I would have to agree with Ruth Benedict that we are creatures of our cultures. I loved her quote on pg 344 "We are so well programmed that we seldom stop to think that culture is learned. Our cultural norms appear to be natural and right, we can't imagine ever acting differently." I loved reading about Miss Benedict's thoughts on culture because it was very eye opening. I don't really think about how the way we do things in America is not the same way people do things in other parts of the world.
I had the privilege of studying in London for the summer. While I was there I had one experience that stood out to me as being culturally different. I shouldn't say just one experience because of course there were many small cultural norms that were different from ours, but this particular experience really shocked me. I went to see a play with the other students in my class called "Gone Too Far." It was an excellent play about differences in culture and culture shock. The story followed two brother one who was raised in Nigeria and one who was raised in London. The brother were reunited in London and had almost nothing in common because of their different up bringing.
The thing that shocked me wasn't the play itself it was the audience. You see the cast was mostly African English and the majority of the audience was also African. The audience hooted and hollered while the show was going on and dialogue on the stage was happening. I found this completely rude and distracting. The theatre etiquette I learned was that you are silent until the appropriate time to clap, and you never yell at the actors on the stage.
Afterwards I was sitting with my friend Danielle who happens to be African American and I went on and on about how rude it was for the audience to be so loud and interrupting. Danielle explained to me that in the African culture it isn't considered rude to shout words of praise. It is actually a compliment if an audience addresses you. Danielle said that the people in the audience were not being rude they were paying their respects and appreciation to the actors in the show. I would have never thought this.
Like Molly also pointed out in her blog I think it is possible to break through our culture it just takes a lot of will power. In America we are so fortunate to get to say and do what we think. So for me to change the way I see the world isn't as hard as it would be for someone who still lives in a village in South America. I had a Mormon friend who really wanted to convert to Christianity but because of all the negative consequences such as being shunned by her family and excommunicated from her church she just didn't think it was worth it. She would have been left with nothing.
Sometimes change requires big consequences and in order to break through your culture you have to decide if the sacrifices are worth making.
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2 comments:
Hello Party Line,
I really enjoyed reading your post. I also agreed with Ruth Benedict's statement. The example you used from a book you read about the brothers raised in different cultures was very interesting. I guess that even though they have the same blood, culture has a way of change even brothers. Like you mentioned in your post that culture is learned and that we must keep that in mind when trying to understand people we meet everyday. Culture may be what keeps us grounded in our personal environment but change is all around and that is why learning of other cultures will benefit the world as a whole. As the text mentions, we are not born knowing our culture but we must learn our culture to know the ways of everyday life within that community.
Have an awesome weekend!
Thanks,
Blondie
Hi Reese! Thanks for sharing your experience with attending a theater production in another culture. How interesting! I have experienced similar things overseas as well, though not quite as interesting as your experience. I also liked how you mentioned that we rarely, if ever, think about our culture here in America. Mostly we go on with our lives as if everyone in the world holds the same values and beliefs that we do. How do you think people who are raised in another country view Americans as a whole?
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