Cultural Imperialism And The United States - 1475 Words

During my time in Guatemala, I believe that the social issues I came in the most contact with were hegemony and cultural imperialism, or in other words, the influence the United States has over Guatemala. No matter where I was, whether it be the streets of the small town of San Miguel or the larger, more developed city of Guatemala City, I could not help but notice how much of an impact the United States has. Throughout the course of a month we learned a lot about the root causes of poverty- America as a hegemon- through both readings and discussion. The footprint the U.S. has left in Guatemala was apparent not only while reading and learning about the history of Latin America, but while visiting the country itself. In addition, we had the†¦show more content†¦As you walk or drive through Guatemala, you are sure to see countless billboards, much like in the U.S. Being from the U.S., this seems completely normal. The signs even looked very similar. When I took a closer look a t the signs, I noticed why they looked so similar. There were American models on the signs. In particular, I noticed a blonde-haired woman on the front of a billboard advertising shampoo. I also noticed American women on billboards advertising jeans and beer. When looking into bars I saw calendars with American women as well. It was impossible not to notice the influence that the U.S. had not only on methods of advertising, but also on the images used. In addition to noticing the U.S. hegemon while on the streets of Guatemala, I also noticed it while living with the people. While staying with host families, we were given the opportunity to take in an entirely different culture- or so we thought. Even though living amongst Guatemalans was a very new experience, it was also very evident that the U.S. had impacted the traditional Guatemalan way of life. The first thing that I noticed while living with my host family was the way they dressed. My host parents wore what can be considered as â€Å"traditional† clothing. They had not let any outside influence impact their decision in clothing. However, my host siblings we not mirroring their parents. My host siblings ranged from fourteen years old to about thirty years old. They wore much more casualShow MoreRelatedThe World War II And The Middle East1332 Words   |  6 Pages20th centuries, imperialism served a mode of global exploration and expansion of economic, political and religious influence. Glory was at stake; the opportunity to expound upon their influence on the balance of power galvanized most of Europe to explore and colonize Central Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In the period of European imperialism, imperialism served as conveyer of status and power in world affairs; the more imperialist territory, a more powerful nation state. 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