Cultural Universals

1
Cultural Universals

• Cultural universals are customs and practices
  that occur across all societies. They include
• Appearance
• (eg. bodily adornment, hairstyles)
• Activities
• (eg. sports, dancing, games, interaction)
• Social Institutions
• (eg. family, law, religion)
• Customary Practices
• (eg. cooking, folklore, gift giving, hospitality)

2
Components of Culture

• All cultures have 4 common (non-material)
  components of culture. These contribute to
  both harmony and conflict in a society. They
  are
• Symbols
• Language
• Values
• Norms

3
Symbols

• Symbols anything that meaningfully represents
  something else(eg. wedding rings, flags, peace
  sign)
• Culture cant exist without symbols they help us
  communicate ideas such as love and patriotism
• However, sometimes symbols will be interpreted
  differently by different cultures
• Examples
• In the Western world, purity is symbolized by the
  colour whiteFor Indo-Canadians, however, purity
  is symbolized by the colour green.
• To most people, the swastika represents hatred
  and intolerance. To White Supremacists,
  however, it represents goodness and love.
• Symbols can also affect our thoughts about
  gender, race and ethnicity

4
Symbols

• Symbols can also affect our thoughts about
  gender, race and ethnicity
• Examples
• The colour of clothing has symbolic meanings for
  male and female. Babies are almost invariably
  dressed according to whether they are boys (blue
  or red) or girls (pink or yellow).
• Black and white are not the true colours of
  peoples skin, but we nevertheless make
  references to people at a racial level by using
  these terms. When we think of our
  thought-associations with these colours, black
  is often viewed negatively while white is
  viewed positively. Why dont we say
  pinkish-tan or golden-brown?

5
Language

• Language a set of symbols that express ideas
  and enable people to think and communicate with
  one another(eg. Verbal spoken, non-verbal
  written, gestured)
• Language creates visual images in our heads
• Language and Social Reality
• Does language communicate reality or does it
  create reality?
• Examples
• When we use the terms pro-life or pro-choice, are
  we expressing reality as it is or are we creating
  it?
• Some Aboriginal languages do not have personal
  pronouns for gender (ie. he / she). How would
  their use (or lack of use) of these terms shape
  their reality?

6
Language

• Language and Gender
• How does our language reflect our cultural
  assumptions about gender?
• Examples
• Gender-specific references to occupations (see p.
  76). eg. mankind or chairman
• Language, Race and Ethnicity
• How does our language reinforce our perceptions
  and misconceptions about race and ethnicity?
• Examples
• Derogatory references to minority ethnic groups
  eg. Negative associations with black
  Choosing words such as primitive or Indian in
  reference to Aboriginals

7
Values

• Values collective ideas about what is right and
  wrong, good or bad, and desirable or undesirable
  in a particular culture(eg. Equality, fairness,
  tolerance, dialogue, diversity, Canadas natural
  beauty, Canadas global image)
• Values typically come in pairs of positive and
  negative(eg. brave vs cowardly hardworking vs
  lazy)
• Value contradictions
• These are values that contradict with one another
  or are mutually exclusive
• For example, 84 of Canadians feel that people
  who are poor have a right to an adequate income
  to live on, but many of them still show strong
  support for governments that cut budgets in order
  to reduce deficits

8
Values

• Ideal vs Real culture
• Ideal culture refers to the values and standards
  of behaviour that people in a society profess to
  hold
• Real culture refers to the values and standards
  of behaviour that people actually follow
• (For example, we might think of ourselves as
  good citizens, but still drive above the speed
  limit or do engage in other illegal activities -
  however seemingly harmless.)

9
Norms

• Norms established rules of behaviour or
  standards of conduct(eg. pay taxes, dont talk
  while you eat, say please and thank you, dont
  drive and drive)
• Formal vs informal norms
• Formal norms are written down and involve
  specific punishments for violators (eg. Laws)
• These may be enforced by sanctions, either
  positive (from simple praise to medals of honour)
  or negative (ranging from mild disapproval to
  life imprisonment)
• Informal norms are unwritten standards of
  behaviour understood by people who share a common
  identity. When they are violated, other people
  may apply informal sanctions (eg. a frowning
  gesture, a public scolding, etc.)

10
Folkways

• Folkways informal norms or everyday customs
  that may be violated without serious consequences
  within a particular culture
• These are rules of conduct that arent
  necessarily essential to a societys survival.
  (eg. brush your teeth, dont wear white after
  Labour Day, wear deodorant, etc.)

11
Mores

• Mores strongly held norms with moral or ethical
  connotations that may not be violated without
  serious consequences in a particular culture
• These are based on culture values, so they are
  considered crucial to a societys well-being
• Taboos
• Taboos are mores so strong that their violation
  is considered to be extremely offensive and even
  unmentionable. (eg. Incest)

12
Laws

• Laws formal, standardized norms that have been
  enacted by legislatures and are enforced by
  formal sanctions
• Civil law vs criminal law
• Civil law deals with disputes among persons or
  groups. Usually involves compensation or fines
  as restitution.
• (eg. minor traffic accident)
• Criminal law deals with public safety and
  well-being. Usually involves major fines or
  prison sentences as restitution.
• (eg. murder)
• Changes in law often reflect changes in culture.
• (eg. Racial or religious hate crimes, more
  liberal definition of marriage