Chapter 2 Cultural Diversity

Culture Variation

       Every culture is different in a few or many ways. Each culture has their own set of traditions and values. What is considered rude in one culture may be completely normal in another. Even societies that exist in the same nation can be completely different from each other. But even though we have all these cultural differences, we may not be so different after all.

       There are features that all cultures share called cultural universals, these are basic needs that all societies posses. Some examples of culture universals are marriage, cooking, folklore, sports, body adornment, funeral ceremonies, gift fiving and many more. Even if we have basic similarities, we are still very different. The world is full of variation among societies. The Arapesh and the Mundugumor tribes are a perfect example on two completely different societies living in the same nation. The Arapesh are very gentle, kind and close to each other while the Mundugumor are very aggressive and competitive. One of the reasons that varying societies exist is the idea of ethnocentrism. This is the belief that one’s own culture is superior from the others. Ethnocentrism helps unite the group but in extremes it may segregate groups and limiting new influences. The opposite of this view is one used a lot by anthropologists. This consists of keeping an open mind toward cultural variations and it is called cultural variation.

(The Arapesh tribe)

       In a broad culture there are many groups whose values, norms and behaviors are different of those of the entire population, these are called subcultures. Some examples are the residents of Chinatown and Little Havana who have their own languages and other cultural traits that are different from the overall populations. Sometimes a group rejects the major values and norms of the larger society and wants to replace them with a new set. These groups are called countercultures the anarchists, the cyberpunk movement and the hippie movement are examples of countercultures.

        Language is the major component of any culture. Before making any advances a culture must develop language. The linguistic-relativity hypothesis has two basic principles. One of them states that people the way people think is shaped by their language. The second one states that people who speak in different languages perceive the world on different ways. Whorf (the one who extended this hypothesis) believed that people are conditioned by their language to notice some things and ignore others. If a culture has no term for a particular object, then that object is worthless to them. On the other hand if a culture has many terms for an object, then the object is very relevant to them. An example is the Inuit people who have many words for “snow”. Whorf wrote that an English speaking person, for example, wouldn’t think as deeply of snow as an Inuit. Yet this hypothesis is debatable, the Inuit example may not be relevant for their variety of names for snow are actually many words combined together.

(The Inuit tribe)

       There are many things that reflect on are culture. These things make all cultures different from each other. They can make groups within a culture and even make groups who want to contradict the established culture. Even though all societies are different they are all tied down to universal needs and traditions.