How Come…..? Culture is so taken for granted that we

seldom question our behaviors, values, and norms… even the most simple ones?

“The last thing a fish notices is the water”

CULTURE How come……..

When you’re driving down the road…..

When someone comes behind you…..

When Dr. H walks up and ……

CULTURE Learned set of beliefs, values, and norms

Creation of culture is universal phenomenon but the form it takes is not

Changes can be internal and external

Cultural Universals• Cultural Universals are customs and

practices that occur across all societies.• Examples:

– Appearance (bodily adornment, hairstyles)– Activities (sports, dancing, games, joking)– Social institutions (family, law, religion)– Practices (cooking, folklore, gift giving)

Material – the “stuff” (Jewelry, Fashion, Weapons of War,

Technology)

An expression of …… Symbolic Non-Material Beliefs, Norms, Values

Symbolic shapes and is sometimes shaped by material culture

Beliefs or ideologies…. How we think the world operates “meritocracy” – Monopoly game (material

expression) Values….. Our moral blueprint – what we hold dear

http://Strange and harmful cutlural practices

Other American Values? Achievement Religiosity Individualism Education Work Ethic Romantic Love Efficiency Democracy Rationalization Personal Freedom Material Comfort Equality Progress Humanitarianism

Value Contradictions and Social Change

It is precisely at the point of value contradictions, then, that one can see

a major force for social change in a society.

Often leads to Culture wars – social upheaval

Norms Folkways – informal -- violation is minimal Texting in class? Airplane Travel? Mores – moral component -- violation might be

severe Smartphones and cheating? Laws – formalized and enforced Taboos – most important -- violation causes

repulsion

Nature Versus Nurture Sociability Intelligence Sensitive hands Vocality Eyesight Upright posture Instincts

What instincts do we have?

Instincts versus Innate behaviors Reflexive behaviors

Instincts

Innate capacities

Symbols Change over time…..

Old Symbol

New Symbol

Has given way to ????

What is “consumer culture” in the U.S. ?

Powerful marketing convinces us to buy things we would not normally purchase

The manufacturing of desire??

Advertising Culture: The average person is

exposed to more than 3,000 ads per day….

Why is cash no longer popular? No plastic? No service

Take a guess at the following….. What are the main causes of credit card

default? A. divorce/loss of loved one, loss of job,

health care B. over spending, depression, loss of job C. Depression, divorce, over spending D. None of the above

Postmodernism & Consumer Culture

Cultural Leveling – the ‘McDonaldization of Society” -- more sectors of society are adopting the principles of fast-food restaurants – also seen as the Americanization of culture

Credit cards are our tools of consumption 3.5 billion letters per year to solicit new

consumers 83 percent of college students have at least one

and average debt is almost $3,000

Consumer Culture and Credit….. Credit card companies now control debit

cards too. They consider those who pay off their credit

cards at the end of the month as “deadbeats” - Why might this be the case?

Postmodernism? An eclectic blending of facets of culture

old/new, east/west, high/low Globalization

Cultural Lag -- material and non-material move at different pace

Components of McDonaldization Efficiency, such as a drive-through windows, ready-made

fast-food is meant to get us in and out fast.

Calculability is emphasis on large quantities, e.g., Big Mac, Whopper or Biggie Fries – mass production

Predictability - people don't like surprises, and at chains they know what to expect: A Big Mac tastes the same in Syracuse as in Salt Lake City.

Control -- options are limited to force customers through –also includes replacing human workers with machines, which are much easier than humans to manage.

Information Overload?? Advertising…… Are we swimming in a sea of messages??

“copywriters, market researchers, pollsters, consultants, and even linguists—most of whom work for one of six giant companies—spend billions of dollars and millions of man-hours trying to determine how to persuade consumers what to buy, whom to trust, and what to think. Increasingly, these techniques are migrating to the high-stakes arena of politics, shaping policy and influencing how Americans choose their leaders.” pbs--frontline

Charlie and FidoWho is superior?

“You are so in my spot!!”

Culture has two faces…. It can allow us to exercise our freedoms

But because it is so taken for granted…. It can also constrain us and we never even

realize it.

“Beauty” always refers to

the female body

“What are the norms for feminine beauty?

Do your ideas coincide? Differ?

How did this happen?

Culture told us to do it

How does it stay this way?

We’ve embodied those images

If Barbie Was Real.. Height 7’2”

Measurement 40-22-36 Weight 83 lbs / 50 lbs would be her breasts

Neck would be twice as long as a normal human

If real, she could not menstruate because she would not have enough body fat

Average Woman in America -- 5’4” 60% wear size 12 or higher

Average Mannequin 6’ 34-22-34 Size 6

“To men a man is but a mind. Who cares what face he carries or what he wears? But woman's body is the woman.”

Ambrose Bierce (1958)

Why is it that…… Attractiveness is a prerequisite for

femininity -- but not for masculinity or this changing too????

Would you go through physical torture to achieve attractiveness?

You would not be the first to do so…..

Questions Would you consider cosmetic surgery for

yourself?

31% women 20% men said yes 27% 18 to 24 years old said yes to now or

in the future 27% white 24% non-white

Percentage change 2010 vs. 2009 13.1 million cosmetic procedures 5% • 1.6 million cosmetic surgical

procedures 2% • 11.6 million cosmetic minimally-

invasive procedures 5% 5.3 million reconstructive procedures

2%http://www.plasticsurgery.org/Documents/news-resources/statistics/2010-statisticss/Top-Level/2010-US-cosmetic-reconstructive-plastic-surgery-minimally-invasive-statistics2.pdf

Overall, women have 91 percent of cosmetic procedures number of surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed on women was more than 10.6 million, an increase of 1 percent over 2006. Surgical procedures increased by 9 percent in women in 2007, while nonsurgical procedures decreased by less than 1 percent.

But men are jumping on the cosmetic surgery bandwagon in droves. In fact, men had 9 percent of cosmetic procedures in 2007, with the number of total procedures (both surgical and nonsurgical) increasing 17 percent over 2006, to just over 1 million. Surgical procedures increased 5 percent, and nonsurgical procedures increased 21 percent.

Source:http://www.yourplasticsurgeryguide.com/trends/charts-graphs.htm

Americans spent nearly $10 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2011. Of that total, $6.2 billion was spent on surgical procedures; $1.7 billion was spent on injectable procedures; $1.6 billion was spent on skin rejuvenation procedures; and over $360 million was spent on other nonsurgical procedures such as laser hair removal.

Women had almost 8.4 million procedures in 2011, while men had almost 800,000 during the same year. Male plastic surgery has increased by more than 121 percent since 1997.

Source: http://www.yourplasticsurgeryguide.com/trends/asaps-2011.htm

In 2011, the top five surgical procedures were:

Liposuction Breast augmentation Tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) Eyelid surgery Breast lift

Top five Cosmetic – minimally Invasive BOTox Soft tissue fillers Chemical Peels Laser Hair Removal Microdermabrasion

Food Poisoning? Sales of Botox grew "at double the rate at

constant currency internationally than in the United States." Botox sales rose 18 percent to $315.5 million, while eye-care pharmaceuticals sales increased 22 percent, to $492.2 million. Medical devices sales rose 23 percent to $203.4 million, with obesity intervention sales up 36 percent and facial aesthetics sales up 24 percent.

Source: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080507/earns_allergan.html

A sampling of 2,000 girls, with an average age of 15, found that 42 percent have considered getting plastic surgery.

The number of cosmetic surgery procedures has jumped a whopping 457 percent since ASAPS first began gathering these stats in 1997.

Chinese foot binding –

the first historical example of objectification and first sign of norms that

demanded conformity. “golden lotus”

Torture or Fashion?

Painful Memories of Foot Binding

Some scholars say footbinding deepened female subjugation by making women more dependent on their men folk, restricting their movements and enforcing their chastity, since women with bound feet were physically incapable of venturing far from their homes.

16th century

Corsets made of whalebone, wood, and hardened canvas

“farthingale”

Miscarriages, organ damage, death

18th century

Floating ribs removed Women still dying from direct or indirect

Cost of achieving beauty…

AND Paid twice that of men for public transportation in

New York City

19th century

laced corsets but large hips and breasts

Went on diets to gain weight

early 20th century

20s – slender legs, hips, breasts, bobbed

hair women were binding

their breasts 40s and 50s – hourglass back in

style Marilyn Monroe

60s Twiggy - same as 20s but with long hair

80s thin but muscular - today a mixture of several

conflicting traits

thin body & large breasts

Marilyn Monroe, Twiggy, Sophia Loren, Kate Moss, and the Venus de Milo all have ratios around 0.7.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_attractiveness#Olfactory_factors

Trying to fitAll the normsOf attractiveness

Can drive us crazy!

American Culture = Diet Culture

Which also means….. Culture of anorexia/bulimia

Culture of obesity

In the United States, as many as 25 million Americans have an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia.

Students

• 91% of women surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting. 22% dieted “often” or “always.”• 86% report onset of eating disorder by age 20; 43% report onset between ages of 16 and 20.6

• 25% of college-aged women engage in bingeing and

purging as a weight-management technique.

For Women: • Women are much more likely than men to develop an

eating disorder. Only an estimated 5 to 15 percent of people with anorexia or bulimia are male.14• An estimated 0.5 to 3.7 percent of women suffer from anorexia nervosa in their lifetime.14 Research suggests that about 1 percent of female adolescents have anorexia.15• An estimated 1.1 to 4.2 percent of women have bulimia nervosa in their lifetime.

• An estimated 10-15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are male.• Men are less likely to seek treatment for eating disorders because of the perception that they are “woman’s diseases.”• Among gay men, nearly 14% appeared to suffer from bulimia and over 20% appeared to be anorexic.

Source: http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-

disorders-statistics/

www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

Once described as “Western Disease”

As many as 150,000 will die of the disease

Very rare disorder until 1970

From Adbusters

Women and Men become both producers of ….and products of our culture….

Another study found…. A majority of woman and men rate

borderline anorexic bodies as very attractive

Attractiveness ratings do not vary for men as they age – for women, the older they are, the lower their rating.

Real versus Ideal Culture Myths

We all start out with the same opportunities

Factors like age, gender, social class, race, ethnicity can inhibit or enhance your

chances in life

Cultural Change Diffusion - spread of culture Imperialism – imposition of culture and

destruction of local cultures

Ethnocentrism – judgment of culture

Ethnocentrism A little goes a long way…… Often times --- To say that you are ready to die for cultural

identity means that you’re also ready to kill for cultural identity.

  For examples of this -- look to the Middle East,

India, Africa (e.g., Israel, Palestine, former Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Ruwanda)

Could it be that… Sometimes culture becomes an instrument

of repression, exclusion, and extinction?

Honor Killings, Genital Mutilation

What can we learn from our American Experience?

The waves of new Americans learned to tolerate each other -- first as groups, only thereafter as individuals. Rubbing up against each other in an urbanizing America, they discovered not just the old Christian lesson that all men are brothers, but the hard, new, multicultural lesson that all brothers are different. Equality is not the product of similarity; it is the cheerful acknowledgement of difference. (P.65)

Tempocentrism – judgment of time period Relativism – appreciation as equally valid

Relativist Fallacy – going too far with appreciation

“Basic Human rights”

Bourdieu offers two important terms for us symbolic capital – consists of culturally approved

intangibles – honor, integrity, trust, goodwill – that may be accumulated and used for tangible gain – Disney – Walmart -- GE

We buy their products because we have public trust in them

Toyota????

Cultural capital habits, tastes, mannerisms used to

distinguish class location – High cultural knowledge converts to social and economic advantage Knowing how to dress for successHow to comport oneself in accordance with elite statusTable manners, knowledge of wine, arty chit-chat

Cultural Capital among the Rich

Pop (Low) Culture versus High Culture

Pop - activities, products, customs, traditions that belong to the “masses” or the middle and working classes. Sometimes called “mass” culture 

High -- same as above but restricted to those in the upper classes. Sometimes called “elite” culture

Examples:

High: Opera Pop: Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Lil Wayne   High: Ballet Pop: Mosh-pits, country line-dance, hip-hop   High: poetry readings Pop: Poetry slams

High: Tennis match  Pop: Bowling   High: Yacht Race Pop: Tractor Pulls

Biology Gave us DNA Culture gave us

OPRAH WINFREYHIP-HOP

NIKEWAL-MART

Language Language involves symbols that express

ideas and enable people to communicate. Can be verbal or nonverbal Allows us to:

create visual images Share experiences Maintain group boundaries

How does language affect us?

Does language determine how we see the world?

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis…. Linguistic Relativity……. We acquire not only words but perceptions of the world.

New Words Memory foam Unfriend Carbon Footprint Green-collar Twitter Facebook Flash Mob Waterboarding Staycation Sock Puppet

A language-based predisposition to think about women in sexual terms reinforces the notion that women are sexual objects.

Ethnic slurs predispose us to think about groups in derogatory terms

“Hunk” “Stud” (power, strength) “Babe” “Doll” (powerless, childlike) “Don’t act like a sissy!” (masculine is better) “That was white of you.” (white supremacy) “cracker” (southern poor whites) “He Jewed me down on the price” (Jews are crooks) “Good guys wear white” versus “black sheep” (power) “Aunt Jemima” (black woman who acts “white”) See -www.racialicious.com and http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/inclusiv.htm

Neutral language?

Maxed Out!!