Cultural Colonialism

Colonialism may have ended, but it is fair to say that cultural colonialism still lives on.It is a new, more powerful type of colonialism, in terms of control and domination. Probably one of the main reasons behind this emergence is because of the highly developed technological tools and means that the dominating countries use nowadays. In other words,in sociology, this new type of colonialism can be described as the desire of the first- world countries...

Read More

A Popular Culture within a Popular Culture

It is clearly obvious how music is becoming an essential tool in film production and in determining how appealing a movie would be for its audience in the last couple of decades. However, this doesn't mean that movies that play music in them are definitely successful, nor the movies that you barely hear music playing in them are extreme failures.Lots of songs became famous simply because they were played in big movies. And again, not all songs in...

Read More

Background Music in Retail Spaces: Can it make you a loyal customer?

I know there are a lot of Mango fans out there. A lot of women are fond of Mango’s fashions and accessories. But based on my visit to Mango as one of the locations for my paper on music in retail spaces, I found that the music they play in their stores plays an integral role, in keeping you ladies in there longer, and keep you coming back for another taste of trendy, young, chic enjoyable atmosphere. I was unable to cover the account of my study...

Read More

Japanese Drummers in Qatar

Have you attended the Japanese Music show in Qatar Foundation? I have and I am thrilled and I have so much to tell about this experience. Students, parents, people from the Japanese embassy and many more random people were in the Student Center for this Japanese music show. It was solely drum and flute show which made me wonder how many different tones can you make with this combination anyway?There were two drummers and another person with the...

Read More

Disney's "stereotyped" land!

If you’ve watched any of Disney's classical animated movies then you probably haven’t noticed some of the misleading elements that appear within some characters.If you’ve watched any of Disney's classical animated movies then you probably haven’t noticed some of the misleading elements that appear within some characters.Disney corporation is one of the seven enormous companies that have a wide control over the mass media today. These cultural industries...

Read More

The Controversy of Female Taxi Driving

In a country that enforces sexes segregation and compels certain rules that overtake womens' emancipation, Iranian females seek for an independent lifestyle and financial success by having their own career, since they have been able to manipulate gender segregation. Recently, many women compete against men in the transportation field and specifically as Taxi drivers.“The Right Stuff” article by Mindy Kay Bricker, reveals how female taxi drivers in...

Read More

A New Social Wave

Walking in the halls of the Academic Bridge Programs, all I notice is pairs of eyes staring on tiny devices in their hands. What I witness is the new teenage culture that lies in the hand of virtual chatting and new ways of living, literally. Anyone these days can develop a social life with popularity thanks to a small device. The first step is affording it and its service; that itself sets new grounds to a person and their ability to fit themselves...

Read More

The Revolution of Social Networks

Social Networks are a relatively new invention to Internet users. Nonetheless, their use was commonly known among people from all over the world in a relatively short time. One of the best-known and biggest examples of social networks is Facebook.Facebook has reached more than 500 million active users, people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook, as well as, the average user who is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events.Social...

Read More

Feels like Déjà vu

SourceWell, for the older generations it’s déjà vu. The teenagers and young adults today never watched 90210, V and Hawaii Five-O. Of course, I am talking about the original versions of these television shows which aired in the late 20th Century. It seems to audiences that Hollywood has lost it- or has it? After all, the media corporations are in the money making business, and what better way to make money than to retell old and highly successful...

Read More

Lifehouse! A music culture

After weeks of pleading and grueling hours of talking to my parents, I was able to convince them to go to the Dubai Jazz Festival. There was one specific band, Lifehouse, that I was dying to see. Lifehouse is a band that has been together for almost eleven years and I fell in love with them after hearing one of their songs play in the first seasons of Smallville. As soon as the band walked on stage the whole crowd went silent, among the thousands...

Read More

Cosplay- A Lifestyle?

Anime and manga have a huge following all over the world, and a significantly large one in Qatar. Interestingly, those anime and manga subcultures that exist all over the world have their own subculture cosplay, which is when Otakus, fans obsessed with manga and anime, dress up as their favorite characters and live out the world in cosplay gatherings, conventions or even restaurants and bars. However, this particular subculture isn't one that exist...

Read More

Reading books: is it still a popular cultural activity?

Considering the fact that the interests of a person may differ from another person, some people enjoy watching movies and/or listening to music regularly, while some people enjoy reading books to enjoy and fulfill their free-time. Although reading may be considered as an old-fashioned habit to many people (especially to youth) in this century, it’s still enjoyed and practiced by other people. But how do we know that reading is still considered as...

Read More