chapter 3 cultural crossroads. 2 overview what is culture? components of culture exercise ...
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Chapter 3
Cultural
Crossroads
2
Overview
What is Culture? Components of Culture
• Exercise Variations in Culture Cultural Change
3
What is Culture? The entire way of
life of a group of people or society• Language, ideas,
beliefs, values, norms, behaviors and objects
• Passed from one generation to the next
Fundamental feature of who we are• Why we think and act
the way we do
Culture is internalized• Lens through which we
view the world Effects tend to remain
imperceptible to us
4
YouTube Clip
“Borat” movie trailer
5
PRACTICING CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Each cultural group as relative to others Seeing differences and distinctions
rather than:• right and wrong• normal and abnormal• good and bad• better and worse
6
Suspending ETHNO*CENTRISM:
Use of one’s own culture as a standard to evaluate others, usually leading to a negative
judgment
7
“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”by Horace Miner
Understanding the Nacirema culture• Who are they?
See article on Everyday Sociology Blog
A study of culturally-prescribed rituals • Highly-developed techniques to care for the
body• All members conform to some degree with
these practices They pass these practices along to their children
8
Who are the Nacirema?
North American people • Live in a specific geographic territory
They suffer from a negative self-image• They dislike the appearance of unaltered body• They have an aversion to natural bodily functions
Ritual and ceremonial activities• Transform health and appearance
Native cultural aesthetics dictate certain practices• They are obsessed with magic
Every household has one or more shrines devoted to the body ritual• Each has a charm-box or chest built into the
wall with a small holy-water font below Other elements
Members visit medicine men, holy-mouth men and other specialized practitioners• To procure potions and implements to use in
rituals Very afflicted people visit certain temples
• Where more radical procedures are performed
10
So …Who are the Nacirema?
How might an understanding of the Nacirema culture help us to better understand ourselves?
11
Hint:To understand the Nacirema you must think sociologically:
practice culture shock suspend ethnocentrism practice cultural relativism
N A C I R E M A
=
A M E R I C A N
Components of Culture: Material Culture
Physical objects belonging to a culture• To which we give meaning• Art, artifacts, architecture, clothing, utensils,
tools, machines, technologies, etc.
15
Components of Culture: Non-Material or Symbolic Culture
Symbols• Signs • Gestures
• Language Symbols allow for abstract concepts
• Ideas, beliefs, values, norms, rules• Social systems, patterns, ways of thinking
18
19
YouTube Clip
“Hand Gestures Across Cultures”
20
LANGUAGE
A human universal• Do animals have language?
A system of communication• Vocal sounds and written symbols
The basis of culture• Knowledge and experience is cumulative
Shared and exchanged
21
Language and Perception
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis —• Ways of looking at the world are
embedded in language Language allows us to “see” things
Example of the Inuit or Eskimo
• Language structures thought
22
Language and Social Reality
Example of language and culture of high school girls• From the book
“Queen Bees and Wannabes”
• Basis for the movie “Mean Girls”
23
Mean Girls
25
Can you solve this riddle?
A man and his son are involved in a serious car accident. The man is pronounced dead at the scene, but his son is rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition. A famous surgeon on staff at the hospital is summoned from a golf game to save the boy's life. Arriving at the hospital, the surgeon takes one look at the boy and says, “Oh my God, I can't operate, get someone else. That's my son!"
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?
26
Symbolic Culture:
VALUES AND NORMS
Values —• What a group values and honors
Standards and ideas about good or bad, right or wrong, normal or abnormal
Norms —• Rules and guidelines for acceptable and
appropriate behavior Based on a group’s values
• We conform so readily that we are not usually aware
Types of Norms Folkways —
• Customs and practices that ensure smooth interaction Loosely enforced
Mores — • Norms that are key to
core values Serious and formal
repercussions
• Taboos — Deeply engrained mores The thought of violating
evokes horror or revulsion
28
SANCTIONS and SOCIAL CONTROL
Sanctions — • Positive or negative reactions to people
Reward conformity Punish violation
Social Control —• Means to insure that people behave in
acceptable and expected ways Formal – through outside authorities Informal – through internalization
Social Control — > “Self Control”
Social Control Negative Sanctions Positive Sanctions
30
Moral Holidays
31
VARIATIONS IN CULTURE:Subcultures and Countercultures
Subculture – • A group within
dominant culture Large or small
• Each has distinctive values, norms and lifestyle
VARIATIONS IN CULTURE:Subcultures and Countercultures
Counterculture –• Openly rejects or
opposes society’s values and norms May actively
challenge dominant culture
33
In-Class Exercise
CULTURAL GROUP MEMBERSHIP
34
VARIATIONS IN CULTURE:
“Ideal” Versus “Real” Culture
Ideal culture: what a group aspires to• Values, norms
and behaviors that should be followed
Real culture: what a group actually does • Values, norms and
behaviors that are practiced in reality
Contradictions
35
VARIATIONS IN CULTURE:
Culture Wars
Controversies within mainstream society• Which values and norms to follow
Often described as clashes between:• right and left
• conservatives and liberals
Resistance to those who want to change values • Struggle over values can lead to social change
37
Culture Wars
38
Values, Norms and Laws in Flux:The Case of Marijuana
1770: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grow hemp• Used to make paper for the
Declaration of Independence 1937: “Reefer Madness”
leads to the outlaw of marijuana use in U.S.
2002: Some states decriminalize, allow for medical use
CULTURAL CHANGE Cultural Diffusion
• The dissemination of beliefs and practices from one group to another Material Symbolic
• Exposure to new cultural elements may lead to adoption
40
41
CULTURAL LEVELING
Result of widespread cultural diffusion
Cultures may eventually resemble one another • Loss of
distinctiveness Cultural diffusion
tends to come from the West• Process is not
necessarily one-way
42
CULTURAL IMPERIALISM
The imposition of one culture’s beliefs, practices and artifacts on another culture• Through mass media and
consumer goods “Invading” and taking
over another country• No longer necessary to
send military May not be welcomed
• Could threaten local, traditional cultures
43
More about cultural change
Later in the semester …
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