Marilyn Monroe. 60s Twiggy - same as. 20s but with lon

1
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

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CULTURE

• How come..
• When youre driving down the road..
• When someone comes behind you..
• When Dr. H walks up and

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CULTURE

• Learned set of beliefs, values, and norms
• Creation of culture is universal phenomenon but
  the form it takes is not

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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)

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• Material
• (Jewelry, Fashion, Weapons of War, Technology)
• An expression of
• Non-Material
• Beliefs, Norms, Values, Symbols

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• Beliefs.
• How we think the world operates
• Values..
• Our moral blueprint what we hold dear

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• http//Strange and harmful cutlural practices

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Other American Values?

• Achievement Religiosity
• Individualism Education
• Work Ethic Romantic Love
• Efficiency Democracy
• Rationalization Freedom
• Material Comfort Equality
• Progress Humanitarianism

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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.

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Check these out!! Just how much Cultural savvy
do you have??

• http//www.fekids.com/img/kln/flash/DontGrossOutTh
  eWorld.swf

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Norms

• Folkways informal -- violation is minimal
• Mores moral component -- violation might be
  severe
• Laws formalized and enforced
• Taboos most important -- violation causes
  repulsion

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Nature Versus Nurture

• Sociability
• Intelligence
• Sensitive hands
• Vocality
• Eyesight
• Upright posture
• Instincts

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What instincts do we have?
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Instincts versus Innate behaviors

• Reflexive behaviors
• Instincts
• Innate capacities

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Symbols
Artifacts, gestures, Material and non-material
objects that we impute meaning upon and they come
to stand for something
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Symbols of Love
Life Gem Memorials Have your loved one close to
you always Turn their ashes into a diamond!
Diamonds are rare? ?????? More than
800,000,000 mined each year
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Symbols Change over time..
Old Symbol
Has given way to ????
New Symbol
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What is consumer culture in the U.S. ?
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• Powerful marketing convinces us to buy things we
  would not normally purchase
• The manufacturing of desire??

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Why is cash no longer popular?

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vPawUjRfQN1M

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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

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Postmodernism Consumer Culture

• Cultural Leveling the McDonaldization of
  Society -- more sectors of society are adopting
  the principles of fast-food restaurants
• 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

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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?

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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

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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.

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Information Overload??

• Advertising
• Are we swimming in a sea of messages??
• copywriters, market researchers, pollsters,
  consultants, and even linguistsmost of whom work
  for one of six giant companiesspend 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

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Story of Stuff a conflict/postmodern
perspective on consumer culture

• From its extraction through sale, use and
  disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects
  communities at home and abroad, yet most of this
  is hidden from view.
• http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid-915355019
  6656656736

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Charlie and FidoWho is superior?

• You are so in my spot!!

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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.

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Culture and our bodies..
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Beauty always refers to

• the female body
• What are the norms for feminine beauty?
• Do your ideas coincide? Differ?

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How did this happen?

• Culture told us to do it
• How does it stay this way?
• Weve embodied those images

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• If Barbie Was Real..
• Height 72
• 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

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• Average Woman in America -- 54
• 60 wear size 12 or higher
• Average Mannequin 6 34-22-34 Size 6

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• 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)

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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..

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Questions

• Would you consider cosmetic surgery for yourself?
  

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• 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

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• 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-resou
rces/statistics/2010-statisticss/Top-Level/2010-US
-cosmetic-reconstructive-plastic-surgery-minimally
-invasive-statistics2.pdf
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• 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.
• Sourcehttp//www.yourplasticsurgeryguide.com/tren
  ds/charts-graphs.htm

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• Americans spent slightly less than 13.2 billion
  on cosmetic procedures in 2007. About 8.3
  billion was spent on surgical cosmetic
  procedures, with 4.7 billion on nonsurgical
  procedures.
• http//www.cosmeticplasticsurgerystatistics.com/st
  atistics.html2007-FACTS

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• Top five cosmetic surgeries
• Breast Augmentation
• Nose Reshaping
• Eyelid Surgery
• Liposuction
• Tummy Tuck

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

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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_aller
  gan.html

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• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vrUiCU5xsvPUfeature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?viYhCn0jf46U

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• 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.

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Chinese foot binding the first historical
example of objectification and first sign of
norms that demanded conformity. golden lotus
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16th century

• Corsets made of whalebone, wood, and hardened
  canvas

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farthingale
Miscarriages, organ damage, death
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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

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19th century

• laced corsets but large hips and breasts
• Went on diets to gain weight

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early 20th century

• 20s slender legs, hips, breasts, bobbed hair
• women were binding their breasts
• 40s and 50s hourglass back in style
• Marilyn Monroe

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• 60s Twiggy - same as
• 20s but with long hair
• 80s thin but muscular -
• today a mixture of several conflicting traits
• thin body large breasts

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http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_attractivene
ssOlfactory_factors
Marilyn Monroe, Twiggy, Sophia Loren, Kate
Moss, and the Venus de Milo all have ratios
around 0.7.
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Trying to fit All the norms Of attractiveness Can
drive us crazy!
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American Culture Diet Culture

• Which also means..
• Culture of anorexia/bulimia
• Culture of obesity
• In the United States, as many as 10 million
  females and 1 million males are fighting a life
  and death battle with an eating disorder such as
  anorexia or bulimia.

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• One in 200 American women suffers from anorexia
• Two to three in 100 American women suffers from
  bulimia
• Nearly half of all Americans personally know
  someone with an eating disorder
• An estimated 10 15 of people with anorexia or
  bulimia are males

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• Approximately 25 million more are struggling with
  binge eating disorder
• www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

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Once described as Western Disease

• As many as 150,000 will die of the disease
• Very rare disorder until 1970

60

• Women become both producers of .
• and products of our culture.
• Early 90s one study found that
• 25-33 of college women use vomiting after meals
  as a method of weight control .
• See www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
• For who is at risk among dieters

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• 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.

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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

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Cultural Change

• Diffusion - spread of culture
• Imperialism imposition of culture
• Ethnocentrism judgment of culture

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Ethnocentrism

• A little goes a long way
• Often times ---
• To say that you are ready to die for cultural
  identity means that youre 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)

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Could it be that

• Sometimes culture becomes an instrument of
  repression, exclusion, and extinction?
• Honor Killings, Genital Mutilation

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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)

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• Tempocentrism judgment of time period
• Relativism appreciation as equally valid
• Relativist Fallacy
• going too far with appreciation
• Basic Human rights

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Functional Perspective

•  
• Culture reflects our structural arrangements in a
  given society
• Division of labor.Kinship relations
• serves both manifest and latent functions
• folklore, ideologies, rituals, symbols, values,
  etc. support these relations by giving people
  reasons for their lives and besides, they are
  learned at a very early age and generally
  accepted by all who surround us -- they are
  binding

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Conflict Perspective

•  Culture reflects our structural arrangements in
  a given society -- most often the ideas of
  those in power
• Culture, what we see all around us, often gets
  there via cultural gatekeepers (powerful
  organizations, individuals, groups, that have
  control over the introduction of cultural
  innovations -- i.e., what makes it and what
  doesnt)
•  

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• 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????

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• Cultural capital
• habits, tastes, mannerisms used to distinguish
  class location High cultural knowledge converts
  to social and economic advantage
• Knowing how to dress for success
• How to comport oneself in accordance with elite
  status
• Table manners, knowledge of wine, arty chit-chat
• Cultural Capital among the Rich

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Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

•  Culture is shaped by daily face-to-face
  interactions  
• Peoples perceptions of themselves are derived
  through subcultures
• We are a nation of subcultures ( look through the
  greeting cards at Hallmark or Wal-mart)

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Pop 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

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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

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

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Biology Gave us DNA

• Culture gave us
• OPRAH WINFREY
• HIP-HOP
• NIKE
• WAL-MART

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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

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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.

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New Words

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

80

• 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

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Language and Gender
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Neutral language?

• Hunk Stud (power, strength)
• Babe Doll (powerless, childlike)
• Dont 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/Fac
  DevCom/guidebk/teachtip/inclusiv.htm