Postmodernism in American Culture

Postmodernism is prominent in American culture in 2016.  Technology has given people easy access to different cultures from celebrities to everyday people. Nowadays, people are able to show their experiences and culture all over social media, which gives everyone a chance to see more than their own perspective. Social media lets people express their ideas of what makes something "art," and it allows people to admire others works of art. 

There is no longer one standard of what makes something better or worse because it is all based on opinion. Although there can be ads showing the "best" things to wear or do, people are always trying to achieve something even better or different. Specifically, celebrities and artists are known to break away from what is usually done, making their own idea of art. Before, there were standards and everyone followed the rules and what was to be expected of them. In our culture, it is important to be an individual and have unique opinions and actions. The control that people have over their lives is what shows how much of a postmodern world we live in.

Postmodernism in a Modern World

As our society inevitably becomes more developed, we see schools of thought, especially newer ones, become more applicable and relevant than ever before. Specifically, the ideas that the postmodern movement supplied us with in the late 20th century are nearly impossible to avoid today.

The postmodernist movement is not restricted to the confines of art, although it may seem like that when the credibility and the subjectivity of the idea of art is questioned. Nor is it only confined to literature and thought. Postmodernism manages to encompass all aspects of life, only becoming more relevant now, especially with the limitless ability of the media, especially social media.

While we are expanding the reign of postmodernism in our lives by simply just becoming a more socially and commercially focused society, we are also subconsciously being affected by it regardless of whether accept that notion. Postmodernism isn't just art anymore, it's an amalgam of  paradoxes, spirituality, accepting what we deny, and realizations of ourselves and of the world that are borderline epiphinac.

Mainstream social media is an great influence on the masses today because of how it allows us to filter and negotiate all points of one's life. Because life is not abstract and simplistic, (as post-modernistic art so often is,) social media allows us to break lives down into a series of moments that become still frames and snapshots of our lives that everyone can see. But is that our life? That is what a postmodern way of thinking helps us detect.

In our 21st century lives, filled with awesome technology and unprecedented social freedoms, we still have this urge to create our "ideal life" and to be the "real us." What this actually means is unclear; what determines something being better than something, or more ideal?

Postmodernism only becomes more apt when we, either as a society or as individuals, try to deny its impact on every aspect of our lives today. No doubt, that studying postmodern way of thought and influence on society leaves us with more questions than answers, but isn't that the point?