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Routledge is a global publisher of academic books, journals and online resources in the humanities and social sciences.
Both the room or space set off from the kitchen and the furniture sets which have created an informal eating space for American families without servants, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. Dinette sets include tables and chairs of metal or Formica scaled down from the formal ostentation of the dining room. The dinette became a place of morning coffees (often seen in soap operas), children’s activities and other informal meals, as well as a background for more formal events. By the 1990s, the kitchen service-counter often replaced even this space for informal meals.
Industry:Culture
Bowling became popular in the 1890s, quickly acquiring a beer-drinking and workingclass image. However, the sport was open to both genders and, facilitated by the use of handicaps, which adjust for the differing abilities of players and teams, women began to compete early on. During the First World War, when many women entered the industrial workforce, the sport became a popular pastime for them, leading to the formation of the Women’s National Bowling Association. After the Second World War, the image of the sport changed, becoming associated with middle-class housewives. Consequently bowling alleys began to incorporate beauty salons and other shopping conveniences in close proximity to the lanes.
Bowling has advanced technologically with automatic pin-replacing and electronic scoring machines, new kinds of wooden surfaces, varnishes and balls, all of which have made the game easier for the recreational bowler, and more expensive for the serious bowler (each ball may cost as much as 1200). Where once the alleys attracted teams formed around strong neighborhood or workplace associations, they are now increasingly becoming places where single families go for an afternoon’s fun, and becoming another venue (along with skating rinks, zoos, YMCAs) for birthday parties. Loud disco music and kids running around are the norm.
Industry:Culture
Boxing in its contemporary form is a sport in which men and increasingly among professionals, women of closely matched weights fight with their fists in padded leather gloves. No bare description can account for the impact of boxing on American culture, or an appeal which persists despite, or perhaps because of, occasional ring deaths, and in the face of medical evidence that persistent blows to the head, even from gloved fists, can cause forms of brain damage. (The American Medical Association has frequently called for the sport to be banned.) Ever since African American boxer Jack Johnson’s championship reign (1908–15), boxing has been a crucible for issues of race and masculinity. Johnson’s first championship victory over Tommy Burns in Australia, provoked race riots in many American cities and gave rise to the racially charged search in the press and elsewhere for a “Great White Hope” (one of many boxing expressions that have entered common usage, including “double cross,” “knockout,” “up against the ropes” and “the real McCoy”).
Boxers have traditionally come from economically oppressed minority communities, especially African American, Italian American or Irish American. Like other professional sports, boxing has been seen as a way to escape poverty but success is rare, and boxers have frequently been financially exploited. Despite the successes of such great champions as Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis (whose knockout of the German Max Schmeling in 1938 was seen as a rebuff to Adolf Hitler’s claim of Aryan racial superiority), black boxers’ opportunities at the highest levels were restricted to the extent that white boxers could avoid them, until after the Second World War. Successful black boxers had to be very careful about their public image (Louis was instructed not to be photographed alongside white women). In the 1950s, however, this began to change with the combination of somewhat improved opportunities for black men following from their wartime service and, by the late 1950s, the advent of televised boxing and increased demand for talented fighters. African Americans have dominated the public face of the sport ever since, especially in the most visible heavyweight division, where the last undisputed white champion was Rocky Marciano, who retired in 1955. Many boxers in the lighter weight classes have been from Latin America and Asia, especially as boxing’s market has expanded via global communications networks.
Since the 1960s, the three central figures in the public awareness of boxing have been the heavyweight champions Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, and the promoter Don King. Handsome, flamboyant and loquacious, Ali’s public opposition to the Vietnam War and his claims to be “the prettiest” and “the Greatest,” echoing the political slogan “Black is Beautiful,” made him into a hero for many and eventually one of the most famous men alive. Boxing was seen to fall into a lull after Ali’s retirement in the early 1980s. By then the division of championships by separate sanctioning bodies meant that there were often multiple champions in each weight division, and without charismatic figures like Ali many fans lost interest.
Tyson’s very different appeal sparked something of a popular revival. For Tyson, boxing was an escape from a much-publicized juvenile delinquent youth on the streets of Brooklyn, New York, and he became a protégé of the trainer Cus D’Amato. Viewed against Ali’s speed and agility Tyson was an explosive puncher who rose to prominence with a series of spectacular early round knockouts, and unified the title (won the title under each of the separate sanctioning organizations) in 1988. As champion, Tyson’s malevolent, “gangster” rap image and his very public personal life were accompanied by rumors of continued delinquency and charges of sexual harassment. His marriage to actor Robin Givens collapsed, and, in a stunning upset, he was defeated by unheralded Buster Douglas in 1990. In 1992 Tyson was convicted in Indiana of the rape of a Miss Black America pageant contestant. His supporters claimed for him the same status as a legal martyr to racism that Ali and before him Jack Johnson had attained. Paroled after three years, Tyson fought a series of inconsequential bouts that brought him a meaningless championship. However, he was unexpectedly and thoroughly beaten by Evander Holyfield in 1996 and again in 1997 when he was disqualified for twice biting Holyfield’s ears.
The promoter Don King, his trademark upright hairstyle and motto, “Only in America,” ubiquitous at major bouts, spans the championship reigns of Ali and Tyson. A former Cleveland numbers runner, once convicted of manslaughter, King secured the first $10 million purse for Ali’s bout with George Foreman in Zaire in 1974, and the bloated prize-money in tens of millions of dollars, for Tyson’s comeback mismatches on pay-perview television. Although he has avoided legal entanglements, his simultaneous promotional deals with opposing boxers have been associated with the perceived corruption of boxing.
Industry:Culture
Brainchild of Philadelphia Inquirer publisher Walter Annenberg, TV Guide was created in 1953 as the ephemeral bible of the television generation. It was sold to Rupert Murdoch in 1988. Its multiple local program guides, meshed with national features on stars, programming and even investigative work, have allowed it to vie with Reader’s Digest as the most popular American magazine (13 million plus circulation). Still, like television, it remains absent from scholarly settings like libraries, even though the magazine may figure as a collectible in its own right. Annenberg, ambassador to Britain under Reagan, used his media wealth to fund communication studies and civic and educational projects.
Industry:Culture
By 1990 the market value of US direct investment abroad measured $714.1 billion compared with $530.4 billion for foreign investment in the US (Graham and Krugman 1991:17). Instead of making products domestically and exporting them, corporations have become multinational, acquiring foreign assets with which to produce goods for sale in local markets. The United States has long been at the forefront of this movement: Coca-Cola, Nike and General Motors have contributed to the Americanization of the world by investing directly in local distribution networks. Subsidiaries, once the vehicle for tight control over foreign operations, have become more independent as firms realize the value of the cultural knowledge and skills of its foreign employees.
US firms have long sought foreign markets as growth opportunities. For example, the Big Three automakers have produced cars in Europe for decades, forcing smaller, local manufacturers to consolidate operations. Such investment has caused a backlash that includes sanctions, tariffs and public outcry against foreign “invasion” of products and ideas.
The fear of foreign cultural and even physical invasion did not hit American shores until the 1980s. While the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have long held significant US investments, it was not until a weakened dollar allowed foreign firms to acquire US assets at “fire-sale” prices that Americans took notice of the phenomenon of foreign investment and multinational corporations. Anecdotal evidence, such as Japanese purchases of cultural icons such as the Rockefeller Center by Mitsubishi and Columbia Pictures by Sony led to fears that the US was losing its leadership role in the global economy Ironically the Rockefeller Center was ultimately sold at a massive loss to Mitsubishi just six years later. While Japanese companies gobbled up $57 billion in US real estate from 1987 to 1990, American firms invested more than that in other countries.
Regardless, globalization is creating a reality in which Japanese firms Toyota and Honda produce identical cars whether they come off a Tokyo or Cleveland, OH production plant.
The fear of capital flight long led countries to place restrictions on inflows and outflows of investment and currency. Restrictions on direct foreign ownership of institutions and land, as well as limits on currency conversion are common examples.
With the onslaught of technology and freetrade reforms in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, most countries have accepted globalization. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) provides for neutrality with respect to foreigninvestment ownership. Without capital controls, domestic fiscal and monetary policies approach futility For example, increasing domestic interest rates to combat inflation attracts foreign investment, which may fuel further inflation. The 1990s environment of “hot money” (institutions ready to divert assets at a moment’s notice) requires refocused attention on capital flows. Developing countries such as India, Malaysia and China maintain strict controls with varying success.
Investors worldwide are realizing the need to invest globally Americans and non-Americans alike are investing as much as 25 percent of their portfolios in foreign assets.
International mutualfund assets have mushroomed to over $400 billion. Foreign corporations, it is realized, have no specific allegiance to their country of origin, but are primarily focused on creating profits for their shareholders. This fact further dispels the fear that foreign investment will create any serious national security threats.
Industry:Culture
By the 1940s, Americans were receiving much of their news from radio. Despite a 1934 agreement between the print and radio media that radio news would be limited (and that those reciting the news on the radio were to be called commentators and not reporters), radio became key for transmitting the news. The Hindenberg disaster and the encroaching war in Europe and Asia became radiophonic experiences. The obvious advantage of radio over print was immediacy, while a secondary advantage lay in the dramatics of the voice.
Commentators could transmit news as it was occurring live to the audience, bringing the event into the home as eyewitnesses who spoke with an audible connection to it. With the Second World War, broadcast journalism was catapulted into a crucial position, and radio dramas were often interrupted by news of the war. It was this ability to interrupt programming that made network executives realize there was enough news to fill up a station’s entire day.
Today there are radio stations that broadcast news 24 hours a day The format is fastchanging with a fast-talking DJ. It is repetitive, with roundups and headlines—a talking newspaper, as station executives called the format when it began in the 1960s. The news may vary slightly from hour to hour, but the structure of each hour is the same, which again is like the lay-out and pagination of a newspaper. These talking newspapers have become a mainstay among radio stations on the AM dial, operating in most major cities.
The Westinghouse network was one of the forerunners of this format, which continues to be successful four decades later, perhaps because America’s ability to produce news has continued to accelerate.
Industry:Culture
Cable network founded by Robert Johnson in 1979. Johnson artfully managed new forms of television distribution—sharing satellites and trading Time Warner stock for access— and advertisers targeting black audiences. Initial programming included older black films, music and some public service combined with many infomercials (often without black relevance). Series taken from other networks and new studio productions appeared in the 1990s. BET reaches 35 million subscribers; audiences tend to be young but predominantly non-African American. Hence, while an economic success story for blacks, it may not be providing the cultural leadership of films or music.
Industry:Culture
Cable was first used in 1948 to send television signals through wire to remote mountainous parts of the United States. Over the decades, the cable television industry has changed from a delivery system for broadcast networks to one whose programming competes with broadcast television—by 1998, cable television attracted a larger monthly viewing audience than the combined broadcast networks. It is estimated that 68 percent of television households subscribe to cable television.
As a telecommunications industry cable television is regulated by the FCC. Since cable companies have to use public land to lay cables, each cable company usually owned by MSOs (Multiple Systems Operators), must negotiate a contract with the municipality which grants an operational monopoly in return for a licensing fee. While various proponents have envisioned competition among cable providers, this has only emerged in the largest cities. Satellites may however, raise a potential challenge.
Given cable’s relationship with communities, these also have demanded that systems provide local programming, as well as public access for citizens. Initially the Telecommunications Act of 1984 required such access, leading to production facilities and channel space for delivery. Cable systems, however, have challenged these requirements, claiming that they violate their 1st Amendment rights.
Cable systems receive their revenue primarily through subscription fees that average around $30 per month in 1999. Many regulatory attempts have sought to control cable subscription fees; however, with the culture of deregulation in the 1990s, they became completely deregulated in 1999. As the industry grows, cable networks are increasingly deriving income from advertising revenues as well.
The cable industry has always claimed that it provides a diversity of choices to the consumer. The number of cable networks has indeed increased from 28 in 1980 to 174 in 1998; by 1998, over 57 percent of all subscribers received 54 channels or more. Home Box Office (HBO) became the nation’s first pay-television network in 1972. The second major network is Ted Turner’s Cable News Network (CNN), now a division of Time Warner. Other major cable networks include MTV, ESPN, TNN, C-Span, the Weather Channel and A&E. These networks televise news, music, sports, public affairs, cooking, children’s television, science fiction, women’s programming, etc. 24-hours a day to their subscribers. Cable includes niches for Spanish-language broadcasting (for example, Univisión) and other ethnic programming (for example, BET).
Cable claims to provide a great deal of family and children’s programming to its subscribers, through educational and specialized channels (for example, Nickelodeon, Disney, the FOX Family channel). Providers also have attempted direct partnerships with schools, with programs like Cable High Speed Education Connection, which provide programming and cable Internet access to K-12 schools which allow them in. Cable programming has wider impacts. A 24-hour cable news channel, highlighted during CNN’s 1980 Gulf War coverage, has changed the landscape of news reporting. Broadcast network television news divisions are loosing viewership and money. News has become more immediate, although some blame the immediacy for a lack of in-depth reporting. ESPN and other sports media have not only offered more traditional sports, but have fostered growing audiences for soccer, women’s sports and alternative sports/recreations (for example, cheerleading).
HBO, being a premium channel where subscribers pay extra to receive its signals, has showcased Hollywood and produced quality programming that has won frequent Emmy Awards. Cable television also gave birth to television home shopping with QVC and the Home Shopping Channel. These networks provide a friendly homely environment onscreen, hawking all kinds of products to the audience/customers, who also call in and chat with hosts and celebrities.
This so-called diversity of choice is also a manifestation of niche marketing where products are targeted and produced, no longer for mass consumers, but for particular kinds of consumers. MTV, for example, promotes the importance of the teen and youth market, which is perceived to have a great deal of disposable income.
Cable networks like CNN and MTV are not simply American, but global. CNN can be watched in virtually all luxury hotels in the world, and MTV, with slight modifications, has global pop affiliates. While programming is adapted to world and regional audiences, an American story like the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr. dominated CNN worldwide.
In the late 1990s, the cable industry is also expanding into the Internet/online market.
Cable can transmit data much faster than traditional phone lines. Hence, AT&T bought TCI and Media One in 1999, anticipating shifts in telecommunications wherever the technologies develop. Cable networks have also developed Internet sites, such as ESPN Sports Zone and CNN interactive.
The cable industry is not really in competition with other media outlets like broadcast television, Hollywood, the Internet or even newspapers. Media giants, like Time Warner, Disney News Incorporated and AT&T, are not only vertically integrated, but simply own all media: cable is the medium, not the message.
Industry:Culture
California is a state of mind as much as a geographical area, and San Francisco is a city of dreams as much as it is the actual city by the bay, where seekers can go west no further. San Francisco became a boomtown in 1848 with the discovery of gold in California, and since that time has been characterized by ethnic diversity economic opportunity and certain relish for the oddball and madcap. From the reign of the daft but beloved self-proclaimed Emperor Norton I at the turn of the nineteenth century to the preoccupation of residents with Mayor Willie Brown’s dapper fedoras at the turn of the millennium, San Francisco has had a sense of humor, style and civic pride.
Originally inhabited by the Costanoan Indians, the first European outposts were built on the hilly peninsula in 1776, and four flags have flown since then: Spanish, Mexican, the Republic of California and the United States. It is known for sea-scoured air and fog, as well as the looming specter of earthquakes that have devastated the city. The city itself has 750,000 inhabitants in 47 square miles, but is also the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the US, which is at the forefront of hightechnology research and development in many fields, as well as home to the University of CaliforniaBerkeley and Silicon Valley.
Like every large city, San Francisco boasts myriad museums, theaters, art galleries, shops, music venues, restaurants and historic districts. In fact, the city is a tapestry a symphony of vistas and fragrances and atmospheres. Some of these have become global images of the city and its landscape: giggling young women promenading past muralpainted walls in the Mission; the breathtaking island views from plush offices in the skyscrapers of the financial district; the aged voices practicing Chinese opera in a cellar in a Chinatown alley and the Italian Americans of North Beach; the tourists walking Fisherman’Zs Wharf, enjoying the food and the views; the view from wind-tossed Baker Beach, with the trees and hills behind and the spectacularly foreshortened view of the Golden Gate Bridge ahead; and the picture-postcard views of the “painted ladies,” the lovingly detailed Victorian houses. These have been repeated in many media depictions of the city as well, whether Vertigo (1958), Bullitt (1968) or The Rock (1996), incorporating the famed Alcatraz prison.
San Francisco has also been a city marked by diversity of peoples, cultures, classes and sexuality: extravagantly dressed transvestites strutting Polk Street, cheerily greeting shop owners and immigrant neighbors; the preoccupied business people giving orders over cellular phones as they dash down Market Street; the salsa dancers on a sunny afternoon at the Ramp; or the elegant women examining the latest paintings displayed in the echoing marble halls of the Palace of Legion of Honor. There are the gay men of the Castro, jostling and joking on the streets and in the restaurants; the spiritual seekers walking the labyrinth inside Grace Cathedral; the artfully tended homes of the very rich in the spectacular Seaside neighborhood, perched on the cliffs above the sea; and the bookstores and coffee houses tucked into every corner of the city. It also hosts championship sports teams in football (the 49-ers), baseball (Giants) and basketball (Warriors).
Diversity shapes politics as well. There are the neo-hippies and neo-punks of the Haight Ashbury and the political rallies by activist groups of every stripe. San Francisco has been a home for gay activism embodied in the rise and assassination of Harvey Milk as a San Francisco politician. The potential for fragmentation has honed strong politicians on the national scene, including mayors Dianne Feinstein and Willie Brown. Yet the refurbished Beaux Arts City Hall, sporting gold trim and earthquake retrofitting, contrasts with the homeless encampments on the lawns of the Civic Center.
San Francisco is a city of tremendous energy and diversity a city at the geographical edge of the continent and perhaps at the cutting edge of much of what is most heartening about American culture.
Industry:Culture
Californian Democratic political dynasty. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown (1905–) became a liberal Democratic governor (1959–67) and party power broker. His son, Jerry Edmund, Jr. (1938–), brought an edgier style to the governorship (1975–83), combining rigorous liberalism and celebrity status with Jesuitical overtones. These gained the national spotlight during repeated presidential bids (1976, 1980, 1992) and their aftermath as Brown dated stars and also worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta. In the late 1990s, he re-emerged as a reformist mayor of racially divided Oakland. Sister Kathleen also ran for governor of California after a long career of public service.
Industry:Culture
