20 Questions
What did George Murdock search for in 1945?
Cultural universals across hundreds of communities
What is a common feature of all societies, according to George Murdock's findings?
The regulation of sexual reproduction and the upbringing of offspring
What is the term used to describe the inconsistency between rapid technological advancements and slower changes in nonmaterial culture?
Cultural lag
What is an example of a cultural universal?
Funeral customs
Who coined the term 'cultural lag'?
William Ogburn
What is a characteristic of cultural universals?
They are present in all human cultures
What is the main difference between material and nonmaterial culture?
Material culture refers to items, while nonmaterial culture refers to ideas
What is the main idea behind cultural lag?
Cultural elements change at different rates, causing inconsistency
Who wrote about the importance of humour in releasing social tensions?
Henslin
What is an example of a cultural universal that is not uniform across cultures?
Family structure
What typically happens to the nonmaterial culture when the material culture undergoes transformation?
It lags behind the material culture
What is the main reason why people still go to the doctor's office despite advances in technology?
Traditions have not kept up with technology
What is high culture typically associated with?
Upper classes and intelligentsia, requiring extensive education and resources
What is the purpose of aesthetic gatekeepers according to Shrum (1991)?
To limit artistic diversity and maintain the separation of highbrow genres from folk and popular tastes
What does folk culture encompass according to Real (1977)?
Activities like dance, low-rider car customization, quilting, doll making, and tube art
What is the characteristic of popular culture according to Bogart (1991)?
It is produced for leisure, pleasure, and mass consumption
What is the main theme of the book 'Wallbangin' by Susan Phillips (1999)?
The division of graffiti into three categories
What is the main idea behind the phrase 'All things shall pass'?
That everything is impermanent and will eventually come to an end
What is the main difference between high culture and folk culture?
High culture is associated with the upper classes, while folk culture is associated with the working-class and minority group members
What is the main characteristic of cultural diversity in the twentieth century?
It was represented in the various aesthetic standards and tastes of socioeconomic classes
Study Notes
Culture Universals
- Anthropologist George Murdock searched hundreds of communities to find cultural universals, discovering that all societies engage in similar behaviors, but with unique practices.
- Examples of cultural universals include family structures, funeral customs, and taboos against incest.
- Despite differences, all human cultures have funeral customs to deal with death, and humor to release social tensions.
Cultural Lag
- William Ogburn coined the term "cultural lag" to describe how technology advances quickly, but nonmaterial culture (ideas) takes longer to catch up.
- Material culture (items) changes quickly, while nonmaterial culture lags behind, causing an inconsistency in a cultural system.
- An example of cultural lag is how we can diagnose illnesses using computers, but our traditions (nonmaterial culture) have not kept up with technology.
Culture, Class, and the Media
- Herbert Gans identified three "taste cultures" in the 20th century: high culture, folk culture, and popular culture.
- High culture: associated with the upper classes and intelligentsia, requiring extensive education and resources, and seen as a social sign of sophistication.
- Folk culture: encompasses activities and creations of working-class and minority groups, impulsive, familiar, and useful.
- Popular culture: includes items that appeal to the population as a whole, often criticized for favoring "vulgarity" and "the commonplace".
Cultural Change: Today and Tomorrow
- All aspects of culture are subject to change, and when one aspect changes, others follow.
- Cultural integration: the intimate ties between diverse components of a cultural system, exemplified by how changes in women's employment affect family structures and marriage ages.
- Human history will continue to change as long as humans exist, and cultural change will continue to occur.
Explore the concept of cultural universals, where all human societies share similar behaviors, and cultural lag, a phenomenon where cultural values lag behind technological advancements.
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