Beneath the Smooth Skin of America

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Ellen Heath Sherry Jackson English 101.047 24 September 2014 “Beneath the Smooth Skin of America” Wearing the most expensive clothes and buying the most popular brands seems to be the norm for Americans across the country in today’s society in order to fit in and be a part of the mainstream flow of the media. On a daily basis you see the same outfits and products walking the streets of this country, but what has happened to the regional distinctions that set others a part? In Sanders’ essay, “Beneath the Smooth Skin of America”, he opens readers eyes to the fact that regional culture is quickly fading due to the comfortable option of the familiar and the mainstream ideas of mass-culture and production. Sanders explains by learning about the history of land and nature around us and stepping out of the predictable, we can rebuild the unique aspects of our home regions and reconnect with our “local” community and identity. In the past, the imprint from a person’s homeland was distinctive and obvious, you could tell where that person was from just by the way they dressed or acted. However, in current times mass culture and production have spread the epidemic of “likeness” across America. The media glorifies the mainstream products of clothing and ways of life, which most Americans today are consumed by. The people tuning into what Sanders refers to as “the global community” want to have the most popular products and be doing what is “cool” in today’s mass culture. This is affecting the regional differences because most of the people across America are wearing the same clothes and doing the same things. They are no longer carrying the imprint and diversity of their region, instead they are blending into mass culture due to the mass production of products and the influence of the media. The message the media sends makes people want to be a part of something bigger
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