Week 4 - Mainstream
- Leighanne Fernandes
- Jul 17, 2020
- 6 min read
Mainstream seems like a very interesting topic of discussion, mainly for the fact that "mainstream" can be perceived in various ways depending on its context and to what context it is being targeted to.
Pre-Class
Mainstream refers to a social phenomenon of having widespread, mass society-based current ideas, behavioural attitudes, or activities, that are molded by the trends of popular culture and mass media culture (lifestyle, 2015 ; SAE Dubai, 2020). However, it can be much more than that. My input from the online lecture is that "Mainstream" to me is when people jump on the bandwagon. They mindlessly get on board with it due to its "trendiness" without batting an eye to what it really is anymore. Just because everyone’s doing, they want to feel like they belong as well.
During Class (with post class research)
However, our in-class discussions were pretty insightful. I had documented some of the statements made by various classmates because I found it to be interesting to discuss my views on it in my journal. They are as follows.
1) "To not be mainstream is becoming mainstream" - Taylor
I can't emphasize how much I agree with this. It is true that people find it trendy to say that they "aren't mainstream". This reminded me of the "Im not like other girls" phrase where the irony of the girls being who say they aren't like other girls are in fact the same as these "other girls". An example of this is as follows.
I mean.... everyone does this now. So technically, every girl is "not like other girls" which defeats the purpose of the phrase and once again make this a mainstream topic.
2) Mainstream is often looked at from a negative perspective by a "dominating culture" - Elen
This is true as well. I am guilty of falling into the segment of people who view mainstream to be negative, or something that's just overly hyped about. Personally, to me, mainstream is something I'm not too interested in - if anything that grows in popularity and is spoken by many (general public), it is usually not something I would get myself into. That being said, if I do happen to watch, hear or experience the thing before it becomes mainstream and have my opinions on it, I am not affected by its mainstream popularity. An example of this is KPOP. Yes, I am a Kpop fan but i enjoyed it while it was still a niche. Now that it has blown into mainstream media, I have various opposing opinions to it but that goes only for the groups that have become mainstream. I find myself enjoying more underrated artists nowadays.
3) Due to globalization, things that were once trendy in the 80's such as polaroids and vinyls blew out of popularity to fit in with the current trend - Jordan
Yes, the old fashion trends are back again. Once again, I find it to be a cool aesthetic to have our current trends fit in with the 80's style but it is also true that it's growing into mainstream now. I don't see a problem with this, hence this is where mainstream should be considered positive. It is just a matter of fashion and lifestyle that is being influenced by past trends and is being relived in the present. A lot of people decorate their bedrooms with fairy lights and hanging polaroids, for example, and it looks like a very chill ambience to be around in.
4) People usually "get judged for liking something that has been labeled as mainstream" - Lamya
This is very much true. Just because something has been labelled as mainstream, it usually receives hate in this modern day era. People who are seen "liking" or adhering to these labelled mainstream media or products are mostly ridiculed. An example that came to mind when we were discussing this was face masks. Yes, face masks were a fashion trend pre-corona but for reasons that led to it. After class, I carried out some research to dig into the roots of why Asians usually always go around wearing masks. That's when it dawned to me that my cousin who lives in Hong Kong once told me how much she hated wearing these masks to school because it was a necessity and those who wouldn't wear it would be mocked. She also mentioned how it was imposed because of the country being germaphobic. However, my research proved that there is much more to it than just being a germaphobic country.
A lot of asian culture fans have been curious to find out why celebrities always wear face masks. Is it because of a "preference to stay incognito" or to follow a trend (aminoapp, 2017)? Well, the truth is that it dates back to some historical reasons from when Japan invented the face masks in response to the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, and existed through the Kanto Earthquake in 1923, industrialization in 1950s and the SARs outbreak of 2003. More about this can be read below.
❀ Face masks were first adopted in Japan, as a reaction to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. Scarves and veils were also adopted as a means of protection. Soon, it became bit of a practice after every subsequent disease outbreak.
❀ After the Kanto Earthquake in 1923, the air was filled with ash and smoke for weeks, so people adopted face masks at a time when the air quality was suffering.
❀ With industrialization in 1950s, CO2 levels and pollen in the air rose, making the masks more of a custom than a habit. They were also made compulsory at school level and distributed to the general public. It is then assumed to have slowly earned a household name.
❀ The practice is then said to have spread to other countries like China, Taiwan, South Korea etc. During the SARs outbreak of 2003, all of Hong Kong wore it. As they became more accepted and common, the reasons for wearing masks then grew beyond their original purpose.
~ Aminoapp, 2017
However, post war culture has shaped some of these asian countries like China, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and more into adapting face masks into everyday lifestyle. It has evolved into a health-conscious society, maintaining social etiquette, used for social barriers, helps in hiding bareface (for celebrities who don't want to wear makeup in public), and fashion. Fashion trend is what was ridiculed because some people found the masks to be more of an accessory rather than a functional element, and thats because fashion outlets are using this as an opportunity to create trendy designs (aminoapp, 2017). Another example of this is evident on Billie Eilish who is "all Gucci at the Grammy Awards, from nails to face" (Torre, 2020)
Now that it is a growing concern to be wearing mask due to the pandemic, a lot of fashion outlets are still seeing this as an opportunity to design fashionable masks. Below is a video explaining this.
(South China Morning Post, 2020)
5) Subcultures stem from mainstream for a niche market. Through commercialization, it develops into mainstream, but from there it forges a new path for sub cultures and so the cycle continues - Naya and me
This idea was discussed by me but a new perspective was added in by Naya. From the online lecture, I believe that mainstream first started off from a small niche and through commercialization, it develops into mainstream. But what's interesting to know is that Naya explained from her research on subcultures that it stems from mainstream for a niche market, but as mainstream evolves into something else, subcultures are once again forged from a part of it. Hence, the ongoing cycle continues like so. This is pretty interesting as we later discussed that mainstream artists usually get credited for the stuff they made mainstream from a sub culture, when in reality it started from somewhere else. Just because a mainstream person has brought it to light, it blows up and the original creator of it hasn't been made known. Is this any different to Madonna’s profiteering from Vogue?
Post Class
In conclusion, mainstream is a pretty interesting topic and was fun discussing it with the rest of my peers. A lot of the references mentioned above were done as research post class. The insight i have received from these researches has helped me broaden my understanding on the topic.
However, for the coming week, I will be preparing for my presentation for the dialectical inquiry on the topic of toxic Kpop fans and Fandoms from a poststructural lens. Even more, we have to form groups and decide on a topic for our creative media project. I have my group ready but we are in the process of finalizing a topic.
References:
Aminoapp (2017, Jul 19). Inside South Korea | Culture of Face Masks. Retrieved from
Bloomberg (2020, Apr 10). As masks go mainstream, fashion designers sense an opportunity [image & article]. Retrieved from https://www.hindustantimes.com/fashion-and-trends/as-masks-go-mainstream-fashion-designers-sense-an-opportunity/story-KAzrnd3asOMc8kJNQ43d1N.html
Herman, T. (2019, feb 28). Why K-Pop Is Finally Breaking Into the U.S. Mainstream [image & article]. Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/8500363/k-pop-closer-than-ever-american-pop-mainstream
Lifestyle (2015). Mainstream. Retrieved from http://www.lifestyledictionary.com/mainstream-trends.html#:~:text=Mainstream%20refers%20to%20a%20social,culture%20and%20mass%20media%20culture.
South China Morning Post (2020, Jul 14). Diamond face masks priced at up to US$5,000 on sale at Indian jewellery shop [video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=7XBBYpRwqCc&feature=emb_logo
Vittore, K. (2014, Oct 31). 70s and 80s Trends Are Back [image & article]. Retrieved from https://www.lhsdoi.com/3428/uncategorized/70s-and-80s-trends-are-back/
Comentarios