So a couple weeks ago I had an experience with my own culture. I was asked out on a first date by this guy in my ward via text message. I didn't really want to go but I thought it was common courtesy to give him a first date at least. I already knew I wasn't interested in this guy but I said yes anyway because that is just what you do if a guy asks you on a first date whether you want to go or not. I went on the date and I didn't have a bad time but it was definitely not the way I would have liked to spend my evening. I went because that is what was normal. I could have said no but I didn't because that is just not what you do in the "culture" I am apart of. This got me thinking about how many other things I might do just because it's the social norm or part of my culture. How many times do I find myself doing things to avoid going against social norms? It also really got me thinking about other cultures and their social norms. How many people do things they don't like just because it is part of their culture? Another thing is if social norms and culture are similar or if they are completely different. I defined culture as how a group of people believed, thought, and acted. When they act according to the social norms are they really just following what their cultural believes or what is culturally acceptable? Culture is an interesting topic to study and some things don't seem to have a right answer. The best way it seems to find out is to go and study a different culture.
I would have said no due to the fact that he asked over text! Yuck! But it's true, we're so used to the things that we do in our culture we don't even realize why we might act the way we do or if it might even be weird to someone else. Culture can be defined in many different ways, Durkheim would have said that it relates to social facts, that we are socialized in a certain way in our culture, and those facts are what we follow because we've internalized them. But, he doesn't take into account the fact that we as autonomous beings choose to follow them. They are not natural laws that "cause" us to act the way we do. Thanks for the post!
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