Do we live in a post-modern era?

Practise essay - Is it simply true that we live in a post modern era?

Post modernism can be identified in almost every field of life; philosophy, literature, media art,science,society, religion etc, the meaning of post modernism changes adapting to the subject which means it is often difficult to define.
For example, before we lived in a modern era, we lived in a ‘pre-modern’ era which based it’s reality upon religion and faith, then as society and the world progressed, we entered a ‘modern era’ which based it’s reality upon science and rationality. Now we are said to be in a ‘post modern’ era, as our sense of reality is based upon us as individuals, taking into account various other factors such as gender, age, religion etc. there is no single defining source for us as individuals.
But to describe the term loosely, we could say that if you are a post modernist, or an idea is described using this phrase, then you tend to be a great deal more open minded and less focused on rationality which is associated with modernity, and pre modernity.
However, post modernist and modernists approaches can be deemed similar in some respects; they both display formalist styles sharing features such as fragmentation,doubling,self-referntiality and irony.

Arguments that support the idea of us living in a post modern society would be the introduction and existence of huge public figures such as lady Gaga, who represents us as a society. she’s different, she steps outside the box that many artists like her and before her were in- she creates new ideas that excite and inspire the world around her, and she rebels against a lot of societies values; through Lady Gaga we could say we have an example of how our era is post modern.
However, although quirky, reinvent and seemingly ‘different’ many would argue that she has recycled past artist’s ideas, specifically Madonna. For example, her constant use of religious symbols such as the crucifix, provocative, exciting and innovative stage performances which seem to step out of the box, yet contain striking resemblances to Madonna’s past costumes, suggesting that Lady gaga is in fact a lot less original than one might first assume.

However, as a final note, we can safely assume that Lady Gaga represents our era and generation, symbolising reinvention, fashion exploration and thinking outside of the box. Recently, she introduced an 'alter ego' via her male version, something which has been demonstrated by other artists,and again highlights her post modern approach to her image, and inevitable direct effect on our society today through the media.
Although it can be argued that Lady Gaga does or does not represent a post modern domination through the media, the term itself is difficult to apply to our era on such a large scale because our perception of the term tends to vary on the indivual and therefore no concrete conclusion can be made.