The Culture of Talk Shows Essay

Lets start by understanding that cultures are a melting pot of people’s beliefs, language, behaviors, values, material objects, and norms. Norms are written and non-written “expectations of behavior” that govern a certain location, place, or culture (26). These norms also vary from culture to culture meaning what is a norm in the U.S may not be a norm in India. For example, a norm in America would be tipping a waiter after a meal. Another would be acknowledging someone as you walk past him or her, typically done at work or in a public place. In all, norms are folkways, mores, taboos, and written laws that are an established standard of one’s behavior.

Humans interact and go on about their daily life unknowingly following rules that society establishes as well as common social norms. Although this is a strange concept to grasp, this phenomenon is how society acts as a whole and how we as individuals are. Social norms are ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist outside a person but exert social control over each person they interact with. These are the rules that we abide by and are ingrained in our heads but what happens if one breaks that social norm.

The first concept I would like to talk about is norms. Norms are different rules, whether they are spoken or assumed, about which kinds of behaviors are acceptable in a culture and which ones aren’t acceptable. As an example I would like to use the Disney movie Pocahontas. A clear example of a norm from this movie is the scene where Pocahontas has disobeyed her father by talking to the white man (aka John Smith). Disobedience was something you did not do in her village. The father was in charge of the family and the rest of the family was expected to listen. Another norm for her culture was to take care of the village and everyone in it. Their culture wasn’t all about fun and adventure. They made sure their top priority was the life and ease of everyone in the village. Norms can also change. There is a scene where the chief, Powhatan, tells the village that no one is allowed

A central principle of morality or values; “Shared ideas about what is good and desirable.” An example of value is the way by which people adjudicate facets of shared existence. The Normative characteristics encompass religion, a connotation of “a set of beliefs and practices pertaining to supernatural powers and the origins and meaning of life.” (gb) The most obvious example of religion being the self-identification with organized religion. Moving on, one must become accustomed with norms, or more simply “Shared rules and expectations about behavior.” (gb) Norms being seen in the forms of Folkways and mores, folkways being customary mannerisms and norms. Whereas, mores are norms that are elevated in importance in keeping with values of law and order. Supplementing norms are sanctioned, which society uses to achieve “A reward or punishment for conforming to or violating cultural norms.” (gb) Both “reward” and “punishment is easily palpable in the forms of upward social mobility and criminal proceedings made to include criminal punishments. Finally comes artifact, which manifests as “A physical product of a culture.” (GB) An archetype of artifact is a relic of any given culture. In summary, major characteristics of a culture create a commonality among regions, while allowing

In the reading The Erosion of Classic Norms by Renato Rosaldo, the author attempts to persuade his readers to recognize that “cultures are learned, not genetically encoded”(2). We are born without a culture and as a social animal we acquire a set of beliefs, values and assumptions as a member of a society, influenced by the immediate surrounding. This set of beliefs, values and assumptions that we adopt refers to culture. For culture is a powerful tool for human survival, Rosaldo highlights the importance of global dexterity for a successful cross-cultural understanding. “Because the range of human possibilities is so great, one cannot predict cultural patterns from one case to the next, except to say that they will not match.

Everyone has a culture, a series of beliefs and principles that govern day to day life that they were likely imparted upon by their upbringing. Parents usually raise their children the only way that they know, which causes the next generation to bring up their offspring in a similar fashion. Culture tends to have borders, which generally follow the borders of nations or civilizations. So imparted from young these cultures govern everyday actions that each individual will likely take at any point in their life. Culture groups lead people to think think a certain way, dress with a particular fashion, talk with an unusual accent, or uncountable varieties of actions. Culture is by no means a concrete fact, people rebel against their culture, or

Since the inception of human civilization there have been countless cultures and societies which have helped shape the current world today as we know it. The modern human race dates back more than 200,000 years and in that time frame many cultures have risen to great virtue and success only to deteriorate or cease to exist altogether. First before examining one of these cultures we must know what culture truly means. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Culture Center defines culture as a “dynamic social system,” containing the beliefs, behaviors, values and norms of a “specific organization, group, society or other collectivity” learned, shared, internalized, and changeable by all members of the society (Watson, 2010). In

According to cultural anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor, culture is a “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” In other words, culture is a concept that social organizations practice in order to explain certain phenomena in nature whether through mythology, rituals, art, music, and language. However, as explained by Ethan Watters in “The Mega Marketing of Depression in Japan,” culture is not permanent, since it has the ability, and more than ever in the present society, to “move across boundaries of race, culture, class, and nation” (Watters 519). In addition, as demonstrated by Oliver Sacks in the articled called “The Mind’s Eye: What the Blind See,” it is a mistake to think that individuals are bound to behave in a way that culture told them to behave. Instead, individuals are free to create his or her own unique experience of interpreting the world. We might consider the “reality” that we live in to be fiction to the extent that we are willing to use different faculties and analyze what we are witnessing; this gives us the power, as individuals, to think and search for each of us’s unique interpretation of reality. .

In today’s society there are many television shows that allow the host and attendees to converse about their own personal opinions. One show in particular that people seek for a professional’s opinion is Dr. Phil. The Dr. Phil show strives to help families that are in need of help whether they are

Cultures around the world have their own set of behaviors and actions that are considered acceptable and appropriate to humanity. Because of the differences between cultures, some may experience the idea of deviance without realizing they are doing so. The term deviance is any behavior that violates rules or cultural norms. A norm is a social expectation that guide human behavior. When one violates cultural practices, he or she may seems like everything would be okay but there are people who may not be appreciate of such behaviors and/or think that one is acting social norm. Understanding culture practices require one to be involved and participating in the culture. Sometime the best method to truly comprehend a practice is to act upon it and realized that it may or may be “right” behavior within a particular culture.

Television can be considered a cultural forum. By cultural forum, this means issues and points of view can be discussed openly and almost without punishment. These issues can vary anywhere from male dominance in the household, to wars, to racism, to political jabs and still be covered under freedom of speech. Television can hold a wide variety of opinions which may offend, but for the most part due so to prove a point.

Cultural and societal norms are based on aspects such as differences in opinion, beliefs, and backgrounds. New norms are constantly created as generations come and go, with societal changes taking place daily. Norms are shaped based on the way people are raised, the individuals we surround ourselves with, and the transformations that occur in our lives. Although groups identify and set norms, these can change in our personal lives based on the social groups we interact with as we grow through life, such as groups of friends from childhood that may be different from groups of friends we make as we enter adulthood. As we change from one group to another and transition through life, the result of social norms can be seen through new behavior. For example, an individual who did not grow up regularly attending church or practicing a religion, but later in life decided to start attending religious services and practicing, behavior changes would be evident based on guidelines set by that religion That individual may stop

Can you believe that reality television has actually been around since 1948? Most of us may have thought that this idea of real television just came about in the last decade but actually it’s been around for quite some time. In 1948 Candid Camera was the first reality show to be broadcasted on television. Many considered this to be the “granddaddy” of the reality TV genre (History of reality TV). This show actually began in radio broadcasting. Allen Funt was the man in charge of this whole new production. He started by simply taping complaints of men in service and broadcasting them over the Armed Forces Radio. This is what later became known as the television show, Candid Camera. Candid Camera was known for

Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behaviour. Growing up, children learn basic values, perception and wants from the family and other important groups.

Can T.V. shows be the reflection of our society or influence the behavior of the members of our community? Since 1936 when television broadcasting begin, it priority was to inform and to entertain our society; subsequently, a massive amount of rules and regulations were created to control the material presented in TV, which principal goal was to safeguard the moral and ethical standards of it time. Nevertheless, from its beginning to the present home entertainment television standards contents have change; likewise, the moral an ethics values of our society have change and continuing changing from generation to generation. TV shows from the 50’s, 80’s, and the present exposed many changes in the way human role are exposed, the language