Blue Collar and White Collar Societies, Case Study Example

Society is commonly referred to as the place in which we live.  For instance, there are rural and urban societies within the United States, as well as blue collar and white collar societies.  In some larger cities or more diverse areas, society can be defined by the diverse population that lives within the area.  However, diversity also brings along with it a specific culture.  Hispanic and Asian populations have their own rituals and typical behaviors that must be followed.  Furthermore, religious sects populate many areas throughout the United States which bring with it a specific set of ethical, moral and religious belief systems.  It is clear that society and culture are definitely closely intertwined within many areas of the country.  For this reason, the United States is commonly known as a “cultural melting pot” and is enveloped with many different cultures in one large American society each with their own specific elements and cultural behaviors that are each ultimately labeled American.

There are many different elements of culture that play a role in defining a group of people.  First of all, social organization plays a crucial role as an element of culture.  In order for a culture to exist, a society must first be in place.  The organization of society is paired with laws and other social rules that must be followed.  Similarly, many customs and traditions exist within a culture.  Customs and traditions are different from laws and social organization because they determine how behavior in a culture or society should work.  For instance, it is a cultural norm for our society in the United States to create lines when large groups of people want the same thing.  We see lines at amusement parks, movie theaters and even the BMV.  It is a social rule that a person should not cut in line.  Many of these customs and traditions also involve celebrating holidays, birthdays and other special occasions.  Even the way in which these special events are celebrated can be associated with culture.  We can see the clear Hispanic cultural emergence in the celebration of Mexican holidays such as Dia de los Muertos and Cinco de Mayo.  Culture also involves the foods that are eaten and how they are prepared.  However, this can also involve another element of culture involving religion.

Religion plays a very important role in shaping and molding culture and societal behaviors.  The importance of religion teaches behaviors including responsibility, how you should interact with others and even how you should treat your parents.  Prayer and the open practice of religion can often determine cultural behaviors and norms within society.  Some areas of the country, such as the Bible belt, are often highly Christian.  In some cases, religion forces people to become highly judgmental or highly judged.  Even in some areas people that are openly religious may be extremely persecuted for their beliefs.  We can see the effect of this persecution in the treatment of Muslims and Islamic individuals after the events of 9/11.  Even people that dress a particular way in a culture can be persecuted for their beliefs.

Finally, another very important element of culture is language.  Language mainly is referred to as the words that are spoken to communicate with one another.  For instance, there are many different languages that are spoken in the United States besides English.  These languages can include Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Japanese.  Including these languages, many cultures even have their own dialects which can make communicating with others a very challenging task.  The diversity of language in the United States has even had an impact on our educational systems as many students are required to take a foreign language in order to graduate from high school and college.  However, many people communicate with another type of language every day.  This language is called body language.  A person in the United States may roll their eyes at something that is annoying or brings them displeasure.  Our culture tries to teach young adults to look each other in the eyes when speaking and to show respect.  Language of any kind plays a very important role in communication and is crucial to the definition of culture and society.

Bibliography

ChangingMinds.org. (n.d.). Elements of culture. Retrieved from http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/elements_of_culture.htm

Macionis, J.J. (n.d.). The Elements of culture. Retrieved from http://faculty.mdc.edu/jmcnair/Joe4pages/elements_of_culture