Cultural Anthropology Essay Research Paper IntroductionCultural Anthropology free essay sample

Cultural Anthropology Essay, Research Paper Introduction: Cultural Anthropology is a term that is in mundane lives and subjects. When one thinks of anthropology they think of the survey of old leftovers normally referred to as archeology. This, nevertheless, is non the lone signifier of anthropology. There are four types of anthropology and they are archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and lingual anthropology. However, Cultural anthropologists are every where and analyze people of all walks of life. One can happen a subject and happen some type of survey that an anthropologist has conducted on the affair. The following are five articles that explain how anthropologists are every where. Section: Culture and Fieldwork Chapter: Corporate Anthropologists, page 24 Summary of Article: The article talked about how anthropologists play an of import function in the corporate environment. Anthropologists have been working with concerns since the 1930 s, nevertheless in the 1980 s this field experienced important growing. This was due to the globalisation of concern activity and the increased consciousness of the importance of civilization for concern, ( Laabs 24 ) . Cultural anthropology is the survey of bing people and corporations find this information utile in seeking to understand human behaviour within their ain organisation. Business anthropologists have been analyzing the corporate universe for old ages, on such varied subjects as how to promote more creativeness or how best to incorporate multicultural larning techniques into an organisation s preparation plan, ( Laabs 25 ) . Most anthropologists who work in the corporate environment do non utilize the rubric of anthropologist. There are presently over 200 anthropologists working in this field. The article so gave an history of one anthropologist s experience in the corporate environment. The article concludes by stating what corporations think of the value that anthropologists add to the companies and that the function will go on to turn. Anthropologist s Experience: The anthropologist that contributed to this article was Lorna M. McDougall. She works at Arthur Andersen s Center for Professional Education, which is located in St. Charles, Illinois. McDougall is analyzing why people from some civilizations learn best from talks, although others learn best through synergistic acquisition, ( Laabs 25 ) . McDougall has played a big portion in developing Arthur Andersen s Business English Language Immersion Training ( ELIT ) plan. This plan builds a linguistic communication accomplishment that allows for communicating between two parties where English may be a 2nd linguistic communication. This plan besides provides an consciousness of each civilization s concern moralss. The consequences of her work have helped teachers, who train Andersen advisers working in 66 states, be better instructors, ( Laabs 25 ) . McDougall is the first onsite anthropologist employed by Arthur Andersen and continues to be a great resource for the corporation. McDougall used an anthropological methodological analysis by listening in on schoolroom Sessionss and carry oning interviews. From the information that she gathered she noticed that people from certain civilizations are used to bipartisan communicating in the schoolroom, although others merely sit softly while the professor talks, ( Laabs 26 ) . McDougall besides teaches some of the direction development categories and besides contributes to the preparation categories. Her chief countries of concentration for anthropological survey include a technique where sometimes a direction squad proposes an thought and at other times she will suggest an thought. She has besides studied the significance of gestures and colourss for different civilizations. She discovered that white in some civilizations means matrimony and in others, white means decease. All her anthropological work has played a major portion in Arthur Andersen s company. My Experience: I did my presentation on anthropologists and the function that they play in corporations. Until late I was cognizant that civilization played a defining function in companies that participated in globalisation. I did non nevertheless know the function that anthropologists contributed to this subject. I late worked a Technological Symposium for my company and this was a immense event where people from all parts of the universe attended. It was at this convention that I learned that other civilizations do concern otherwise than Americans. It is non merely a linguistic communication barrier but a civilization barrier. I am besides cognizant of the work that anthropologists contribute to the development of web sites that are viewed worldwide. Comparison: The anthropologist s experience and mine are immensely different. She is rather a spot more experient in the subject of corporate anthropologists. However, she and I both realized that linguistic communication is non the lone barrier that corporations face when spread outing the operation globally. As the consciousness of this field becomes known it will go on to turn. Section: Culture and Food Chapter: Culture and the Evolution of Obesity, page 92 Peter J. Brown ( Human Nature, 1991 ) Summary of Article: The article provides a cross-cultural and evolutionary analysis of how both biological and cultural factors in fleshiness evolved. This analysis explains the sociological distribution of fleshiness today. It besides emphasizes that peripheral organic structure fat ( characteristic of adult females ) is a little wellness jeopardy compared to abdominal fat ( characteristic of work forces ) , ( Brown 92 ) . Anthropologist s Experience: Peter Brown, the anthropologist who wrote the article, gave his perceptual experience on fleshiness. He believes that an anthropological theoretical account of civilization has important advantages over the normally used uniform construct of environment for bring forthing hypotheses about behavioural causes of fleshiness, ( Brown 93 ) . Brown states that the job of fleshiness and corpulence is that today s industry thrives on the civilization belief about holding the perfect organic structure and sexual attraction instead on the medical position. Fleshiness and being overweight is non merely a psychological issue but a serious wellness issue. Brown claims that there are four facts about the societal distribution of society that must be addressed. They are: 1 ) The gender difference in the entire per centum and site distribution of organic structure fat, every bit good as the prevalence of fleshiness ; 2 ) the concentration of fleshiness in certain cultural groups ; 3 ) the addition i n fleshiness associated with economic modernisation ; and 4 ) the powerful and complex relationship between societal category and fleshiness, ( Brown 94 ) . He goes on to farther province that human biological science and behaviour can be understood in the context of two distinguishable procedures of development, ( Brown 96 ) . The two procedures are natural choice and historical alterations in the construction of cultural systems. Furthermore, Brown provinces Because the construct of civilization is seldom considered in medical research on fleshiness, and because I am proposing that this construct has advantages over the more common and uniform term environment, it is necessary to reexamine some basic facets of this anthropological term, ( Brown 97 ) . He provides a diagram that explains civilization in relation to fleshiness. He concludes that blubber is symbolically linked to psychological dimensions, such as self-worth and gender, ( Brown 99 ) but continues to province that this is non a consistent symbol. In some civilizations fatness symbolizes wealth and wellness. Last he concludes that civilization and its relation to fleshiness can be concluded practically and theoretically. First, acknowledgment of cultural fluctuation in beliefs and behaviours related to fleshiness demands to be incorporated into wellness plans aimed at cut downing the prevalence of fleshiness. The 2nd decision respects the demand for more research on the function of civilization, as it interacts with cistrons, on the etiology of fleshiness, ( Brown 101 ) . My Experience: As a adult female in today s American society I am really cognizant of the jobs and ballyhoo about fleshiness and corpulence. I am invariably seeking to lose weight or keep it. I am neer satisfied with the manner I look. Every where we look thin adult females are displayed on bases and corpulent and fleshy people are shunned. I personally consider person who is fleshy missing in sexual entreaty and assurance. The dilutant that I am the more desirable I feel. I know that other civilizations do non see fleshiness in this mode. For illustration I am certain that a individual in South Africa who is overweight is considered to be of great position. I merely hope that one twenty-four hours cipher will be looked at or judged on their weight. Comparison: I truly enjoyed the anthropologist s point of position on the fleshiness issue. The lone thing that I disagree with is that such of import issues such as binge-eating syndrome, anorexia, and other eating upsets were non addressed. In an article in which weight is discussed these issues go manus in manus. For every individual who is corpulent there are three that are contending an eating upset, and this is prevailing in all civilizations. Peter Brown merely one time touched footing on the dieting fad that floods the universe and this was really brief. Then he states that it is merely affluent adult females who are obsessed with dieting and this is improbably false. Section: Culture and Race Chapter: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, page 134 Peggy McIntosh ( 1988 ) Article Summary: The article begins by the anthropologist explicating that work forces have privilege over adult females. Denials which amount to taboos surround the topic of advantages which work forces gain from adult females s disadvantages. These denials protect male privilege from being to the full acknowledged, lessened or ended, ( McIntosh 135 ) . Then the article returns to discourse how Whites, whether they realize it or non, have a considerable advantage over other races. She lists 26 ways that Whites have the upper manus. She so concludes with her personal analysis her experiences. Anthropologist s Experience: McIntosh explains that as a white individual she had been sheltered from the privileges that she had. I think Whites are taught non to acknowledge white privilege, as males are taught non to acknowledge male privilege, ( McIntosh 135 ) . She compiled a list of things that she encounters day-to-day that are a privilege to white people that may non come so easy to a individual of a different race. For illustration one point states that she can turn on the telecasting or open the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented, ( McIntosh 135 ) . She so claims that if all these points are true that we are non populating in a free state and that certain chances are available to Whites. She concludes by saying that she hopes that societal systems need to be redesigned. My Experience: I am a white female so I was able to put myself in the anthropologist s places. I grew up in an upper in-between category vicinity went to private school and I was still taught all about the different races. There is an full month dedicated to Black History in schools. Therefore, I experienced rearward favoritism, non a privilege for being white. When using for scholarships upon come ining college I was repeatedly turned down merely to see a fellow pupil of a different race, with lower classs, less academic activities, and lower rank receive the scholarship because of their race. Affirmative action allows for a less qualified campaigner to have the occupation so that the company can hold a certain figure of cultural people employed. There is a black Ms. America and a Black Ms. America, yet the former Ms. America was black. There are sororities that are specifically for peculiar races yet regular sororities can non know apart on race but the race specific 1s can. Comparison: The anthropologist and I have really different sentiments on being white. She claims that it is a privilege and that other races suffer, I strongly disagree with her. Where was her research done? Did she non look into such issues as rearward favoritism, affirmatory action, and the privileges that are granted to others based on their race? The article was wholly absurd. What was her footing for such an article? White people have to turn out themselves where as others have doors opened for them because of the manner our ascendants treated them. McIntosh needs to make a batch more geographic expedition into the subject. Section: Economy and Business Chapter: String sections Attached, page 143 Lee Cronk ( The Sciences, 1989 ) Article Summary: Lee Cronk discusses possible cultural misinterpretations that were involved in the creative activity of the unfortunate ( and racialist ) term Indian giver. These misinterpretations were violative to both Native Americans and Whites. Europeans thought that gifts should be freely given and that the gift is less valued when there are strings attached, ( Cronk 143 ) . Due to the before mentioned when anthropologists study gift giving rites they are more interested in the relationship between the giver and the receiving system than the existent point being given. The article makes several mentions to past state of affairss and gives several illustrations of anthropologist s point of position. Anthropologist s Experience: The anthropologist s experiences came from first manus cognition when seeking to give gifts to the people that they were analyzing. One anthropologist by the name of Richard Lee, from the University of Toronto, had an experience with the! Kung hunter-gatherers. He gave the folk an ox as a item of good will but all the! Kung did was kick about how scraggy the ox was. Merely subsequently did Lee learn, with alleviation, that the! Kung belittle all gifts, ( Cronk 144 ) . Harmonizing to the! Kung roasting gifts is their manner of decreasing the expected return and of implementing humbleness on those who would utilize gifts to raise their ain position within the group, ( Cronk 144 ) . Another illustration from an anthropologist was by Rada Dyson-Hudson, from Cornell University. Dyson-Hudson gave the Turkana s of Kenya pots, maize repast, baccy, and other points. Much to her discouragement it was less than appreciated. A typical response to a gift of a pot, for illustration, might be, Wher e is the maize repast to travel in this pot? or, Don T you have a bigger one to give me? To the Turkana, these are legitimate and expected inquiries, ( Cronk 144 ) . My Experience: As a kid and as an grownup the whole gift giving procedure is different. I can retrieve acquiring a gift and neer believing anything of it. As an grownup if I get a gift that is rather luxuriant I ever want to return a gift even better the giver. It is as if I want to one up the giver, as if it is traveling to do me a better individual to give the better gift. As a kid I remember having points from childhood friends and when a battle would happen the friend desiring the gift back, and this was referred to as Indian giving. Now as I get even older gift giving rites such as Christmas has become consumer warfare. I think that gift giving is a huffy subject in all civilizations. Comparison: The similarities between the anthropologist s experience and mine are astonishing. It merely goes to demo that gift giving is a procedure that will neer be to the full grasped no affair how much research is done on the subject. Section: Gender and Socialization Chapter: society and Sex Roles, page 159 Ernestine Friedl ( Human Nature, 1978 ) Article Summary: The article begins with the anthropologist giving two contrasting illustrations of the functions work forces and adult females play in different civilizations. Following this debut the thesis is given that the functions will neer be clearly defined every bit long as illustrations from other civilizations are used in the statement. The article continues to site illustrations about how work forces are the dominant sex because they are the huntsman s and supply the resources. Several illustrations of folks are given to back up his hypothesis that every bit long as work forces provide the resources than they will hold the upper manus. He concludes by saying that as adult females continue to derive places in functions that allow them to supply the resources than they will be able to do demands to alter the sex functions. Anthropologist s Experience: Friedl makes the statement that to understand society and its sex roles one must non flip illustrations from the universe s civilizations at each other like rational rocks, ( Friedl 160 ) . He states that the differences, biologically talking, can be clarified by looking at known illustrations of the earliest signifiers of human society and analyzing the relationship between the engineering, societal organisation, environment, and sex functions, ( Friedl 160 ) . Friedl claims that the factors in a society that cause male laterality demand to be researched because once these factors are understood than one can use this cognition to the changeless alterations in the sex functions due to the modern society. Through Friedl s observations he learned that The male monopoly on runing unites work forces in a system of exchange and gives them power, ( Friedl 161 ) . Womans do non run, I believe, because of four interconnected factors: variableness in the supply of game ; the different accompl ishments required forward hunting and assemblage ; the mutual exclusiveness between transporting loads and hunting ; and the little size of seminomadic forage populations, ( Friedl 161 ) . He besides believes that another ground are non the dominant sex is because it is hard to supply resources when one is pregnant. My Experience: I grew up in school larning about how adult females s functions in society have evolved over clip. I realize that adult females were non and still are non the dominant sex. This is partially because it is still hard for adult females to be in places of power. I one time tried for a place in a spirit organisation at Texas Tech University. It was a male organisation therefore I was declined rank. Even in dating the work forces pay, open the doors for the adult females, and play the dominant function. Comparison: I agree with Friedl in that the dominant sex is the 1 that provides the resources. His research was done by past observations and my experience came from personal experience in such countries as dating, work, and school. The times that I was unable to supply resources I was non dominant, but the times that I did supply the resources I had the upper manus. As we continue to turn as a society than adult females will be in such places of power and than possibly an equality between the sexes can be. My Favorite Article: My favourite article was the article titled White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. This was because it is such a controversial subject that gets a rise out of me and makes my temper flair. I would truly wish to reason my point of position with the anthropologist that wrote the article. It is a subject that is highly controversial and will be about every bit long as there are people and different races. Decision: In decision, I now realize all the surveies and wide scope of subjects that are discussed by cultural anthropologists. They play an of import function in every twenty-four hours activities that I take for granted. Equally long as there are people and at the rate the universe changes there will ever be a demand for cultural anthropologists.