I do agree with Ruth Benedict's quote that we are "creatures of our culture" and that our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities are shaped by our culture. It seems to me that it is our human nature to feel a sense of belonging. Living in any human society or community has cultural norms that we in some forms learn innately. Often we view what is right and wrong in how we interact within our culture. An example of this is when people categorize people who dress in tight fitting clothes and lose baggy clothes. The culture that people grew up in can have a major impact in the way a person wears their clothing.
I feel the most glaring truth that we are "creatures of our culture" is the shaping of our identities. Often you can find people that are Asian that use chopsticks when eating. They know how to use a fork and they might have spend their entire lives in the United States. But, their culture has always used chop sticks because it dates back to their grandparents and their culture.
Our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities are shaped by our culture in many ways. Religion can be a powerful part of shaping people's beliefs and daily habits. Other examples of our habits shaped by our culture is our government and the media. This is a more wide spread idea but, the items we buy and the cars we drive can be status symbols which is an example of cultural identification.
Breaking from our cultural limitations would require people to allow themselves to become more venerable. I always hear people talk about how other European cultures are more accepting than Americans. It is a part of the European culture for people to travel and explore different societies. To separate ourselves from our cultural norms people must be willing to remove themselves from what is comfortable and try new things. This is a difficult concept for our small clusters of cultures in the U.S. because our motivations can be largely built on making things easier and obtaining luxuries. There would need to be a social change for people to consciously make an effort to exert themselves in new surroundings. I feel our schools can do a better job of putting students in to different cultures and situations. These out of comfort experiences can change people in a more profound way than watching movies and reading textbooks.
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It’s interesting to me that you used clothing as an example of the influence that out culture has on us because I did the same thing! It’s such a basic part of our society that we rarely even think of it, yet it is something so greatly determined by our culture. You also brought up the subculture of that in which baggy and tight clothing is often looked down upon. Another culture might not even notice that one girl’s tight shirt sends a different message than another girl’s loose shirt. I also like how you mentioned vulnerability as a requirement of breaking free of our cultural restraints. With American’s innate fear of vulnerability, it seems pretty obvious that the boundaries of our culture will stand strong for a long time to come.
ReplyDeleteHi Chip9--
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your response to the first question. I agree with you when you say that our clothing is defined by our culture. In America, girls wear certain clothing because they seen their teen pop culture wearing it and they believe it is the right thing to do.
Also, we you talk about eating with chopsticks, I have read in an article before that there are some culture that believe eating with chopsticks is rude mainly because it looks as if you are just stuffing food into your mouth without delicately eating it...or being sophisticated in that manner.
A social change is needed if we want to see a change in the way our culture is shaped. We have evolved over so many years and change is definitely what we need.
what resonated the most from your post was your observations on how relatively closed off american culture is in comparison to europe. i think that the development of europe has lent itself more readily to cultural adaptation whereas in the us, with the exception of canada, it is percieved that there is greater cultural difference between the us and mexico or other latin american countries which i don't think is entirely true.
ReplyDeletei think this country has always been percieved as a land of opportunity in comparison to other regions but i think our relative ethnocentrism in regards to intercultural exchange will come back to bite us in the tush as a result of globalization. americans need to place greater value on intercultural exchange and this could start with manditory foreign langage instruction from 4-5 grade onward. english may no longer be the lingua franca it has been in the past. i've travelled to many a place where french, portuguese or even german were spoken before english.
I really like your example of the use of chopsticks in Japanese Culture, especially how they are used. It is the common idea even with American's today that when people eat Asian food and know how to use chopsticks, they usually use chop sticks. It is the idea of how chopsticks equal eating Asian foods.
ReplyDeleteYou are right in a sense that culture forms our ideas and daily habits and this is a good example that you brought to the table.
Your idea of people having to be vulnerable if they ere to change their ways or beliefs is very interesting and I would have to agree. What society teaches us, like you said, brings people a sense of belonging. Stepping out of being "normal" sometimes brings unwanted negative attention and someone would need to be strong willed to pursue their own beliefs and ideas.