Culture

What is culture?

Anthropologists describe culture as a system of knowledge, beliefs, behavioral patterns, institutions that are created, learned, and shared by a group of people.

  • Cultural Elements include Symbols, Values, Mental Maps, and Cultural Norms.
  • Different cultures have their own forms of art, music, and languages.
  • People can also follow more than one culture and change their communication style based on the culture they are currently relating to.

Elements of Culture

Symbols

Symbols

Symbols are anything that stands for something else. One example of a symbol is a wedding ring, which in many cultures, exemplifys the marriage and eternal bond between two or more people. Different cultures also percieve what is normal about marriage differently. In some cultures it is okay for women to have more than one husband and in others it is okay for men to have more than one wife.

Values Values
Values Values

Values

Values are what a culture believe is important and or true. Some examples of values held in some cultures are to respect elders, as they are said to be wiser and have experienced life more. In the United States the connection between a parent and child is strongly valued. It shows a strong bond which is important in raising a healthy child.

Mental Maps

Mental Maps

A mental map is how the human brain compresses large quantities of data to make faster connections with experiences with the large quantities of data we consume and generate. An example of creating a mental map is the qualification of people under categories of race. It can be socially dangerous as we may judge the intelligence of others based on their skin color or eye shape, for example.

Norms

Norms

All cultures have norms that the group of people may associate to. Some norms within a culture could be what age you are allowed to get married, or what time you should pray, or even throwing a party to celebrate the day someone was born.

Did You Know?

  • When culture is learned, this is known as enculturation. Enculturation is not just unique to humans, but other animals as well. For example, chimpanzees have been known to show their young how to make tools used for gathering food.

  • Cultural relativism:

    Understanding a group's belief and practices within their own cultural context, without making judgements.

    Example

    As there are many different cultures throughout the world, no one culture is the definite right culture. Therefore practicing cultural relativism is key to communication amongst other other cultures. It is not only important for anthropologists in the field, but for regular people when they travel, as respecting other cultures keeps away from conflicts, and opens them up new experiences abd life.

  • Agency:

    The potential power of individuals and groups to contest cultural norms, values, symbols, mental maps of reality, institutions, and structures of power.

    Example


    Culture is not static, but it is dynamic, and therefore constantly changing. It could change because of other cultures mixing together, or from within. When cultures change from within, it may be a result of the people who belong to that culture, who have the agency, or the power to contest cultural elements and institutions. This has happened many times throughout history. Some examples include protesting for increase of the minimum wage, the Civil Rights Movement, legalizing gay marriage, or farther back in the past when workers fought for better working conditions.