Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I like to wake up at
6:00 AM, put on a cup of coffee, and do my SOC100 readings. I eat breakfast, go
to class, work for a few hours, eventually have two more meals, and then spend
time socializing with friends. There are sure to be a few details I’m leaving
out, but for the most part at least, my days are fairly regimented. Interestingly
enough, most people I know who go to U of M have a pretty similar routine for
how they approach their lives.
The readings for this week challenge us to ask why it might
be the case that a situation like this one occurs—how could it be that
comparable behavioral patterns exist among so many people’s lives? The short
answer he gives is culture.
But what is culture, exactly? As Klinenberg notes, it’s a
difficult term to define, as “people use the word culture to refer to all sorts of things, from art to traditions to
individual behavior” (pp. 114). In its simplest form, he separates the concept
into two main ideas; it is both a shared belief system and a set of tools for
social interaction.
In terms of my daily schedule, though, it is mostly dictated
by the “shared system” definition—the knowledge of what it means to be
successful in both American and college cultures above all else. For instance,
just as American culture encourages being awake when the sun is up and eating
three meals a day, college culture promotes an active nightlife, making sure
that homework is done, and finding a way to counterbalance a lack of sleep.
Personally, I don’t see why we still need to wake up at
sunrise when light bulbs make it possible to be productive at any time of day,
but I also realize that being successful in today’s world means participating
in culture, or, as Klinenberg calls it, creating “cultural capital” for myself.
By working within this system, I receive the benefits of both a college
education and a dynamic social life.
Another aspect of culture that both Klinenberg and Grief
focus on is one of taste, and like most others, its boundaries are regulated by
a good many factors. Where you live, what socioeconomic class you fall under,
the amount and form of education you’ve acquired, the subcultures you
participate in, and the communities you belong to each influence your likes and
dislikes, the way you perceive others, and how they perceive you. As noted by
Grief, labels such as “hipster” represent how different combinations of these
factors can lead to different social reputations.
In conclusion, then, determining how we influence culture
and how culture influences us involves a process of examining why we do what we
do and what consequences our actions have on society. In doing so, we learn
that our tastes are a result of social interactions just as much as social
interactions are dependent upon our tastes.
Jordan, I think it is really interesting how you phrase the "shared system" definition in context to your own life. In almost all of America it is interesting that with the simplest technology (light bulb and blinds) it is not required that we wake up with sunrise. However our society makes it so everyone is put on similar schedules, and unless you go off the "norm" of that. This makes me think of other places, such as Alaska. There is such variance throughout the year of when it is daylight and how long it stays. I have watched some shows on the discovery channel about how people in Alaska live, but I wonder is it in their "culture" (what society views culture as) to change their schedules during the time of year when there is almost no daylight? I wonder also how strange it must be for the native people of Alaska to see how other's live, and how regimented our lives must seem to them.
ReplyDeleteI also think its interesting the distinction you made in Klinenburg's view of socioeconomic status not just being about money. The subculture "taste", and many other categories, the different social class members acquire is what makes the climbing the ladder between different classes difficult. Remembering, that falling down is always easier than getting back up.
To me it’s as though our daily lives become who we are and therefore it comes naturally to us in everything we do. Our environment and the people around us define us to do the things that we find ourselves doing. Like the college schedule that you have developed, I believe some of your friends have adopted the same schedule because they see that it works for you so they try imitating it to see if it will work for them as well. And as Jessica started that our society as made it that everyone is put on the same schedule. This shows how much society has a huge impact on lives no matter what part it may be. In this case is the culture that each individual swears by a product of their own individualism or a product of society and what it wants people to practice as a whole in order to make us all uniform.
ReplyDeleteCulture is so pervasive that it's nearly impossible to objectively distinguish what is culturally determined and what is not. Take your idea of good for example. In my middle-class suburban educated culture if you find someone's wallet you are expected to return it to the person who lost it. However, for a lot of other cultures, even some sub-cultures in the United States, if you find a wallet those contents are yours to keep. The article on taste I found to be quite striking. Intuitively I understand that tastes are culturally determined. I happen to love cheese. For a lot of people the concept of eating curdled milk is disgusting (and understandably so).
ReplyDeleteDaily schedule is a great example of culture that Jordan brings up. While I think that one's schedule is very individualized - I'd never wake up at 6AM - a great deal is culturally determined. To use one of our classes buzz words, it is very historically contingent. Just 100 years ago the concept of leisure time was nonexistent. There was no weekend. You worked six days a week and if you were lucky you had Sunday for church. The 9-5 is a relatively recent invention as well. Culture is the building block of society and any social science that does not take it into full account will fail.
I too really enjoyed your example of your schedule in definition of culture. I think culture, like paul mention, is so pervasive. Culture to me has to be defined differently for many different groups and It is hard for me to wrap my head around something generic for everyone. I think that is the beauty in it though; which is something both the readings touched on. culture is so different for different places, people, environments that it is never ending and always learned. People spend their lives and careers trying to learn about another culture and 'dumb it down' it order to educate another culture. It is so interesting when you take a step back and really question why it is like this and how it has come into your life. This is something both your blog post and the readings has done for the reader.
ReplyDeleteYou made a good point mentioning the fact that cultured is centered and used for various aspects of people's lives, from the way someone dresses to their daily routine. I think culture is what makes our world and society so diverse and interesting. If everyone practiced the same culture the world as we know it would change dramatically. An example of a fully uniform environment could be a school that makes it mandatory for all students to wear uniforms, but I know that a lot of students don't see the benefits of all of the students having to wear uniforms because they might not feel like their individuality can be expressed if everyone is expected to be in uniform. So in a way having so many different cultures to immerse in can be a good or can be challenging if you are well educated on how to deal with different cultures that an individual might not be familiar with.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a very good point, and example for that matter, on using your own college schedule to begin your blog. I definitely agree that schedules and plans such as yours are what keeps us organized. Until this reading, I wouldn't have ever thought of culture as something more than tradition that usually dealt with religious purposes. But, now I can see that almost anything can be viewed as culture, such as our posts on Twitter. I think the quote from Chapter 5 about the Beyoncé song and the posts on Twitter were very interesting. I never would have thought of it that way and it has shed a new light on that topic. Plus, I also really enjoyed your perspective on “receiving the benefits of both a college education and a dynamic social life” by using the schedule that has become your own culture through time.
ReplyDeleteCulture is different for everyone. Me personally, culture is the family and nationality you come from. Not only that but it is the set of rules or guidelines that you wish to abide by in everyday life. Take being Catholic for example. I pray for various things where in other religions praying isn't as common of a practice. Another thing that culture includes for me is your upbringing. How you behave yourself in front of other people based on how you were raised by your parents. The culture that your parents and surrounding environment has ingrained into your head constitutes how you act almost subconsciously. Even the way we carry out various tasks, like your daily routine, is part of our culture. And culture is not just something you that is instilled in you when you are young. It is forever changing based the the society and surroundings of that individual.
ReplyDeleteThe way you tie in your typical daily schedule into the concept of culture is intriguing. That is one aspect of culture that I never truly thought about before. Everyone has their daily routines; however, it is always contingent upon location and that individual society’s culture. Someone’s subculture also dictates tastes, routines, and habits. Each group has its own preferences and Bordieu sheds light on this notion, “Taste is fundamentally the distaste for the taste of others”. This is a vital aspect when pertaining to social class, because people so often mistake “taste” for being an intrinsic quality, and in actuality, it is learned and socially reproduced. His research results proved that preferential tastes were inextricably linked to the father’s profession, the highest level of education, and your profession. This is evident in our everyday lives. We believe that we can accurately categorize people based on their taste and knowledge of activities considered to be culturally enriching. Oftentimes, we associate upper class taste with being more “cultured” and lower class people with the opposite. I find this phrasing a bit problematic because culture is dependent upon class. “Culture” in the lower class is not the same as in the upper class. Therefore, how can you say someone is more cultured than another when each comes from completely different backgrounds with varying concepts of “culture”?
ReplyDeleteI always thought culture was something people completely influenced. However, after reading the article, I learned how much culture influences our lives and even our tastes and personalities. For example, like you said, our daily schedules and routines are contingent with our culture. In my senior year of high school, I automatically assumed I was going to college. But now I realized that I made the decision to go to college because of our culture; it is part of our culture to go to college after highschool. If you don't, you would be doing something out of the norm and not as respected as people with college degrees. Yes like you said, our daily routines in college is very influenced by culture. But for some people, the sole reason we even WANT to go to college might be influenced by culture. Sometimes our tastes and wants can influence culture, but can sometimes culture can influence our tastes, wants, and personalities.
ReplyDeleteCulture influences how we live our life. Jordan's daily routine is a good way to interpret that. Culture determines what the right thing to do and what most of us do defines culture. When you come to a different country, you will experience "culture shock". People talk, greet, think in a total different way. For example, eastern countries like China emphasized on collective spirit which means every single thing we do have to be in harmony with the larger group. Western countries emphasis on individualism and self-achievement. We can see the value from Hollywood movies, American TV shows, etc. This is the boundary of "national culture". It reminds me of a book called "The clash of civilizations", which illustrates that the difference of the value in cultures is the fundamental reason of conflicts between nations in post-cold-war era. For example, the 9/11 tragedy was to some extent the conflict between Muslim culture and American culture. The riots happen frequently in Middle East today have something to do with the religion, different culture between groups of people. I am astonished by how large the power of culture can be.
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