Editing Pop icon

{{Short description|Iconic person or object in popular culture}}
{{Redirect|Pop star|other uses|Popstar (disambiguation)|}}
{{for|the British television series|Pop Idol}}
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| footer            = Many individuals—from Classical composers like [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] to cinema stars like [[Marilyn Monroe]]—have been credited as pop icons.
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A '''pop icon''' is a [[celebrity]], character, or object whose exposure in [[popular culture]] is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively objective criteria. The categorization is usually associated with elements such as longevity, [[Omnipresence|ubiquity]] and distinction. Moreover, "pop icon" status is distinguishable from other kinds of notability outside pop culture, such as with historic figures. Some historic figures are recognized as having reached "pop icon" status during their era, and such status may continue into the present. Pop icons of previous eras include [[Benjamin Franklin]]<ref name="Franklin">{{cite book
| first      = Joyce
| last      = Chaplin
| title      = The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius
| publisher      = Basic Books
| year      = 2006
| isbn      = 0-465-00955-7
| url      = https://archive.org/details/firstscientifica00chap
}}</ref> and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]].<ref name="Mozart">{{cite book
| first     = Bruno
| last     = Nettl
| title     = Heartland Excursions: Ethnomusicological Reflections on Schools of Music
| publisher     = University of Illinois Press
| year     = 1995
| isbn     = 0-252-06468-2
| url     = https://archive.org/details/heartlandexcursi00nett
}}</ref>

==Attributes and origins==
[[File: ExpressYourselfUnderGround cropped.jpg|upright|thumb|Semiotician [[Marcel Danesi]] attributed [[Madonna]] a catalyst role for the usage of the word "icon" in [[celebrity culture]].]]

Historians [[Asa Briggs]] and [[Peter Burke (historian)|Peter Burke]], explained that term "[[iconography]]" would pass into [[high culture]], and later in the twentieth century, into [[popular culture]], where "[[icon]]" refers to a secular celebrity like [[Madonna]].<ref name="Rothenberg">{{cite book|last1=Brand|first1=Benjamin|last2=Rothenberg|first2=David J.|title=Music and Culture in the Middle Ages and Beyond: Liturgy, Sources, Symbolism|year=2016|access-date=March 31, 2021|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1-10-715837-5|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMwiDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|page=293}}</ref> She probably had a catalyst role, as [[Marcel Danesi]], a professor of semiotics and linguistic anthropology at the [[University of Toronto]] cited in ''Language, Society, and New Media: Sociolinguistics'' that the word "icon" is a "term of religious origin" and arguably "used for the first time in [[celebrity culture]] to describe the American pop singer Madonna".<ref name="Danesi">{{cite book|last=Danesi|first=Marcel|author-link=Marcel Danesi|title=Language, Society, and New Media: Sociolinguistics Today|year=2020|access-date=March 31, 2021|chapter-url-access=limited|via=Google Books|chapter=4.1.3 Vocabulary|isbn=978-1-00-004876-6|publisher=[[Routledge]]|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0WjnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT91}}</ref> Danesi also asserts that the word "is now used in reference to any widely known celebrity, male or female".<ref name="Danesi" /> Some international reference works such as ''[[Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary]]'' and the ''[[Diccionario panhispánico de dudas]]'' have included Madonna's name to illustrate the new meaning of "icon".<ref name="Oxford">{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/icon|title=icon|access-date=March 31, 2021|archive-date=June 4, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200604232617/https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/icon|work=[[Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Pan">{{cite web|url=https://www.rae.es/dpd/icono|title=icono o ícono|year=2005|access-date=March 31, 2021|archive-date=June 4, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200604234741/https://www.rae.es/dpd/icono|work=[[Diccionario panhispánico de dudas]]|publisher=[[Royal Spanish Academy]]|url-status=live|language=es}}</ref> After ''[[The Advocate (magazine)|The Advocate]]'' called her the "greatest gay icon", Guy Babineau from ''[[Xtra Magazine]]'' stated in 2008: "I'm old enough to remember when people weren't called icons".<ref name="Xtra">{{cite web|url=https://xtramagazine.com/culture/why-we-love-madonna-14392|title=Why we love Madonna|date=October 22, 2008|access-date=October 29, 2022|work=[[Xtra Magazine]]|first=Guy|last=Babineau}}</ref> 

===Longevity===
Usually, the pop icon status of a celebrity is contingent upon longevity of notoriety.<ref name="dearborn000">{{cite book
| first      = Mary V.
| last      = Dearborn
| title      = Mailer: A Biography
| publisher      = Houghton Mifflin Books
| date      = December 9, 1999
| isbn      = 978-0-395-73655-5
| url      = https://archive.org/details/mailerbiography00mary
}}</ref><ref name="gottesman">{{cite book
| editor1-first    = Ronald
| editor1-last     = Gottesman
| editor2-first    = Richard Maxwell
| editor2-last     = Brown
| title     = Violence in America: An Encyclopedia
| publisher = Simon and Schuster <!-- Are we sure it isn't Charles Scribner's Sons? -->
| year      = 1999
| isbn      = 0-684-80487-5
}}</ref> This is in contrast to [[Cult following|cult icons]], whose notoriety or recognition may be limited to a specific [[subculture]]. Some pop icons have left a lasting and indelible mark in the area of their career, and then went on to attain a lasting place of recognition in society at large.<ref name="Ratcliff">{{cite book
| first      = Ben
| last      = Ratcliff
| title      = The New York Times Essential Library: Jazz: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings
| publisher      = Times Books
| date      = November 6, 2002
| isbn      = 978-0-8050-7068-2
| url      = https://archive.org/details/jazzcriticsguide00ratl
}}</ref>

===Ubiquity===
A common element of pop icon status is the ubiquity of imagery and allusions to the iconic figure.{{#tag:ref|Kaku,<ref name="Kaku" /> p. 11 |group="note"}} It is common for the figure to be recognized and even celebrated in areas outside the original source of celebrity status.{{#tag:ref|See e.g., Kaku,<ref name="Kaku" /> Chaplin,<ref name="Franklin" /> ''et al.'' |group="note"}} An example of this is [[Albert Einstein]], a [[physicist]] whose image and legacy have been represented in comic strips, T-shirts, greeting cards and many other contexts.<ref name="Kaku">{{cite book
| first     = Michio
| last      = Kaku
| author-link= Michio Kaku
| title     = Einstein's Cosmos: How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed Our Understanding of Space and Time
| publisher = [[W. W. Norton & Company]]
|date=April 2004
| isbn      = 978-0-393-05165-0}}</ref>

==Distinction==
Often pop icon status implies distinguished association with a societal ideal or [[archetype]]. It is not uncommon for iconic figures to have a [[nickname]] or [[sobriquet]] that is used to emphasize this association. Sometimes the very name of such individuals is even used as a synonym for common words or ideas.

Some fictional characters, such as [[Mickey Mouse]],<ref name="Variety100">{{cite news|url=https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=variety100&content=jump2&jump=iconIndex|title=Icons of the century|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815032622/http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=variety100&content=jump2&jump=iconIndex|archive-date=August 15, 2011|url-status=dead|year=2011|work=Variety100.com|publisher=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Dave|last=McNary|access-date=February 8, 2010}}</ref> [[Bugs Bunny]], [[Simpson family|the Simpsons]],<ref name="Variety100"/> [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]],<ref name="Schmidt">{{cite web|url=http://www.bluecorncomics.com/popicons.htm|title=The 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons|last=Schmidt|first=Robert|date=February 24, 2004|work=Blue Corn Comics |access-date=February 8, 2010}}</ref> [[Goku]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-10-17 |title=10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes |website=Mania |url=http://www.mania.com/10-iconic-anime-heroes_article_119883.html |access-date=2024-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017063118/http://www.mania.com/10-iconic-anime-heroes_article_119883.html |archive-date=2013-10-17}}</ref> [[Sailor Moon (character)|Sailor Moon]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Sailor Moon is a Pop Culture Icon |url=https://www.japannakama.co.uk/why-sailor-moon-is-a-pop-culture-icon-across-generations/ |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=Japan Nakama}}</ref> [[Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Alice]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Brooker |first=Will |author-link=Will Brooker |title=Alice's Adventures: Lewis Carroll in Popular Culture |page=xiv|year=2004 |publisher=Continuum |location=New York |isbn=0-8264-1433-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/alicesadventures0000broo}}</ref> [[Sheriff Woody]], [[Buzz Lightyear]], and [[Willy Wonka]]<ref>{{cite news |title=David Bowie Art Turns Singer Into Batman & Other Pop Culture Icons |url=https://screenrant.com/david-bowie-art-batman-captain-america-willy-wonka/ |access-date=28 November 2022 |website=Screen Rant}}</ref> are regarded as pop icons. Even [[wikt:inanimate|inanimate]] objects have been recognized as pop icons.<ref name="Hammond">
 {{cite book 
 |first  = Mark
 |last      = Vail
 |title     = The Hammond Organ: Beauty in the B
 |edition   = 2nd
 |publisher = [[Backbeat Books]]
 |date      = April 1, 2002
 |isbn      = 978-0-87930-705-9
 |url       = https://archive.org/details/hammondorganbeau00vail
}}
</ref><ref name="sheff">{{cite book
| first     = David
| last      = Sheff
| title     = Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children
| publisher = [[Random House]]
| date      = April 27, 1993
| isbn      = 978-0-679-40469-9
| url       = https://archive.org/details/gameoverhowninte00shef
}}</ref><ref name="INHP1">{{cite web |url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/nR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/36liberty/36liberty.htm |title=The Liberty Bell: From Obscurity to Icon |work=Teaching with Historic Places |publisher=National Park Service|date=October 16, 2006}}</ref> 

Some figures attain transitory or context-specific "pop icon" status for particular events that captivate public attention, such as in the case of the [[O. J. Simpson|O.J. Simpson trial]].<ref name="OJTrial">{{cite book
| first     = Max
| last      = Boot
| author-link=Max Boot
| title     = Out of Order: Arrogance, Corruption and Incompetence on the Bench
| publisher = [[Basic Books]]
| year      = 1998
| isbn      = 978-0-465-05375-9
}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Cultural icon]]
* [[Celebrity culture]]
* [[Popular culture]]
* [[Teen idol]]
* [[Art pop]]
* [[Honorific nicknames in popular music]]

==Notes==
<references group="note" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|title=Popular Culture: Introductory Perspectives|first=Marcel|last=Danesi|pages=[https://archive.org/details/popularculturein0000dane/page/112 112&ndash;115]|year=2007|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-5547-1|url=https://archive.org/details/popularculturein0000dane/page/112}}
*Cullen, Jim, ed (2001). ''Popular Culture in American History''. UK: [[Blackwell Publishing]]. {{ISBN|0-631-21958-7}}.

{{Pop music}}
{{Stock characters}}

[[Category:Popular culture]]
[[Category:Stock characters]]