Explanation

There are many aspects of Cultural Studies that I can explain to you, many have to do with certain keywords that explain various ideas presented in Cultural Studies that make up the field. When one ‘reads’ something in cultural studies, or in just the practice of ‘reading’, there is a definitive cognitive practice going on that transcends what we would think of as ‘reading’. For example, when you ‘read’ an advertisement you are able to see the underlying ideas the advertisement is throwing towards you, you critically analyze the advertisement for what it is: an argument for you to buy something using certain types of inter-textual ideas. The inter-textual ideas I speak of are common themes that run through cultural objects (IE: advertisements, etc.) in a way to make an argument. Common inter-textual ideas in advertisements include the idea that you NEED THIS PRODUCT. People are represented in advertisements as having better lives because of the products advertised. Reading in the way I have explained is used in many ways in many aspects of academic culture to analyze aspects of our culture critically. In “Becoming a Marihuana User’”, by Howard Becker, Becker ‘reads’ parts of our culture that show that marihuana use is a learned trait; one that cannot be explained by predisposition because the act of smoking and the culture of it are learned. He looks at parts of our culture critically, and marihuana use and thinks critically about them, looking at them from an objective perspective (IE: outside of the effects of the culture that keeps us from thinking critically) and is able to explain aspects of the culture simply and effectively.