What makes up a culture?

Culture is:

Laws—What we have to abide by.  Murder, robbery, vandalism are examples of this.

Values—What is considered good and bad.  Honesty and theft are examples of this.

Rules—What society says we should do.  Marriage is an example of this, having the perfect family, having a job—the picture perfect life.

Social Status—People being ‘types,’ such as ‘kings,’ ‘friends,’ etc.

Beliefs – Things a person cherishes.  These include religion, faith, love, etc.

These things can be learned, patterned, symbolic, internalized, mutual, arbitrary, and influence the way we interact.

How is a particular subculture considered a culture?
Subcultures have traits that are different than main cultures; every culture has smaller cultures inside it.  Some examples of sub-cultures you may find in a high school are goths, punks, preps, jocks, nerds, etc.  These groups of people have certain behaviors or customs that are all different than the others.  Some may even have different languages, or use of slang.  

Ethnicity and religion also have subgroups, and are considered a culture because they each have their own laws, rules, values, etc.

It’s all about a mental blueprint, or a mental code—all of the things you do when you’re younger, the things you continue to do as a teen, and how you shape your own family. 

For example -- I grew up in a household that valued honesty.  Even if we knew we did something wrong, as long as we were honest, it helped my sister and I in the long run.  It was also important to my parents to let my sister and I lead our own lives, make our own mistakes, and learn from them.  Because of that, my sister and I have shaped our own values, beliefs, etc. They may not be learned through family, it may be something you teach yourself.  But whatever way a person decides to describe their culture, each person is different.

Culture & the formation of identity

Can culture be developed and not just genetic?

Some anthropologists believe that culture is ‘human nature’ and that all people have a capacity to classify experiences and encode classifications symbolically (like language.)

I believe this is true.  If you spend 10 years in the United States, and then decide to live in another country, you can develop another sense of culture that way.  If you were born in France, and you moved to the U.S. when you were a baby, your sense of culture is your life in the U.S. (because you would’ve been so young when you moved.)

In the Culture Anthropology reading by James Ferguson and Akhil Gupta, they examine the differences between society and culture.   They also talk about how our maps of territories are so different from each other and mean different things to us.  Something also mentioned in the reading it is it means to be a multicultural being.

Something I found interesting about this reading was the topic of an ‘ethnographic map.’  I think this is something to take note of because of the way we go define people.  It states that we name and define cultures because it’s easiest to do, and that we describe people to meet their territories.  The article states that we do this because it’s the only way of making a ‘cultural grid’ that lets us describe people and where they live.

The only thing I didn’t like about this term is the fact that someone can’t define themselves as two cultures here.  That it had just been talking about multiculturalism, but then it’s taking what that means away.

If I was born in Poland, and raised in the United States, I would have to define myself as one culture.  If I lived on the Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri border—it would be the same thing.   What about those who spend half a year in one country and half in another?  These people are conflicted with how to define themselves, and are then living out pieces of what make them who they are.  No subcultures would exist, and we definitely wouldn’t be diverse.  People would come to America just to taste ‘american food,’ etc.  Our way of life now and what we’ve been brought up to have (walking down the street and being able to get Chinese food, having diversity in our college classes, etc.) wouldn’t exist.

What does my culture mean to me?

I define my culture as the way I was raised.  Being able to make my own decisions about politics, religion, etc..have made me the person I am today.  I was raised that my decisions are mine alone, and I can be the only person to determine who I am.  Both of my parents, raised conservative Catholics, wanted my older sister and I to explore and take advantage of the options they didn’t have.  I consider my immediate family a part of my culture, and some of the things my family celebrates or does are part of my ‘culture.’  I also consider culture through those experiences I’ve been given.  Having the option to explore the world of religion, politics, and life in general have defined my ‘own’ culture and what it means to me.