Four Main Characteristics Of American Culture

Cultures around the world share four common characteristics: culture is shared, it is learned, it is based on symbols, and it is integrated. (Haviland, 2002, pp. 34-42). The members of a culture share a set of "ideals, values, and standards of behavior," and this set of shared ideals is what give meaning to their lives, and what bonds them together as a culture. (p. 34). Culture is not an innate sensibility, but a learned characteristic. Children begin learning about their culture at home with their immediate family and how they interact with each other, how they dress, and the rituals they perform. When the children are older and venture out into the community, their cultural education is advanced by watching social interactions, taking part …show more content…
(Haviland, 2002, pp. 34-42). The members of a culture share a set of "ideals, values, and standards of behavior," and this set of shared ideals is what give meaning to their lives, and what bonds them together as a culture. (p. 34). Culture is not an innate sensibility, but a learned characteristic. Children begin learning about their culture at home with their immediate family and how they interact with each other, how they dress, and the rituals they perform. When the children are older and venture out into the community, their cultural education is advanced by watching social interactions, taking part in cultural activities and rituals in the community, and forming their own relationships and taking their place in the culture. (pp. 40-41). In order for the culture to be transmitted successfully from one person to the next, and from one generation to the next, a system of symbols needs to be created that translates the ideals of the culture to its members. This is accomplished through language, art, religion, and money. (p. 41). Finally, in order to keep the culture functioning all aspects of the culture must be integrated. (pp. 41-42). For example the language must be able to describe all the functions within the culture in order for ideas and ideals to be transmitted from one person to another. Without the integration of language …show more content…
(Chagnon, on the other hand, had difficulty extracting information from the Yanomamo men.) The women of the tribe were not intended to be the focus of her research, but her interactions with them shed new light on the importance of their work, and their economic value to the tribe. As she observed and interacted with the Trobriands, she saw them in a new light.

Being a woman had a great deal to do with the new perspective she gained about the functioning and value of women in the tribe. Gender roles and gender-specific rituals are sometimes exclusive to the sex involved, i.e. males-only or females-only. Thus being a woman, Weiner had a sex-based privilege to observe and take part in female-based activities that may have been withheld from Malinowski when he studied the tribe. (p.45-46). This type of cultural tradition represents learned