During dinner tonight, I had an interesting conversation with our Norwegian exchange student about bumper stickers. She was commenting on how her NT soccer team was selling car magnets, and that in Norway NO ONE has bumper stickers or anything of that sort on their cars. America, on the other hand, is a different story. Here, it is almost rare to see a car without a bumper sticker. This made me wonder about why we use bumper stickers and what American values the use of them portrays. The messages on bumper stickers vary immensly, as it can range from supporting your kid's sports team, to expressing political or religious views, to supporting US troops or even breast cancer. These stickers are a way for people to express their opinions to the world without any consequences. The person behind you at a stoplight reads your thought provoking sticker, and goes on with his/her day without having a chance to talk to you about it. It is almost like a one way conversation with the world. Bumper stickers are a window through which random people that you might not ever meet can categorize you and learn something about you.
On my family's car, we have a New Trier sticker, which informs everyone that we live in the New Trier district, and probably like our school. From knowing the location of New Trier, people probably could guess that we are a middle to upper class family. We also have a Depauw University sticker, which tells the world that someone in the family has a college education and is proud of their school. There is a New Trier track and field sticker, which suggests that we value sports and physical activity in our family. The most interesting sticker on our car is an AFS (American Field Service) sticker that says "Changing lives, sharing cultures". This shows that my family values international experiences, and maybe has hosted exchange students or been exchange students in the past. The idea of bumper stickers supports the American values of individuality, freedom of speech and expression, and superiority. By having different personal values on the back of your car, you are making yourself known to the world, showing that you are a unique individual. Obviously you see bumper stickers of all sorts, and some might be offensive or criticizing, but we have the right to express ourselves. I think the most important value that bumper stickers showcase is that of superiority/I'm-better-than-my-neighbor. Bumper stickers are kind of a way to brag and promote things that you are involved in. What do you think is so American about bumper stickers? What kind of bumper stickers does your family have on their cars? What does this reveal about your family?
1 comment:
Hi Madster,
What a neat idea for a post, prompted by your conversation with your exchange student. I especially like this sentence about bumper stickers: "It is almost like a one way conversation with the world" and how you connected it to American values and THEN gave specific examples from your own life. Great!
The only thing I would do to improve this is perhaps link it to an article. There has been research on the kinds of people who display bumper stickers and how it correlates to a propensity for certain behaviors. Yes, no joke.
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