Havenella Angela Amit

BA in Psychology 4
2018-09641

Activity 1: Understanding Concepts of Art and Culture

When I was 15 years old, I had the opportunity to reside and study in Iligan City. A city in
Lanao del Norte that is composed of approximately 80% Maranao-Muslim citizens. As an individual
who was born and raised as a Christian, I had some trouble understanding the environment that I was
in. There were times that I was caught up with my prejudices and assumptions towards their culture
primarily because it is contradicting with the culture that I was exposed to and grew up with.

The readings by Lassiter and Wright gave me perspectives of reanalyzing these instances that
happened to me, and I have figured out that I was in constant turmoil back then because I wasn’t able
to analyze culture in a way that it was meant to be analyzed. Back then, one of my major concerns was
how the Muslim-Maranao women was treated unfairly; how their community treated them as an object
that can be sold by the concept of “dowry”, how their community requires them to be submissive and
overly obedient, how they were expected to settle in a polygamous marriage. These are just some of the
unjust treatments that I perceived negatively. The thing that shocked me the most before was the reality
that these women rarely question and react negatively about their situation.

Now I have come into realization that my perception towards their culture is shrouded with my
own term and the only way to understand it is to look on it from its own terms. The concept of
understanding cultural relativity enables me to grasp the notion that your one’s perception of right or
wrong is invalid when looking into analyzing one’s culture. The fully understand how it works, culture
must be examined from the perspectives of those who produce, maintain, and experience it, rather than
from our own. Rather than judging my friends that they are just blindly abiding their religion, I missed
out on identifying and understanding their point of view and the system that works alongside their
practices.

Additionally, as a psychology student, I have realized that understanding the complexity of

culture is comparable to understanding the complexity of the human brain. To quote Lassiter, “Culture
is nebulous rather than absolute, chaotic rather than harmonious, dynamic rather than idle, ubiquitous
rather than esoteric, complex rather than simple. It is because people are.” Moreover, looking into
culture as a process rather than an “end-product” is a useful way to have a deeper understanding and
appreciation of it. Afterall, culture requires multifaceted approach. Now I believe that viewing culture
as a shared and negotiated system of meanings that is shaped by knowledge that individuals learn and
use through interpreting experience and generating behavior is essential in a way that it would save us
from jumping into assumptions and prejudices. Looking towards culture at this light will enable us to
appreciate diversity rather discrimination and encourage learning rather than judgement.