity in a culture, there is actually a need for the alternative, in order to create some differences.

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  3. Throughout Middletown, it seems as though the kids in high school were participating in an alternative kind of culture. Their parents had different norms and didn't agree with many things the kids were doing, like staying out late and not staying home for family dinners. However, they were still getting a sort of education that Middletown valued. A couple other things I was thinking about was the car and the organized sports during this period. They were new ideas and not everyone agreed with them and the effects they had on the society.

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  4. I would definitely say that leisure time was an alternative culture that eventually came to oppose and overtake the old mainstream. Up until the late 19th century, there was little room for leisure time, since people would usually work 6 days a week and Sundays were meant for church and visiting with friends and family. As more and more workers began to leave these demanding factory jobs for less demanding positions in offices and other places, people started to have more time to kill. Eventually, the idea of a 5-day work week with less demanding hours and more open weekends became more and more popular and overtook the old mainstream.

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  6. I would say that going to places in town such as movie theaters, parks and also driving around with your families in cars were part of the "alternative" culture. Having these activities as options gave people something to look forward to during the week. If they worked hard to make as much money as they could, they could reward themselves later with alternative options. This type of culture allowed people to have more freedom. It also allowed kids to do things separately from their parents now that they could go places by themselves. I think that "alternative" culture can definitely exist with mainstream culture because all people are unique and also I think they go hand in hand with one another because in order for people to continue to perform their daily tasks, they are going to need some sort of break every once in awhile and what is better than entertainment?

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  7. After reading the comments of my classmates, I completely agree that alternative culture can coexist with mainstream culture. I really agree with Stephen that the alternative culture began to overtake the mainstream culture because it was more appealing to workers. It gave workers incentive during the week and then they were allowed to do what they wanted with the money they had on the weekends. People's responses discuss both the positive and negative affects of alternative culture coexisting with mainstream culture. The accessibility of cars made it easier for kids to do things away from their parents, which caused some disagreements in some families. On the other hand, alternative culture was good for some families because it allowed them to relax and experience things that they don't do on a daily basis. Alternative culture definitely led to new experiences, but it was evident that it was challenging for some families in Middletown to balance their everyday lives with this new form of alternative culture.

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  8. I agree that activities such as going to amusement parks, driving around in the car, going to see shows, reading, etc. are all considered to be alternative culture. I consider them to be mainly alternative to modern culture rather than oppositional because an individual can still carry on with their responsibilities, like working a job. Nothing about these activities makes the people want to rebel against the duties and everyday obligations. Instead however, these aspects of alternative culture make it possible for individuals to take a break from their normal day-to-day routine. Being able to do fun things in free time makes routine chores more bearable, which is exactly what alternative culture achieves. Too much time spent on alternative culture could cause it to become classified as oppositional culture though. If people overdid the fun things in life, no work would get done, thus making the alternative culture oppositional.

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  9. All of the forms of entertainment that have been listed seem like alternative, but not oppositional, forms of leisure. Something that I find interesting though is that even though these do not at all seem like they are planting seeds for the oppositional, often, the older generation thought that the children were opposing their ways in Middletown. I think that all of these ways of enjoying leisure time (amusement parks, cars, and almost all high school interests explained in the book) happily coexisted with the mainstream and eventually became part of the mainstream, which we can see today by the fact that these are all the norm today.

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  10. I agree with Nikki. Older generations could see the things listed, such as amusement parks and the lives of high school students, as oppositional because at the time it clashed with the desires and beliefs of the older generations. However, as time changes, these so called oppositions become a custom way to life and actually begin to mesh with mainstream living. At first, something new to culture, such as saloons could be seen as oppositional. However, with people growing accustom to this adaptation, it finds a way to coexist with society and function as an alternative rather than opposition.

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  11. After reading the ideas from my classmates the idea of alternative and mainstream culture has become a bit more clear to me. Taking all the information from the prior posts, it seems as though we all agree that alternative culture can coexist with mainstream culture, but at the same time, the alternative/oppositional culture can overtake mainstream culture.

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  12. I agree with all of your ideas, I think that the mainstream culture can adapt to new ways of life. These new ways of life start off as oppositional, and eventually become an alternative. After a while, many of these alternative ways start to become more and more normal. Samantha said that some of the topics we had discussed (going to amusement parks, etc.) were not oppositional because people were still able to work their jobs, and I partially disagree with that statement. Originally (by this I mean pre-1880 or so) this would have been in complete opposition to mainstream culture as people had little time for such activities, however as work life changed, it became an alternative. Prior to, say, 1880, spending days doing something fun with family/friends/etc would have been seen as counterproductive to society, but as trends changed, eventually these new ways took over.

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