Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Defining Culture

“As a result of the class you are born into and raised in, class is your understanding of the world and where you fit in; it’s composed of ideas, behavior, attitudes, values, and language; class is how you think, feel, act, look, dress, talk, move, walk; class is what stores you shop at, restaurants you eat in; class is the schools you attend, the education you attain; class is the very jobs you will work at throughout your adult life. Class even determines when we marry and become mothers.” (Donna Langston regarding class as a culture in “Tired of Playing Monopoly”)

Questions:
1. How does class (socioeconomic status) impact the various things listed in the quote? Give specific examples.
2. What if I substitute class for religion? How does religion impact these things? What about race?
3. What about when these cultures overlap (race, class, etc)? How does this complicate this quote?

By the way, these are just questions to get you going. You do not have to answer these. If a different question comes to mind, then feel free to address that. If this quote stimulates a certain though or notion, then go with that.

12 comments:

  1. While I understand the study of culture and other social constructs they kind of bore me sometimes. I feel like whenever I see a quote like this that it isn't really saying anything because class is essentially everything you're born into. At the same time, I have had many experiences with sociology that seem to shed new light on the subject. For instance, through sociology I was able to understand the presene of rape culture in America recently and how patriarchy has managed to hide it or "steal the spotlight" from it using the relationship between race,class, etc. mentioned above.

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  2. I believe that what class we are born only limits us for the beginning of out lives. As humans we cant help which family we are born into, so how our parents lived their lives before we entered the world is the most drastic deciding factor. For example, if your parents got an education you are probably better off than the kid who's parents are drug addicts. As individuals we have to decide what we want out of ourselves, and not blame others for why we aren’t succeeding. So I believe that class is not necessarily as permanent as Donna Langston was portraying.

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  3. Our culture puts a huge emphasis on class. I feel that the way you act 100S% has to do with what class you are in. I think the quote really does portray an accurate view of how america views the class system. Take this example, on marriage, a higher class family who's daughter is a college graduate and has a great job, would be 'disappointed' if the girl brought home a drug addicted tattooed low life. But, really, the girl wouldn't even talk to that person because of what class she is in. I think that as time as goes on, our culture changes in that more classes mix occasionally, but not usually.
    What I do find funny is when a profession, say a doctor, is cultural accepted for a white male and not an african male. Its funny when an African male is a doctor because it takes away the stereo type that has been put on them. (Not hating I promise!!)

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  4. Class most likely determines how we live our lives. The environment we grow in sometimes changes how we se ourselves, or think about things based on our surroundings. But class doesn't hav to define a person's character. For example, we'll think that rich people are snotty and selfish and only care to befriend people of their own status, but that doesn't necessarily have to be the case. For all we know, that rich person could've developed a character that people can't change by influence or of the people around them. I say class is determined by how we portray ourselves to others, not simply on where we come from.

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  5. I honestly think that having a society based off class holds us back as individuals in our growing process. What I mean by this is that we can not fully be who we want because of the class that we happened to be born in. Unfortunately this class system that we have in our society more than likely will never go away. So as a result we need to work to define ourselves beyond the so called class that we belong to. By doing this we can become more tolerant of others and truly be who we want to be.

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  6. I really disagree with this quote. I think that no matter what "class" you were born into you can change that. I don't think that we should let that hold us back just because we were born into one class and not the other. Its sad that there even is a class system and a lot of people judge based on class, but honestly you would have to work hard but you can defiantly change you so called "social class".

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  7. I think in many ways this quote is correct, but at the same time there are always exceptions. For the most part we know what we grew up with. If you were raised a certain way, went to certain schools, and interacted with people who had the same beliefs as your parents, then your view of the world is going to be very different than someone who grew up in a different lifestyle. I also think that religion, if you grew up in a religious family has a huge impact. I went to a Catholic High school from my Sophomore year to my Senior year, and I was going to school with kids who had never attended a public school, so they were used to being in schools, war uniforms were the norm, praying in class was just something you did, and the majority of the students had never even known an atheist person. Their lives were revolved around Catholic teaching. I think the same thing can go with race if you live in an area were one race is extremely dominant over the other. However, in today's culture so many of these overlap and so much of our country is so diverse that this quote can be hard to solidify.

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  8. I really like and agree with Kristen Bean's comment. I also believe that the d=family we are born into does not limit who we are and what we can amount to in our lifetime.

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  9. Class affects the way people choose to speak. For example, low-class people tend to use improper grammar and make up words as they go. Higher-class people tend to use words that are more scholarly, as well as correct grammar. Class can also involve dress attire. Poor people are not as likely to wear clothing lines such as Prada or Gucci, while high-class people tend to shop in more expensive stores to show off their affluence. Middle-class people may shop at Target, Kohl's, or other common clothing stores. Stores like Goodwill tend to be where poorer people shop. (I realize that all of the things I just described could be taken as stereotypes, but they were the first examples that popped into my head, and helped get my point across.)

    Furthermore, religion greatly influences these different aspects mentioned in the quote. For many young people, sex before marriage is a taboo. Therefore, numerous kids are not as likely to put themselves in situations that could lead to intercourse or the like. Girls will cover up their breasts and not try to show off their cleavage for boys. This is just one example that helped support my claim.

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  10. I thought it was very interesting to read each of my classmate's thoughts about this subject and what they considered "class." Everyone comes from such a different background and has such different ideas on the matter...because of this, I think class as a culture is just one of those things that will always be around and that no one will ever fully agree on.

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  11. Class defines everything we have done up to this point, but at the same time it doesn't have to. People let class decide what they do and don't buy, who they associate with, everything. Because of their class, many people are left with a narrower view of the world. The same goes for religion, if everyone is too immersed in their religion they are susceptible to getting lost in their beliefs.

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