Tobacco in America:
One example of a paradigm shift is the dramatic shift in America in the general opinion of smoking and tobacco use. After the civil war, cigarettes were a huge part of American culture, and this trend was seen through the 1900s. Cigarettes and tobacco were included in TV shows, movies, magazines, and other forms of media. Tobacco was everywhere, and advertising for tobacco was everywhere. This started to change in the mid to late 1900s as the health affects of smoking were slowly discovered and reinforced by the government. For instance, after World War II the government let anti-smoking television ads air at no cost. Further restrictions like the Surgeon's General warning on tobacco packaging continued to fuel this shift in mindset. It was thanks to this effort by the government and the health industry that the paradigm shift was instigated. In modern America, there is a profoundly negative opinion on smoking. Most people silently shame smokers in public, and more and more smokers are making the move to quit.
Anti-Vaccination Movement:
It all started with Edward Jenner who came up with the first vaccine for smallpox by introducing cowpox material into a small boy's arm. Since then, vaccines have eradicated smallpox and are close to eradicating polio. One would think that the general public would be completely in praise of vaccines as a modern medical marvel. However, rather recently in the 2000s a small yet incredibly vocal group of people started coming out against vaccines and vaccination, citing dangerous chemicals included in the vaccines. Without proper medical studies or anything of that sort they were claiming that vaccines caused, among other effects, autism in children. I think this paradigm shift can be linked very closely to the ever popular 'natural' movement, where the public is becoming more and more concerned with artificial chemicals (to the point where just the word chemical is seen as a bad thing). The natural movement is not a bad thing as it forces corporations to be mindful of customer's desires and the business practices they are partaking in; it just may have a few unfortunate consequences.
I think both ideas are good but the smoking one is something we have all heard about before so it might be hard to offer new information. I like the vaccine one. I have heard about it but I really don't know a lot about how it got started or what exactly they believe so I think it would be interesting to learn about that.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, one of my two ideas is also how American attitudes of smoking have shifted since the mid 1900s. Obviously, I feel that this is a clear paradigm shift that could be open to many forms of analysis. Just so you know, I will probably end up choosing my other idea...if that makes you feel any better. Also, I like your second idea because it plays a large role in Americans' lives today, and it is a very relevant issue in modern politics. I feel that you could really roll with this idea, and you could be successful in analyzing this important shift and how it reflects our culture. I think you're on the right track with both of your ideas!
ReplyDeleteI like both of your ideas and think that you would be able to successfully analyze both. However, the vaccine idea is especially interesting to me because it is so current and I would definitely like to learn more about it. It also seems like you could present the second idea from many different angles to make for a really interesting presentation.
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