Sociology Now, Census Update

culture. High culture attracts audiences drawn from more affluent and largely White
groups, as any visit to a major art museum will attest.
High culture is often contrasted with “popular culture,” the culture of the masses,
the middle and working class. Popular cultureincludes a wide variety of popular
music, nonhighbrow forms of literature (from dime novels to comic books), any forms
of spectator sports, and other popular forms of entertainment, like television, movies,
and video games. Again, sociologists are interested less in what sorts of cultural activ-
ities are classified as high or low and more interested in the relationships between
those levels, who gets to decide what activities are classified as high or low, and how
individuals negotiate their way through both dimensions. And sociologists are inter-
ested in the way that certain cultural forms shift their position, from low to high or
high to low. Notice, for example, how comic books have been the subject of major
museum shows in recent years, and they are now being seen as high culture and
popular culture.
The connection between high and low culture is often expressed through com-
edy because comedy can painlessly reveal our own cultural biases. For example, the
actress Lily Tomlin used to delight her audiences with a clever critique of this distinc-
tion. Portraying a homeless “bag lady,” she professed confusion about modern cul-
ture. She held up a picture of a big Campbell’s soup can. “Soup,” she said. Then she
held up a poster of the Andy Warhol painting of that same soup can—a poster from
the Museum of Modern Art. “Art,” she said. Back and forth she went. “Soup.” “Art.”
“Soup.” “Art.” Confusing, huh?
This contrast is not only confusing, but often value laden, as if it is somehow
morally superior to attend an opera sung in a language you do not understand than
it is to go see a performance by the Dixie Chicks, or somehow better to view mod-
ern art in a museum than to watch NASCAR on television. (Or better to do anything
than to watch television!) The split between high culture and popular culture is often

CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS 57

Pride in Being American

Sociologists study not just demographic trends, but also attitudes, beliefs, and values, and how

they relate to those trends. A simple question about pride in nationality can be used to infer

much about a population and the state of a nation. National pride is usually viewed as a positive

thing, as it’s indicative of patriotism and happiness with one’s life in a country and culture. But

extreme patriotism can also lead to ethnocentrism, which has its own consequences. So, what do

you think?

See the back of the chapter to compare your answers to national survey data.

2.2

What

do

you

think

❍Very proud

❍Somewhat proud

❍Not very proud

❍Not proud at all

❍I am not American.

How proud are you of being an American?

?