Amanda King-Robinson

Juan Jose Garcia

Anthropology 1010
4 February 2015
The Idea of Culture
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor defined culture as the, complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities acquired by man as a
member of a society. What this means to me is that everything we know and understand is
based on the culture we have grown up with. We learn how to behave based on our culture.
When we share culture we share our societies beliefs about what we think the world should be
like. Culture teaches us about things like the food we eat and the clothes we wear. Culture helps
us to make sense of the world around us by giving us a way to classify things through the use of
symbols. Different cultures classify things in different ways. An example the book gave was a
rainbow. In the United States a rainbow is considered beautiful and maybe even lucky, but in
Mexico a rainbow is considered to be dangerous.
When it comes to culture, it has been said that, it is a shared system of norms and values.
This is true, however, sometimes our experience in a shared culture can conflict with what our
cultures values are or what it feels is normal. For instance, I was born and raised LDS
(Mormon). In this culture we are taught to believe that as a woman our greatest role in this life is
to get married and have children. Although this is what I grew up believing to be true, my life
experience differs from this belief. I was unable to have children and it took years to reconcile
my beliefs with my reality. In my culture I do not fit the norm. In order for me to reconcile these
differences I joined groups that consist of people that share my same experiences. This I believe
would be considered a subculture. We are still part of the dominant culture, but our beliefs and
perceptions about the role of women are significantly different from the larger culture.
From the time we are born to the time that we die we learn culture. Without culture we
wouldnt know how to make sense of our world. Without culture we might feel as Tim Page did
when he said, my life has been spent in a perpetual state of parallel play, alongside, but
distinctly apart from, the rest of humanity. Even if we dont always agree with everything our
culture has taught us throughout our lives, at least it gives us a sense of belonging and an
understanding of the people around us.
Citation
Nanda, Serena. "Chapter 3." Cultural Anthropology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub.,
2014. 51-72. Print.