I definitely agree with anthropologist Ruth Benedict that we are "creatures of our culture." I think that everything we know and believe and the ways in which we act are all shaped by the culture we were brought up in. I don't necessarily think that it is a negative thing, but I do believe it can become negative if we don't acknowledge it. It's fairly obvious what culture someone is from upon meeting them. That's just how our world works, we are a product of our specific cultures. Within a culture, there are many different people, but most fit the mold of what there culture represents.
Sometimes our culture limits us in ways that are not always apparent to us. "Cultures are group understandings rather than individual ones, and belonging to a culture means acting according to group norms" (pg. 344). Sometimes if you do not act according to those norms you will no longer be accepted within that culture. For example, in our culture it is a norm for girls to walk around in shorts and tank tops in the summer time. However, in other cultures this is completely inappropriate and if a woman was caught doing that she would no longer be accepted in the group. This is a case of culture interfering with personal freedoms. I think there are many aspects of our own culture that other cultures could learn from, and vice versa. We all have differences but for the most part we are very similar. It's important that we accept other cultures and try to learn from them in order to change ourselves for the better.
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I like how you talked about the limits the cultures can have on us. In a democratic country as the US we are free to express our culutres. But there are tremendous social and cultrual pressures to conform with the staus quo.
ReplyDeleteExamples such as yours with clothing is a great example. Even language is an example. The type of languae we use is a great example and the slang within our language is a sub culture in itself.
So many aspects of culture have to due with our status. The type of clothes we wear can represent our status in our culture. Name brands and styles typically represent our "coolness" or income. With all the mixes of cultures and socail freedoms we have there is a tremendous amound of pressure to limit our clutres and conform with the majority.