My current pop culture blog for week 5 is about the children, whom were rescued from the polygamous community in Texas. There are so many opinions and judgmental views of the children’s protection system, and a big problem is people are paying more attention because of the large number of children. Well, when you think about one family at a time, and if you knew that a father was sexually abusing a young girl it would seem different. The difference is these women and children, were raised to think this was the right way to live.
The way people brain washed and made to obey these crippling ways of life are horrendous. A problem that I have with this is remembered watching 20/20, when they investigated the compound a few years ago. Well, it is hard to understand why it took this long to remove the children. The state is responsible to step in, and when the parents aren’t doing the correct job as a parent then children are moved for protection. I read comments on Good Morning America’s web site, and opinions are divided about removal of the children. Some suggestions were that the children and women should have not been removed, but that the men should have been.
There is no good solution, to such a terrible cult like existence in which the families were living. The damage that has occurred, to the women and children alike are not easily erased. The psychological trauma, and physical abuse will be with them their entire live. Some of them will adjust and improve their lives, but probably a majority of them will have a tougher time. It is a sad situation, and honestly this could just be the beginning. Investigations into more instances of polygamous communities could mean more men being held accountable for what they are doing to children and women.
"The Songs That Fought the War: Popular Music and the Home Front, 1939-1945."
In this article, “The Songs That Fought the War,” the songs that fought World War II were songs from the hearts of song writers. They wrote songs about the soldiers who fought, and songs of lonely girlfriend's and wife left behind. John Bush Jones, a retired Theater Arts Professor collected some 1,700 songs about the war. Songs were found on sheet music, from movies, in war time songs, and musicals.
This article tells that in 1942, the American Federation of Musicians declared a strike and recording ban, which came in the middle of the war. It didn't stop songs from being introduced by Tin Pan Alley writers. The effects of the Cold War, and the years following the War were uncertain times. Jones realized that in WWI there was a favorite song “Over There”, yet in WWII there was an enormous collection of good songs. In the article, it is said that Jones gave examples of songs from different nationalities, and women also.
The audiences of Americans, of the 1940s were the judges of which songs would be popular. Patriot songs were written like "God Bless America" in 1938, and songs were written about the different branches of armed forces, and the songs written for F.D.R… John Bush Jones was said to think that the sentiments of war songs being written were not necessarily mushy and sentimental, but supportive of the American soldier. The Office of War Information was not in agreement, and their argument was the fear of the moral of the soldiers would be compromised with the songs. The belief was that the music would lower the will of the soldiers, sadden the girls left at home, and just lower American morale period. This did not turn out to be true, because personalizing the war gave the troops more fighting power and a reason to fight.
There are words used in the article which give you a sense of the world of that time. Terms like “engraved on his consciousness”, meaning that the songs of the war were memorized by john Bush Jones. He had grown up as a small boy hearing some of them. More wording which caught my attention were, “the music industry looked like stony soil for music sale” which didn’t mean times were good for the industry. The American public had an “insatiable appetite” for new songs. This would explain the numerous songs written, as two thousand new war songs were written. This Jones thought influence the American Home Front culture.
Although, several different groups tried to discourage the efforts of the song writers, and to stop the production of new war songs the writers would not be influenced. They were good Americans from what I got out of the article. The people of America whether they were fighting in the war or on the home front for their rights they all had the same feeling about the need, for the songs that fought the war.
I believe that the article was well organized, and gave details about the songs of the war, and how the right to write the music was tested. The article followed a time line I believe with out jumping around. The article was ok to read, but maybe breaking it down in to more paragraphs would have given it a better flow. The key idea in the article which I have gotten, is as Americans we have the right to speech and music is a part of that freedom, so no organizations should be able to stop us.
References
(2006). The Songs That Fought the War: Popular Music and the Home Front, 1939-1945, 560-561.
Grandparents Parenting Grandchildren Assignment 4-1
This week’s current popular culture topic for me is grandparents raising their grandchildren. This syndrome is at a record high, and I am a part of it since my husband and I have had our two grandsons’ for 5 months. I have to admit at first, it seemed like there was no way that we could do it. With a few arguments and time, we all adjusted to it. But, no matter how the kids adjust we are not mommy and daddy. It is hard to hear one of the them cry for mommy, or Shaun our 7 year old grandson say that he misses when they all lived together. Our 6 year old grand-daughter Chloe, is with the daddy at his mothers house living. If you herd their father talk, he believes that he did nothing wrong.
For seven years our daughter and son-in-law lived together, and he worked maybe a year. Our daughter work even less, and so everyone else payed the bills and the reason was to help the small children. Now our son-in-law wants our oldest grandson to live with him at his mother’s house, and his main reason is so that he can avoid paying us child support. It makes me angry, and all we have is a piece of paper that gives us power of attorney. At anytime either parent of the boys can come and take them. When 5 months have gone by, and neither parent has made major advances we don’t feel that they deserve any of the children.
For anyone reading this blog, if you are going to make babies then please grow up first. This epidemic needs to make a major adjustment, and the real parents need to step up and take responsibility. We did our parenting and when this happens, all we can do is reflect back and ask ourselves what we did wrong? There is website after web site dedicated to grandparents, and facts that can help you to know what help is out there. AARP which is centered on senior citizens is the most helpful web site.
I couldn’t sleep at night if I let my grandchildren go to a foster home. This is best for the kids, and I really don’t see their parents changing their behavior. So, if you read this and feel discouraged search the Internet for help.
Assignment 3-1 Weekly Analysis
My current pop culture weekly analysis is on Reminisce magazine, and the Reminisce web site. Reminisce magazine is a pop culture artifact, which is full of pop culture artifacts from the past. People from all over the country send in articles, and these articles are true stories of events in their lives. It is very educational, and interesting to learn about past events. A really nice feature of the magazine is the pictures that people send in with their articles. Myself, I have seen pictures and read articles about antiques, that my own mother or grand-parents had.
The magazine has used updated current technology, and they now have a website for the magazine. So, now I can sit at my computer, and read the magazine which is really convenient. Another plus, to the web site is the link that they have to another web site, named Backwhen.com. People can share their stories from the past through online video stories. Adults can leave their memories, for their children and grandchildren. I recommend to anyone who likes reading, or hearing stories from the past to look at the web site.
In conclusion, these current pop culture artifacts are a great way to look at, and read about past pop culture. The magazine is so interesting, that you can read it from cover to cover. The main audience for the magazine is more likely to be older adults, but young adults can get a good education from the stories. The website is great for visual, and audio learners.
