Gabriela Baltazar
Bourdieu Blog
As we learned in class as well as the readings that Bourdieu examines social practices through his application of the concept of habitus and field. I studied three different musical genres, I chose Country, Hip hop/ rap, and Pop.
Country m operates as a social field: in most country songs artists like to emphasize the country lifestyle they live. You often hear about the agriculture, alcohol, and religion. In songs that talk about agriculture artists sing about their pick-ups and tractors. From my observations, religion is also incorporated into country lyrics. Many artists speak about God as well as about church or scripture. However, what stands out the most about country music is that profanity is very minimal in the lyrics, country music is often joyful and speaks about love. The habitus required to appreciate the music is that country music in urban spaces is not commonly appreciated. Country music originated in the south and Southerner’s are the most proud of this music genre. As Bourdieu explains, Habitus is a set of preferences and it is a structured structure. Habitus gives us the knowledge to recognize the difference between things. There fore, listening to Country music is a set of preferences, not everyone can appreciate it. From my personal experiences I began to appreciate country music when I began going to the summer concerts outdoors. Country music is a different field and culture. From my observations I noticed that the audience was cheerful, mostly White, and intoxicated. However, the people in this field practiced the typical getup, which consitst of jeans, cowboy/girl boots, flannel attire, and the cowboy hat. In this field capital functions through alcohol, beer is highly marketed, for the most part you commonly associate Country music with Keystone and Budweiser. This Country culture also consists of hunting and fishing. “it's cold beer country. A hundred-and-ten in the shade Iced tea won't cut it and neither will lemonade I need a cold Budweiser on a bar stool, And a Jukebox by the beer Singing 'cold beer country' 'cause It's cold beer country ' round here”- Toby Keith.
2. Today’s contemporary hip-hop/ rap is very different than what it was fifteen years ago. Today rap music has become a culture of sex, profanity, money, drugs, and violence. In many of these songs we hear the idolatry of drugs and sex and the sound of gun shots in the background. The social field of rap music discusses getting money in luxurious cars and bragging about the expensive drugs they carry on them. For example, 2Chainz likes to emphasize that he has someone’s rent in his swisher. Meaning that he smokes weed that costs as much as one’s rent. From my perspective there is nothing positive that comes out from rap music. And unfortunately I feel that is why underdeveloped cities or neighborhoods don’t progress because the messages promote drug usage, violence, and degrading women. Rap music discusses the power that one obtains when becoming famous and successful and all the material things one can buy with so much power. 3. Pop music, Justin Bieber for example is today’s popular icon. The social field that is attributed through pop music is targeted towards the youth, especially because Bieber himself is only 18 years old. From his music he sings about love and about humanity. Because Justin Beiber has sang songs with hip hop artists he expands his audience to target many young girls from all over the world any many cultures. To appreciate this music I feel that one needs to relate to the younger audience. I personally gained appreciated for his music after watching his movie/ documentary because it was a background story to his fame. The structure to his success is awesome! As far as capital, Justin Bieber has created an empire he not only sings but also has non profit organizations and a perfume line. The Habitus behind pop culture and Justin Bieber is that the lifestyle that one adapts one grows into it, just like his fame enabled him to contribute to humanity and give back.
Bourdieu Blog
As we learned in class as well as the readings that Bourdieu examines social practices through his application of the concept of habitus and field. I studied three different musical genres, I chose Country, Hip hop/ rap, and Pop.
Country m operates as a social field: in most country songs artists like to emphasize the country lifestyle they live. You often hear about the agriculture, alcohol, and religion. In songs that talk about agriculture artists sing about their pick-ups and tractors. From my observations, religion is also incorporated into country lyrics. Many artists speak about God as well as about church or scripture. However, what stands out the most about country music is that profanity is very minimal in the lyrics, country music is often joyful and speaks about love. The habitus required to appreciate the music is that country music in urban spaces is not commonly appreciated. Country music originated in the south and Southerner’s are the most proud of this music genre. As Bourdieu explains, Habitus is a set of preferences and it is a structured structure. Habitus gives us the knowledge to recognize the difference between things. There fore, listening to Country music is a set of preferences, not everyone can appreciate it. From my personal experiences I began to appreciate country music when I began going to the summer concerts outdoors. Country music is a different field and culture. From my observations I noticed that the audience was cheerful, mostly White, and intoxicated. However, the people in this field practiced the typical getup, which consitst of jeans, cowboy/girl boots, flannel attire, and the cowboy hat. In this field capital functions through alcohol, beer is highly marketed, for the most part you commonly associate Country music with Keystone and Budweiser. This Country culture also consists of hunting and fishing. “it's cold beer country. A hundred-and-ten in the shade Iced tea won't cut it and neither will lemonade I need a cold Budweiser on a bar stool, And a Jukebox by the beer Singing 'cold beer country' 'cause It's cold beer country ' round here”- Toby Keith.
2. Today’s contemporary hip-hop/ rap is very different than what it was fifteen years ago. Today rap music has become a culture of sex, profanity, money, drugs, and violence. In many of these songs we hear the idolatry of drugs and sex and the sound of gun shots in the background. The social field of rap music discusses getting money in luxurious cars and bragging about the expensive drugs they carry on them. For example, 2Chainz likes to emphasize that he has someone’s rent in his swisher. Meaning that he smokes weed that costs as much as one’s rent. From my perspective there is nothing positive that comes out from rap music. And unfortunately I feel that is why underdeveloped cities or neighborhoods don’t progress because the messages promote drug usage, violence, and degrading women. Rap music discusses the power that one obtains when becoming famous and successful and all the material things one can buy with so much power. 3. Pop music, Justin Bieber for example is today’s popular icon. The social field that is attributed through pop music is targeted towards the youth, especially because Bieber himself is only 18 years old. From his music he sings about love and about humanity. Because Justin Beiber has sang songs with hip hop artists he expands his audience to target many young girls from all over the world any many cultures. To appreciate this music I feel that one needs to relate to the younger audience. I personally gained appreciated for his music after watching his movie/ documentary because it was a background story to his fame. The structure to his success is awesome! As far as capital, Justin Bieber has created an empire he not only sings but also has non profit organizations and a perfume line. The Habitus behind pop culture and Justin Bieber is that the lifestyle that one adapts one grows into it, just like his fame enabled him to contribute to humanity and give back.