What is Culture?
Introduction
What is Culture? Culture means different
things to different people. Usually we think of material things that
may seem to stereotype people to a specific group or culture. We might
think about Chinese food or Indian headdresses, or Greek salads, or
African drumming as culture, which are definitely part of those
cultures. Much more often, we tend to connect culture to the way people
look – their outward appearance and dress. When we meet someone for
the first time, we judge them outwardly to decide what culture they
might be from. Phenotypes or outside appearances can be clues to a person’s culture, but far from absolute.
Example
The picture above illustrates how the
first things we notice about others are the differences (phenotypes) in
outward appearances. No human being is the same as any other; and the
outside appearance is not all that makes up diversity. In fact all the
young people in the photo above may all be Americans. They may all have
been born in America by parents that were also American born. They may
all look different, but they may all be culturally alike.
However, if each person in the picture was born and raised in a different culture region, he/she would be much more culturally diverse than what his/her appearance might indicate. Diversity
is so much MORE than outward appearances. This is the primary reason
everyone should study culture. In order to embrace diversity, we must
first embrace culture.
Culture
Culture gives us appropriate models for
marriage and family structures; it teaches us what to eat or not eat; it
is about the institutions we all frequent such as school, church,
hospital, or Facebook. Many people believe culture is about going to
the opera or the ballet, or knowing which works of art depict what; but
in reality culture is simply about everyday life. It is about what time
people awake in the morning and everything else each person does until
he/she retires to bed each night. In fact, culture is also about what
kind of bed individuals and families sleep in, and who they sleep with.
The anthropology genre is a scientific
approach to learning about the human experience, particularly culture.
We will use this approach in these lessons about culture. What is
Culture? with four lessons, is a complimentary course. It is an example
of the procedures for all the other courses offered.
In other words, culture is about what
activities we like, whether we are a participant or an observer.
Culture is about how people earn a living, where and how each of us
acquires food. It is how people do their laundry or get the water they
drink. It is also about those unspeakable topics like toilet
facilities, and the hygiene practices that are part of such necessary
daily routines.
Just For Fun
See how others’ make spaces and places
for those unspeakable, and mostly unmentionable, cultural activities by
clicking on the following link.
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