Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 2, August 2001 | Page 94
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Popular Culture Review
Bumper stickers have been identified and studied as expressions of individuality
(Heeren, 1980; Stem and Solomon, 1992), group and political affiliation (Endersby
and Towle, 1996; Jorgenson, 1977; Kriznar, 1993), and political discourse (Bloch,
2000). From these studies one gets a sense that the world of bumper stickers is,
first and foremost, an arena for social commentary. Heeren (1980) found stickers
to share with graffiti much of the same character of cultural protest, in his study,
representative of the sexual liberation of the 1970’s. Both bumper stickers and
mural graffiti represent alternative media on which not just political themes, but
rather a poli vocal discourse truly representative of popular culture does take place.
More recent investigations on the political significance of automobile decals
have taken place notwithstanding the general acceptance of the demise of the
political sticker. The image of a Vermont license-plated VW van pasted with a
“Visualize world peace” sticker or a similar message is now an anachronism (Baker,
1991). As a matter of fact, in North America, where political and diplomatic conflict
has become less ideological and one’s confidence in absolute truth has become
much