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Question 1
To say that the culture of our society has an impact on what we do everyday would
be an understatement. In fact, culture controls how we act and think. To better understand
the culture that we live through would not only free our minds but also improve our
understanding of the important aspects that make up our society. Because a society is
basically a group of people with shared understandings of how to live. Knowing this can
explain the many aspects of a society such as psychology, history, political science,
literature, and sociology.
Understanding the culture of where we live can help us understand why we do
the things we do. It can even explain why we think or feel a certain way. The psychological
aspect of a country or region’s culture can be explained by the theory of cognition. The
process by which we turn percepts into concepts is totally mediated by our culture. For
example, when we see something going on, it is just visual signals reaching our brain
through the eyes. At this moment all we are doing is taking in unprocessed information.
For these percepts to become concepts there must be some way of making sense of what
we see. This process of taking signals and turning them into thoughts and feelings is a
learned one. When we are children we acquire many understandings of how to act and
what is right and wrong. These understandings are our culture, and they control our
perceptions of the world, thus motivating us to act in the way that our culture sees fit. So in
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American culture if we see a guy wearing a tight pink shirt, the thought feeling that we
experience is that this guy we see is a homosexual. This would make many people
uncomfortable or even angry, and possibly motivate them to act n a certain way. But there
is no visual signifier giving the pink shirt meaning until one has been placed there by our
culture.
Because we know that our culture can control the way we think and act, it could
also improve our understanding of history. Realizing that the culture of any time period in
history determined how people acted and why events in history took place. If we study
culture we can understand the origins of the meanings that we have today. For example, in
past centuries in many European countries the raven was seen as a symbol of death and
evil. To understand why this meaning has been placed on this bird you must go back in the
past when that meaning was made. In the 13th century a plague swept through much of
Europe killing a third of the population. The bodies of the victims were often left in the
streets to rot, ergo the birds of prey would eat the carcasses. When the birds were seen
doing this they were associated with the plague and the death that it brought. So this
meaning stuck with the raven ever since the 13th century.
The culture of a time period can have a great affect on the recorded history of
the time period, thus having an affect on a time periods’ literature as well. Understanding
the meaning systems that people lived by at a point in history can explain how and why
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they write. For example, many of the novels during the 19th and early 20th centuries were
about what it meant to be a lady or gentleman. An emphasis was put on being a lady at all
times and subjugating oneself to men. One example could be the book Pride and Prejudice.
This book is a mirror image of what was important in the time period. So understanding
culture can help you understand the meaning behind literature.
Political science is another aspect of our society that can be thought of as
culturally controlled. What is important in a culture is what can be expected in the
campaigns of candidates. By relating to the beliefs of voters candidates win votes. So
political science will always go hand-in-hand with culture. Culture also has an affect on
how we interact with the people around us, or sociology. Culture can explain how and why
social influences impact us, and why we act a certain way in different situations. Through
studying cultural theories we can see that all human beings seek approval. Everyone wants
to create memorable impressions on others, and culture determines what impressions
people want and decide to leave. Our cultural system determines our agency in a given
situation. So really, the way we act towards others is a direct result of the cultural models
that tell us what to perceive and that have been created in our society.
By understanding the way culture acts as a medium for decision-making we can
adequately explain the aspects our society. Culture explains the way we think, or
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psychology, recorded history, why we write, why and how we vote, and why and how we
interact with the people around us.
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Question 2
When looking at “Phillip of Boston” from a phenomenological perspective I see
that he is living through a culturally constructed consciousness. He is aware that the way
he acts and talks is culturally specific to Boston’s “North End.” Because he grew up in this
setting he feels a need to act like he grew up there. The phenomenon to him would be his
verbal expression and dress. He has made so much meaning out of his accent. The culture
that he is replicating has assigned a certain meaning to having that accent: being from the
streets. Growing up on the streets of North End mean a toughness and pride to Phillip, but
this too has been culturally created.
Phillip is living through a culturally constructed model of masculinity that is
particular to that region. He has constructed his view of himself to fit the cultural view of
masculinity. So how he experiences himself, or how he understands his being, is through
this model that is created by the culture of North End. By his meaning system to be
masculine is to use vulgar language and thuggish posture. He wears headbands and
sweatbands because these things make him more masculine. He uses a think accent at bars
to attract women or intimidate men. All of these things in his mind are what makes him
manly. They are all culturally created but none of these characteristics are innate.
The reason why Phillip does all of these things to promote his masculinity can
be explained through symbolic interaction. He does these things because he is managing
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the impressions that he has on others. He creates these impressions using symbols that are
culturally specific to his region. For example, his vulgar language, thick accent, dress and
posture all are symbols that leave an impression of masculinity. His theory on himself is
that he is manly, and the person that everyone else sees needs to leave a good impression.
So he follows the cultural model of masculinity because he has a need for approval from
others.
By following this cultural model that has been created in Boston he is
reproducing the system that he follows. Through his agency to conform to this model of
masculinity he is strengthening the structure that is already in place. Structure is both the
medium by which he acts and the outcome of his agency. By the way he speaks about
himself and through his everyday practices, he strengthens the discursive and recursive
practices of his cultural model.
Phillip acts different ways around different people. He does this to manage their
impressions of him. The cognition going on in his head when he makes these decisions to
act these ways is also controlled by culture. When Phillip sees his guy friends, a different
thought goes through his mind than when he sees girls or his family. When he sees his guy
friends he receives the visual signals like always. When he interprets these signals he uses
cultural models to tell him what to perceive. He sees masculinity in his friends, which gives
him the thought feeling of intimidation or competition. This intention or feeling gives him
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a motive to want to act a certain way to prove that he too is manly. Then he decides to act
in a conformed manner to manage the impressions of his friends. Around girls he sees a
symbol femininity or sexuality. When he interprets that symbol through his culture model
of femininity, he gets the feeling of attraction. This motivates him to act in a modeled
masculine way to attract the girls. He thickens his accent but does not use as much vulgar
language. He wants to seem fun and in-charge. His model has changed slightly but is still
used to make impressions. Around his family he weakens his accent and articulates. He
rarely uses vulgar language and has better posture. The thoughts going through his mind
when he is with his family are completely different. He does not have to manage his
impressions like his does with his guy friends and girls. He already feels accepted when he
is around his family and therefore does not strive for approval.
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Question 3
The Greek town of Kypseli is a great example of a cultural construction of
gender. Everything about this settlement is based on and structured by gender separation.
There is a gender hierarchy that is fed by the recursive practices of the whole town. The
genders actually have symbols that go along with them. Men are seen as sacred, holy,
noble, and higher beings than their female counterparts. Women are seen as polluted,
profane, distrustful, and sometimes evil. Women are also kept form doing certain tasks
such as making wine. Their menstrual cycles are seen as an impure weakness and they are
kept at the house during this time. All of these meanings were assigned for a reason. From
a phenomenological perspective we can see that the meanings assigned to men, women,
and tasks are all part of a constructed reality meant to continue the male hierarchy. All of
the objects and tasks in their everyday life are categorized in a culturally specific way.
The meanings that are made available to the people of Kypseli are all
androcentric. This ideology leads to the reproduction of their structured system. The
cognition of the women of Kypseli also reproduces the gender hierarchy. When a woman
sees a wine cave she sees a symbol. She interprets this through the ideology made available
to her, and gets a thought feeling. Her thought tells her that this is a place for men, and if
she knows what is best for her, she will not enter. This is how the women think in Kypseli.
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They know that certain places are for men and certain things belong to men because their
culture is telling them what to perceive.
Because they perceive things by this structured ideology, their practices
and discourse are very recursive. Living and thinking this way almost rules out their
ability to make decisions for themselves. The women of Kypseli are in a state of false
consciousness because they agree to their own subjectivity. The practices that help to
continue this subjectivity are not changing because the discourse and recursive practices
of the women aren’t changing. Most women agree they are defilers. Their belief in their
culture is so strong that they belief to be dirty. Even time and space is gender divided.
Women don’t go inside the village square, they stay at home. When the women are allowed
to leave the home they have to wait till after the men leave the stores to go shopping. While
the men farm and hunt, the women prepare food, clean, and do other household chores.
The daughters are forced to work while the sons get to play and do what they want. Only
women should be in the kitchen. The hierarchy controls even religious services. Men stand
in the front near the altar while women stand in the back. Taverns are reserved only for
men while women run the village ovens. Times in the courtyard are divided as well, with
women in the morning and men in the afternoon. All of these recursive practices continue
because there are no generative actors to change them. The strong structure of the
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practices in Kypseli greatly affects the way women view themselves. They are completely
worried about the way they are view by the men of their society. This is because they fear
the social sanction that will come if they don’t act according to their culture. The
impressions they leave on others in this society mean everything. It could mean the raising
and lowering of social status for their family in Kypseli.
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Question 4
If we look at the social actors of today and of the past we can definitely see
a structure that has been formed to favor the male sex. For each of the sexes of our society
a cultural model of how they should act has been laid out for them. The social actors of
today have had a major impact on how people act and why they do the things they do. The
problem with their influence is that most of the influential people are just conforming to
the models they have helped create and reproduce.
The ‘Mooks’ and ‘Midriffs’ of the last twenty years have certainly had an
affect on the teenage population in America. So much of an impact that they have defined
what it means to be a guy or a girl in American society. Take the guys on the show “Jackass”
for example. These guys will do anything to get a laugh. They are antiestablishment and
have the mentality of being their own boss. They think they are not conforming by doing
these things but really they are just reproducing the model of masculinity that they have
helped create. They chose this way to make money, and they definitely did. When teenage
boys see this example of how to act, a thought process goes through their head. They see
everyone laughing and having a good time on the show. Because every human seeks
approval in some form or another, they strive to be like these actors. Their new cultural
model of being a ‘mook’ is now what controls the way they perceive things in society. This
pop culture has had an impact on teenage boys but has had an even greater impact on girls.
The midriffs that have defined what it means to be a woman have turned the teenage girls
of America into self-absorbed, materialistic, sexual objects. Girls now use the cultural
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model of being sexy to make perceive the world. They conform to the American model of
beauty, which has been defined as thin. A good example of someone who has conformed to
this American model of beauty would be Melissa De Hart. She starved herself to the point
of near death. She was motivated to do this because she has a preconceived notion of
beauty that she uses as a model to make decisions. When Melissa looks in the mirror and
she sees her body, she tries to match it with the midriffs and models set as examples in our
society. Unable to meet these standards, she gets the feeling of disgust. This feeling
motivates her to starve herself.
We see examples of gender construction everywhere. Even the children in
our society have been affected and socialized by the structure of gender. Children have
learned the things that are necessary to be seen and accepted as an adult, but what they
have learned is the cultural models that have been set before them. The ABC news special
on the socialization of children was a good example of this. The girls and boys clearly had a
defined example of how to act based on your gender. The girls have been taught not to fully
express their opinions and to not be rude. The lemonade made with salt was an example of
this. The boys however have been raised in a society where they our encouraged to voice
their opinion and be bold. These children are just conforming to the culture examples that
have been made available to them.
How can we stop this construction of gender and conformity to a gender
hierarchy? The female social actors of the 1950’s affectively advanced their position in
society. They chose not to conform to the system of being subjugated. Instead they changed
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the way things were done in America by changing their habitual practices and discourse.
While other women were living in a state of false consciousness, the generative actors
were changing the structure of a gender construction. They attacked the existing meanings
of what it means to be a woman, and in doing so they changed the meaning. Now in
America women can own businesses and run corporations. If we really want to change the
society and world we live in, we first have to change the way we think and act. If we speak
about the world the same way and practice the same routines, our society becomes even
more structured. We must change our discourse and practices that reproduce the cultural
models that have been created.