Section 2 Cultural Variation Cultures vary widely Commonalities

Section 2: Cultural Variation � Cultures vary widely

� Commonalities �Certain features are shared in all cultures ○ Cultural universals �George Murdock looked at hundreds of cultures to determine general traits of cultures �Ex. Family, dancing, cooking, housing, language, myths and folklore, religion, sports, tool making are just a few. �Survival dictates the need for cultural universals but the nature of the trait varies between cultures

� Variations among societies �Margaret Mead’s Study of cultural variation ○ Purpose= determine whether differences in basic temperament results mainly from inherited characteristics or from cultural influences ○ Two societies of New Guinea= Arapesh and the Mundugumor

� The Arapesh: �Gentle, non-agressive, receptive, trusting, and warm �Society based on cooperation �Villages consist of clans �Roles for men and women clearly defined �Children grow in a loving and friendly environment

�Marriage practice ○ Girls at the age of 7 or 8 are promised to boys 6 years older and the girls are chosen by the boy’s father ○ The girl goes to live with the boy’s family and in about 5 years they begin to live as true husband wife ○ Marriage is seen as a way to increase the warm family circle in which the descendants may live. ○ Usually marriage is only between one man and one woman but if a woman’s husband dies then she will remarry to a man who has a wife

The Mundugumor Aggressive, very competitive, jealous, and violent They seek revenge and delight in showing off and fighting Prior to government intervention they were headhunters Families are so competitive that they don’t talk to each other and are ashamed to be seen with one another

�The only ties that are shared are called the “rope” which is through members of the opposite sex ○ Ex. One rope = The father, his daughters, his daughter sons and his daughters sons daughters ○ The opposite is true for the mother ○ When someone dies the property passes down the rope �Wealth and power determined by the # of wives ○ Wives are obtained by trading sisters

�Children push parents apart ○ Father wants a daughter to trade for another wife and the mother wants a son for help and as an heir ○ Children have little contact with the parents as infants ○ Children have many rules and receive physical punishment when the rules are not obeyed

This is a Mundugumor mother holding her child

� Mead’s conclusion: �The environments were different ○ Arapesh= mountains, food scarce ○ Mundugumor= river valley, abundant food �Temperament is a result of culture rather than biology �This study is a wonderful example of the variations of culture

� Studying variation �Sociologists must be careful of biases in their observations and conclusions �Ethnocentrism builds unity among group members in a society ○ Too much could make a society stagnant and unwilling to accept traits that could be beneficial

�Cultural relativism helps sociologists keep an open mind about different cultures ○ Sociologists attempt to understand cultural practices from the points of view of the members of the society being studied ○ Marvin Harris and the cows in India �This study helps us understand why there may be practical reason Indian people protect cows �But it only makes sense when you look at it from an Indian perspective!

� There also variations within a society �Subcultures ○ Ex. age, gender, religious, political, geographic, social-class, and occupation ○ They do not reject all of the values held by the larger society and don’t present a treat to society �Countercultures a specific kind of subculture ○ Ex. hippies, Organized crime families, anarchists ○ Reject societal norms and values and sometimes create a threat to society

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