Modern Day American Culture Analysis

the culture that is being described is an imaginary culture and the true culture that is being referenced in this article is that of the American people. The shrines were actually sinks with medicine cabinets, the holy mouth men were dentists, the latipsos were hospitals and the daily ritual described above was just a man shaving his face. When looked upon from an outsider who has a distinctly established cultural lens, these normal every day practices can be misinterpreted and misrepresented. The simple practice of brushing one’s teeth can be described by an outsider as a ritual that involves inserting hog hairs along with magical substances into the mouth in a series of highly formalized gestures. Lesser developed cultures do not have …show more content…
Modern America has developed a culture that is ruled by social media. Social media users attempt to document their lives in order to let others know what they are doing. Outsiders and members of older generations that grew up without the prowess of social media do not understand it and blame it for corrupting the minds of our nation’s youth. Outsiders deem social media as an unnecessary aspect of daily life that has the tendencies to distract individuals from more important endeavors. However, most of these individuals that are anti-social media grew up with a different cultural lens than the modern generation. I found it very interesting how two people from the same culture can develop different cultural lenses if they were raised during different time periods. As time lapses cultures change and different cultural goggles are strapped to the heads of the culture’s youth that can affect their …show more content…
Social media when used properly can greatly improve social relationships and communication as well as improve the successes of many businesses. Social media allows Americans to witness cultures from all around the world. From the touch of my finger I can play Snap chats from Oktoberfest in Munich or from the Festival of Lights in Lyon, France and all of this can be done from my home in the United States. Social media can allow westerners to learn about other cultures around the world rather than cutting themselves off to outside peoples. Social media also can be used by businesses to gain valuable customer insights, increase brand awareness, and increase website traffic and search ranking. The opportunities are endless when using social media, but when it is looked upon through the cultural lenses of outsiders its rationality and usefulness may be misinterpreted. Modern day American culture is riddled with many more modern aspects such as iPhones, laser eye surgery, and organ transplants which may be looked upon by other cultures, especially primitive cultures with confusion. If a rural hunter gatherer from a tribe living on the plains of Africa was flown in an airplane to New York City in order to witness a laser eye procedure, I could only imagine what they would think was happening.