Culture and Diversity

Culture

“Culture” can be defined in many different ways. “Culture” is made up of language, religion, ability, class, ability, economics and lifestyle.  “Culture” is a huge part of a human’s social/emotional development.  Culture is not “exotic”, it is the “everyday” that we live in.  “Surface culture” is the characteristics of culture that we can see, the characteristics that are tangible and “dominant culture” as the culture that is large enough to have the power to decide what is right or wrong.  Just noticing what is seen on the surface doesn't tell you about the values or character of others from a different culture.  The values, character, roles  and relationships of those from different cultures are a part of their “deep culture”. (Laureate, 2011).   

“Diversity” can be thought of in many ways such as culture, race and ethnicity.  However, social identification is also part of diversity.  When you think about diversity and how people identify themselves, social identification truly does create a more extensive application of diversity on the human population.  Instead of putting people into groups based on culture and race, people can also be put into groups based on the following identities:  ethnic, religious, political, vocational, avocational and relationships.  Social identities are the source of individual diversity because no two individuals have the exact same social identities (Deaux, 2001).
For this blog assignment, I called and talked to three friends, acquaintances or colleagues. Within these three people I included one person who I felt was culturally different from me.  During my conversation with these three people I asked them to share the following:  
·     The definition of culture
·     The definition of diversity
After each conversation, I reflected on the aspects of culture and diversity that I have learned in this course that were included in their answers and which aspects were omitted from their answers.  I also reflected on how other peoples’ definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics. 

The two friends I called with cultures very similar to my own were friends and colleagues.  
One was a friend and one was a colleague.  Both them had definitions of culture and diversity that dealt with what we see on the “surface” of people.  Their definitions of culture and diversity included the descriptors:  race, ethnicity, dress and actions of those different from them.  Neither definition dealt with the “deeper” aspect of people such as values, character beliefs, religions, roles, politics, vocations, avocations and relationships of those in different cultures and different identities.  Those definitions were much like my definitions of culture and diversity before taking this course. We are used to being like the dominant culture so we do not always need to worry about others seeing us as good people with good values and character.  However, the third person I called was an acquaintance and this person came from a Hispanic culture that was different from mine.  This person defined culture and diversity with many of the same “surface” examples such as race, ethnicity, dress and actions.  This person also added in the descriptors such as values, character and roles which are part of the “deeper” definitions of culture and diversity.

I feel that my first two people I called who were friends and colleagues who had similar cultures as me gave definitions of culture and diversity that involved “surface” descriptions because they are used to being part of the dominant culture.  They are not used to sticking out and being different from others around them.  My acquaintance who gave a “deeper” definition of culture gave that definition because they are used to being different on the surface and want to be seen as the same inside because they often share the same values, roles and good character as those who are different from them.  


Deaux, K. (2001).  Social Identity. In J. Worell (Ed.) Encyclopedia of women and gender. (Vol 1-2, pp. 1-9).    Maryland Heights, MO:  Academic Press.


Laureate Education (Producer), (2011). Family cultures: Dynamic interactions [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.walden.edu



Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 17, 2018 at 6:24 PM

    Just as you experienced, the definitions I received mostly involved surface culture. I had not taken this class, I would have also continued to define culture in this manner. Although surface culture is a part of what culture, I would not have been exposed to the deeper meaning, the things that are not obvious to the eye. It was interesting to read that the person of a different ethnicity in your exercise defined culture differently from the other two participants shows that culture even involves our way of thinking.

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