LightningBolt, 2/17

“Culture in its modern form stirs up hatred against the conventions and virtues of everyday life” (101)

Discussing this quote in class today, I realized how many things in our culture do just this. We as a culture are constantly conforming to abstract ways of life that are the exact opposite of what would be considered the “conventional life style.” An example which we discussed in class, the structure of a family, shows how this can be a positive concept. For a very long time a family was seen as a mother, father, three children, living in a big house in a safe neighborhood. Not only has our culture learned to disregard this as the “conventional” family, but we have started to display alternative family styles on things such as TV shows. Divorce used to be taboo and it is now seen as an excepted part of life. Sometimes families do not work out in the, what once was seen as the conventional way, but it is better to except all kinds of families so that people can live at their happiest.

Another example of stirring up hatred against the conventions and virtues of everyday life is interpersonal interactions. Before postmodernism, interaction between two people was either face to face or a well thought out letter of phone call. In today’s world things such as Myspace and instant messaging allow people to meet people, and even have full on relationships without actually meeting face to face. This is totally against what is considered to be conventional, but it is what works in our society.
These new ways of life and views of the world will never be accepted by everyone. There will always be people who are apposed to straying away from conventional lifestyles.