September 2014 archive
Gender can be a very big source of tension in communication in the United States. Scientists have found no substantial evidence to suggest that males and females have any differences in the wiring of their brains that would cause any linguistic or behavioral differences. However, culture has been found to have major impacts on the way we communicate with and behave towards one another. Linguists analyze patterns off mixed-gender communication using two main frameworks known as the difference model and the dominance model.
The difference model suggests that conversations between males and females is a form of cross-cultural communication, even if they are geographically from the same area. This is because during the most formative years of their lives, boys and girls grow up in very different spheres. Between the ages of five and fifteen is primarily when children develop their communication skills. But during this span of time, boys and girls are generally in very segregated groups. Girls have been found to associate in smaller groups and have intimate conversations indoors. Boys generally associate in larger groups outdoors where the compete with one another for status and respect. Instead of intimate conversations, boys will generally communicate with one another through jokes, challenges, or stories.
The dominance model suggest more of a conflict between the two genders rather than mere misunderstanding. This model suggests that if a gender hierarchy, that is if men are largely more dominant and in positions of greater power than women in society as a whole, this will be reflected in language. In the larger culture of America as a whole, there is much stratification by gender with males always being on top. Thus, the language we use not only reflects this but also enables it. Research over the past three decades has shown that males use linguistic strategies that allow them to establish and maintain dominance in their everyday social interactions. This means they are more likely to use commands, explanations, criticisms contradictions, challenges, or accusations. On the other hand, women have been found more likely to request, agree, ask, support, accept, and apologize. Men also have been found to get more speaking time in everyday situations like meetings, seminars, classrooms, and casual conversations.
I found this information interesting because it relates particularly to our culture here in America. Even though I never really thought too much about the differences in communication styles between men and women, I can see how this may be applied in everyday life. I think this information is important to note when communicating with anyone because clearly communication can have many deeper meanings other than just the words that are being spoken. This information is from Cultural Anthropology by Kenneth J. Guest.
This advertisement is bad for an obvious variety of reasons. It was published in a newspaper in August or September of 2002 and it urges people to go to Burger King to get free medium fries on September 11 and 12. The fact that this ad claims to offer free fries in honor of America’s fallen heroes is incredibly insensitive. Even if Burger King was just trying to be generous to people during a hard time, free medium fries are really not that impressive. Maybe if the company wanted to give back to fallen heroes in a more logical way, they could have donated some of their millions of dollars of profits to military families. That is not to mention that honoring America’s fallen heroes and free fast food really have nothing to do with each other. Any large corporation trying to honor America’s fallen heroes is bound to come off as an insensitive marketing campaign. In this case, it is pretty obvious that Burger King is just trying to get more people to come into their stores. No one is just going to show up and get free medium fries. Chances are, people will come with this coupon and end up buying a whole meal. These kinds of coupons are fairly common and are a good way for companies to increase profits; however this is a case where it has gone too far. The fact that the coupon is only valid on September 11 and 12 is even more horrible. On the first year anniversary of 9/11 most people are not looking for an excuse to go out to Burger King to get free fries, especially people who were directly affected by this tragedy. At this time, the Iraq war would have been going on for almost a year and many soldiers had already given their lives for their country. Through this ad, it is quite obvious that Burger King is shamelessly trying to make money off of other people’s loss and it is extremely offensive to the American people, especially those who lost a loved one in war or on 9/11.
Fiji is an archipelago made up of more than 300 islands clustered in the South Pacific. This country is home to Fijians who come from mixed Polynesian and Melanesian ancestry and have inhabited the islands for more than 3500 years. Their culture has been changing and evolving as they have absorbed the influence of Europeans, Australians, New Zealanders, and Chinese. East Indians were also imported into the country involuntarily as slaves since the late 19th century to work on British-run plantations. Their influence is now still present in Fiji as many East Indians travel to the islands as merchants and traders. Fijians refer to themselves as Taukei and they make up about 60 percent of the total population of Fiji. This means there are approximately 503,000 Fijians today. Most of the remaining population of Fiji are Indo-Fijians who formed an Indian diaspora community. Ethnic Fijians inhabit only about 100 of Fiji’s islands which they call Viti, meaning East or Sunrise. Fijian language is int he Malayo-Polynesian family In the past and still in many rural areas, Fijians form subclans headed by a hereditary chief. It is interesting to note that when Fiji was colonized by the British during the 19th century, many of the tribal leadership roles were taken into account. Oftentimes Britain and other European countries did not understand or respect the cultures of indigenous people when they were colonizing their lands. The fact that the British did not completely do away with traditional political structures has allowed Fijians in many regions to retain these practices today. This has also allowed Fijians to hold on to their tradition of communal land tenure. This means that Fijians have no concept of land ownership. Communities merely share and work on land as needed. Villagers typically fish and harvest plants like taro and cassava. Sugar is still the largest export from the islands as many Indo-Fijians still work on sugar plantations. The government of the Fijian Islands is largely influened by tribal traditions. The country was granted independence in 1970. The President, Vice President, and Senate are all determined by the Council of Chiefs which meets every year. The official language used by the government is English, however Fijian is often used as well as Hindi.
Something that struck me as most interesting while reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was the structure of the novel. I thought it was unique how the novel not only switched back and forth between the stories of Ifemelu and Obinze, but it also moved across time and space in a way that not many other novels have accomplished. I really enjoyed reading about the two contrasting stories of Nigerian emigrants Ifemelu and Obinze. Their stories were similar in the ways that they had experienced racial profiling and homesickness while they were living in their new countries. Ifemelu in America had to work hard to keep her identity as a Nigerian woman as many people in America saw her as merely black and had no knowledge about Nigeria whatsoever. She dated several American men, but found that none of them could truly understand her deepest emotions and desires. What she was longing for the entire time she was in America was her old boyfriend Obinze. She and Obinze had been sweethearts in high school and college and were forced apart by the turmoil in the Nigerian government and universities. Obinze’s story was similar in that he kept feeling a longing for his old life in Nigeria in which school and friends and Ifemelu were all he had to pay attention to. When he moved to Great Britain and then overstayed his visa, Obinze’s life was rough and challenging. He had to use other people’s papers in order to stay and get a job and eventually he was going to marry a British citizen just so he could more easily gain his own citizenship. This fell through, however and he was deported back to Nigeria where he still felt a longing for his first love, Ifemelu. These two contrasting and yet complimentary stories are fascinating because they cover such a drastic amount of time in these two characters’ lives. Their story begins when they are together in college in Nigeria. Both charaters go through so many struggles and change dramatically as individuals when they are apart. In the end, however, their story comes full circle and the couple ends up together. Each of them had to make great sacrifices just to be together in the end. Obinze, for example, had to divorce his wife and leave his children. But one of the biggest lessons learned in each of their journeys was that the experiences Obinze and Ifemelu had were so unique that only someone from similar circumstances could fully understand. This is why they were still so compatible with each other in the end even after so many years apart.
So this is the first official post of my passion blog and I wanted to write a region that I find completely fascinating! Not many people (well American teenagers at least) know very much about the diverse peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa, so hopefully you will learn something by reading this.
There are hundreds of different ethnic, religious, and linguistic boundaries in this region due to its unique history. Africa is the birthplace of humanity. Over four million years ago, our human-like ancestors first roamed the forests, plains, and deserts of this beautiful region. After centuries of migration, the development and spread of agriculture, and eventually imperialism, this region has gone through a lot and so it is no surprise that it has some of the most diverse cultural systems anywhere in the world.
In terms of language, the tongues spoken by different groups can usually be categorized into a few general families, such as Sudanic or Bantu; however there are many individual languages in each of these groups. Additionally, it is important to note that many Indo-European languages are spoken across the region because of the long colonial period that took place from the mid 19th century up until the 1960s. Most common among these are French, English, and Portuguese.
Politically, it is fascinating how varied the systems of power are organized between different Sub-Saharan cultures. The Zulu people of South Africa have traditionally been strict with most influence lying in the hands of a strong military. The Nuer people of Sudan and South Sudan are unique in that they have no indigenous leadership roles. This means everyone in their society is viewed as an equal and it is purely through cooperation that they thrive. Many societies including the Mbuti and Efe of central Africa and the San people of the Kalahari Desert still take part in hunting and gathering as their primary means of survival. Due to this practice, these groups have no official political territory and therefore have fluid political organization.
Family life in Sub-Saharan Africa is much different than that in America and Western Europe. Marriage is seen as a union not of two people, but mainly as a union between two families. This is symbolized by the legal transfer of bridewealth from the groom’s family to the bride’s family. Typically, this involves a man paying his potential bride’s father in order to set the marriage in motion. Later, he has to pay childwealth money in order to have the right to his children. Most societies allow polygamy and in some unique cases such as one group in Nigeria, polyandry is encouraged. In the Lese culture of the DRC, an infertile wife is allowed to marry another woman who is able to have children with the husband.
The rich cultural pluralism in this region allows for a vast array of religious practices to coexist. Many larger world religions are practiced across Sub-Saharan Africa due to imperialism and migration. These include Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and even Hinduism. These practices are often mixed with unique indigenous beliefs. Because Animism dominates the indigenous religious landscape, there is much variation in terms of specific practices due to much variation in the physical landscape.
Clearly I could write on and on about each individual ethnic group in Sub-Saharan Africa because they are all so unique and interesting! This was just a brief overview of the region as a whole, but perhaps in the coming weeks I will explore one or two particular groups in greater depth. It is important to note that I did not just know all of this information off the top of my head. I read it in a book called Book of Peoples of the World which is amazing and will probably be referenced in later posts as well! Anyways here is a citation.
Davis, Wade and K. David Harrison with Catherine Herbert Howell.Book of Peoples of the World. Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society, 2007. Print
Two years ago, the Kony 2012 campaign became an instant hit when a 30-minute documentary about the issue was released online. The premise of the documentary was to raise awareness about Joseph Kony, a Ugandan warlord who was on the list of some of the top most wanted people worldwide. This campaign was started to encourage people to take action against him and to spread the word about the atrocities he committed. He was wanted for crimes including the abduction of children to use as sex slaves or child soldiers. While his crimes were heinous and severe, many people in the developed world had never heard of him. This documentary encouraged people all over the world, but particularly in the United States to speak to their representatives and urge them to act. The idea was that making Kony famous worldwide would cause an uproar of support for the effort to arrest and imprison him by the Ugandan government.
Not only this image, but also the 30-minute documentary that spurred this image are both examples of kairotic appeal. They strongly suggest to their audiences that 2012 will be the year that Kony would be brought to justice. (This, in fact, was not the case despite the campaign’s best efforts.) People who viewed the documentary were probably most moved by the logical and emotional appeal that it offered. Kony’s crimes most directly affected young and innocent victims and audiences felt a sense of urgency. The documentary claimed that the sooner people spoke up and rose awareness, the fewer children would be abducted and subjected to horrendous conditions. This may figuratively make sense, as it is true that detaining Kony would prevent perhaps hundreds or thousands of children from being forced to join Kony’s LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army). However, the logic does not necessarily hold true. Hundreds of thousands of people did react very strongly to the documentary. It became a viral hit as it was spread via Facebook and other social media. People most certainly did contact their representatives and urge them to take action against Kony. And yet in 2014 this criminal warlord is still at large He is still being sought out by the Ugandan authorities. He is still capturing innocent children. I think it is important that while the argument posed here may seem authentic, it is not completely logical. Ugandan authorities had already exhausted many of their efforts to find Kony and contacting American Congressmen was a fruitless endeavor. The emotional appeal of this documentary was perhaps most striking. The portrayal of thousands of innocent children being recruited and forced to fight on the front lines is shocking and horrifying to many Americans.
The argument made by this image and its accompanying documentary is very valid. It is important to put these major criminals behind bars because they harm innocent people everyday they remain at large. It is indeed very important to spread the word about these types of issues because it is important to be an informed citizen of the world; however the argument made here might be a bit exaggerated in terms of how much an average person can do. I personally felt inclined to take action after viewing the documentary, yet there is a limit to exactly what action an average person can take in this scenario. Overall, the emotional appeal of this argument was what made it truly kairotic. The logical appeal, on the other hand, fell slightly short.
When it came to thinking up an idea for my passion blog, I was initially hesitant. I did not want to choose a topic that was easy or generic. However, it is hard to think of a subject that I could write about endlessly and still always have something new to write about. Soooo ultimately I decided to do something related to my major (Easy? Yes, probably but hopefully not too generic). Right now, I am undecided as to what exactly major or combination of majors I will have. However, I am sure that the College of Liberal Arts is the right home for me. Currently I am leaning toward double-majoring in Anthropology and International Politics (but I also love learning about languages, religions, geography, etc.) All of these things are brought together under the broad umbrella of “culture.” I have been interested in cultures from around the world since about 10th grade when I took a class called Human Geography. I learned all about how people around the world interact and change over time. Now I hope someday to do ethnographic research with different cultural groups all over the world.
As we live in a globalizing society, many smaller folk cultures are fading out or morphing to become assimilated into popular culture. For example, more and more people around the world are learning to speak English and every single day smaller, more obscure languages are becoming “extinct” as a result. I think it is a terrible injustice that so many small cultural traditions are dying out so rapidly as our world develops. As peripheral countries are beginning to go through industrialization, a more uniform popular culture is spreading around the world. In other words, countries such as China, Brazil, South Africa, etc. are rushing to achieve an economic, political and social standing equivalent to that of the United States or Western Europe. These countries forfeit traditional ways of life in order to catapult themselves into the world economy and onto the world stage. This all happens very slowly of course. No society changes overnight and no cultural phenomenon disappears that quickly. However in a world where time and space are compressing, it is fascinating to observe the unique indigenous cultural practices that still remain on a small scale.
Wow, so I realize I got super analytical just now. Anyway, clearly I am a nerd when it comes to social studies and so I am really excited to “passionately blog” about cultures of the world. I plan on setting it up so that each post is about one particular cultural/ethnic group. I may discuss the practices of particular Native American tribes or the unusual beliefs of a minor religion originating in South Asia or what the extinction of an obscure language means to the rest of the world. There are so many possibilities which makes me most excited. I hope that you look forward to occasionally reading this blog as much as I look forward to writing it! I know this experience will not only help me to expand my knowledge on world cultures but it can also help me to better express my ideas in writing (particularly in blog form).
Thanks for reading!