Introduction to Culture
Culture is the shared beliefs, values, practices, behaviors, and technologies of a society. There are three cultural traits that make up a group's culture:
- Artifacts: Visible, physical objects such as houses, clothing, toys, tools, furniture, and architecture
- Sociofacts: Ways in which a society organizes its institutions and power structures, including family structure, education, government, religion structure, land use, and gender roles
- Mentifacts: Ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge of a culture, including religious beliefs, language, food preferences, and taboos.
Types of Culture
Local/Traditional Culture is a small, isolated group often living in rural areas and unlikely to change. Their architecture and land-use are specific to the local environment, and they have a strong sense of place. On the other hand, Global/Popular Culture is large and diverse, living in urban areas, connected via globalization and social media, and has a more modern vibe, with a sense of placelessness.
Attitude Towards Cultural Difference
Cultural norms and taboos vary depending on the culture and ethnocentrism, which is the judging of other cultures based on one's own standards and often includes the belief that one's own culture is better than others. Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is an unbiased way of viewing another culture with the goal of understanding cultural practices that are not part of one's own culture. It typically leads to the view that no one culture is superior to another.
Cultural Landscapes
Cultural landscapes are natural landscapes modified by humans, reflecting their cultural beliefs. They include agricultural and industrial practices, religious and linguistic characteristics, land-use, and traditional and post-modern architecture. The attitudes towards ethnicity and gender, including the role of women and ethnic neighborhoods, help shape the use of space in a given society.
Ethnicity represents the sense of belonging or identity within a group of people bound by common ancestry and culture. Ethnic neighborhoods/enclaves are people of the same ethnicity clustering together in specific locations, typically within major cities, and there are predictable distributions of ethnicities that can be examined at multiple scales.
In traditional cultures, the primary role of a woman is often to have children and not be active in education or the workforce. As countries become more developed socially and economically, women tend to have access to more opportunities. This has an impact on cultural landscapes and the role of women in society.
