Is Globalization Americanization - Essay Example

Contradictory to the various claims that American culture is being adopted by many countries around the world, it should be emphasized that many of these practices did not originate in the US. Beginning with the spread of the English language, the television and music industry and reality programs many of these have in fact originated from outside the US. However, despite the lack of an inherent culture in the US, one cannot neglect the fact that events taking place in Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Hollywood are having an upper hand in this globalization drive (Nye, 2002).

But, most importantly as many people have argued, Americans lack their own culture and have only imbibed various cultures from other countries. However, sociologists believe that such a cultureless state is also a form of culture. The various immigrants who had settled in the US brought and practiced their culture and this multicultural cohabitation has created a new culture which is now being increasingly adopted by many countries (Ssenyonga, 2006). . The fast food industry which has been hugely popularized in the US by food chains such as McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King which sell pre-prepared foods such as burgers and French fries has now opened its base in many other countries.

Though they are being widely discouraged by dieticians across the world by associating its consumption to the rise of obesity among children and adults, it has not deterred the people from eating such foods. Hence American cuisine is becoming synonymous with junk food and obesity (Ssenyonga, 2006). However, even these fast foods are changed to reflect the tastes and needs of people in other countries; a good example being the McDonald’s menu which is different in China. Thus though the concept of fast foods has been adapted from the US, it is delivered in a manner which is acceptable by the people of other countries (Nye, 2002).

Apart from fast foods, other cultural influences from the US which have migrated to other countries include music and television. The music industry in the US which is driven to a large extent by rap artists such as Eminem and Snoop Dogg has had a huge impact globally both musically and on the dress culture. People around the world were exposed to hip-hop, jazz and country music which originated in the US (Ssenyonga, 2006). However, it is only the music which is inherently American, as the top three leading music companies in the US are owned by British, German and Japanese and not by Americans (Nye, 2002).

The television media has also contributed to the spread of American culture. Hollywood has changed the face of movies across the world with its