Constructing the self.. Canadian identity

In terms of the reading from week 2 " as Canadian as possible", we see that there is evidence and the construction of the Canadian identity, which is in turn expressing their unique place or role . The reading looks at the cross-culture between Canada and the USA and how Canada tries to detach itself from the assumption of being just like USA or being in the shadow of the United States. Looking at the construction of the self, we see that it is a destructive/constructive pleasure. Self theory is a method of critical thought that is created and used for the self. The main theme around it was national identity an d Canada's lack this of due to America’s influence on their culture. When i look in the media and see people like Jim Carrey and Justin Bieber, the fact that they are both Canadian shocks me. There is no sense of this Canadianism in either of them and i would never tell, maybe because I'm foreign myself but there is not distinguishing features about Canada. Maybe that is why they are trying so hard to build a Canadian identity.

Shedding the burqa

Many American women feel that Iraqi women feel this way about burqas. That they just want to shed the image and be in the light. Maybe through the social exchange of an Oprah-esq show would help them "come out". American culture sees it as a prison that we should save them from. As in the romance novels, they need to escape to see the outside world, to escape from their reality and see a place where women are treated better. We would like to give them a vehicle to see what is "better" not in the sense of being loved, but in being treated in general. This image speaks to an inferred silent protest, that American women especially, seem to be seeing and hearing.

Canada: America's Hat

Bodroghkozy discusses "Canadian media" in the article "As Canadian Possible...Anglo-Canadian Popular Culture and the American Other." Essentially the point is made that there really is no "Canadian Pop Culture," but instead just borrowed American Cultured. I found this picture to relate because Canada is just an extension of America's taste, like if a person added a hat to their outfit. The text says, "Public broadcasting would also, crucially, serve as a weapon to keep seductive American mass culture on the other side of the border. The constructing of a Canadian-ness could never succeed if the nation's inhabitants were perpetually being enticed to participate in the fictions that helped to solidify the imagined community to the south." So, though Canada submits itself to it's lack-of-culture, it probably doesn't help that American music stations are played for our neighbors because it perpetuates the problem.

Australia Struggles With Identity

While reading the article, As Canadian As Possible by Aniko Bodroghkozy, I thought of other countries who struggle to maintain their own “identity” because of the influences of American culture. “Public broadcasting would also, crucially, serve as a weapon to keep seductive American mass culture on the other side of the border…Canadian-ness could never succeed if the nation’s inhabitants were perpetually being enticed to participate in the fictions that helped to solidify the imagined community to the south” (566). This is also true with the media and television shows in the country of Australia, many of the original shows produced in America have been appropriated to Australian versions. Such as America’s Next Top Model, now produced in Australia as Australia’s Next Top Model, ultimately spreading the influence of America’s pop culture and interests. It is difficult to maintain one’s own identity when the world can help but establishing America as having the biggest media industry.