America Essay -- American History, Hollywood

â€Å"Homeland, the country that I love, forever reign supreme; And when time stands still, my homeland, may heaven hold your dream† (Spring-Rice). Gustav Holsts’ song â€Å"Homeland† is all about people who are patriotic towards their own country. America has been built upon a certain set of rules in which makes it unique from their countries. Americans have excessive pride in their country which shows greatly in their interactions with others. Americans also have other traits which reflect their culture. White America views itself in three ways: appearance, narcissism, and social status. â€Å"You want to fit in with these people? They’re not going to change. You have to† (Traister 675). America has views which are built on appearances. This is because of the media having an influence on what Americans view as â€Å"socially acceptable†. Hollywood sets a standard by using celebrities to show Americans what they should wear. Men are usually viewed as wearing simple but â€Å"masculine† clothing. Also these are said to, â€Å"Emphasize the size of upper body musculature, allow freedom of movement, and encourage an illusion of physical power and a look of easy physicality all suggest masculinity. Such appearance of strength and readiness to action serve to create or enhance an aura of aggressiveness and intimidation central to an appearance of masculinity† (Devor 571). On the other hand, women have more of a variety of clothing styles all of which reflect back to femininity. As Devor states in his article, â€Å"Feminine styles of dr ess likewise display subordinate status through greater restriction of the free movement of the body, greater exposure of the bare skin and an emphasis on sexual characteristics† (Devor 570). Along with clothes how a person presents hi... ...he rich) are viewed in America has having all of the wealth and the power, while the middle and lower classes are left in the shadow. â€Å"Hollywood makes sure its audiences leave the theater thinking you can’t be too rich† (Parenti 406). America’s culture is reflected through what is displayed in the media. Therefore a conclusion can be drawn that Americans’ base their stereotypes of social status off of what is viewed in the media. â€Å"My homeland, be my dream, my hope. Homeland† (Spring-Rice). Appearance, narcissism, and social status are three traits America uses to view itself. America has been built upon pride and patriotism ever since they won their freedom from England. Because of this, Americans take pride in their country. This is why Americans view themselves as â€Å"superior† to others. They love their country and would not want to change anything about it.