Chapter 3 Culture

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Chapter 3 Culture

• The values, beliefs, behavior, and material
  objects that, together, form a peoples way of
  life

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Cultural relativism-pgs 35-39

• Little is known of the beginnings of the
  Nacirema, although tradition says that they came
  from the East. According to Nacirema mythology,
  their nation was originated by a culture hero,
  Notgnihsaw who is otherwise known for two great
  feats of strength - the throwing of a piece of
  wampum across the river Pa-To-Mac and the
  chopping down of a fruit bearing tree in which
  the Spirit of Truth lives.

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Rituals of the Nacirema?

• they seem very oddtheir beliefs dont make
  senseodd and grotesqueweird strangebehavior
  is shockingharmful to themselvesextreme
  beliefsno good can come from time consuming and
  deadly ritualsstupid unusual compulsive
  ritualistic

• How do we perceive their culture?

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Nacirema
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Nacirema?
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Nacirema?
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Ethnocentrism and cultural relativity

• Our culture is the basis for our reality and
  necessary for us to be emotionally attached to
  our way of life
• Can lead to ETHNOCENTRISM
• The tendency to judge anothers culture as
  inferior in terms of ones own norms and values

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Ethnocentrism in language

• Language is culturally biased
• China is The Far East
• East of what?
• They call themselves
• The Central Kingdom
• And historically considered other cultures as
  barbaric

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Ethnocentrism and food

• Our cuisine is right and smells good
• Theirs is inferior an smells bad.
• Ours is what we are familiar with
• Food preferences easily become prejudices
• Food has become basis of ethnic slurs
• Krauts
• Beaners

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Why this?
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And not this?
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Ethnocentrism and travel

• As we examine this toilet as well as other
  cultural components we must remember to be
  culturally relative. In other words, try not to
  be ethnocentric, but in stead understand each
  culture from its own perspective. In the case of
  the Japanese toilet, not only does it look and
  function differently from ours, but it also
  represents fundamentally different non-material
  culture. The Japanese are very germ conscious and
  they try hard not to spread germs. They also do
  not have a lot of furniture - they do not sit on
  furniture in their houses, why would they in a
  bathroom? And finally, they are used to sitting
  and squatting in positions difficult for
  westerners.

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• Here is my new bathroom. As you can see, it is
  right off of the kitchen. Very efficient because
  the plumbing can be all in one place, but not
  very pleasant. I've gotten used to it now. As you
  can see, the bathroom is so small that there is
  no room for the sink inside, so it's outside, in
  the kitchen, right next to the washing
  machine.Yes, this is the entire bathroom. You
  can kind of see the showerhead on the left. It
  isn't separated from the toilet, which is a
  squatty potty as you can see. The result is that
  the entire bathroom floor gets wet anytime anyone
  showers. (I have rubber flip flops outside the
  door for showering and for using the toilet if
  the floor is wet.)The only thing omitted is a
  tiny bit of the bathroom on the right side, which
  is full of assorted plastic tubs. I have no idea
  what they're for, but they complete the trashy
  appearance of the whole thing. ) You can't stand
  underneath the shower-head, you have to hold it,
  which is inconvenient. I hear that most people
  just fill up one of the aforementioned tubs and
  use that to rinse instead of the shower-head,
  kind of like you do when you're washing a young
  child's hair. Interesting.

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the bed isn't a mattress. It's a "dilam", which
is very common here. Basically, it's like a futon
but not as firm or heavy. So kind of like a giant
flat cushion. However, see my little stuffed
animals on the bed? I use them as pillows/body
supports in places where the bed sags, and it all
works out great since I barely move when I'm
asleep )
This is my new dining room/kitchen/laundry room.
Quite space-efficient, no? I'm allowed to cook
here, which is great because many families who
rent rooms don't allow you to cook, but I haven't
yet, except for making noodles once last week to
make with my instant curry.
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Cultural Relativism

• Is the alternative to Ethnocentrism
• Cultural relativism The practice of evaluating
  a culture by its own standards
• It involves understanding unfamiliar values and
  norms and suspending cultural standards we have
  known all our lives

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So what do we mean by Values and Norms
Values, Norms and Sanctions- pgs46-55

• Values
• Socially shared ideas about what is right
• Norms
• the set of rules and understandings that control
  the behavior of
• individuals and groups. They derive from and
  support values

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American values

• Equal opportunity
• People in the United States endorse not equality
  of condition but equality of opportunity. This
  means that society should provide everyone with
  the chance to get ahead according to individual
  talents and efforts.

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American values

• Achievement and Success
• Our way of life encourages competition so that
  each persons rewards should reflect personal
  merit. Moreover, success confers worthiness on a
  personthe mantle of being a winner
• Material comfort
• Success in the United States generally means
  making money and enjoying what it will buy.
  Although people say money wont buy happiness
  most pursue wealth all the same.

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American Values

• Activity and Work
• Popular U.S heroes, from fictional archaeologist
  Indiana Jones to golf champion Tiger Woods, are
  doers who get the job done. Our culture values
  action over reflection and controlling events
  over passively accepting ones fate

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American values

• Practicality and efficiency
• People in the United States value the practical
  over the theoretical, or doing over Dreaming.
  Activity has value to the extent that it earns
  money. Major in something that will help you
  get a job parents say to their children

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American Values

• Progress
• We are an optimistic people who, despite waves of
  nostalgia, believe that the present is better
  than the past. We celebrate progress equating
  the very latest with the very best
• Science
• We look to science and advanced technology to
  solve problems and improve our lives. We believe
  we are rational people, which probably explains
  our cultural tendency (especially among men) to
  devalue emotion and intuition as sources of
  knowledge

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American Values

• Democracy and Free Enterprise
• Members of our society recognize individual
  rights that should not be overridden by
  government. We believe that a just political
  system is based on free elections in which adults
  select their leaders and on an economy that
  responds to the choices of individual consumers

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American Values

• Freedom
• Our cultural value of freedom means that we place
  a higher value on individual initiative than on
  collective conformity. Although we know that
  everyone has responsibilities to others, we
  believe that people should be free to pursue
  their own personal goals with minimal
  interference from government.

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American Values

• Racism and group superiority
• Despite strong notions about individualism and
  freedom, most people in the United States still
  evaluate individuals according to gender, race,
  ethnicity, and social class. In general, U.S.
  culture values males above females, whites above
  people of color, people with northwest European
  backgrounds above those whose ancestors came from
  other lands, and rich above poor. Although we
  like to describe ourselves as a nation of equals,
  there is little doubt that some of us rate as
  more equal than others

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Values

• There are differences in how people interpret
  them and the extent to which they adhere to them
• The smaller the society, the greater the
  consensus
• Diverse societies generate conflict

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Conflicting values 55-56

• Individualism it is to everyones benefit to
  value individual accomplishment
• Or
• Excessive individualism creates too great a gap,
  which leads to suffering and crime.

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Conflicting values over the distribution of
wealth and power
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Conflicting values
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What about family values?(supreme court
decisions)
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Deliberating in a Democracy1-Rules for
Deliberation

• Read the material carefully.
• Focus on the deliberation questions.
• Listen carefully to what others are saying.
• Check for understanding.
• Analyze what others say.
• Speak and encourage others to speak.
• Refer to the reading to support your ideas.
• Use relevant background knowledge, including life
  experiences, in a logical way.
• Use your heart and mind to express ideas and
  opinions.
• Remain engaged and respectful when controversy
  arises.
• Focus on ideas, not personalities.

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2

• Read the article carefully and underline facts
  and ideas you think are important and/or
  interesting

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3

• Grouping and Reading Discussion
• Groups of 4 or 5.
• Share important facts and interesting ideas with
  each other to develop a common understanding of
  the article. Record these facts and ideas on
  Handout 2

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4

• Deliberation Question
• Should our democracy extend government support
  for higher education to immigrants who-as young
  people-entered the country illegally?
• Should our democracy permit physicians to assist
  in a patients suicide?

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5

• Divide into 2 teams
• Each team is responsible for selecting the most
  compelling reasons for your position
• A-Reread and find the most compelling reason to
  support the question
• B-Reread and find the most compelling reason to
  oppose the deliberation question.
• Each person in group should come up with one
  reason

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• Each team will present the most compelling
  reasons to support or oppose the deliberation
  question. opposite team listen carefully and
  list the reasons
• Team A will explain their reasons for supporting
  the deliberation question. If Team B does not
  understand something, they should ask a question
  but NOT argue.
• Team B will explain their reasons for opposing
  the deliberation question. If Team A does not
  understand something, they should ask a question
  but NOT argue.

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• To demonstrate that each side understands the
  opposing arguments, each team will select the
  other teams most compelling reason

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• You will now drop your roles and deliberate the
  question as a group. You can use 1.what youve
  learned about the issue and 2. offer their
  personal experiences as you formulate opinions
  regarding the issue
• Find areas of agreement in your group. As an
  individual express your opinion to the group and
  write it down on worksheet
• You do not have to agree with the group.

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9

• Entire Class-handout 3 for discussion and
  homework
• 10
• On a scale of 1-5, where are you on the
  deliberation question?

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THE NORMATIVE ORDER

• This is the second major dimension of a culture
• Norms are the set of rules and understandings
  that control the behavior of individuals and
  groups in a culture

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Norms can change quickly
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SANCTIONS

• When norms are followed or violated, people may
  rewarded or punished. These rewards and
  punishments are called sanctions

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Sanctions

• Vary in intensity
• Dress code violations?
• Check out your student planner for examples of
  sanctions

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Normative Order

• The wide array of norms and sanctions that permit
  a society to achieve relatively peaceful social
  control is called its normative order

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The normative order
Weakly sanctioned
Strongly sanctioned
Taboos/Mores
folkways
Misdemeanors
Felonies
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Language and Culture 39-45

• THERE IS NO CULTURE WITHOUT LANGUAGE
• Allows human experience to be cumulative
• Provides a shared past
• Enables a shared future
• Allows shared perspectives
• Allows complex, goal directed behavior

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Language and culture 39-45

• Non-verbal communication
• Gestures
• Body language
• Emoticons

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Language and Culture 39-45

• Linguistic Relativity (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis)
• Language determines thought-The words you have
  determine what you can think about
• Schadenfreude- Taking pleasure in the misfortune
  of others

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Language reflects thought-What you think about
determines the words you create and use

• In Carrier, the general word for beaver is TSA,
  but a small beaver is a TSAYAZ a mid-size beaver
  is a TSATUL a large beaver is a TSATSUL a young
  beaver is a TSACHENISBOO an adult male beaver
  is a TSATA a female beaver is a TSAAT a
  mother beaver is a TSADIYA the foreman beaver is
  a TSACHO and the list goes on

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Gender and language

• Gender neutral language expands our ideas about
  who belongs in what categories
• Gender differences in communication
• Womens culture?
• More group oriented
• Consensus is valued
• More indirect
• Conversations seek common ground and involve
  self-disclosure.

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Gender and language

• Mens culture
• More competitive
• Even their friendly gestures are often put
  downs
• Conversations involve bragging and competition
• Problem solving
• Men converse on safe topicsits not good to be
  vulnerable

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When translation fails-just for fun

• Engrish Singapore Edition

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Technology 57-58handouts
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Assimilation and Subculture 50-51

• Assimilation occurs When culturally distinct
  groups within a larger civilization adopt the
  language, values, and norms of the host
  civilization. Their acculturation enables them to
  assume equal status in the social groups and
  institutions of that civilization
• When a culturally distinct group fails to
  assimilate fully or has not yet become fully
  assimilated they may be considered a SUBCULTURE

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Subcultures maintain certain rituals, norms,
traditions and values that set them apart from
majority culture
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Subculture

• Age
• Ethnic background
• Religious groups
• Social Class
• Occupation
• Geographic location
• Political ideologies
• Hobbies
• School
• Sexuality

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You are what you eatculture and food

• Our food behavior like our clothing, can be part
  of our contrived public image
• Never order spaghetti on a dinner date

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We judge people through eating habits

• People will make judgments of others based on
  shopping list
• Food preferences play a role in judgment of
  social class
• Lower class judged to prefer sweet foods
• Drinks? Upper class drinks
• white wine, scotch and water.
• Lower classes drink rum and coke (sweeter)

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Why?

• Sweets represent immediate gratification of
  childhood, preference indicates inability to
  reach mature self-discipline
• It benefits the elite to demonstrate superiority
  by rejecting these preferences
• OR
• Harshness of life demands immediate visceral
  pleasure

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Identifying self through food

• People develop preferences for foods that
  represent the type of person they admire or
  identify
• Social class climbers may abandon McDonalds and
  Pizza Hut in favor of more upscale restaurants
• Buy groceries at specialty shops instead of
  supermarkets
• Many supermarkets have gourmet food sections now

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Gender identity and food

• Feminine foods include
• salads, yogurt, fruit, rice, cake, tea
• Women are more aware of health aspects of food
  than men are
• Newly married feel responsible for health of
  spouse
• Masculine foods include
• meat, potatoes, coffee, corned beef and cabbage

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Food and special occasions

• Ethnically linked
• Turkey and
• Thanksgiving
• Your family?

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Music and cuisine

• Different music linked with different cuisine on
  basis of shared cultural stereotypes
• Country and western with
• bbq?
• Rock and roll with
• pizza and hamburgers?
• Classical music and
• lobster and filet mignon?

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Adolescents and food

• Peer pressure
• Conformity to group norms especially noticeable
  among first or second generation American
  teen-agers
• Tendency to reject traditional ethnic foods in
  favor of American food.
• Mexican American teenagers in the 40s traded
  in their taco lunches for pb and j sandwiches

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Adolescents and food

• Unhealthy food choices like junk food and fad
  dieting
• Weight-reduction dieting epidemic among teen-aged
  girls
• Change in diets from new information from
  coaches, friends, New experiences

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Moral judgments and food

• Gluttony is a venial sin among Catholics
• Kosher food for Orthodox Jews
• Pork is forbidden for Muslims
• Many religions consider it immoral to waste food
• We judge people by how they conduct themselves at
  the table
• To eat like a pig is to be unworthy of respect

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Ethnocentrism and food

• Our cuisine is right and smells good
• Theirs is inferior an smells bad.
• Ours is what we are familiar with
• Food preferences easily become prejudices
• Food has become basis of ethnic slurs
• Krauts
• Beaners

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Ethnocentrism cont.

• Beef consumption in America
• Puppy dogs are a treat in parts of Asia
• Americans reject kidneys, frog legs, and snails
• Prairie oysters (bulls testicles) an rattlesnake
  meat are acceptable in parts of the western U.S.
• Sudan-raw baby camels liver and camels milk
  cheese patties that are cured in camels dung
• Monkey feast in China