What is Culture?

Culture is the values, beliefs, behavior, and material objects that together form a people’s way of life.

Types of Culture

Non-material culture – intangible human creations

Material culture – tangible creations of a society

Shapes what we do

Helps form our personalities

Informs our definition of what is

‘normal ‘

Culture Shock

Personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life.

It is the inability to read meanings in a new surroundings.

Components of Culture

Symbols

Language

Values and Beliefs

Norms

Ideal and Real Culture

What do symbols mean

Components of culture

Symbols:

A symbol is anything that carries a particular meaning

recognized by people who share a culture (a flag, a word, a flashing red light, a raised fist, an animal etc).

* non-verbal gestures can be very “symbolic” and diverse.

-Diverse meanings can be given to different variations of the same object, for example, the winking of an eye.

Language

Sick

Dope

Bomb

For Schizzle my Snizzle

Fo sho

Whack

My bad

Dawg or is it Dog, or is it Dogg (Snoop)

Give me 5 more words that carry significance in teenage vernacular.

Components of culture (contd’)

Language

A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another.

Function of language:

-Enhances communication (“lets make sure we’re on the same page”)

-Ensures continuity of culture (story telling)

-Identifies societies or groups (group specific words)

-Determines how a person is perceived by others (proper grammar vs slang)

Components of culture (contd’)

Values and Beliefs

-VALUES are culturally defined standards by which people assess desirability, goodness, and beauty and that serve as broad guidelines for social living.

BELIEFS are specific statements that people hold to be true (e.g. The possibility that the US will one day have a female president - based on the shared value of equal opportunity)

Beauty – what are our values in

America

“Peek-a-boo”

Are these beautiful people by America’s standards??

Is this beauty?

American Beauty – what do we value as beauty today

Types of Norms

There are four basic types of norms that sociologists commonly refer to: folkways, mores, taboos, and laws.

Folkways, sometimes known as “conventions” or “customs,” are standards of behavior that are socially approved but not morally significant. For example, belching loudly after eating dinner at someone else's home breaks

an American folkway.

Mores are norms of morality. Breaking mores, like attending church in the nude, will offend most people of a culture.

Certain behaviors are considered Taboo, meaning a culture absolutely forbids them, like incest in U.S. culture.

Finally, Laws are a formal body of rules enacted by the state and backed by the power of the state. Virtually all taboos, like child abuse, are enacted into law, although not all mores are.

For example, wearing a bikini to church may be offensive, but it is not against the law.

Folkways

Folkways are often referred to as "customs."

They are standards of behavior that are socially approved but not morally significant.

They are norms for everyday behavior that people follow for the sake of tradition or convenience. Breaking a folkway does not usually have serious consequences.

Cultural forms of dress or food habits are examples of folkways. In America, if someone belched loudly while eating at the dinner table with other people, he or she would be breaking a folkway. It is culturally appropriate to not belch at the dinner table, however if this folkway is broken, there are no moral or legal consequences.

Taboos

A taboo is a norm that society holds so strongly that violating it results in extreme disgust.

Often times the violator of the taboo is considered unfit to live in that society.

For instance, in some Muslim cultures, eating pork is taboo because the pig is considered unclean.

At the more extreme end, incest and cannibalism are taboos in most countries.

Cultural Diversity

High culture

Cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite

Popular culture

Cultural patterns that are widespread among society’s

population

Subculture

Cultural patterns set apart some segment of society’s

population

Counterculture

Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely

accepted within a society

High Culture

Museum, art gallery, opera, etc

Pop Culture

The latest trend

Sub Culture

Rave Parties

Scooter Club

Old car Club

Gangs

Counter Culture

CULTURAL CHANGES

-This takes place in 3 ways:

INVENTION - creating new cultural elements

Telephone or airplane

DISCOVERY – recognizing and understanding something

already in existence

X-rays or DNA

DIFFUSION – the spread of cultural traits from one society

to another

Jazz music or much of the English language

Ethnocentrism

The practice of judging another culture

by the standards of one’s own culture

Cultural relativism

The practice of judging a culture by its

own standards

Other Concepts: