Cultural Forms: Constructed, Contested, and Intersecting

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
McDonald’s in Hong Kong
Read and Bartkowski argue that cultural forms are contested, constructed, and intersecting. In particular, saying that a cultural form is constructed means that a specific group of people perceives or does things differently. Contested entails the communication of individuals that happen over things that have specific meanings associated with reality. Moreover, intersecting cultural forms means that ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural differences separate one person from the other. As such, it is only by learning about others’ backgrounds and cultures that people can unite, view things from the same perspective, and accept each other.
By using James Watson’s reading, an individual will illustrate how cultural forms are contested, constructed, and intersected. McDonald’s being an American company has borrowed numerous things from Western culture. Indeed, its construction aspects come in since it managed to enter Hong Kong and intruded on the traditional practices of the residents. In other words, individuals from Hong Kong embraced American-style fast foods gradually to the point of being their favorite place to eat and socialize for both children and adults. That does not implicate that Hong Kong people were Americanized, but rather they adopted McDonald’s way of doing things (Watson 101). Their cultural differences did not prevent them from visiting and enjoying McDonald’s products and services.
In addition, contested entails individuals accepting the reality by struggling and negotiating. For instance, once McDonald’s opened its restaurant in Hong Kong, it stopped providing cold foods, such as salads and sandwiches, since Hong Kong people do not like them. Fast food had to offer hot items to compete with convenience foods, such as soup carts, portable grills, noodle shops, and dumpling stalls (Watson 101)....