POPULAR CULTURE

Popular Culture

Popular Culture

Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer that was disseminated in the media. The letter is widely believed to have been a hoax, and may have been written by a journalist in a deliberate attempt to heighten interest in the story. Other nicknames used for the killer at the time were "The Whitechapel Murderer" and "Leather Apron". Attacks ascribed to the Ripper typically involved female prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to proposals that their killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge.

Gender, music and culture

Music has been blasting out of every boom box ever since it entered the mainstream in the mid 1950's. People bombard one another just to get their hands on Iron Maiden's or Nirvana's tickets, hoping to catch a momentary glimpse of Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl or Steve Harris, yes, such bands consisted of all these masculine entities. It is quite surprising to see that women rarely incorporate the role of playing the drums and guitars which together form a quartet. Unfortunately, rock was a male-dominated culture in which the opportunity to work as an instrumentalist became unfairly restricted by gender and only highlighted women's vocal performances. Pop stars such as Madonna, Janet Jackson and Tori Amos have retained their legacies as the best-known women performers.

The blues (black popular culture)

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the Deep South of the ...