Culture A Matter of Perspective

What is Culture?

Music?

Food?

Clothing?

Race?

Material Culture  Many times, what is thought of as culture is only its outward manifestation.  Music, food, race and clothing are material culture.  They are things that we can see, touch or taste.

Non-material culture  Non-material cultural is ideas, beliefs and values that influence material culture. Religion and language are examples of non-material culture

Cultural Roots  Our collective opinions, attitudes, values and beliefs influence such things as laws, customs and holidays.

Culture as a Lens  Culture is like a distorted lens that we see the world through.  Everyone’s lens is distorted to some extent.

Not Me?  Chances are, you have an opinion about this guy. Your opinion reveals the distortion of your cultural lens.

U.S. Culture : local (national) scale All people have a tendency to reinforce their own values and beiefs. Culture is often dictated by the characteristics and values of the dominant group. What are the characteristics and values of America? White, White, male, attractive, rich, athletic, educated English language Protestant

NameGenderEthnicityreligion WashingtonMaleEnglishProtestant AdamsMaleEnglishProtestant JeffersonMaleWelshProtestant MadisonMaleEnglishProtestant MonroeMaleScotchProtestant AdamsMaleEnglishProtestant JacksonMaleScotch-IrishProtestant Van Buren MaleDutchProtestant HenryMaleEnglishProtestant TylerMaleEnglishProtestant PolkMaleScotch-IrishProtestant

NameGenderEthnicityReligion TaylorMaleEnglishProtestant FillmoreMaleEnglishProtestant PierceMaleEnglishProtestant BuchananMaleScotch-IrishProtestant LincolnMaleEnglishProtestant JohnsonMaleEnglishProtestant GrantMaleScotch-IrishProtestant HayesMaleScotchProtestant GarfieldMaleEnglishProtestant ArthurMaleScotch-IrishProtestant ClevelandMale English, Irish Protestant

NameGenderEthnicityReligion HarrisonMaleEnglishProtestant MckinleyMaleScotch-IrishProtestant RooseveltMaleDutchProtestant TaftMaleEnglishProtestant WilsonMaleScotch-IrishProtestant HardingMaleEnglish-DutchProtestant CollidgeMaleEnglishProtestant HooverMaleSwiss-GermanProtestant RooseveltMaleDutchProtestant TrumanMale English, Scotch Protestant EisenhowerMaleSwiss-GermanProtestant KennedyMaleIrish Roman Catholic

NameGenderEthnicityReligion JohnsonMale English, Scotch-Irish Protestant NixonMale English Scotch-Irish Protestant FordMaleEnglishProtestant CarterMaleEnglishProtestant ReaganMale English Irish Protestant BushMaleEnglishProtestant ClintonMale Protestant BushMaleEnglishProtestant Total male Northern Europe Protestant

Hegemony and Marginalization  Unfortunately, those who do not share the characteristics of the dominant group often feel that they don’t fit in.  They are pushed away from the center of power into the margins. This is called marginalization.

Hegemony and Language  If language were a truck, then culture would be it’s cargo.  Languages are embedded with all kinds of culture.

Japanese Language and Culture  Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan was a feudal society. They had a caste system that held each social class in it’s place.  The Japanese have several different levels of speech depending on who they are talking to.  When meeting someone for the first time, it is custom to present someone with a business card that has your name, company name and rank in the company so that they know what level of speech to use. Feudal Lord Samurai Artisans Merchants Peasants Untouchables

Marginalization and Martial Arts  Martial Arts is fighting without traditional weapons. In most feudal societies, the only class that was allowed to own a weapon was the warrior class. Because they often abused their power, the peasants created forms of fighting to protect themselves. They adapted weapons from farm tools.

Extreme Distortion  At its worst, marginalizaiton takes the form of hatred, racism, chauvenism, homophobia, sizeism, religious persecution and any other act by those with distorted lenses to reinforce their own values

Core Periphery Model: Global Scale The core periphery model explains how some countries are more powerful than others. Specifically, countries north and south of 30 degrees latitude are at the core, while those between the equator to 30 degrees north and south are on the periphery. In other words, those at the core are hegemonic and exploit/marginalize those on the periphery. CORE Anglo-America Western Europe, Japan Australia, South Korea China Middle East South Asia S. East Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America See also: World Systems Analysis

Core-Periphery Model

Genocide At it’s worst, an entire culture Can have a distorted view of Another race, religion or gender This was the case with the Holocaust, Genocide in Rwanda, Darfur, Palestinian conflict and many other atrocities.

World Conflict Zones  Dark Blue=1000+ deaths per year  Light Blue= deaths per year

Looking at the Lens  If our values and beliefs distort our view of reality, what are we to do?  Instead of always looking through the lens, we should look at the lens from time to time.  We should examine the way that our beliefs, attitudes, behavior and language affect other people. If our examination reveals something hurtful, we should make amends and make a change.

Response Format  Use the following format to write what you learned from this lesson: 1.Summarize the main idea of the lesson. 2.Text to world: How does this idea relate to the world around you. 3.Text to self: Write your attitudes, opinions, experiences about this idea.

Excerpts from reflection papers  The culture goggles had the biggest impact on my life. That lesson has completely changed the way I view the world. It really connected and hit home. I understand things about other cultures that I never would have before. I really liked how you had something that was physical and visual. It helps you remember things better when you use kinesthetic learning techniques. This lesson will definitely change my future outlook on other countries, religion and races. It gives me an understanding that I have never had before.I always thought of how weird and different other places are. However, I never stopped to think about how they viewed me. They probably think I’m weird!

Another excerpt  While learning about the earth’s structure is all well and good, it’s not something that particularly captivated me. I, instead, was drawn to the political and social power aspect of our world. Power is what our world is based on today. One group of people becomes dominant, and then their values and beliefs are reinforced by their power. If you do not possess the same values or standards as this group, you are less influential, less important and less powerful. Many times, the classifications to be in the “group” are impossible to achieve. You cannot change who you are or what you look like. If being white is what is “in,” being black is not something you change. We have to learn to work with what we have and to love who we are.