1. Members of my culture tend to consider parents, step - parents, spouses, siblings, children, and pets part of their families. Anyone that is part of a person's immediate family is usually considered part of a person's family.
2. In the past in our culture, women were usually thought to be the one who stays home to care for the child(ren). However, today this has started to change, women are in the workforce today and caring for their children. The man has always been the one who goes to work and "brings home the bacon". In the past, men were not usually the one who cared for the children. What I think is really cool about the father's role today is that today it is alright for men to stay home and care for the child(ren). The child's role within the family is to go to school. Another role that is reserved for children when they grow into adults is to take care of decisions for their aging parents.
3. Most family members are encouraged to stay in the same area after they have reached adulthood. Our parents enjoy having their children around them because they like having their grandchildren around them and they would ultimately like all of us to have grandchildren.
4. In our culture, to meet people with whom you would like to become romantically involved with young people tend to go out to bars - which I think is somewhat of a taboo - who wants to be with someone who has to be drunk all the time? Young people also meet people at sporting events, through work, at online dating sites, and at school. I think that when it comes to dating, our culture has several norms. The man picks up the woman, they go out to eat followed by some type of activity - most often a movie. Most of the time today, the couple each pays for what they have. I think that a taboo for dating would be to have the man order the woman's dish - women today do not like that.
5. Marriage proposals today are somewhat different than in the past. In the past, the man would absolutely have to have the permission of the woman's father however today that is not need as much although it is still preferred (and considered a romantic gesture). Most of the time today, a woman knows that the proposal is coming and may often go with the man to help pick out her ring. When the man has decided when/where to propose, he will get down on one knee and ask her. Many people like to have an elaborate proposal in front of many people - like at a sporting event. Others, like myself, like to have an intimate proposal with just the man and woman present.
6. Weddings in my culture are very beautiful. The wedding begins with the groom meeting the pastor at the alter. If the mother of the bride is not walking with her daughter down the aisle, she will be escorted at this time by a groomsman. Next the bridesmaids and groomsmen walk down the aisle followed by the ring bearer and flower girl. Next the organ music announces to the congregation that they should stand because the bride will be coming. The bride is escorted down the aisle by her father (and sometimes her mother). The pastor asks "who gives this woman in holy matrimony?" and her father answers "her mother and I do". Then her father gives the hand that he was holding (the bride's right) to the groom. The bride proceeds to hand her bouquet to her maid of honor. Then the pastor begins with "dearly beloved...". During the ceremony, the pastor will ask the bride and groom to say their vows - which can either be original vows that they each wrote or typical vows that come from the church - after which the pastor will ask for the rings - which are supplied by the best man. The pastor will ask the couple to repeat after him and then place the ring on the others ring finger. After they have each done so, the pastor will say "by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride". The married couple then walks down the aisle. After the wedding there is a reception - which can go all night - and is basically like a party. After this, the couple leaves for their honeymoon.
7. Our culture views divorce as something that happens. Divorce is becoming more and more popular today and because of this, it seems that our culture is becoming more willing to accept it.
8. In the past, if divorce happened, the mother most often received full custody of the children where there fathers could visit them on the weekends. I think that this is still the most popular form of custody worked out among divorced couples with children. Couples who do not have children have different rights, if divorce happens, the entirety of that couple's relationship will be divided up among the court system. If the couple comes to some agreement however, then the divorce proceedings go much smoother. However, each partner has a right to whatever the couple accrued during their time together.
9. I think that our culture is coming to terms more with homosexuality. In the past, we were somewhat like the military - don't ask, don't tell. Now, it seems that people realize that it is a part of them and that they should not feel ashamed to hide it. I also believe that there is a very big problem with homosexuality depending on your religious beliefs. I think that the idea of homosexuality still frightens people because they do not like the idea of one woman with another/one man with another. I think that the generally feeling of our culture now is that we are alright with it, we just do not want to hear about what happens behind closed doors.
10. I think that this culture has very similar views as me on gender roles. Most women where I live have children and are employed, one woman a couple houses down from me is a doctor. I think that gender roles do not seem to have a big affect in my culture.
Questions:
1. What did you find most interesting when examining your culture?
2. Were you surprised by anything when examining your culture?
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The interesting part I found was that as a culture we often say one thing and do another. There are laws against discrimination, yet it happens often. I think this is a peril of a large body of people with varying backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteI think that the continued existence of gender hierarchies within my culture are still surprising. I really don't know why so many men perpetuate the power hierarchy if there is no need to subjugate anyone based on any preconstructed notions of sex, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think the most interesting thing I found was that we have so many strict rules that if you don't follow, you stand out. When it comes to dating, marriage, and engagements, if someone were to do something different it could go two different ways. People could see it as a good idea and interesting, or they could look at it very negatively. I was surprised by all the stereotypes that are associated with our culture. I do not always think of it like that, but it definitely is true.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kelsey, I think the marriage questions were really interesting. If someone does do it all by the books they are sweet and if they don't it is so strange to people. Many people think there is only one way to do things. I was suprised about how my family doesn't really follow the way typical people in my culture do things. It was suprising to think about.
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