Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold.

I usually don't respond to media texts that I read but I felt intrigued by some of the texts that I had read by Arnold. Culture and Anarchy is probably the most famous of his writings have been studied by scholars over the years since it has been published. The text was published during a time where education was only for the rich and his writings talked about restructuring England's social ideology which was unheard off of back then.

The one theme that stuck out in my mind when reading his work was that culture is seeking inward perfection and helps deal with the present difficulties in today's society.

''Culture, which simply means trying to perfect oneself and one's mind''

I don't agree with Arnold and this quote. I know that culture is a very hard word to define. I like to see culture as a sense of belonging and helping to express your identity not to perfect yourself. Arnold also argues that culture leads to perfection. Again I think these opinions are outdated.

Look at culture today, anybody of any culture attends education in today's society unlike when these texts where written. The books you read, the school you go to and the knowledge you have is down to the education and the work you put into your studies not your culture. Take reality TV as an example the mass media see it as part of a culture of the ''dumbed down society'' when really anybody could watch it even those people with first class degrees. Nobody is perfect so how Arnold sees culture as a way of perfection may have worked when education was just for the rich but in today's society when education in a tacitness his opinion is null and void.

Arnold also discusses that if there is no order there is no society in which he states ''without society there is no human perfection'' . To me Arnold was obsessed with human perfection through the means of culture. However i raise the question in a society were mistakes, unemployment and political corruption exist does perfection really exist? One thing I know is that culture does not define perfection and that perfection in the soicety that we live in today does not exsit. Would you really want to live in perfection becasue lets face we all learn mistake

I mean I had it all, the CD's, the t-shirts, the used up concert tickets and knew every single lyric like it was a meaning to my life. Posters of my beloved 5ive boys graced my bedroom walls wishing that one day I could marry 'ABS'.  So when ITV announced a new documentary that would see six of the biggest 90's band reunite I screamed with delight. (B*Witched, 911, Honzey, Liberty X, Atomic Kitten. 5ive) Suddenly the memories of my teeny bopper days were flashing before eyes. I may just be a little old to be classed as a teeny bopper these days but in my heart I will always be one. I mean this show is my culture and my identity it would just be wrong for me not to watch it. Been a teeny bopper gave me a sense of who I was that I belonged to this exclusive group that had a love for music and that these bands where my friends and my idols. I mean I cried when they split up I felt like I had gone through a break up when these bands called it a day. This documentary series relives them memories bringing me back to the good old days.

The point I just made was screened during the first episode of The Big Reunion when they showed fans reacting to the news that 5ive had split up. I will admit I sobbed liked a baby when that happened. The show also shows how fans felt like they had a particular connection to the band and even the performers agreed saying that there was nothing that they loved more than hearing their fans screaming their songs as they dance across the stage with the dodgy dancing that was fashionable back then.

So for the next couple of weeks as The Big Reunion plays out in front of my eyes I will sit there with my 5ive t-shirt on and relive my teeny bopper era that will forever be my identity and made me who I am today.