Cultural Variation

Sociology ~ 12/17/09

Drill ~ 12/17/09

• In what ways is this Indian wedding different from a traditional American wedding?

What do we have in common?

• Cultural Universals– Features common to all

cultures

– George Murdock – 1940’s anthropologist compiled a list of 65 cultural universals

• Body adornment, cooking, dancing, family, feasting, funerals, gift giving, music, myth & folklore, sports, religion, etc.

Cultural Universals

• We need cultural universals for survival, but the nature of them can vary widely– Ex. Family

• In all cultures the purpose of family is the same ~ ensures new members are added to society and cared for until old enough to survive on their own

• The make-up of family varies from culture to culture

– Man, several wives and children– Man, wife & children– Man, wife, children & all extended family

Margaret Mead

• Anthropologist ~ 1930’s

• Does temperament result from inherited characteristics or from cultural influences?

• Lived among the people of New Guinea and made first-hand observations of the many different societies

• She compared two in particular who shared many social traits, but exhibited vastly different cultures

The Arapesh

• Content, non-aggressive, gentle, receptive, trusting, and warm people

• Lived in a society based on complete cooperation and live in clans (families with a common ancestor)

• Men– Clear land, build &

repair, carry heavier loads, hunt, plant, care for crops, cook and carve ceremonial food

• Women– Bring firewood & water,

prepare meals, carry goods from place to place

The Arapesh – Cont.

• Children are cared for by both men & women

• Children are discouraged from displaying any aggression– Instead they are taught to

throw stones on the ground or hit palm trees with a stick

• When a girl is 7 or 8, she is promised to a boy who is about 6 years older– The boy’s father makes the

match– Marriage is an opportunity to

increase the family circle– The girl then works with her

mother-in-law and lives with the boy’s family

– When they are ready, they begin life as a true married couple

– When a woman’s husband dies, she usually remarries a man who already has a wife

The Mundugumor

• Aggressive, competitive, jealous and violent ~ often show off and fight

• Open hostility exsists between all members of the same sex– Hostility between

brothers and fathers & sons (similar for women as well)

• The Rope– The only ties between

members of the same sex, is through the opposite sex

– When one dies, the property is passed down the rope

• Ex. Father, his daughters, his daughters’ sons, his daughters’ sons’ daughters and so on…

The Mundugumor• Men

– Wealth & power come from having a large number of wives (8 – 10 usually)

• Children– Infants are carried in a

basket that gives no contact with mother

– When the mother works outdoors, the child is left hanging in the basket inside – fed when the mother is ready

– They are not picked up or comforted

• Physical punishment is very common – especially for breaking rules– Don’t wander out of sight– No clinging to mother– Can’t go to the houses of

father’s other wives

• Children tend to push families apart– Fathers want daughters to

trade for more wives– Mothers want sons to work

& be the heir

Studying Variation• Ethnocentrism

– The tendency to view one’s own culture and group as superior

• Cultural Relativism– The belief that cultures

should be judged by their own standards rather than by applying the standards of another culture

How might Cultural Relativism help you explain this image?

Homework

• “Cultural Discontinuity and the American Indian Dropout Rate”– Read the short excerpt and answer the

“Think About It” questions