FREE ESSAY ON CULTURES

CULTURES

- culture concept first clear definition developed by British anthropologist Sir Edward
Burnett Tylor
- examples of species of animals that lead a social existence without culture: ants,
bees
therefore, society can exist without culture, but culture cannot exist without society
- no member of a society has exact version of his/her culture as another
- gender: the meanings cultures assign to the biological differences of the sexes
-therefore, one's sexual identity or gender is culturally constructed
- gender differences are as old as human culture- about 2.5 mill. yrs. 
-" " arose from biological differences
- relationships between food foragers are open although both sexes usually do not carry 
out same tasks
- subculture: a distinctive set of standards & behavior patterns that a group within a
larger society operates by
- example of subculture: Amish (who rely on horse for transportation as well as
agriculture & have their own set of ideas dissimilar as well as similar to the society)
- old-order Amish originated in Austria and Moravia during Reformation- now mainly
populate Ohio, Indiana & Pennsylvania
- pluralistic societies: societies that have a diversity of cultural patterns 
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