Section 2: Cultural Variation

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Section 2 Cultural Variation

• Cultures vary widely

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• 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

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• Variations among societies
• Margaret Meads 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

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• 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

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• Marriage practice
• Girls at the age of 7 or 8 are promised to boys 6
  years older and the girls are chosen by the boys
  father
• The girl goes to live with the boys family and
  in about 5 years they begin to live as true
  husband and 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 womans husband dies then she will
  remarry to a man who has a wife

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• Prior to government intervention they were
  headhunters
• Families are so competitive that they dont talk
  to each other and are ashamed to be seen with one
  another

• The Mundugumor
• Aggressive, very competitive, jealous, and
  violent
• They seek revenge and delight in showing off and
  fighting

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• 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

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• 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

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• This is a Mundugumor mother holding her child

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• Meads 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

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• 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

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• 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!

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• There are 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 dont 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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