As I reflect upon things today, this comes foremost to my mind. What is culture? Or more accurately what is my culture?
I can very easily find those (often white) who are oblivious to what culture really means. When they think of culture they think of other cultures, perhaps those that are furthest from their own. Actually, the same applies to me in a way, with the difference that I can still identify elements of my own culture.
Let me start off with a brief overview of who I am. I am a 20 year old white male that was born and raised in or around Seattle. I feel my life is fairly mundane, and relatively uninteresting. I often consider myself to fit into many of the 'white standards' and 'American standards' I see around me when it comes to culture, though I don't conform to every standard put forward by society.
I went and asked a few people, and while the group I asked was somewhat limited due to being short on time, none of them could identify their own culture. Actually, 5 of the 9 people (I said it was limited) said they didn't have a culture. One was not sure what their culture was, while only 3 were able to identify loosely what their culture consists of.*1
The first step to identifying culture in my opinion has got to be to understand what the word means. What is culture? What does it comprise of? If you don't know this, how will you possibly be able to recognize your own?
I myself have a hard time really pinning it down but let's start with something simple. Many people can identify standards set upon by society. What you wear, what you eat, how you act, how you're supposed to think, and how you live your life in general. These are all standards set by society. To be more precise, they are cultural standards set by society. Culture and society are very closely related. I think of society as the people around you, and culture as their standards, their way of life. This is a rather rough meaning, and is not a complete definition of either society or culture, but is much easier to understand than any meanings or definitions I've read thus far, and should help anyone that is confused about what they mean gain a little understanding.
I suppose I got a little off topic. I started this off thinking about what my culture is, and ended up, primarily thanks to those that I talked to, defining culture as a whole rather than going into details about my own.
*1. My questions were sort of vague as were a few of their answers. I'm sure proper studies have been done, and if you wish more information you can look up a real study, or I will attempt to do so before part 2. Much of my asking around was primarily for me to identify what I need to focus on.
PS. I intend on making this a 2 part article. Look for the second part in the coming weeks. Comments, criticisms, critiques, and suggestions are welcome. What to expect in part 2: a more in depth explanation of what culture really is, and some information on what I consider to be my own culture, which I decided to omit here despite it being my initial idea.
