What Is Culture?: Material Objects That, Together, Form A People's Way of Life. Culture Includes

Part 3 [WHAT IS CULTURE?
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The concept of culture is sometimes easier to grasp by description than

by definition. For example, suppose you meet a young woman who has just
arrived in the Philippines from India. That her culture is different from yours is
immediately evident. You first see it in her clothing, jewelry, makeup, and
hairstyle. Next, you hear it in her language. It then becomes apparent by her
gestures. Later, you may hear her express unfamiliar beliefs about the world
and opinion about what is valuable in life. All these are indicative of culture.
Sociologists define culture as the values, beliefs, behavior, and
material objects that, together, form a people’s way of life. Culture includes
what we think, how we act, and what we own. Culture is both a bridge to our
past and a guide to the future.
To begin to understand all that culture entails, it is helpful to distinguish
between thoughts and things. What sociologists call Nonmaterial Culture is
the intangible world of ideas created by members of the society, ideas that
range from altruism (selflessness) to Zen (a form of Buddhism). Material
Culture, on the other hand, refers to the tangible things created by members
of a society, everything from armaments to zippers.
Not only does culture shape what we do; it also helps form our
personalities—what we commonly, but inaccurately, describe as “human
nature.” The warlike Yanomamo of the Brazilian rain forest think aggression is
natural, whereas, halfway around the world, the Semai of Malaysia live in
SocSc 1: Society and Culture

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Part 3 [WHAT IS CULTURE?]
peace and cooperation. The cultures of the Unites States and Japan both
stress achievement and hard work, but Americans value individualism more
than the Japanese, who are more traditional and group-oriented.
Given the extent of cultural differences in the world, and people’s
tendency to view their own way of life as “better” or “natural,” it is no wonder
that travelers often feel Culture Shock, a personal disorientation when
experiencing an unfamiliar way of life.
No way of life is “natural” to humanity, even though most people
around the world view their own behavior that way. What is natural to our
species is the capacity to create culture. Every other form of life—from ants to
zebras—behaves in uniform, species-specific ways. To a traveler, the
enormous diversity of human life stands out in contrast to the behavior of, say,
cats, which is the same everywhere. This uniformity follows from the fact that
most living creatures are guided by instincts, biological programming over
which animals have no control. A few animals—notably chimpanzees and
related primates—have the capacity for limited culture, as observed in their
use of tools and simples skills that they teach to their offspring. But the
creative power of humans far exceeds that of any other form of life. In short,
only humans rely on culture rather than instinct to ensure the survival of their
kind.
THE COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

Although cultures vary greatly, they all have five common components:
symbols, language, values and beliefs, norms, and material culture and
technology. We begin with the one that underlies all the others; symbols.
Symbols
Like all creatures, humans sense the surrounding worlds, but unlike
others, we also create a reality of meaning. Humans transform elements of
the world into symbols, anything that carries a particular meaning recognized
by people who share culture. A world, a wall of graffiti, a flashing red light, a
raised fist—all serve as symbols. We can see the human capacity to create
and manipulate symbols reflected in the very different meanings associated
with the simple act of winking the eye, which can convey interest,
understanding, or insult.
We are so dependent on our culture’s symbols that we take them for
granted. Sometimes, however, we become keenly aware of a symbol when
someone uses it in an unconventional way, as when a person burns a
Chinese flag during a political demonstration. Entering an unfamiliar culture
also reminds us of the power of symbols; culture shock is really the inability to
“read” meaning in new surroundings. Not understanding the symbols of a
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culture leaves a person feeling lost and isolated, unsure of how to act, and
sometimes frightened.
Money is symbolic, and only 10 percent of the world’s money exists in tangible form. Here, traders move money electronically
at Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam, Netherland.
Language
In infancy, an illness left Helen Keller (1880-1968) blind and deaf.
Without these two senses, she was cut off from the symbolic world, which
greatly limited her social development. Only when her teacher, Anne
Mansfield Sullivan, broke through Keller’s isolation using sign language did
Helen Keller begin to realize her human potential. This remarkable woman,
who later became a renowned educator herself, recalls the moment she
grasped the concept of language:
We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the
smell of honeysuckle with which it was covered. Someone
was drawing water, and my teacher placed my hand under
the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand, she
spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then
rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motion
of her fingers. Suddenly, I felt a misty consciousness as of
something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and
somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I
knew then that “w—a—t—e—r” meant the wonderful cool
something that was flowing over my hand. That living word
awakened my soul; gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!

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Language, the key to the world of culture, is a system of symbols that

allows people to communicate with one another. Humans have created
hundreds of alphabets, and even conventions for writing differ. Most people in
Western societies write from left to write, but people in Northern Africa and
western Asia write from top to bottom.
Language not only allows communication; it ensures the continuity of
culture. Language is a cultural heritage, and the key to Cultural
Transmission—the process by which one generation passes one culture to
the next. Just as our bodies contain the genes of our ancestors, so our culture
contains countless symbols of those who came before us. Language is the
key that unlocks centuries of accumulated wisdom.
Every society transmits culture through speech, a process sociologist
call oral cultural tradition. Some 5, 000 years ago, however, humans invented
writing although just a favored few ever learned to read and write. Not until the
twentieth century did rich nations boast of nearly universal literacy. Still, at
least 10% of U.S. adults (some 20 million people) are functionally illiterate,
unable to read and write in a society that increasingly demands symbolic
skills; while in low-income
countries of the world, about one-
third of men and almost two-thirds
of women are illiterate (United
Nations Development Program,
1999).
Language may link us with
the past, but it also sets free the
human imagination. Connecting
symbols in new ways, we can
conceive of an almost limitless
range of future possibilities. Hieroglyphics is a writing system that uses symbols or pictures
Language sets human to denote objects, concepts, or sounds, originally and especially
in the writing system of ancient Egypt.
apart as the only creatures who
are self-conscious, aware of our limitations and ultimate mortality, yet able to
dream and hope for a future better than the present.
Language: Only for Humans?

Creatures great and small direct sounds, smells, and gestures toward
one another. In most cases, these signals are instinctive. But some
animals have at least some ability to use symbols to communicate with
one another and with humans.
Consider the remarkable achievement of a twelve-year-old pygmy
chimp named Kanzi. Chimpanzees lack the physical ability to mimic
human speech. But researcher E. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh discovered
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that Kanzi could learn language by listening and observing people.

Under Savage-Rumbaugh’s supervision, Kanzi has developed a
vocabulary of several hundred words, and he has learned to “speak.”
Does Language Shape Reality?

Do the Chinese, who think using one language, experience the world
differently from North Americans who think in, say, English or Spanish?
The answer is yes, since each language has its own distinctive
symbols that serve as the building blocks of reality.
Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf proposed that languages are not
just different sets of labels for the same reality (Sapir, 1929, 1949;
Whorf, 1956). Rather, each symbolic system has at least some unique
words or expressions. In addition, all languages fuse symbols with
distinctive emotions. Thus, as multilingual people can attest, a single
idea may “feel” different when spoken in Spanish rather than in English
or Chinese (Falk, 1987). The Sapir-Whorf thesis states that people
perceive the world through the cultural lens of language.
Values and Beliefs

What accounts for the popularity of Filipino film characters? Each is the
value of parents, siblings, and kinship. In applauding such characters, we are
endorsing certain values, culturally defined standards by which people
assess desirability, goodness, and beauty, and which serve as broad
guidelines for social living. Values are statements, from the standpoint of a
culture, of what ought to be.
Values are broad principles that underlie beliefs, specific statements
that people hold to be true. In other words, values are abstract standards of
goodness, and beliefs are particular matters that individuals consider true or
false. For example, because most Filipinos give a high value for the family,
they openly support extended family arrangements.
Cultural values and beliefs not only affect how we perceive our
surroundings, they also form the core of our personalities. We learn from
families, friends, schools, and religious organizations to think and act
according to approved principles, to pursue worthy goals, and to believe a
host of cultural truths. Particular values and beliefs thus operate as a form of
“cultural capital,” giving some people the confidence and determination to
pursue success and leaving others with a sense of hopelessness that little will
ever change.
In nations that are largely diverse, few cultural values and beliefs are
shared by everyone. For example, the long history of occupation has made
the Philippines a hodgepodge, whose values and beliefs form a mixture or
blending of occidental, oriental, and native components.
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Bayanihan and praying are two of the values and expression of belief in God prevalent in the Filipino society.
Norms
Most people in the United States are eager to gossip about “who’s hot
and who’s not.” Members of many Native American societies, however,
condemn such behavior as rude and divisive. Both patterns illustrate the
operation of norms, the rules and expectations by which a society guides the
behavior of its members. Some norms are proscriptive, stating what we
should not do, as when health officials warn us to avoid casual sex.
prescriptive norms, on the other hand, state what we should do, as when
schools teach “safe sex” practices.
Most important norms in a culture apply everywhere and at all times.
For example, parents expect obedience from young children regardless of the
setting. Other norms depend on the situation. In the country, we expect the
audience to applaud after a speech made by a respected political figure; we
may applaud at the end of a classroom presentation; we do not applaud when
a priest or anyone finishes a prayer.
Mores, Folkways and Laws

William Graham Sumner, an early sociologist recognized that some
norms are more important to our lives than others. Sumner coined the term
mores (pronounced MORE-ays) to refer to norms that are widely observed
and have great moral significance. Mores, or taboos, include our society’s
prohibition against adults engaging in sexual relations with children.
People pay less attention to folkways, norms for routine, casual
interaction. Examples include ideas about appropriate greetings and proper
dress. In short, mores distinguish between right and wrong, whereas folkways
draw a line between right and rude. A man who eats by using bare hands in a
formal dinner party may invite raised eyebrows for violating folkways. If,
however, the party’s host were to serve human flesh for dinner, he would
violate cultural mores and invite more serious sanctions.
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Moreover, laws are institutionalized norms that guide members of the

society. An authorized institution serves as agent of implementation of laws.
Republic acts, presidential decrees, executive orders and other local
government ordinances are examples of laws.
Jeanne Lowe sits beside

a family portrait in her
Hercules, California
home, as she recalls how
in 1948 she couldn’t
marry Bill Lowe, the man
she loved, because the
state banned interracial
marriages.
Social Control
Mores and Folkways are the basic rules of everyday life. Although we
sometimes bristle when others pressure us to conform, we all can see that
norms make our dealings with others more orderly and predictable. Observing
or breaking the rules of social life prompts a response from others, in the form
of reward or punishment. Sanctions—whether an approving smile or a raised
eyebrow—operates as a system of social Control, various means by which
members of society encourage conformity to norms.
As we learn cultural norms, we acquire the capacity to evaluate our
own behavior. Doing wrong (say, downloading a term paper from the internet)
can cause not only shame, the painful sense that others disapprove of our
actions, but guilt, a negative judgment we make ourselves. Only cultural
creatures can experience shame and guilt.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
More than a century ago, in his book Primitive Culture (1871), the
British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor proposed that cultures—
systems of human behavior and thought—obey natural laws and can
therefore be studied scientifically. In that book he also offered his now famous
definition of culture. When Tylor thought of culture and cultures, he had in
mind more autonomous units than the interlinked cultural entities that
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anthropologists study today. But his definition of culture, which focuses on

attributes that people acquire not through biological inheritance but by
growing up in a particular society where they are exposed to a specific cultural
tradition, remains useful. Enculturation is the process by which a child learns
his or her culture.
Culture is Learned
The ease with which children absorb any cultural tradition rests on the
uniquely elaborated human capacity to learn. They learn from experience; for
example, they avoid fire after discovering that it hurts. But human being’s own
cultural learning depends on the uniquely developed capacity to use symbols,
signs that have no necessary or natural connection to the things they signify
or for which they stand.
Based on cultural learning, people create, remember, and deal with
ideas. They grasp and apply specific systems of symbolic meaning. People
gradually internalize a previously established system of meaning and
symbols. They use this cultural system to define their world, express their
feelings, and make their judgments. This system helps guide their behavior
and perceptions throughout their lives.
Every person begins immediately, through a process of conscious and
unconscious learning and interaction with others, to internalize, or incorporate,
a cultural tradition through the process of enculturation. Sometimes, culture is
taught directly, as when parents tell their children to say “thank you” when
someone gives them something or does them a favor.
Fiestas are ways of learning ones historical and cultural
milieu. In this photo, a group of students portray one of the
most tumultuous events in the history of Miag-ao, Iloilo
where the locality and its people were invaded (ginsalakay)
by the Spanish colonizers. This drama is performed yearly
during the Salakayan Festival at the seaside. Yearly, the
young Miag-aoanon get to learn and understand the history
of his ancestors and its implications in its present cultural
practices.

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Culture is Transmitted
Culture is also transmitted through observation. Children pay attention
to the things that go on around them. They modify their behavior not just
because other people tell them to but because of their own observations and
growing awareness of what their culture considers right and wrong. Culture
also is absorbed unconsciously. North Americans, for example, acquire their
culture’s notions about how far apart people should stand when they talk, not
by being directly told to maintain a certain distance but through a gradual
process of observation, experience, and conscious and unconscious behavior
modification. No one tells Latins to stand closer together than North
Americans do, but they learn to do so anyway as part of their cultural tradition.
A recipient of Gawad sa Manlilikha sa Bayan

Award and declared a National Living
Treasure by the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in 1998, Lang
Dulay was recognized for her excellent
craftsmanship in weaving the prized T'nalak
or the traditional T'boli cloth. One among the
eleven dream weavers of Lake Sebu, South
Cotabato, she died in Apr.30,2015 but left the
School of Living Tradition which she
established in order for the craft to be passed
down to the younger generations.
Culture is Shared
Culture is an attribute not of individuals per se but as individuals as
members of groups. Culture is transmitted in the society. Don’t we learn our
culture by observing, listening, talking, and interacting with many other
people? Shared beliefs, values, memories, and expectations link people who
grow up in the same culture. Enculturation unifies people by providing us with
common experiences.
People in the United States, for example, sometimes have trouble
understanding the power of culture because of the value, American culture
places on the idea of the individual. Americans are fond of saying that
everyone is unique and special in some way. In American culture,
individualism itself is a distinctive shared value, a feature of culture.
Individualism is translated through hundreds of statements and settings in
their daily lives. In a TV show entitled Today, hundreds of stories focus on
individuals, especially their achievements. This contrasts with the number of
stories that focus on the achievements of communities. From TV shows to
“real-life” parents, grandparents, and teachers, their enculturation agents
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insist that they are all “someone special.” This means that they are individuals
first and members of groups second. As a criticism, this idea is the opposite of
the lesson being taught in this chapter about culture. Without doubt we have
distinctive features because we are individuals, but we have other distinct
attributes because we are members of groups.
In Europe, au pairs are only supposed to work part-time, and they often also study part-time, generally focusing on the
language of the host country. This way, two nationalities can share each other’s cultural practices.
Culture is Symbolic
Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to cultural
learning. Anthropologist Leslie White defined culture as:
dependent upon symbolling…Culture consists of tools,
implements, utensils, clothing, ornaments, customs,
institutions, beliefs, rituals, games, works of art, language,
etc. (White 1959, p. 3)
For White, culture originated when our ancestors acquired the ability to use
symbols, that is, to originate and bestow meaning on a thing or event, and,
correspondingly, to grasp and appreciate such meanings.
A symbol is something verbal or nonverbal, within a particular language
or culture that comes to stand for something else. There is no obvious,
natural, or necessary connection between the symbol and what it symbolizes.
A pet that barks is more naturally a dog than a chien, Hund, or mbwa, to use
the words for the animal we call “dog” in French, German, and Swahili.
Language is one of the distinctive possessions of human beings. No animal
has developed anything approaching the complexity of language that human
beings have.
Symbols are usually linguistic. But there are also nonverbal symbols
such as flags that stand for countries, as arches do for a hamburger chain.
Holy water is a potent symbol in Roman Catholicism. As is true of all symbols,
the association between a symbol (water) and what is symbolized (holiness)
is arbitrary and conventional. Water is not intrinsically holier than milk, blood,
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or other natural liquids. Nor is holy water chemically different from ordinary
water. Holy water is a symbol within Roman Catholicism, which is part of an
international cultural system. A natural thing has been arbitrarily associated
with a meaning for Catholics, who share common beliefs and experiences that
are based on learning and that are transmitted across the generations.
Culture seizes nature

Culture imposes itself on nature. Anthropologist Conrad Kottak once
narrated:
I once arrived at a summer camp at 5 P.M. I was hot and
wanted to swim in the lake. However, I read the camp rules
and learned that no swimming was permitted after five. A
cultural system had seized the lake, which is part of nature.
Natural lakes don’t close at five, but cultural lakes do.
Culture takes the natural biological urges and teaches us how to

express them in particular ways. People must eat, but culture teaches us what,
when, and how. In many cultures people have their main meal at noon, but
North Americans prefer a large dinner. English people eat fish for breakfast,
but North Americans prefer hot cakes and cold cereals. Brazilians put hot milk
into strong coffee, whereas North Americans pour cold milk into a weaker
brew. Midwesterners dine at five or six, Spaniards at ten.

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Like the lake at summer camp, human nature is appropriated by cultural

systems and molded in hundreds of directions. All people must eliminate
wastes from their bodies. However, some people teach people to defecate
standing, while others were told to do it sitting down. Frenchmen aren’t
embarrassed to urinate in public, routinely stepping into barely shielded
pissoirs in Paris streets. Peasant women in the Andean islands squat in the
streets and urinate into gutters. They get all the privacy they need from their
massive skirts. All these habits are parts of cultural traditions that have
converted natural acts into cultural customs.
People need to eat. But what we eat, how we eat, where we eat, and why we eat, are all determined by culture.
Culture is All-encompassing
For anthropologists, culture includes much more than refinement, taste,
sophistication, education, and appreciation of the fine arts. Not only college
graduates but all people are “cultured.” The most interesting and significant
cultural forces are those that affect people every day of our lives, particularly
those that influence children during enculturation. Culture as defined
anthropologically, encompasses features that are sometimes regarded as
trivial or unworthy of serious study, such as “popular culture.” As a
manifestation of popular culture’s manifestation, an Original Pinoy Music
(OPM) is as interesting as symphony, or a “turo-turo” is as patronized as hotel
restaurants.

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The famous night market in Davao City and a great place to try local street foods locally called turo-turo, the Roxas Night Market
is flocked by people both from within and outside the city. This pop culture begins at the crossroads near the Marco Polo Hotel
and continues for about 1 kilometer southeast down Roxas Avenue.
Culture is Integrated
Cultures are not haphazard collections of customs and beliefs.
Cultures are integrated, patterned systems. If one part of the system (eg., the
economy) changes, other parts change as well. For example, during the
1950s, most women planned domestic careers as homemakers and mothers.
Most of today’s college women, by contrast, expect to get paid jobs when they
graduate.
What are some of the repercussions of the economic change?
Attitudes and behavior regarding marriage, family, and children have
changed. Late marriage, “living together,” and divorce have become more
common. The average age at first marriage for American women rose from 20
in 1995 to 25 in 2000 (Fields 2001; Saluter 1996). The comparable figures for
men were 23 and 27 (Fields 2001). The number of currently divorced
Americans quadrupled from 4 million in 1970 to more than 19 million in 1997
(Lugaila 1999). Work competes with marriage and family responsibilities and
reduces the time available to invest in childcare.
Cultures are integrated not simply by their dominant economic activities
and related social patterns but also by sets of values, ideas, symbols, and
judgments. Cultures train their individual members to share certain personality
traits. A set of characteristics central or core values (key, basic, or central
values) integrates each culture and helps distinguish it from others. For
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instance, familism and hospitability are core values that have integrated
Filipino culture for generations. Different sets of dominant values influence the
patterns of other cultures.
People use culture Actively

Although cultural rules tell us what to do and how to do it, people don’t
always do what the rules say should be done. People use their culture actively
and creatively, rather than blindly following its dictates. We are not passive
beings who are doomed to follow our cultural traditions like programmed
robots. Instead, people can learn, interpret, and manipulate the same rule in
different ways. Also, culture is contested. That is, different groups in society
often struggle with one another over whose ideas, values, and beliefs will
prevail. Even common symbols may have radically different meanings to
different people and groups in the same culture. A huge human bee in front of
the store may cause one person to salivate while another plots a vegetarian
protest. The flag is a national symbol for every country, but its meaning varies
among its people.
Even if they agree about what should and should not be done, people
don’t always do as their culture directs or as other people expect. Many rules
are violated, some very often (for example, automobile speed limits). This is
why it is useful to distinguish between ideal and real culture.
a. Ideal Culture—consists of what people say they should do and
what they say they do.
b. Real Culture—refers to their actual behavior as observed by the
social scientist.
Penitensiya, the Filipino term for Penance, is a tradition being held and actively participated in by the Filipinos during Holy
Week, especially on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. It is an expression of Filipino belief in exemplifying the suffering of
Christ but uniquely copied and modified to include self-inflicted pain.

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Culture is Adaptive and Maladaptive

To cope with or adapt to environmental stresses, humans can draw on
both biological traits and learned symbol-based behavior patterns. Besides
biological means of adaptation, human groups also employ “cultural adaptive
kits” containing customary patterns, activities, and tools. Although humans
continue to adapt biologically as well as culturally, reliance on social and
cultural means of adaptation has increased through time.
Sometimes, adaptive behavior that offers short-term benefits to
individuals may also harm the environment and threaten the group’s long-term
survival. Creative manipulation of culture and the environment by men and
women can foster a more secure economy, but it can also deplete strategic
resources. Thus, despite the crucial role of human adaptation, cultural traits
and patterns can also be maladaptive, threatening the group’s existence
(survival and reproduction). Many modern cultural patterns, such as policies
that encourage overpopulation, inadequate food distribution systems,
overconsumption, and pollution, appear to be maladaptive in the long run.

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SHARING MY CULTURE. Build up a portfolio of examples of components

and characteristics of culture as observed in and practiced by your own
culture.
How?
1. Take time to observe and recall your own cultural practices.

2. Identify practices that fit as examples for the components and
characteristics of culture discussed above.
3. Take a photo (actual practice that you personally did or were done by
anyone you know).
4. If you don’t have a photo for an actual practice, look up to the internet
for images. But only make sure that such practices are observed in
your culture.
5. Collect the photos and build a portfolio.
6. Your output must be in the form of a powerpoint presentation sent to
my email: fjmtamon@usm.edu.ph. If you are using a printed module,
send me back a printed version of this powerpoint presentation.

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OTHER CONCEPTS IN THE STUDY OF CULTURE
Multiculturalism and Pluralism

The rise of advanced technology and tiny gadgets that make things
extra portable suggests that the nation is becoming more aware of the extent
of cultural diversity within our borders. Moreover, our cultural diversity
continues to increase as each year almost 1 million people from other lands
come to our shores. Over the centuries, heavy immigration has made the
country Multicultural. By contrast, historic isolation has made Japan the most
Monocultural of all industrial nations.
We are aware of our cultural variety when we hear the distinctive
accents of people from various regions. Ours is also a nation of Pluralism, a
land of class differences, and a home to some individualists who try to be like
no one else. To understand the reality of life in the Philippines, then, we must
move beyond broad cultural patterns and shared values to consider cultural
diversity. This tri-people monument in
Upi, Maguindanao is a portrayal
of unity and cooperation among
the Christians, Muslims and
Lumad (predominantly the
Teduray) in Maguindanao. They
manifest unity in many aspects
of social and cultural functions,
forming a multicultural society.
High Culture and Popular Culture

Cultural diversity can involve social class. In fact, in everyday talk, we
usually use the term “culture” to mean art forms such as classical literature,
music, dance and painting. We describe people who regularly go to the opera
or the theater as “cultured,” because we think they appreciate the “finer things
in life.”
We speak less generously of ordinary people, assuming that everyday
culture is somehow less worthy. We are tempted to judge the music of
Beethoven as “more cultured” than the blues, cakes as better than pandesal,
and golf as more polished than sepak.
Such judgments imply that many cultural patterns are readily
accessible to only some of a society. Sociologists use the term high culture
to refer to cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite, while popular
culture designates cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s
population. The term “high culture” is derived from the term “highbrow.” A
centuries ago, people influenced by phrenology—the bogus nineteenth
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century theory that personality was affected by the shape of human skull—
praised the tastes of those termed “highbrows” while dismissing the appetites
of “lowbrows.”
Common sense may suggest that high culture is superior to popular
culture. But we should resist such judgments for two reasons. First, neither
elites nor ordinary people share all the same tastes and interests; people in
both categories differ in numerous ways. Second, do we praise high culture
because it is inherently better than popular culture, or simply because its
supporters have more money, power and prestige? For example, there is no
difference between a violin and a git-git (a wooden three-string bowed
instrument of Maguindanaoans); however, we name the instrument one way
when it is used to produce music typically enjoyed by a person of higher
position, and the other way when the musician plays works appreciated by
individuals with lower social standing. Sociologists, therefore, are uneasy with
distinctions between high and popular culture, preferring the term “culture” to
refer to all elements of a society’s ways of life, including patterns of rich and
poor alike.
The English high

culture and Japanese
popular culture in
Tokyo.
Subculture
The term subculture refers to cultural patterns that set apart some
segment of a society’s population. Young people who enjoy hip-hop music
and fashion, as well as jazz musicians, campus poets, computer “nerds” and
wilderness campers—all display subcultural patterns.
It is easy, but often inaccurate, to place people in some subcultural
category, because almost everyone participates in many subcultures without
necessarily having much commitment to any of them. In some cases,
however, ethnicity and religion do set people apart from one another,
sometimes with tragic results. Consider the former nation of Yugoslavia in
southeastern Europe. The recent Balkan war is only the latest chapter in the
long history of hatred based on cultural differences. Before its breakup, this
one small country used two alphabets, professed three religions, spoke four
languages, was home to five major nationalities, was divided into six political
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republics, and absorbed the cultural influences of seven surrounding

countries. Clearly, subcultures are a source not only of pleasing variety but
also of tension and outright violence.
For example, United States have historically been viewed as a “melting
pot” where many nationalities blend into a single “American” culture. But given
their cultural diversity, how accurate is the “melting pot” image? For one thing,
subcultures involve not just difference but hierarchy. Too often, what we view
as “dominant” or “mainstream” culture are patterns favored by powerful
segments of the population, while we view the lives of disadvantaged people
as “subculture.” Some sociologists, therefore, prefer to level the playing field
of society by emphasizing multiculturalism.
The unique subculture of Cuban punk.
Counterculture
Cultural diversity also includes outright rejection of conventional ideas
or behavior. Counterculture refers to cultural patterns that strongly oppose
those widely accepted within a society.
In many societies, counterculture is linked to youth. The youth-oriented
counterculture of the 1960s, for example, rejected mainstream culture as
overly competitive, self-centered and materialistic. Instead, hippies and other
counterculturalists favored a cooperative lifestyle in which “being” took
precedence over “doing” and the capacity for personal growth—or “expanded
consciousness”—was prized over material possessions like homes and cars.
Such differences led some people to “drop out” of the larger society.
Countercultures are still flourishing. In 2001, faceless terrorist groups
became controversial in defying political and social order. Countercultural
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extremism of this kind led to the bombing of one of the world’s famous Twin
Towers in September 11 of the same year, killing thousands of people and
damaging billions worth of properties.
ISSUES IN UNDERSTANDING CULTURE
Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism and Xenocentrism

We think of childhood as a time of innocence and freedom from adult
burdens like regular work. In poor countries throughout the world, however,
families depend on income earned by children. So what people in one society
think of as right and natural, people elsewhere find puzzling and even
immoral. Perhaps the Chinese philosopher Confucius had it right when he
noted that “All people are the same; it’s only their habits that are different.”
Just about every imaginable idea or behavior is commonplace
somewhere in the world, and this cultural variation causes travelers equal
measures of excitement and distress. The tradition in Japan is to name
intersections rather than streets, a practice that regularly confuses North
Americans who do the opposite; Egyptians move very close to others in
conversation, which irritates North Americans, used to maintaining several
feet of “personal space.” Bathrooms lack toilet paper in much of rural
Morocco, causing considerable consternation among Westerners
unaccustomed to using the left hand for bathroom hygiene.
Given that a particular culture is the basis for everyone’s reality, it is no
wonder that people everywhere exhibit ethnocentrism, the practice of
judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture. Some
ethnocentrism is necessary for people to be emotionally attached to their way
of life. But ethnocentrism also generates misunderstanding and sometimes
conflict.
Even the language that we speak is culturally biased. Centuries ago,
people in Europe and North America referred to China as the “Far East.” But
this term, unknown to the Chinese, is an ethnocentric expression for a region
that is far east of the said continents. The Chinese name for their country
translates “Central Kingdom,” suggesting that they, like Europe and North
America, see their own society as the center of the world.
The logical alternative to ethnocentrism is cultural relativism, the
practice of evaluating a culture by its own standards. Cultural relativism is a
difficult attitude to adopt: it requires understanding unfamiliar values and
norms as well as suspending cultural standards we have known all our lives.
At the same time, as people of the world come into increasing contact with
one another, the importance of understanding other cultures becomes even
greater.
97
But cultural relativity introduces problems of its own. If almost any kind
of behavior is normative somewhere in the world, does that mean everything
is equally right? Does the fact that some Indian and Morocco families benefit
from having their children work long hours justify child labor?
Since we are all members of a single species, surely there must be
some universal standards of proper conduct. But what are they? And, in trying
to develop them, how can we avoid imposing our own standards of fair play
on others? There are no simple answers. But when confronting an unfamiliar
cultural practice, resist making judgments before grasping what “they” think of
the issue. Remember, also, to think about your own way of life as others
might see it. After all, what we gain most from studying others is better insight
into ourselves.
Moreover, xenocentrism is a way of looking at our own culture as
inferior resulting to a motivation to shift to a more superior culture. The
common colonial mentality among Filipinos is a manifestation of such. They
inevitably favor foreign material cultures as well as systems that they think are
far better than their own. It poses a negative effect to the society as it
encourages giving up one’s own cultural identity, voiding one from self-
determinism and integrity. On the other hand, it is a source of pride for one
who enlists oneself to a more superior cultural background.
It is culturally relativistic to understand the uniqueness of this cultural
practice but becomes an issue when inequality, discrimination, and violation
of human rights sets in. Consider the following example for an issue arising
from the above-described principles:

98
Female Genital Mutilation

Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation (Feb.3,2020)
Key facts
• Female genital mutilation (FGM) involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other
injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
• The practice has no health benefits for girls and women.
• FGM can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as
complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
• More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle
East and Asia where FGM is concentrated (1).
• FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.
• FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
• WHO is opposed to all forms of FGM, and is opposed to health care providers performing FGM
(medicalization of FGM).
• Treatment of health complications of FGM in 27 high prevalence countries costs 1.4 billion USD per year.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female
genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities,
such as attending childbirths. In many settings, health care providers perform FGM due to the belief that the
procedure is safer when medicalized1. WHO strongly urges health care providers not to perform FGM.
FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted
inequality between the sexes and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always
carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person's rights to
health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,
and the right to life when the procedure results in death.

99
OBSERVING ETHICS IN ETHNOGRAPHY. From the documentary entitled,

“secrets of the tribe,” identify different ethical issues in the practice of
ethnography among the Yanomami.
How?
1. View the documentary entitled, “Storyville Secrets of the Tribe” from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd7SXbsn0hU
2. From the documentary, identify at least five (5) ethical issues surfaced
in the conduct of research by ethnographers and researchers who
studied the Yanomami.
3. Briefly describe the background of each issue.
4. Discuss why they are considered issues.
5. Write your answer in a sheet of paper (encoded or handwritten).
Maximum of 2 pages output only.

100
CULTURE CHANGE
Perhaps the most basic human truth of this world is “All things shall
pass.” Even the dinosaurs which thrived on this planet for 160 million years,
remain today as fossils. Will humanity survive for million years to come? All
we can say with certainty is that—given our reliance on culture—for as long
as we survive, the human record will be one of continuous change.
Change in one dimension of a culture usually sparks change in others.
For example, women’s increased participation in the labor force parallels
many changing family patterns, including first marriages at a later age and a
rising separation rate. Such pattern illustrates cultural integration, the close
relationships among various elements of a cultural system.
Cultural Lag
Some elements of culture change faster than others. William Ogburn
(1964) observed that technology moves quickly, generating new elements of
material culture (like test-tube babies) faster than nonmaterial culture (such as
ideas about parenthood) can keep up with them. Ogburn called this
inconsistency cultural lag, the fact that some cultural elements change more
quickly than others, which may disrupt a cultural system. How are we to apply
traditional notions about motherhood and fatherhood when one woman can
give birth to a child using another woman’s egg, which has been fertilized in a
laboratory with the sperm of a total stranger?
Causes of Culture Change

1. Invention, the process of creating new cultural elements. Invention has
given us the telephone (1876), the airplane (1903), and the computer (late
1940s), each of which has had a tremendous impact on our way of life. The
process of invention goes on constantly, as indicated by the thousands of
applications submitted annually to the country’s Patent Office.
2. Discovery, involves recognizing and better understanding something

already in existence—from a distant star, to the foods of another culture, to
the athletic prowess of women. Many discoveries result from painstaking
scientific researches and others by a stroke of luck, as when Marie Curie left a
rock on a piece of photographic paper in 1898 and thus discovered radium.
3. Diffusion refers to the spread of cultural traits from one society to another.
Because new information technology sends information around the globe in
seconds, cultural diffusion has never been greater than it is today. Certainly,
our society has contributed many significant cultural elements to the world,
ranging from computers to jazz music. Of course, diffusion works the other
101
way, too, so that much of what we assume to be “Filipino” comes from

elsewhere. Most clothing, furniture, newspapers, money and even language
are derived from other cultures.

102
NACIREMA VS. OUR CULTURE. Describe and analyze how unique or

mainstream are the cultures of Nacirema and ours.
How?
1. Read the article entitled “The Body Rituals of the Nacirema.” This
article is attached below.
2. From the article, answer the following questions. Limit your answer on
the boxes provided below.
What are the different rituals of the Nacirema? Identify five (5) rituals and
briefly describe each.

103
Are there similarities between their culture and ours? If yes, what are these?
Identify at least 3 and describe such similarities.

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Part 3 [WHAT IS CULTURE?

The concept of culture is sometimes easier to grasp by description than

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

THE COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

Language, the key to the world of culture, is a system of symbols that

Language: Only for Humans?

that Kanzi could learn language by listening and observing people.

Does Language Shape Reality?

Values and Beliefs

Mores, Folkways and Laws

Moreover, laws are institutionalized norms that guide members of the

Jeanne Lowe sits beside

anthropologists study today. But his definition of culture, which focuses on

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

A recipient of Gawad sa Manlilikha sa Bayan

Culture seizes nature

Culture takes the natural biological urges and teaches us how to

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

Like the lake at summer camp, human nature is appropriated by cultural

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

People use culture Actively

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

Culture is Adaptive and Maladaptive

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

SHARING MY CULTURE. Build up a portfolio of examples of components

1. Take time to observe and recall your own cultural practices.

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

OTHER CONCEPTS IN THE STUDY OF CULTURE

Multiculturalism and Pluralism

High Culture and Popular Culture

The English high

republics, and absorbed the cultural influences of seven surrounding

The unique subculture of Cuban punk.

ISSUES IN UNDERSTANDING CULTURE

Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism and Xenocentrism

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

Female Genital Mutilation

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

OBSERVING ETHICS IN ETHNOGRAPHY. From the documentary entitled,

1. View the documentary entitled, “Storyville Secrets of the Tribe” from

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

Causes of Culture Change

2. Discovery, involves recognizing and better understanding something

way, too, so that much of what we assume to be “Filipino” comes from

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

NACIREMA VS. OUR CULTURE. Describe and analyze how unique or

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

SocSc 1: Society and Culture

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