Throughout the week I've been introduced to the concept of culture. Culture that is both passive and active. Culture could cover so much or be broken down to describe something that is very personal. At the first mention of culture one might think of cheeseburgers, forth of july, and Indians. Yet culture is so much more. Richard Robbins wrote that, "Culture is the meaning people give to things, events, activities, and people". Culture is how people judge their experiences, how they perceive the world around them. The attitude of a society also gives way to culture. The way individuals value their experiences bring about different behaviors. This is how the beliefs of different societies bring about different courses of action. Culture also has two sides, one that is explicit and one that is tact. So, there is the culture that people acknowledge, for instance holidays. Then there is the culture that we don't really think about, things that are so part of the everyday life. It can be hard to recognize. A person may find culture or it could be thrown upon them through a series of tools, political anatomy. Political anatomy is a name Foucault gave to the tools that a society may use to control its members. Other cultures may be hard to except, for it's a hole other way to view the world. Many may be surprised, disgusted, or fascinated with another human's way of life. Much can be learned both about that culture and about one's own.
I know that I have a culture. One that can include all of America or just California. I also may call my culture that of a country girl or the horse culture. I'm part of the outdoors loving culture, the gym crazed culture. Right now I'm apart of the college culture, the teen culture. I know that my views effect my behavior and therefore I have a culture. It may change but many things will not. I will always be one of the horse people.
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