Characteristics of Culture

What is Culture? Culture: A society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions, which are used to make sense of experience and which generate behavior and are reflected in that behavior. Every culture is learned, shared, based on symbols, integrated, and dynamic.

Cultural Identity The (feeling of) identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as he or she is influenced by her belonging to a group or culture. Culture, as a social practice, is not something that individuals possess. Rather, it is a social process in which individuals participate.

E.B. Tylor Sir Edward Tylor 1871 first definition of ‘culture’ Culture ‘spectrum’

Enculturation The process by which a society’s culture is transmitted from one generation to the next and individuals become members of their society. It establishes a context of boundaries and correctness that dictates what is and is not permissible within that society's collective framework.

Society An organized group or groups of interdependent people who generally share a common territory, language, and culture and who act together for collective survival and well-being. What are some examples of a global society?

Gender The cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes. Hijra, Berdache, Trasngendered

Thomas Beatie Was born a woman named Tracy Lagondino Had reassignment surgery to appear as a man outwardly and had chest reconstruction and began taking testosterone. He is legally married to his wife Nancy, and they share the full entitlements and protections that marriage affords.