Cultural Anthro essay PDF

Preview

Summary

Course taught by Emily Wanderer. This was the essay assignment. Makes up 25% of one's grade. ...

Description

ANTH 0780 28 February 2020 Social Stratification: Analyzing the Elements of American Culture Today Culture is a prominent part of every single one of us, whether we realize it or not. It shapes, leads, and teaches us. Although this idea of culture is shared by almost everyone residing on this earth today, cultures most definitely vary from person to person and can sometimes differ quite significantly. This sense of culture being a universal ideology that all people engage in and identify with is an essential aspect of human nature that can be analyzed by observing, reflecting, and drawing conclusions from groups of people in various situations. From studying peoples’ different ways of life, culture can be understood. With the intention of increasing the available knowledge on this topic of culture, our worldviews and perspectives can be widened. Anthropologists, for example, employ this practice every day and have helped us understand the tendencies and purpose of mankind. Most famously, social situations are observed and analyzed, for they allow us to observe the most natural sense of one’s culture. By observing a local downtown Pittsburgh street scene, one can see the factors that contribute to American culture, revealing how social class has shaped modern society. The first step in understanding one’s culture is to gather raw data. The field notes taken during my observation period will serve as this data and allow further conclusions on societal stratification in regards to culture to be made. For my place of observation and analysis, I chose to station myself at a downtown Pittsburgh coffee shop and focus on observing the various outside occurrences that were happening on the streets in the Pittsburgh Cultural District. I chose this specific area of Pittsburgh for I felt it would serve as a great atmosphere to come across the most diverse people of the city. Dining at a few restaurants near this area, I had previously noted

the amount of diversity I had seen, but never actually went into deep thought about what this could suggest about culture, identity, and society as a whole. My observation session took place Friday, February 21st, around 1pm at the Starbucks coffee shop on the corner of 6th Street and Penn Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. First, I noticed the atmosphere of the coffee shop itself. The energy was high and fast paced, with people coming in and out of the shop rapidly. These customers entered the shop wearing all different types of attire, from suites and dresses to sweatshirts and sweatpants. Next, focusing on the outside social scene pertaining to the streets of the Cultural District, I observed many people, going to many different places. People entered Heinz Hall, a few different restaurants, the 711 across from the Starbucks and even an apartment building. The people entering Heinz Hall were most likely attending a theatre show, dressing up in formal attire. The people entering the various restaurants on the street were in groups, potentially a family or two and others were alone. A few different men entered the 711 over the course of my observation period, who appeared much more ragged and less professional. The people entering the apartment looked older and less energetic than others who were walking the streets. Even though all of these people occupied the same relative area during the same time of day, these people all exhibited different looks and personas, ultimately belonging to different groups of people within American society who establish different American cultures. By observing these street walkers, many different themes and cultural messages pertaining to American culture can be seen. Many curious people may question the American culture we live in today, wondering specifically why our culture is the way it is. This can be done by examining the collected data observations from a broader, more contextual sense. In order to analyze how the characteristics of these people and their daily activities relate to their overall role in American culture and society, we need to dive into the more specific details pertaining to

the recorded observations. From watching these people on the streets of downtown, many characteristics such as the way they dressed, their facial expressions, and the exact place that they were walking to and entering, all say much about the societal stratification of American culture is highly based on social class. First noticing the type of people who dressed nicely, entered a concert hall or opera theater, and exited fancy vehicles, it is obvious that they belong to the upper class of American society. This culture stems from the power and wealth that this upper class has. In today’s society, these people represent the aspect of American culture that deals with prioritizing wealth and providing for one’s family, revealing the aspect of kinship and caring. This idea of providing for one’s family through the means of wealth has consistently been seen as a part of American society and was termed the “American dream” since America offered jobs for families to do this. The second different group of people that were noticed among the others were the middle class citizens who wore casual business attire or looked like an office or administrator worker. Since the time these observations were taken was around lunchtime, it appeared as if many of these people worked downtown and were on their lunch breaks. Other people that were seen belonging to this same group of people were uber drivers, police officers, construction workers, and students. These citizens make up the majority of the economic workforce, which allows our local towns and communities to run properly. Referred to as the “backbone of America,” the middle class makes up the large number of working class American citizens. Illustrating some of the overall aspects of American culture by describing both the upper and middle classes, it is clear that our culture today is maintained by a set of ideals created by the various classes of today’s society. The upper class represents the ideals of the “American dream” that attracted people to come to America to work, make money, and provide for their families. The middle

class citizens are the “backbone of America” and are the people that built our current economic system and still run it today. With these two examples, the idea of societal stratification is seen not necessarily in a negative way but rather as a dividing force among people, leading to the divergence of many differing American cultures instead of one. Furthermore, the last group of people that were noticed walking downtown and making up the lowest social class ranking in the traditional American power hierarchy are the lowest class or bottom class citizens. These people were seen selling items on the streets, standing around on the corners smoking cigarettes, and begging higher class citizens for money. These people do not economically contribute to society, however, they do raise concern and awareness for other important parts of our societal system that are essential for the entire country to run smoothly. These aspects include designing affordable healthcare plans for all people, setting up fair insurance policies for everyone, and establishing shelters for the homeless or abused. Through these noted observations, one can see the most obvious sense of societal stratification that is involved in today's American societal system. By simply describing the look and persona that these people embody, it is clear that there is a larger society message at play. This analysis of how social class affects American society by ultimately stratifying it, illustrates the different aspects of the current culture we live in. Understanding this situation and the implications of it is important for all members that contribute to its society and should not just be judged based on social class alone. Other factors like race and gender can also be analyzed, however, the generalizations pertaining to these topics are quite harder to establish. Overall, there has been great social significance behind what I observed downtown last week. Noticing very diverse people, I was able to establish the social class that they belonged to based on what they were wearing, where they were going, and how they carried themselves on

the streets. I tried to be objective and unbiased in my observations, solely collecting the data for further analysis that was to be done later. When piecing my observations together I discovered a central theme of varying social classes. This theme pertaining to money and income disparities was the main, most obvious characteristic that I noticed among studying these people, however it is not the only area that defines their role in society. The basis that I later used to assign each person to their matching societal group was paralleled to the traditional American societal hierarchy. This included an upper class at the top, lower class at the bottom, and middle class in between. Overall, the most significant conclusion able to be made from this study is the noticeably divergent aspect of American culture stemming from money and social class. By studying and thinking deeply through my observations, I have learned to better understand others who may seem extremely different than me. Making these connections between peoples’ looks, attires, and overall personas, I have learned how social class can significantly portray the expression of identity, which can be reflective of one’s behavior among common cultures. Being surrounded by a diverse population of people everyday, Americans should not judge others for appearing different than them but rather embrace the diversity and realize that this is what makes our beautiful country the including and encompassing place that it is meant to be. Field Notes Taken on February 15th, 2020 (from 1pm to 2pm) ● Atmosphere in the coffee shop: workers rapidly preparing drinks, business men and women in professional clothing, loud chatter, people eager to get drinks and leave, others stay and relax to do work ● Outside window scene: ○ Older citizens entering Heinz Hall with families, dressed in formal attire, all smiling, happy to be going there

○ Older citizens entering an apartment building, have canes and walkers, seem pleasantly happy, clothes are casual attire ○ Two different bums are seen on the street begging for money, individually asking each pedestrian that walks by, stationed with a blanket and backpack, wearing dirty and ripped clothing, both bums look alike, seem tired and sad ○ Families in casual attire entering restaurants, one family with young, energetic kids enters a pizza shop, another family with older people enter a classier Greek restaurant, people are smiling and talking to each other ○ Notice a lot of business men and women ○ See two police officers patrolling the streets, they stay to themselves and did not interact much with others ○ Notice uber and lyft drivers picking up and dropping off people going to Heinz Hall and the Tako restaurant too ○ Notice two student girls walking with backpacks from the apartment building, see them enter Starbucks, seem content with each others company ○ See construction workers walking the streets, but no site of construction in my plain view ○ A few men walk into the 711 corner shop over the span of an hour, one comes out with a pack of cigarettes in hand, the other few have one plastic bag full of snack ○ A mom and her two children enter the 7/11 shop too towards the end of the hour, kids leave with slushies, mom is pushing stroller but no child is seen in it ○ Can hear buses and cars beeping outside, not a quiet atmosphere

References Wanderer, Emily. “Kinship.” Class lecture, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Wanderer, Emily. “Objectivity and Reflexivity.” Class lecture, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Wanderer, Emily. “What is Cultural Anthropology?.” Class lecture, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA....