ASPECTS OF CULTURE

DEFINING CULTURE
• In general, culture pertains to everything an individual
learns as a member of a society that encompasses
attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, knowledge, laws, norms,
and practices.
• All cultures are classified according to material and
nonmaterial (immaterial).
• Visible and tangible culture is called material culture.
These are objects that has a physical representation.
• Nontangible culture that has no physical representation is
nonmaterial or immaterial. It is further classified into
cognitive and normative.
• Cognitive culture consists of concepts, ideas, and
philosophies that are considered the products of rational
thinking.
• Normative culture consists of shared expectations, rules,
and standards of human behavior.
 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
All cultures are made up of elements that are fundamental to human life.

• Beliefs are ideas, viewpoints, and attitudes of peoples based on

common sense, folklore, religion, or science.
• Language is a shared set of spoken and written symbols for
transmission of culture.
• Norms are rules or standards/expectations that guide the behaviors of
individuals in a particular situation.
• Symbols whether verbal or nonverbal, are used to communicate
meaning to others.
• Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical
purposes.
• Values are the principles or standards of behavior.
Culture is dynamic, flexible, and adaptive
• Culture is the product of society
through the dynamic interactions of
humans with one another.
• It is dynamic and flexible because
humans need change as they relate to
the environment as a means for
survival.
• Hence, individuals continuously
reinvent culture to meet the demands
of the changing times.
Culture is shared and contested
• The set of attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs
an individual has is part of a bigger
collection customarily owned and practiced
by other members of a society.
• It implies that culture is shared among a
group of people commissioned to pass it on
to the future generations
• However, because of cultural differences
and diverse contexts, individuals and groups
encounter misunderstandings that lead to
conflicts.
Culture is learned through enculturation or socialization
• Culture comprises attitudes, beliefs,
behaviors, knowledge, laws, norms, and
practices that people learn from their family,
school, church, and other social institutions.
• The process of learning one’s culture is
called enculturation.
• It is a process of learning one’s culture from
birth until death.
• Through enculturation, individuals learn,
understand, and appreciate existing cultures
in their own communities.
Culture consists of patterned social interactions
• It is evident that we interact
with many people each day.
• Such social interactions are
regular and repetitive aspects of
exchanges among members of a
given social entity.
• Sociologists have identified five
patterns – cooperation,
competition, exchange, conflict,
and accommodation.
Culture is integrated and at times unstable.
• All aspects of a culture are
interrelated.
• Hence, it is development is the
integration of all its parts.
• It is indeed essential to study all
its aspects in order to
understand it as a whole.
Culture is transmitted through socialization/enculturation
• An enduring process where
individuals develop a self-concept in
order to prepare for their roles is
known as socialization.
• This occurs when individuals acquire
knowledge and skills through
education, training, exposure, and
experience.
• Socialization, therefore, results in
the formation of identity, observance
of norms and values, and recognition
of statuses and roles.
Culture requires language and other forms of communication
• It is essential to understand the
nature of the relationship
between language and culture.
• Using language does not just help
to convey meaning; it also
enables individuals to
communicate with and
understand one another to get the
message/meaning across.
• Thus, “language in its cultural
context creates meaning –
creating and interpreting meaning
is done within a cultural
framework”.
 SUBCULTURE
• Culture exist on many levels. We can certainly be a part of a national cultural group,
but there are other forms of membership as well, such as belonging to a subculture.
• A subculture refers to a smaller segment of a cultural group, which usually has
beliefs, interest, or behavior that distinguish it.
• There are a large number of subcultures, with new ones being formed constantly.
Example of this is the description of a Japanese writer Akio Nakamori in 1983,
which is the otaku, or individuals with obsessive interests in anime and manga. This
subculture has spread throughout the world, with otakus in the USA, Europe, Latin
America, and Asia.
• Subcultures can also refer to religious groups. Example is the Amish in the USA.
They descended from the European Anabaptists. They are known for their avoidance
in modern technology and are mainly preoccupied with agricultural pursuits.
• There are many forms of subculture, and they are studied by both sociologists and
anthropologists who try to understand their values and norms.
• These social scientists document and inform others about the cultural diversity that
exists in the world.
 ETHNOCENTRISM
• The word ethno comes from the Greeks and it refers to a people, nation, or cultural grouping.
Centric comes from Latin and refers to the “center”.
• The term ethnocentrism refers to the tendency of each society to place its own culture patterns at
the center of things.
• Ethnocentrism is the practice of comparing other cultural practices with those of one’s own and
automatically finding those other cultural practices to be inferior.
• In other words, it is the act of evaluating other cultures according to preconceptions originating in
the standards and customs of one’s own culture.
• Ethnocentrism, according to William Graham Sumner, is the belief that your native culture is the
most natural or superior way of understanding the world.
• This leads to making incorrect assumptions about others’ behavior based on your own norms, values,
and beliefs.
• Ethnocentrism is universal. Everyone learns it while growing up. Once one becomes conscious of
ethnocentrism, the temptation is strong to evaluate it in moral terms; to label it with epithets such as
bigoted, etc.
• The point is, ethnocentrism is one of the features of culture, and like the rest, it needs to be
evaluated in terms of its contribution to the maintenance of social order and the promotion of social
change.
 FUNCTIONS OF ETHNOCENTRISM
• First, ethnocentrism encourages solidarity of a group. Believing that one’s ways are
the best encourages a “we” feeling with associates and strengthens the idea that
loyalty to comrades and the preservation of the basis for superiority are important
values. Positively, ethnocentrism promotes continuance of the status quo.
Negatively, it discourages change.
• Second, ethnocentrism hinders the understanding or the cooperation between groups.
If the ways of one’s own group are best, there is little interaction with “inferior”
groups. Extreme ethnocentrism is likely to promote conflict, as the records of past
wars and religious and racial conflicts reveal.
• Third, conflict leads to social change. In that sense, ethnocentrism becomes a vehicle
for the promotion of social change. It does so, however, through encouragement of
its peaceful evolution.
 When do we become ethnocentric?
What is our way out?
1. When you judge the behavior and beliefs of people who are different from you.
Way out: you must stop judging others who are different from you.
2. When you believe that there are primitive cultures, especially if their way of life is
different than yours.
Way out: Ethnocentrism is taught. You have to unlearn that your culture is
superior and all other cultures are inferior.
3. When you believe that some cultures are backward if they lack the technology and
consumerism of your own culture.
Way out: Remember that there are no primitive or backward cultures. All
cultures provide their members with means for meeting all human needs.
 CULTURAL
RELATIVISM
• To avoid judging the cultural practices of
groups that are different to yours, we can use
the cultural relativism approach.
• Cultural relativism refers to not judging a
culture to our own standards of what is right
or wrong, strange or normal.
• Instead, we should try to understand cultural
practices of other groups in its own cultural
context.
• For example, instead of thinking, “Fried
crickets are disgusting! ” one should instead
ask, “Why do some cultures eat fried
insects?”.
• You may learn that fried crickets or
grasshoppers are full of protein and in
Mexico, it is famous Oaxaca regional
cuisine and have been eaten for thousands of
years as a healthy food source!
• Cultural relativism is the ability to understand a
culture on its own terms and not to make
judgments using the standards of one’s own
culture.
• The goal of this is promote understanding of
cultural practices that are not typically part of
one’s own culture.
• Using the perspective of cultural relativism leads
to the view that no one culture is superior than
another culture when compared to systems of
morality, law, politics, etc.
• It is a concept that cultural norms and values
derive their meaning within a specific social
context.
• This is also based on the idea that there is no
absolute standard of good or evil, therefore every
decision and judgment of what is right and wrong
is individually decided in each society.
• The concept of cultural relativism also means that
• Overall, there is no right or wrong ethical
system.
• In a holistic understanding of the term cultural
relativism, it tries to promote the understanding
of cultural practices that are unfamiliar to other
cultures such as eating insects, genocides or
genital cutting.
• There are two different categories of cultural
relativism: absolute and critical cultural
relativism.
• Absolute Cultural Relativism is everything
that happens within a culture must and should
not be questioned by outsiders. The extreme
example of absolute cultural relativism would
be the Nazi party’s point of view justifying the
Holocaust.
• Critical Cultural Relativism creates questions
about cultural practices in terms of who is
accepting them and why. Critical cultural
relativism also recognizes power relationships.
• Absolute cultural relativism is
displayed in many cultures,
especially Africa, that practice
female genital mutilation. This
procedure refers to the partial or
total removal of the external female
genitalia or any other trauma to the
female reproductive/genital organs.
By allowing this procedure to
happen, females are considered
women and then are able to be
married. FGM is practiced mainly
because of culture, religion and
tradition. Outside cultures such as
the United States look down upon
FGM, but are unable to stop this
practice from happening because it
is protected by its culture.
 XENOCENTRISM VS. XENOPHOBIA
• Xenocentrism refers to a preference for the foreign culture. In this sense, it is the
exact opposite of ethnocentrism.
• It is characterized by a strong belief that one’s owns products, styles, or ideas are
inferior to those which originate elsewhere.
• For xenocentric individuals, the exotic/new has a special charm which the familiar
can never achieve.
• It is based on the glamour of the strange and faraway and the prestige of distant
cultures.
• One clear indication of the existence of xenocentrism is our preference for
imported goods. Filipinos seem happy to pay more for imported goods on the
assumption that anything from abroad is better.
 XENOCENTRISM VS. XENOPHOBIA
• Xenophobia is the fear of what is perceived as foreign or strange.
• Xenophobia can be seen in the relations and perceptions of an in-group toward an
out-group.
• It may include fear of losing identity, suspicion of the other group’s activities,
aggression, and the desire to eliminate the presence of the other group to secure a
presumed purity.
• Xenophobia can also be exhibited in the form of an “uncritical exaltation of another
culture” in which a culture is ascribed “an unreal, stereotyped, and exotic quality.”
 CULTURE AS A HERITAGE
• Cultures have tangible (material) and non-tangible (nonmaterial) components.
• The tangible ones are those that are produced and created based on specific and practical purposes
and aesthetic values.
• Cultural artifacts both tangible and non-tangible may become “heritage objects” by their sheer age
and association with momentous historical events and noteworthy personalities.
• Hence, as icons of cultural memory, they may serve as irreplaceable emblems of events and
personalities that once made a culture proud and pleased.
• The typical heritage artifacts are sites and objects, while typical intangible heritage may be
associated with events.
• In the Philippines, historical sites include, but are not limited to, the abodes of heroes and
significant historical personalities.
• Intangible heritage may include our national anthem, music, dances, and other literary genre unique
to the Philippines.
• Preservation of cultural heritage is tantamount to protecting them from external threats such as
destruction (symbolic and physical), mutilation, and desecration.
SEATWORK #3
TRUE OR FALSE. Write TRUE if the answer is true, and FALSE if it is not. Answer on your notebook.
No erasures.
1. It is the habit of each group to take for granted the superiority of its culture.
2. Cultural relativism does not mean that all customs are equally valuable, nor does it
imply that no customs are harmful.
3. Cultures of peoples around the world are vastly different from each other. Some are
inferior cultures, and some are superior cultures.
4. Ethnocentrism hinders the understanding or cooperation between groups.
5. Xenophobia is the fear of what is foreign or strange.