Society and Culture
Society
Aging population
Percentage of world population over 65
The 2010s are the decade in which most
baby boomers in developed nations are to retire, putting pressure on pension programs and other safety net programs. Many countries reported declining fertility rates in their 2010 censuses.
[6] The consequences of an aging society were felt hardest in
Europe and
Japan, which were the first to experience substantial population decline.
[7]
[8]
Over 20% of Japan's population is over the age of 65, making it the most elderly nation.
[9] As a result, Japan examined alternative solutions for elder care, including robots.
[10]
[11] In the United States, proposals for revising
Medicare and
Social Security proliferated, including raising the age of retirement or adjusting benefit amounts. Opponents instead wanted to increase benefit levels.
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[13]
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[15]
[16] In 2010, France debated and
raised the retirement age from 60 to 62, despite widespread demonstrations in opposition.
[17] A few years later the threshold was lowered back to 60.
[18]
Social trends
Environmentalism
Environmentalism gained, though action on curbing
fossil fuels has been limited.
[19] There was a notable opposition to genetically modified organisms based on
GMO conspiracy theories.
LGBTQ rights
Plaintiffs celebrate outside the
Supreme Court on June 26, 2015 following gay marriage legalization in the United States.
Acceptance of
LGBT people slowly increased.
[20]
[21]
[22] In June 2011 the United Nations passed its first motion in support of
LGBT rights.
[23]
[24] Although many nations allowed gays to serve in their militaries, a major milestone came in September 2011 when the US abolished its "
Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
[25]
[26] In 2013, Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed a
law that criminalized expression of homosexuality.
[27]
St. Petersburg drafted its own ban on homosexual expression, and banned
pride events as well.
[28]
Marriage for same-sex couples was an ongoing debate in many nations, while over
eighteen nations legalized same-sex marriage.
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Ireland, in 2015, became the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage via
referendum.
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Youth culture
Widespread internet use has been around for younger peoples entire lives.
[35] The youth of the 2010s were called the "best-behaved generation on record." In May 2014, the US
Centers for Disease Control released a report stating that
teenage pregnancies and their uses of
drugs and
alcohol reached record lows.
[36] A 2013 survey showed that the rate of teen smoking dropped to 15.7%, the rate of teenagers having unprotected sex dropped to 34% and the rate of teenagers participating in a physical fight dropped to 25%, much lower than their counterparts 22 years earlier.
[37]
E-cigarette and
smokeless tobacco use among teenagers rose.
[38]
Culture
Architecture
The
Burj Khalifa, the tallest building when completed in 2010.
Postmodernism and
green design
[39]
[40] were common architectural themes. "
Sustainable design" emphasized
natural lighting,
green/white roofs, better insulation and other cost-saving features.
[41]
New urbanism and urban revival influenced urban planning in the United States and other developed countries.
[42] However, growth of American suburbs still outpaces urban growth.
[43]
China and the
Middle East led in large-scale development.
[44]
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New constructions
In 2010, the
United Arab Emirates'
Burj Khalifa became the
tallest man-made structure ever built, standing at 828 m (2,717 ft).
[48] The United States'
One World Trade Center, completed in 2014, is the tallest building in North America at 1,776 ft (541 m).
[49]
Art
In 2015
Excessivism emerged. Trends that began since earlier decades are continuing into this decade are:
Pop art,
Altermodern,
Cynical realism, the
Kitsch movement,
Post-contemporary,
Metamodernism,
Pseudorealism,
Remodernism,
Renewable energy sculpture,
Street art,
Stuckism,
Superflat,
Superstroke,
Urban art,
Videogame art and
Virtual art.
Fashion
The 2010s have been defined by a revival of
interwar,
austerity era,
1980s (2010–13),
early 1990s and
skater fashions.
[50] In the early 2010s, many late 2000s fashion trends remained popular, especially the
indie pop and
grunge look which largely draws upon
1960s
Mod clothing combined with elements of
1970s
garage rock and contemporary
alternative fashion.
Hipster subculture and the "Thrift Shop" look had a considerable impact upon mainstream fashion. Full-printed T-shirts with diverse patterns (cosmic, clouds, historic architecture, and tribal) trended. In many Western countries, the growing of a
full beard became a popular trend among young males in the early-to-mid 2010s, with some suggesting this was due to the influence of the hipster subculture and the
Movember campaign.
[51]
[52] Other facial hair styles such as
moustaches and
goatees were popular during the most part of the decade. The "undercut", a variation of a crew cut, was made a trend by rapper Macklemore in 2013. This style has been embraced by the hip-hop, hipster and punk subcultures.
Film
Styles and Trends Superhero and science fiction films became box office leaders.
[53]
Animated films in the 2010s
remained predominately
computer-generated. Traditional animation styles lost favor among older audiences,
[54]
[55]
[56] although (2D)
Anime remained popular.
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Technology
3D films gained popularity, led by
Avatar in late 2009.
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[60] In 2010, Avatar became the first film to gross more than US$2 billion.
[61] Other 3D releases were also successful.
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360-degree video also became widely available with the introduction of consumer virtual reality.
Distribution Movies and television struggled to maintain their position, as online viewing grew rapidly.
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Piracy was a major concern for the industry.
[65]
[66]
[67] In 2012
Viacom launched a US$1 billion lawsuit against
YouTube for
copyright infringement.
[68] In early 2012, the United States Congress began debating the
SOPA and PIPA bills that were heavily lobbied by the entertainment industry.
[69]
Most popular In 2010,
Toy Story 3 became the first animated film to gross more than US$1 billion worldwide.
[70] In 2016,
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) became the third highest-grossing film of all time.
[71]
[72]
Award winners In 2010,
Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to receive the
Academy Award for Best Director for the 2009 movie
The Hurt Locker.
[80]
Food
Gluten-free diets became popular.
Fusion cuisine offered a new twist on many traditional food items. An interest in local and organic foods carried over from the mid to late 2000s, prompted from green and sustainable living. There was an increased population of
vegetarians and
vegans. Spicy foods were popular, sometimes in new ways. Finger foods such as
orderves and
Tapas were applied to many desserts and comfort foods.
Chipotle's success caused its
fast casual
made-to-order business model to carry over to many other food categories.
Food presentation became more important as
social media caused an increase in
food photography and sharing. Caffeinated products spilled over to things like
gum and mints.
Food and drink trends
Bagel with avocado, arugula, humus and fried egg.
Alcoholic drink trends
A moscow mule – an example of the savory drink trend.
Music
Advances in
music technology, such as the ability to use
32 or more tracks in
real time, changed the sound of many types of music. Globalism and an increased demand for variety and personalization in the face of
music streaming services created many subgenres. Dance and pop music surged into the 2010s,
[109]
[110]
[111] with
EDM achieving mass commercial success.
[112]
EDM,
synthpop,
indie, and
trap see mainstream success throughout the early to mid 2010s.
R&B and
hip-hop rose to prominence again during the early 2010s and has remained the most popular form of music since.
[113]
[114] In 2013,
Baauer's "
Harlem Shake" was the first Internet meme song to reach the #1 spot on the
Billboard Top 100, reflecting a shift in popular culture as Internet memes became mainstream.
[115]
K-pop (and the rise in popularity of South Korea's entertainment industry due to technological advances) finally mounted into the music scene of the United States with
Psy's "
Gangnam Style" winning the
Billboard Music Award for Top Streaming Song (Video) in 2013.
[116] In the early 2010s,
dubstep and
drumstep, originating in the United Kingdom, rose in popularity globally.
[117]
[118]
[119] Drumstep is continuing to grow in popularity along with
drum and bass. It mirrors the electronic-leaning musical trends elsewhere, while
hardstyle is becoming increasingly popular in Australia and North America, with music festivals such as
Defqon 1, IQON and The sound of Q-dance.
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Distribution
Digital music sales in 2012 topped CD sales.
[124]
Music streaming services such as
Soundcloud,
Spotify,
Apple Music, and
Pandora Radio became the preferred music delivery systems, similar to movie and television streaming services such as
Netflix.
[125]
Most popular
Award winners
Sports
-
Usain Bolt became the most successful sprinter in Olympic history, holding world records in the
100 metres,
200 metres and
4 × 100 metres relay.
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Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever after winning his 22nd medal in the
2012 Summer Olympics.
[135]
- The
Chicago Cubs won the World Series in
2016, erasing a 108-year championship drought, defeating the
Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series on 3 November 2016.
- In 2012,
London became the first and only city to host the
Olympic Games three times.
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IRB Sevens World Series expand from 8 to 10 legs, and
rugby seven became part of the Olympic program in 2016.
- The
San Francisco Giants won three
World Series titles in the first half of the decade.
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- In 2012, the
became the first international football team to win three consecutive major tournaments.
[138]
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Jason Collins became the first active male professional athlete in a
major American professional team sport to publicly come out as
gay.
[139]
- Early in the decade,
LeBron James led the NBA, playing with the
Cleveland Cavaliers and the
Miami Heat.
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Manchester City won the
Premier League in 2012 becoming the first team to win it besides
Manchester United and
Chelsea since 2004, and the fifth team overall to win it. It's their first league title since 1968.
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Atlético Madrid won the 2014
La Liga, becoming the first team besides
FC Barcelona and
Real Madrid to win La Liga since 2004.
- Individual transfer fees in
exceeding £50m became more common, with
Real Madrid,
FC Barcelona,
Paris Saint-Germain,
Chelsea,
Manchester United F.C.,
AS Monaco and
Manchester City all making at least one signing worth £50m or more. Manchester United signing of
Paul Pogba in 2016 set an all-time record for highest football transfer fee at €105 million (£89.3 million) plus bonuses of €5 million.
[140]
- The
Chicago Blackhawks and the
Los Angeles Kings collectively led the
NHL in
Stanley Cup wins, claiming the trophy 4 out of 5 times in the first half of the decade.
- On 1 January 2015,
Donnie Nietes of the Philippines, became the longest reigning Filipino world boxing champion.
- On 27 May 2015, football's world governing body
FIFA was
accused of bribery totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Fourteen individuals were indicted.
[141]
- In June 2015,
won their first
Copa América, and repeated the feat the following year.
- In May 2016, Real Madrid, having won their 10th
UEFA Champions League title in May 2014, won their 11th championship since 1956, again beating rivals Atlético in a repeat of the 2014 final.
[142]
- In May 2016,
Leicester City became the sixth team to win the
Premier League, becoming English league champions for the first time in their 132-year history. Having narrowly survived the threat of relegation in their first year back in the top flight after a 10-year absence the season before, they were massive outsiders at 5000-1.
- On 19 June 2016, The
Cleveland Cavaliers won their 1st championship in the
2016 NBA Finals. The Cavs were the first in the NBA history to come back from a 1-3 series deficit.
- In July 2016,
won their first
UEFA European Championship.
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New England Patriots quarterback
Tom Brady was awarded his fourth
Super Bowl MVP award after defeating the
Atlanta Falcons at
Super Bowl LI in 2017, overcoming a 25-point deficit, becoming the player with the most Super Bowl MVP awards in NFL history.
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Television
The American
soap opera format lost popularity in favor of
reality television and
daytime talk shows.
[144]
[145] Long-lived but canceled shows
All My Children and
One Life to Live return in 2013 as online content.
[146]
Prime-time television serials and Spanish-language
telenovelas remain popular globally.
[147] A new development in global television is the great popularity of
Turkish drama series in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
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Distribution
Cable providers saw a decline in subscriber numbers as
cord cutters switched to lower cost
online streaming services such as Hulu,
Netflix and Amazon.com's
Video service.
[150]
[151] These non-cable, internet-based media streaming services even began producing their own programming.
[152] TV sets, such as the Samsung
SmartTV, started offering online streaming via television.
Award winners
Theatre
Award winners
In 2013 for the first time, the four nominees for the Best Musical
Tony Award were all based on movies. 2016 was the first year in which all the musical acting awards were won by performers of color.
Video gaming
PlayStation 4 was released in the November 2013 and so far it has been the best-selling gaming console of the decade. (40 million units sold worldwide as of May 2016)
[167]
The Nintendo 3DS is the first gaming device released to feature 3D gaming without the need for stereoscopic glasses.
Cloud gaming,
Virtual reality,
stereoscopic 3D gaming, and ongoing improvements in graphics were some of the biggest trends. Video game sales declined in the early-2010s, most likely due to the effects of the Great Recession.
[168]
Consoles
The decade began dominated primarily by
seventh generation consoles, such as
Xbox 360, the
PlayStation 3 and
Wii.
[169]
The
Nintendo 3DS, released in early 2011 introduced a glasses-free interface for 3D.
[170] The
2D PlayStation Vita was released in 2012. The Wii introduced the sensor bar with compatible sensitive controllers, followed by the
PlayStation Move and
Kinect. This expanded the video game market to the elderly and those interested in
physical therapy.
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PC gaming
Games such as the
Sims franchise and many of
Blizzard's popular titles remained popular on PCs and expanded to other devices.
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Virtual reality
The first generation oculus rift.
Commercial tethered headsets released for VR gaming include the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, and Sony's PlayStation VR (which requires a PlayStation instead of a PC to run).
[177]
Cloud gaming
The
OnLive console was released in 2010 becoming the first massively produced
cloud gaming-based gaming device.
[178] 2012 introduced the first console regarded to be in the
eighth generation, the
Wii U, followed in late 2013,
Xbox One and
PlayStation 4. They faced stiff competition from
tablet and
smartphones.
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[180]
Most popular
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, released in late 2011, made over US$775 million in one-week, matching the highest-grossing films.
[181] According to the
Entertainment Software Association, the average age of a person who plays video games is 30.
[182]
Award winners
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