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| A young Koisan girl is guided by a matured lady, to then pass on the values of the Koisan society to her own children when she is old. |
It is assumed that media is a major source of definitions. This
is because media displays, constructs and communicates all the changing cultures
and values of society. We can therefore agree that mass media are persuasive
and are indeed a yardstick for deciding what is beautiful. ‘The style star of the
year is….’ is one example of the media’s measurement of normality. Society finds
it normal to live their lives copying their super stars. From the way they
dress, to how they style their hair, sometimes even their values match those of
their stars. Heritage on the other hand is the history, traditions and
qualities that a society has had for many years. These are considered an
important part of the society’s character. My take on this is; heritage did not
rain down but was created because of ancient individuals who decided to do
things differently and were considered to be wise personalities. Because legacy
lives on, their values became embraced by those who looked up to them. Media measures
what is normal and beautiful; heritage controls a society’s character by setting
its values. Are we living our lives true to our distinct individuality or are
our values and beliefs determined by the media or some prehistoric individuals
behind heritage?
That's a very good point u r setting here... It actualy makes me wonder weather us the new generation even know the true meaning of Heritage?
ReplyDeleteYou cant help but wonder Kholo. I personally think that people think heritage is about attires and habits, because that is what we normally focus on during the heritage month.
ReplyDeleteExactly Sis Mbali!! I truly think people should stop focusing on just the attire and focus on the bigger picture which is taking the time 2 learn about heritage..
DeleteYouthful eyes filled with optimism, not many in today's people are able to step up and point out their views with regards to their African Heritage, you should be proud of yourself because what you just said is the absolute truth.
ReplyDeleteThe media is really a source of definitions, it moves with the times but does not forget to teach us of our heritage. We need to remember that it does not set any standards for us the society but it highlights what exist already within our societies. So we cannot use it as a scapegoat for our faulty ways.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bahle. It is very important that we understand such topics because they play a huge part in our lives.
ReplyDeleteInam,though it highlights what already exists, it is very persuasive and people tend to chose to follow what is normal according to the media rather than what is normal to them as individuals. As you say, it highlights and leads people to a certain direction without giving them the actual insight of the things that play a huge role in our lives.
ReplyDeleteIt is all a sign of a very fact, and that is the youth have far and few adults that a good positive role models, thus the youth end up looking
ReplyDeleteOur culture and heritage is very important because it defines who we are. but we shouldn't let the media persuade us to follow what the rest of the world is doing ,we should remain original ,your blog is very good we need blog like this to teach the youth about our history #goodstuff
ReplyDeleteHeritage is a continuous process, as generation progresses, people change thier way of doing things and how they view things, as more people aprehend that the more it becomes a cultural heritage, human beings would therefore share demographical/geographical heritage as the country or place of thier birth, as these demographics evolve and develop and their infrastructure so is the behaviour towards the past heritage, theregore as other factors that affect heritage evolve including media, the way people view heritage will also change,
ReplyDelete