...aspects of every culture were documented in myths. Creation myths explained how a people came to be, giving them a spiritual/religious connection to a much larger universe filled with the unexplained. In addition, creation myths explained a culture’s origin, history, deities and heroes. Myths gave a culture a clear connection throughout the ages. These myths were passed on through generations to become an integral part of many cultures. Myths helped make order out of chaos, explained things in nature that could not be readily understood. Myths, frequently, expressed ideas and concepts that were common to all human beings. Questions about good and evil, life and death, fear and anxiety, heroes and heroic feats, punishment for breaking cultural values are present in every culture. The “why” of existence crosses cultural, racial and geographic challenges. These topics were the basis for many myths. The myths created to address these topics were frequently variations of the same or similar stories/oral traditions. Collectively, these universal themes or questions are referred to as universal myths. Myths existed before there was art and before the written word. The great mythic themes were known before literature. Myths existed before philosophy and science. A culture's mythology is a powerful form of psychology, casting light on the culture's shared unconscious. Myths are a clear reflection of the religious/spiritual beliefs of a culture. Myths allow a culture to explore and address...
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...in equality, is today a multicultural mosaic of over 290 million people of varying race and cultural heritage. American culture portrays a strong sense of regional and ethnic identity, which is represented by a number of subcultures and influenced by the country’s vast geographical and regional differences. America’s influence on business culture across the globe is unmistakable. Understanding the cultural assumptions, values and artefacts are paramount to doing sustainable profitable business in the United states. Page | 2 Group 3 PGPIM DOING BUSINESS IN USA Introduction and starting point problem “Systemlessness is the ultimate American folly” Peter Lawrence, 1996 It is very often complained that Americans have no culture. This is partially true; seen from a European or an Asian point of view, American culture is a little more than 200 years old. The superficiality of American culture seems to be at stake here, and the implicit assumption of those who formulate this criticism seems to be that depth of culture is what allows the intensity of responsibilities. Thus the criticism about the superficiality of American culture is essentially a complaint about the American hegemony. It is a dead lock out of which this presentation will try to lead. In fact, to understand the present American power hegemony, one has to understand the American culture of management. It is a culture shared by a limited number of people, but which claims to be universal in its application....
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...A cultural generalization as defined is the idea that certain behaviors are common to any particular cultural group. “Cultural generalization is a beginning point.” (Galanti, 2015, Chapter 1). These ideas are researchable. Identifying shared beliefs and lifestyles among groups can be beneficial in helping healthcare providers anticipate certain behavioral patterns. Alternately, a stereotype is an automatic assumption. An individual who defaults to stereotyping makes no effort to learn about an individual’s cultural background. “Given the tremendous variation within each culture, stereotypes are often incorrect and can have negative results.” (Galanti, 2015, Chapter 1). Our cultural exposure can be quite diverse. This diversity helps to influence and mold us individually. Stereotyping has no substantial merit. The individual who opts to avoid an individual because of an assumed trait ultimately misses the chance of growing as a human being. An object lesson of a cultural generalization is that all Indians abstain from eating beef, particularly from the cow. Indian culture view cows as sacred creatures and many individuals from that group do not eat beef for that understanding. A former coworker, who is of Indian heritage, would occasionally eat cheeseburgers, but exclusively at work. She would buy and consume...
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...Response: Culture & Society Concordia University-Portland Abstract The present paper provides a personal and well-reasoned reflection concerning the role of family, circles of trust and culture in my vocational life. It will also focus on how my ethical orientation is linked: 1) to my communal and cultural background, and, 2) how I think it is expanded by cross-cultural awareness. Societies vary in the amount they empower distinction and uniqueness versus congruity and reliance. Individualistic societies encourage confidence, choice making taking into account of individual needs, and the privilege to a private life. In collectivist societies, total dedication is relied upon in one's prompt and more distant family/tribe. The term woman's rights are regularly used to depict the prevailing social example where choice making techniques, stress the needs of the family/gather initially, and the idea of having a "private life" may not even exist. Since societies adjust and change, making suppositions about family progress is risky; families in the United States today from all societies show a mixed bag of arrangements. Apparently, there is no such thing as a "normal" family. One can nonetheless expect that families from more customary societies not acculturated in United States ways, will have a tendency to esteem, women's liberation and show family structures that are truly unique in relation to the white collar class European American family demonstrate Keywords: culture, ethics...
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...chancellor of Germany, delivered a speech at a youth conference in Potsdam where she proclaimed that multiculturalism has “utterly failed” (Siebold, Reuters UK). This dire statement was pronounced in the midst of a German society torn by cultural tension between Germans and Muslim immigrants. In theory, a society that embraces multiculturalism is one in which two or more cultures coexist whilst harboring mutual respect for the other’s values and lifestyles and upholding a common national identity (Parekh 6). Multiculturalism implicitly assumes cultural equality, the notion that no culture is superior to another. The idea that cultural differences should be encouraged and protected is currently embraced by many Western political thinkers. The twenty-first century is an era of unprecedented globalization and cultural diffusion. However, the mingling of different cultures is often followed by disastrous consequences as seen in the turbulent political situation in Germany (Siebold, Reuters UK). Although Jonathan Swift wrote his travel satire Gulliver’s Travels in an age when multicultural societies had yet to emerge (indeed, cultural imperialism was the zeitgeist of the eighteenth century, an idea quite antithetical to multiculturalism), the cultural clash that Swift’s protagonist Lemuel Gulliver experiences with the foreign peoples he comes into contact with and observes between individuals within these societies portend the divisive aspects of human nature that preempt the possibility...
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...Turning Negative to Positive: African American Portrayal in Media As the day progresses into the late evening hour most of America sits in front of their televisions impatiently waiting to watch their favorite shows. From prime time television to viral videos on YouTube, media has become one of the most influential areas of life. The clothes we wear, slogans we say, and actions we portray are all influenced by media. For example, in 2012 “Ain’t nobody got time for that” became a popular slogan which transcended from a news interview that went viral. Although the slogan was catchy, it became famous more so for the way it was presented. The interviewee was an African American female who was a victim of a house fire. With the female being very passionate and animated while speaking in an urban accent, it provided for great entertainment. Sadly, that news interview lacked the appropriate representation of African Americans. The way media portrays a certain message “can have an inordinate influence on the public’s perception of blacks” (Holt 6). Audiences have been a witness to negative portrayal of African Americans since the days of “blackface”, where Caucasian American actors painted their faces black to depict African Americans. According to blog author Michelle Whalen, “now, more than ever, images of African Americans are transcending racial stereotypes and forging ahead into the fight for equality” (1). In the past two decades, media has been successful in providing positive...
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...The Diversity of the Mythological Creature Vampire Through Time and History It’s been a hundred years since Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the vampire and its tales have swept the world in a whirlwind craze. Since, there has always been a fascination with the mystery of a vampire. Someone wearing plastic fangs, a cape, and black evening clothes will instantly remind you of the mythological creature. The much feared creature is and was portrayed in a number of ways. In the early days when they were just folklore, vampires were blood sucking predators and feared pale stalkers. In Vampire God: the Allure of the Dead in the Western Culture (2009), discussing the popularity of vampires in society, Mary Y. Hallab says that the folklore vampire is constantly compared to the other supernatural beings like witches and werewolf’s, and today’s concept is also a confused being, a zombie? A lover? Hallab states that “vampires are only those figures—folkloric, mythical, or literary—who are dead humans who are still capable of behaving as though they are alive.” Today, vampires have become a culture of their own, and are a huge part of mainstream pop culture. The Twilight Cullen’s and Sesame Street’s Count Dracula have a whole new appeal on adults and children. The appeal is not always good. According to Vampire Gothic, which is about vampire gothic cultures in United States, Teresa A. Goddu discusses a teenage vampire clan that was discovered in Murray, Kentucky, that was found...
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...get more of it. Over time we also learn another thing; that class warfare is controlled not only by economics, but by culture as well. Years ago, French sociologist Pierre Bordieu argued, "culture is a way of distinguishing between positions in the cultural hierarchy." I believe this to be true because the "social system tends to reproduce itself through culture and through schooling." Throughout our lives, we go about ourselves based on upbringing and predominantly what we are taught in school. Authors Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno use culture as a way to portray our capitalist system in writing. Art has become transformed into a money-making business versus…art. They discuss how the cultural industry creates “predetermined ideologies and messages” through radio, tv, music etc. This means that the media tries to socially control and condition mass audiences to obey the established social structure, which maintains a capitalist economy for those at the top of Marx's hierarchical superstructure. In my eyes all these things are just another way to target and control the lower class. Another author Walter Benjamin discusses how mass culture has basically broken down the true meaning of art through mechanical reproduction. All of these are ways of controlling and shaping our population into whatever a higher authority would want them to be. African American author, Toni Morrison, wrote an essay called Playing in the Dark. Morrison discusses the way the literature of the European-...
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...Despite the cultural advancements of the United States, the definition of freedom overtime has changed so that marginalized groups are less oppressed. Fighting those limitations that where once holding people back, but were not defined by their limits. As creatures of change, we socially have expressed a way that the population proceeds on in their way of life. "...'culture' is undergoing a transformation that is already challenging many of our most basic assumptions about what constitutes human society.”, written by George Yudice on page 72. Explaining that the practice of any culture are very difficult, and are varied depending on the change that, that cultural group has under gone. We as a society have grown complacent with the way that the government leaders have chosen our paths for life out for us, with a select few that fight against these social barriers that we have been placed under. These cultural groups have in some shape and form made cracks in social bonds that once held them back. Racially as a part of the African American community, you are told tales of how as an evolving culture we have gone through trials. Those trials of their true citizenship to get the freedoms that we are granted today. As wrote by Kevin K. Gains on page 16, "...African-descended peoples' struggle for identity and inclusion...”. The darkened past of this nation having been created and kept afloat on the disregard and cruel intentions done to Africans. The spirit of those Africans...
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...much hostility. The British invaded their land and oppressed the Native American people for hundreds of years due to their cultural differences and lack of understanding. James Cameron’s 2009 film, Avatar mirrors the discovery of the new world, albeit in a very different light. The American military colonizes and destroys land on Pandora, while showing no regard for the welfare of the Na’vi. Avatar serves as an allegory for warfare and cultural hatred based on ignorance and a lack of multi-cultural acceptance and understanding. The Na’vi society of Pandora is an extremely naturalistic people. The Na’vi are the dominant species of Pandora, much like humans on Earth. They are a humanoid species that very much believes in the spirituality of nature and the world around them. In Na’vi society, there are marriage parallels, and they believe in an all-knowing God figure. This is itself, is a very strong correlation to the Native American cultures of early North America. Many of those cultures had similar beliefs. A lot of these Native American cultures believed in a strong connection between the physical world and the spiritual world, just like the Na’vi and their connection with the “Tree of Souls”. This seems to be a very obvious and intentional symbolization of the Na’vi people and a huge foreshadowing of the persecution they would endure, much like most Native American tribes. On the other hand, the American military force that forces there way upon Pandora and into Na’vi territory...
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...In the wake of a society that is becoming more accepting, television is taking a crack at exposing people to the Native American/Indigenous lifestyles and beliefs. Recently, shows like Bones, Grimm, Sleepy Hallow, The Blacklist, Hannibal, Supernatural, Charmed, etc. are filming episodes dealing with Native American myths. But are the program creators of these networks accurately portraying tribal beliefs? In an investigation into the mass media and exploring the ploys and tactics of how closely television directors portray native mythology, I uncover the startling truths. Focusing on the television show Grimm, an American based series based off the Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, who collected and published European folk tales in the early 19th century. The premise is that those brothers weren't writing fairy stories, but warnings about the creatures that live among us. The television show is set in Portland, Oregon where detective Nick Burkhardt has inherited the ability to see supernatural creatures, and as a "Grimm," he is tasked with keeping the balance...
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...western tourists, complete with western television, McDonalds outlets and internet cafes. Professor Austin’s quote rightly alludes to the fact that the developments of modern technology over the past century have been a major factor in permanently concentrating the world closer together, a place where cultures bleed into one another. And it is having a dramatic effect on the number of languages. If means are not devised to stop it, half of the worlds 7000 odd languages that are spoken today will disappear within the next couple of generations. (SBS, 2013). This will also correspond to the loss of half of the world’s cultural wealth and ancestral knowledge. I will discuss the reasons why language diversity is important, and the challenges that are presented to it by contemporary society. Language is the most important tool we as humans have at our disposal. It is the means by which we learn, and the means by which we teach. It provides us with the only vehicle to express our feelings, articulate our ideas and collaborate. Human language itself is remarkably unique in the context of the natural world. We are the only creature that both speaks and writes and the only creature with the power of recursive thought, which in layman’s terms allows the ability for us to recall past episodes and imagine ourselves in future ones, as well...
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...certain groups and humans get aggressive and show evil behavior towards everyone. People also are hating because they are not perfect and they have weird facial features and body. The creature in Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein Novel, his creator Victor Frankenstein hated and abandoned the creature just because he the creature didn’t look like a normal human. It was interesting to research about this topic because I will learn how human are discriminated in so many different ways. And how people get abandoned because they are not normal like a normal human and because of other differences. I have already known about this topic, “Kid Bullied to Leave School Because He Wasn’t Black Enough” is how people are hate one another just because they are different from them and doesn’t like like them. Another essay called, “The Culture of Cruelty,” From Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by Daniel J. Kindlon and Michael Thompson shows that human discriminate because of cultural differences. This relates to civil rights because that every human respect and get respect from others. And it is against the human right law to discriminate people. I am interested in this topic in this because I want learn, discover and know how people are discriminated against because of their different skin color, culture and many other things...
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...Indian Tribe is one of the numerous Native American tribes of Arizona that is continuously active. Its strong sense of culture and participation in its surrounding civilization has helped it thrive as one of the most well known tribes still in existence. The Cocopah’s extensive history as an early Yuman community and its current cultural influence in Arizona make it acknowledged as both an intriguing tribe and major source of the state’s ethnic identity. The Cocopah Indian Tribe of Arizona, otherwise called “the River People,” originated in lands along the Colorado River and Lower Colorado River as one of the several descendant tribes of the Yuman-speaking people (“About Us”). The name “Cocopah” derives from the tribe’s name for...
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...Female Roles in American Society. “How would society look like without women?” With reference to societies psychological understanding of gender and their roles, a gender role can be explained as the behavior or image expected to be portrayed according to a person sex or identity in the society. It’s generally assumed that society place little or no demand on females. The societies view the above gender from different perspectives and angles of life. This leads led to the discussing, the roles of female in American society. The roles of the females have shifted from the both cultural and traditional view. No particular profession/field can be ascribed to a particular gender again. Most cultures tend to believe that women were at the back of...
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