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[mariagasp-22]

Blog Post #4

Hello bloggers and welcome to another blog post! This will actually be my final blog post; I am so glad that you guys have decided to read my blog! This week I will be comparing holiday songs from America and from Mexico. The song that I have chosen for America is a classic Christmas song, called “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee. For the Mexican culture I have chosen another Christmas classic, “Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano. I will start by talking about Christmas traditions that are common in Mexico, and then I will go on to talk about Christmas traditions in America. Eventually, I will also talk about how religiosity differs in both Mexico and in America. 

The image above is from a parade held on December 12th when a religious feast is held and there are many festivities. Some of the festivities are fireworks, parades, and musical performances. The feast day is called Our Lady of Guadalupe, and is a big deal in Mexico.

Linked here is “Feliz Navidad”, which is the holiday song I chose for Mexico. The phrase Feliz Navidad literally translates to “Merry Christmas” in English. The lyrics that are in Spanish literally translate to ‘Merry Christmas and a happy New Year”. Mexicans celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe up until about two weeks after Christmas. A day called Noche Buena is even more important for Mexicans than actual Christmas Day, however. For Latinos, it is important to celebrate the birth of Jesus, according to this website. Noche Buena is December 24th, which is Christmas Eve, every Latino country has different traditions. Some go to mass at midnight, some eat a large meal, and some might even open gifts on Christmas Day. Many Catholics also celebrate Christmas, which is a very important holiday because of the birth of Jesus. 

Pictured above is a Christmas tree farm, which is a common Christmas tradition among many American families. Many families go together to a Christmas tree farm after Thanksgiving to find a tree to cut down and eventually decorate with ornaments before Christmas rolls around.

Linked here is the song “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, if you would like to take a listen. The lyrics “later we’ll have some pumpkin pie/and we’ll do some caroling” show the Christmas spirit of Americans. Many American families, mine included, love to celebrate Christmas by eating a large meal at some point in the day. The line about pumpkin pie signifies the fact that Americans eat a large meal, as pumpkin pie is a popular desert around Christmas and Thanksgiving. Although not all American families are the same in how they celebrate Christmas, the large majority do eat a large meal and open Christmas gifts. Most Americans are Protestant, which means they do celebrate Christmas, but likely in a somewhat different way than Catholics do.

The image above shows a big thing for Mexicans on Christmas, which is tamales, made by wrapping a filling in a corn husk or some other type of leaves.

In Mexico, the primary religion is Roman Catholic while in America the majority are Protestant (with the second largest religion being Catholicism). People with religious beliefs tend to be more interdependent than those who are non-believers are. Having more religiosity tends to have more positive experiences in relation to well-being, such as having more friends, less illness, and more happiness. As I learned in my cross cultural psychology class, Protestants are more likely to have a fundamental attribution error. A fundamental attribution is a cognitive bias that makes it hard to take a situation into account when necessary, and also is an over-reliance on dispositional attributions (which determine the cause of behavior to be rooted within the person). On the other hand, Catholics are mostly in the middle when it comes to dialectical thinking, which is the ability to hold opposing thoughts and accepting contradictions within the same thought process. Catholics also tend to be more interdependent than Protestants, although not by much. It makes sense that Catholics are more interdependent (even by a little) than Protestants, since Mexicans tend to be more interdependent and Americans are more independent. 

Thank you so much for reading my blog post this week! I hope you all have enjoyed reading about what I have found within the cultures of America and Mexico. I have really enjoyed getting to do all this research on both cultures and being able to discover new music along the way. While there will not be any more blog posts, I will still always be on the lookout to find new music. Thank you all again for joining me along the way and reading what I have to say! Peace, and stay safe out there! I will see you on the other side :) 

Sources: 

https://www.gviusa.com/blog/how-christmas-is-celebrated-in-mexico/

https://www.vix.com/en/identity/526577/why-noche-buena-is-way-more-important-than-christmas-for-hispanics

https://www.mommynearest.com/edition/boston/article/5-best-christmas-tree-farms-near-boston

https://www.gviusa.com/blog/how-christmas-is-celebrated-in-mexico/

[mariagasp-22]

Blog Post #3

Hello bloggers and welcome to another blog post! I hope you are all doing well, Easter is upon us. This week I will be comparing upbeat music types from both Mexico and America. The genre of music I am talking about for the American culture is called Go-Go music, which I will talk more about later in this blog post, the song I chose is “Beautiful Life” by Go-Go legend Chuck Brown. For the Mexican culture I will be talking about a song called “Oue Mi Amor” which is in the genre of pop-rock.

Above is an image of a sign that says "Chocolate City" which is what D.C. was referred to when it was predominately African American. However, because of gentrification, D.C. is no longer known as Chocolate City and is not primarily African American. Gentrification could cause issues like marginalization, making it harder for African Americans and minorities to fit into the culture they used to know.

Go-Go is a style of music that originated in Washington, D.C. and is well-known for the beat that does not stop as well as the community it created. This genre of music is inspired by funk with a heavy mix of bass and percussion instruments. I chose the song “Beautiful Life” by Chuck Brown because he is often referred to as the ‘Godfather of Go-Go’, being one of the first to make Go-Go popular in D.C. The DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia) area is where Go-Go music has been primarily popular since it was discovered. The genre of Go-Go has underwent a great deal of criticism and misunderstanding in the time that it has been around. There was a whole movement called “Don’t Mute DC”, which became a trending hashtag on Twitter. This movement came about as a result of D.C. becoming gentrified by white people. The way this movement started was when white people moved into an apartment complex down the street from a Metro PCS store that was known for blasting Go-Go music. People complained that they did not like the music because it was too loud, however the people of D.C. became enraged and started a petition called #DontMuteDC. Eventually, the music was put back on at the store, and about a year later the Mayor of D.C. Muriel Bowser made Go-Go music the official music of D.C. Here is a link to more information about the #DontMuteDC movement, if you would like to learn more about it.'

Here is an image of Chuck Brown performing at a go go show, the pioneer of Go-Go and also known as "The Godfather of Go-Go." At a go go, artists would perform and get the audience excited. This image shows the community of Go-Go enthusiasts, and the emphasis that the artist had on connecting with the audience.

I am currently taking a class on the sociology of Go-Go, and as I learned in that class Go-Go took off in the 1980s, right after “Bustin’ Loose” was released, which was one of the first Go-Go songs to be popularized in this genre. Listening to the song, the beat is very upbeat and the lyrics are uplifting. For the purposed of this blog post, I chose the song “Beautiful Life” by Chuck Brown, which is linked here if you would like to listen to it. The lyrics “I just need to see your smiling faces at my show/And when you feel the real love from the family/Everyday is a gift y’all that’s all I need”, shows the fact that Go-Go is not just a genre of music, but also a community. I have learned that when one is low on minority culture and low on majority culture, this marginalizes them which typically has no positive effects. For the most part Americans seem to be pretty well-integrated into their culture, and relating this to Go-Go music seem to be thankful for having a community.

In Mexico, the music is typically very upbeat, and the song “Oye Mi Amor” by Maná is no exception to this, which translated to English means ‘Listen, My Love’. Here is a link to the song I chose from Mexico if you would like to listen to it. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, Mexicans tend to be more interdependent and value their relationships more than Americans do. As mentioned in this article (https://www.livescience.com/38647-mexican-culture.html)Mexicans value their traditions deeply, and not many Mexicans are marginalized, meaning being separated from both the minority and majority culture. With the value of culture that Mexicans hold, this is how it is know that very few are marginalized within this culture. Being marginalized does not yield many, if any, positive effects, and for interdependent Mexicans this could draw them into depression.

Here is an image of a traditional folk dance done in Mexico. Folk dancing is very popular in Mexico, and Go-Go is partly inspired by folk music. Mexico has a very rich culture and emphasizes assimilation into their culture.

Thank you so much for reading my blog post next week! I hope you all enjoyed reading about what I found this week. Go-Go is especially interesting to me since many people do not know much about the genre itself. Stay tuned for my next blog post where I will be diving deeper into the music of Mexico and America. If you celebrate Easter, I hope you have a happy and safe Easter with your loved ones! Stay safe out there, and I will see you next time.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/art/go-go

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/wheres-my-go-go-music-residents-say-turn-up-the-music-after-a-complaint-silenced-a-dc-intersection/2019/04/09/fde12318-5af4-11e9-9625-01d48d50ef75_story.html

https://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-signs-bill-designate-go-go-music-official-music-dc

https://www.livescience.com/38647-mexican-culture.html

https://festival.si.edu/blog/2012/in-memoriam-chuck-brown-1936-2012/

https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/goodbye-to-chocolate-city/

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Blog Post #2

Hello there, bloggers! I hope you all are doing well and staying safe out there, the weather is finally getting warmer so I hope some of you have been able to get outside! This week I will be comparing more music from both the American and Mexican cultures. The types of music I will be comparing is a traditional type of music in Mexico, which is called Mariachi music, and a genre from the United States which is called country. 

The song I chose that is a traditional song done by a Mexican Mariachi Band Is called “Aca Entre Nos” by Vincente Fernandez. Here is the link to the song if you would like to take a listen. The title “Aca Entre Nos” means ‘here between us’ in English. The lyrics “No te he dejado de adorer/alla en mi triste soledad/me han dado ganas de gritar” mean in Enlgish ‘I have not stopped adoring you/There in my sad loneliness/They have made me want to scream.” As I wrote with Selena’s “Dolerme” in my last blog post, these lyrics represent how integral relationships are to the Mexican culture. Relationships are a strong part of the self in Mexico and have a big impact on an individual. If someone in an interdependent culture lost a relationship that was important to them, then it would hurt them more than it would to someone in a more independent culture.     

Above is a picture of a Mexican Mariachi band performing in the street. It is common for Mariachi bands to wear wide-brimmed sombrero hats, it is a symbol of Mexican culture and shows the unification of the band.

In Mexico, the culture tends to be more interdependent than American culture, which is more independent. Because Mexicans tend to be more interdependent and place values on their relationships, it makes sense that Mariachi music is so popular. Mexicans place a great deal of emphasis on their family, and this form of interdependence is called simpatía, which loosely means ‘pleasant relationships’ in Spanish (CLASH! pg. 198). They tend to put their family relationships first especially, which makes for the pleasant relationships associated with the concept of simpatía. Listening to Mariachi music together is common in Mexican families according to this website. It can serve as upbeat and a way to lift the mood when sorrow is present. Being with family members can bring the simpatía to make one feel better, especially when listening to the upbeat sound of Mariachi.

Here is a picture of many of the instruments that Mariachi bands use. Similarly to many country songs, a typical guitar is present. However, the other instruments pictured are Vihuela Mexicana, harp, guitar, violin, trumpet, and voice.

The song I chose that is a popular country song in the United States is called “God Bless the U.S.A. by Lee Greenwood. You can listen to the song here if you desire. This song shows the pride that people living in the United States have in being American. The lyrics “if tomorrow all the things were gone/I worked for all my life/and I had to start again/with just my children and my wife” show that Americans do not value relationships as many Mexicans do. One’s children and spouse will be more of part of who an individual is than will their other relationships, like friends. Country music is popular in the U.S. and there are many songs that illustrate the independence of Americans. This song is just one of the many songs that illustrates independence.

Above is a picture of a guitar, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat. These are often associated with country music in the U.S. Similarly to how Mariachi bands wear wide-brimmed sombrero hats, many cowboys and country singers wear a cowboy hat and boots. Many country songs also are very slow paced and have a guitar playing in the background of the song, while Mariachi music often has a faster beat. 

Thank you so much for reading my blog post this week! I have really enjoyed doing research about different types of music so far, and I am excited to learn even more about both the American and Mexican cultures. I hope you all enjoyed reading this week’s blog post! Stay tuned for next week’s blog post which will include more about the music cultures of America and Mexico. Stay safe out there and see you next time!

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkIstlkAxdw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH61hFsma24

https://www.kalw.org/post/music-family-affair#stream/0

https://www.tripsavvy.com/mexican-mariachi-music-1588856f

https://amtshows.com/all-about-country-music/

https://content.westmusic.com/blog-meet-the-mariachi-instruments/

[mariagasp-22]

Blog Post #1

     Photo is from here.

     Hello there, bloggers! This week I will be talking about two different songs, one song that is well-known in the U.S., called “American Pie” by Don McLean; as well as a song that is well-known in Mexico, called “Como La Flor” by Selena. I will link both songs to this blog post so that if anyone desires, you can listen to the song and hear about it and how it relates to the cultural connections that I will be making. Also, at the end of this post, I have a link that talks about how Mexicans are more sociable than Americans. It is an interesting study, and if you have the time, I strongly encourage you to check the study out.

      On the Singelis Self-Construal Scale, the American culture tends to fall towards the independent side. What this means is that these types of people are very individualistic, meaning these people are unique and tend to like to view people as separate entities. They value what makes people unique and personal choice is a motivator for them. On the other hand, Mexico as a culture tends to be more interdependent. Being a more interdependent culture means exactly the opposite of being independent. Interdependent cultures value their relationships more than independent cultures. As said in the Science Daily study, Mexicans do tend to be more social than Americans. This makes sense, since Mexicans see their relationships as an integral part of who they are. The interdependent construal of the self also places value in how individuals are alike rather than how they are unique, and sometimes in this type of culture people thrive more when choices are made for them.

     I chose the song “American Pie” by Don McLean to talk about the tendency of the American culture to have an independent self-construal. This song came out in 1971 and falls into the genre of folk/rock. Listening to the beat of the song, the song is upbeat and goes on for around eight and a half minutes. Looking into the lyrics, some of the lyrics that I think relate to the American culture are “Now, for ten years we’ve been on our own/And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,” I think these lyrics relate to the American culture of being independent because Americans are more used to being on their own. With Americans being on their own more often, they become adapted to that way of life. While cultures that mainly have an independent construal of the self do in fact value their relationships, it is not as much of an integral part of their lives as it is for more interdependent cultures. Also, here is a link to listen to “American Pie” by Don McLean if you desire!

Above is a picture of Don McClean on the picture of the single “American Pie.” 

     To represent the Mexican culture being more interdependent, I chose the song “Como La Flor” by Selena. This song has a very chill beat to it and is slower than “American Pie.” This song is all about what it is like to lose a love, and then questioning if that person will be able to find love again. This is significant to the interdependent culture of Mexico because it shows that the relationship was a big part of who the person was. The lyrics “Si vieras cómo duele perder tu amor/Con tu adios te llevas mi corazon” (which means in English “if you saw how it hurts to lose your love/with your goodbye you take my heart”) are fitting to the interdependent culture. I think these lyrics are fitting because it shows that the person leaving was a significant part of the person that was hurt. This exemplifies the importance of relationships in interdependent cultures. Here is a link to “Como La Flor” by Selena if you would like to listen to that!

Above is the cover picture of Selena’s “Como La Flor.”

     I think Western ideals of music have been so pertinent that it is good every once and a while to listen to more diverse music types. Listening to a song that was popular in Mexico makes me want to listen to more music. Stay tuned for my next blog post, where I will be comparing and contrasting more music from Mexico and America. Thanks again for reading, and stay healthy and safe out there!

Linked here is the study I mentioned earlier in this blog post, I strongly recommend that you check it out if you have the time. It is definitely worth reading!

Sources: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAsV5-Hv-7U  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2F66BoVHR0

https://flagsexpress.com/mexico-flag/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/03/july-4th-the-histories-us-flags-for-independence-day/39637697/