Introduction:
The study of culture and mass media encompasses many fascinating topics including cultural diversity, ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, defining and understanding the elements of culture, and the influence of the media. This area of sociology also examines dominant culture, subculture, counterculture, and how they relate to each other. Overall, it is a section that clearly needs to be explored.
Article:
The article I’ve included analyzes and defines two major concepts that are related to culture: ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. More specifically, the paper attempts to show how cultural relativism can be used to take a more constructive approach to understanding other cultures.
Photograph:
The photo I’ve included below is meant to illustrate how culture is both material and nonmaterial. It is also representative of the characteristics of culture: it is shared, learned, taken for granted, and symbolic. To explain what I mean by this, the children in this photo worked together for weeks to make this paper mache “monster.” Several other groups of people around Bali did the exact same thing. This was followed by a ceremony where all the “monsters” were displayed and paraded around town to scare away evil spirits. The next day was a day of complete and utter silence. This tradition, all too familiar to the Balinese people, is completely foreign to me. I’m assuming New Years Eve in America would be equally confusing to them.
Video Clip:
While this clip is slightly eerie, it does depict the influence of mass media (with a specific focus on television) quite well. We mimic what perceive to be the cultural ideal. It also demonstrates how we feel completely isolated and almost helpless without it.
Two Internet Sites:
Language was a particularly interesting aspect of culture. Does language shape culture or does culture influence language? Does language determine how we ultimately interpret the world around us? The link I’ve provided sheds some light on these questions.
The link below is an article that explores ethnic and racial diversity in America. The paper demonstrates how America has always been culturally diverse and how multiculturalism is expected to progress over the next few decades. I wanted to find an article that examined a broader range of subcultures; however, this papers analysis of the future of American diversity couldn’t be ignored.
Quote:
I decided to use the quote below for this page because I think it is one of the most important concepts you can take from this section.
"Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures." – Cesar Chavez
Two Paragraphs:
I believe that in order to understand some of the fundamental aspects of sociology, basic concepts of culture and media are required. I attempted to include the terms, ideas, and issues that I felt were most relevant to this chapter. One thing that I wasn’t able to fit in was the diffusion of culture, a phenomenon that I’ve observed in my own travels. However, I believe I was successful in demonstrating the overwhelming influence culture and the media have in shaping individuals and societies.
I wanted to discuss this chapter because it examines ethnocentrism and cultural relativity. I think people often make ethnocentric remarks and defend them using patriotism without even realizing it. America is an extremely diverse country that should embrace multiculturalism instead of demanding conformity. We can have pride in our country and still appreciate the culture within and outside of own society.
Word search:
Definitions:
Beliefs: shared ideas held collectively by people within a given culture
Culture: the complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society
Dominant culture: the culture of the most powerful group in society
Folkaways: the general standards of behavior adhered to by a group
Laws: the written set of guidelines that define what is right and wrong in society
Norms: the specific cultural expectations for how to act in a given situation
Taboo: those behaviors that bring the most serious sanctions
Counterculture: subculture created as a reaction against the values of of the dominant culture
Culture Lag: the delay in cultural adjustments to changing social conditions
Ethnocentrism: the belief that one’s in-group is superior to all out-groups
Global Culture: the diffusion of a single culture throughout the world
Mass Media: channels of communication that are available to very wide segments of the population
Subculture: the culture of groups whose behavior and norms of behavior are somewhat different from those of the dominant culture
Values: the abstract standards in a society or group that define ideal principles
Cultural Diffusion: the transmission of cultural elements from one society or cultural group to another
Culture shock: the feeling of disorientation that can come when one encounters a new or rapidly changed cultural situation
Ethnomethodology: a technique for studying human interaction by deliberately disrupting social norms and observing how individuals attempt to restore normalcy
Language: a set of symbols and rules that, when put together in a meaningful way, provides a complex communication system
Mores: strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior
Symbols: things or behavior to which people give meaning
Photograph acquired from:
Personal collection
Video clip acquired from:
Quote acquired from:
Word search created using:
General information and crossword definitions acquired from:
Anderson, Margaret L., and Howard F. Taylor. Sociology: The Essentials. Sixth ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2011. Print.
