1) What is culture? How does culture influence individual behaviors, particularl
ID: 3496041 • Letter: 1
Question
1) What is culture? How does culture influence individual behaviors, particularly in what we wear, how we view our bodies, and how we treat our bodies? How does the media influence our choices? Give TWO examples to explain your answer; at least ONE example should come directly from the book "High Heels and Bound Feet". (*For example, Chapter 6 in "High Heels and Bound Feet" - compare and contrast the practice of bound feet and wearing high heels. There are many other examples in the Lenkeit book on teeth whitening, body piercing, tattoos, plastic surgery, etc.) You are welcome to use the book for both of your examples or give one from the book and the other from your own personal experience.)
2) Describe at least three of the devastating consequences of colonialism. (Refer to Eller Chapter 12, also video assignments may provide examples.)
3) Based on the documentary, "Hawaiian: Legend of Eddie Aikau", briefly describe who Eddie Aikau is and why he is considered a legend in Hawaii. Use the following terms in your description: colonialism, cultural loss, mana, hokulea, and cultural revitalization. What does the phrase "Eddie Would Go" refer to?
4) Briefly, describe the main causes and consequences of today's climate change. Explain the term "climate justice". Why is climate change not just an environmental problem but also an ethical and political issue as well? Lastly, describe possible solutions to our climate crisis.
Explanation / Answer
Social culture refers to what is acceptable and what is unacceptable for people living within that culture or society. The culture or society, sets norms that need to be followed, for the individuals belonging to the same society. Different cultures have different norms. In some cultures, they still lead a primitive lifestyle, where a woman does not wear anything to cover her top, but just wears beads to cover her bosom. In other cultures, which are predominantly Muslim, women are ought to be covered from head to toe. Different cultures accept different norms.
In more developed cultures, it is a notion that a woman matches up to the standards of a man's idea of perfect women body type, when she is skinnier than she actually is. This leads to women having body image issues. Body image refers to how an individual perceives their own physical body. Their perception of their own body reflects in their thoughts and feeling about themselves.
Everybody wants to look good, and there's nothing wrong with that, but when women get the idea that women body type for males is skinnier than it actually is, the media reports are responsible in circulating this thought which propagates that a thin body is a measure of a woman's worth. It is the media which make women think the only way to attract men is by being extremely skinny.
Issues with body image is one of the major reasons for a woman developing eating disorders. Eating disorder like anorexia and bulimia is caused due to developing a negative image of one's body. Even when an individual is thin, when they look at themselves in the mirror, they consider themselves to be 'fat'. They starve and indulge in rigorous work out to become thinner.
The media indeed plays a very important role in how we perceive our body. Celebrities in Hollywood get paid for looking good. However, as an audience sitting back home, we want to emulate them. We want to have perfect bodies with no scars, have a perfect nose, no blemishes, we basically want to look photoshoped in real life. Women undergo plastic surgeries for a 'perfect' body without realising the repercussions to it. I reckon, if individuals were not that exposed to the media, they would have been able to accept themselves better instead of finding flaws in their body. One needs to love themselves, irrespective of their imperfections. Holding negative views of oneself can lead to serious psychological disorders.
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