UCSP LESSON 1

Cultural identity – the cultural identity of an individual refers to the identity or feeling of
belonging to a group. It is considered as part of a person’s self-conception and self-perception. It
pertains to one’s nationality, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social
group that has its own distinct culture. As to cultural awareness, it connotes to the ability of a
person to recognize the different beliefs, values and customs that someone has based on that
individual’s origins. This allows a person to build a more
successful personal and professional relationship with others in a diverse environment. In fact, a
person’s
state, region or country of origin and local customs heavily influence his / her cultural background.

Cultural Background – on the other hand, essentially consists of the ethnic, religious,
racial, gender, linguistic or other socioeconomic factors and values that shape an individual’s
upbringing. The cultural background can be shaped at the family, societal or organizational level.
Sociologically, people with different cultural backgrounds need to interact with each other. Such
interactions lead to strong relationships that would help build diverse communities and enable them to
achieve predetermined goals.

For Example:
In the Philippines society, it is necessary to work effectively with people from different regions
or with those who speak a different language to promote economic development and other primary
socio-cultural undertakings.
Thus, although it is important to learn about the cultural identities of other people and succeed
in working together, each one must primarily understand his own culture so he can appreciate other
cultures as well. Concrete understanding of one’s culture starts with recognition of the values,
customs and traditions passed down to us by our forebears or those acquired from personal
experiences while interaction in a given society. In fact, we can learn about other people’s culture by
interacting with them, by evaluating their biases
towards other cultures, by inquiring pertinent questions and by simple observations.

Cultural variation refers to the rich diversity in social practices that different cultures exhibit
around the world. Cuisine and art all change from one culture to the next, but so do gender roles,
economic systems, and social hierarchy among any number of other humanly organized behaviors.

Cultural variation can be studied across cultures (for example, a crosscultural study of ritual in
Indonesia and Brazil)[1] or across generations (for example, a comparison of Generation X and
Generation Y) [2] and is often a subject studied by anthropologists, sociologists and cultural theorists
with subspecialties in the fields of
economic anthropology, ethnomusicology, health sociology etc. In recent years, cultural variation has
become a rich source of study in neuroanthropology, cultural neuroscience, and social neuroscience.

Society refers to the persistent interaction among members of a particular group like kinship
group and other Institutions. However, the boundedness of groups is always relative and so
sociologist may refer to human society, where the reference is to the interdependencies among all
social groups, or to subgroups such as family, society, where the reference is to the typical
interactions among the individuals making up a grouping of close kin. (UCSP,Gerry M. Lanuza, Sarah
S. Raymundo)

Gender and Sexuality

A common distinguishing factor of a person’s cultural background is gender sexuality. Gender
refers to the personal traits and social roles of the male and female members of society. Sexuality is
the state of being either masculine or feminine.

1. A person’s masculinity or manhood consists of a set of attributes, behaviors and roles generally
associated with men.
2. A person’s femininity or womanhood refers to a set of attributes, behaviors and roles generally
associated with women.
3. A person may experience identity crisis when he / she does not accept or understand his / her
sexuality or is unable to understand his / her status.

Socio-Economic Status
 Another common cultural identification factor is the level of an individual’s social standing and
financial position in the society. This is known as socio-economic status, a personal or famil’s
financial and social esteem on the basis of income, education, and occupation.

Hence, it is the totality of a person’s social position and wealth combined. The socio-economic
class refers to the status of every individual from the sociological and economic points of view. Social
status means a person’s standing or rank in the social ladder of stratification based on prestige,
power, popularity, etc. economic status means a person’s place in the society’s economic
stratification based on wealth, property, and total assets.

Ethnicity
Is a condition in which a social group belongs to a common national or cultural tradition. The
adjective ethic relates to large groups of people who have certain racial, cultural, religious, or other
traits in common. The Philippines are inhabited by different ethno-liguistic groups converted to
Christianity, particularly the lowland-coastal groups, and adopted may foreign elements of culture.
Ethno-linguistic groups include the Ivatans, Ilocanos, Pangasinenses, Kapampangans, Tagalogs,
Bicolanos, Visayans (Masbatenos, Hiligaynons/Ilonggos, Cebuanos, Boholanos, Warays and
Surigaonons) Maranaos, Subanons and Zamboanguenos.

Civilization
any complex society characterized by urban development, social stratification, symbolic
communication forms (typically, writing systems), and a perceived separation from and domination
over the natural environment.

Politics pervades all aspects of social and cultural life. The ability of people to exercise their rights
and perform their duties as citizens depends largely on the kind of government they have. The state
monopolizes violence and provides security for the people and its territory.

The legitimacy of the modern state is based primarily on legal rational authority. Such
legitimacy on source of authority is based on modern laws and constitution. Whether the state for
self-interest is a function of the political culture that exists in a given society. Given that the
Philippines society is still beholden to traditional family dynasties; its legitimacy is often put under
question by the public. (UCSP, Gerry M. Lanuza, Sarah S. Raymundo)

Culture is a dynamic system that does not stand outside human beings. Culture is very atmosphere
that human beings breathe in everyday life. It is so pervasive in its influence that people hardly notice.
Yet, culture is not something static. It is always in constant flux or change. As such culture can be
studied in different ways. And many scholars of culture disagree among themselves on the best way
to describe culture. Today, there is a growing consensus among scholars that culture cannot be
separated from colonial influence and the
power dynamics that shapes it, such as gender and racism. (UCSP, Gerry M. Lanuza, Sarah S.
Raymundo)

Try to consider the following variance: the cultural variation is a difference in social behaviors
in different cultures exhibit around the world. Social differences are the situations where people are
discriminated against on the basis of social, economic, and racial inequality.
Social change means the transformation of culture and social institutions over time and
political identity is a measure of a group of people with similar political ideologies.

Direction: Recall the instances where you experience or see a situation either
Cultural Variation, Social Differences or Political Identity occurred in a specific
location. You may choose only one (1) issue concerning on the different national
issues.

Write a short skit about the experience in your notebook.