Attitudes 5culture. We become aware very early in life that there are a great
many activities which are different yet socially acceptable, but
there are other actions we dare not take. Even in America where
individualism is a cherished ideal and many people express
themselves in many different ways, that expression, generally, is
always within some very specific limits.
For example, American women adorn themselves with neck
laces, earrings, makeup, hairstyles, all of which vary in style and
color. The differences in taste between individuals vary greatly,
and one person’s extreme is another’s commonplace. However,
you can be assured that the cashier at the grocery store or the
clerk at the mall will not be wearing a bone through her nose.
While other societies may permit, even encourage, bones through
the nose, this society says an emphatic no! The culture limits the
mode of behavior by dictating the limits of permissible dress
through the use of sanctions. Wear a bone through your nose and
you will find a job hard to come by. You will also find yourself
the object of unkind remarks and derisive comments about your
appearance. Ostracism and ridicule will soon convince you of
the “error” of your ways. The culture will “teach” you right from
wrong in the matter of appearance and limit your actions.
Men are in one sense even more limited in dress. The code of
dress for the American businessman is rigid. Early some morn
ing spend the rush hour at Grand Central Station in New York
City and you will be treated to a lesson in cultural motivation.
The men leaving the trains, carrying briefcases, will be uni
formly similar in appearance. Blue and grey will be the dominant
color of their suits, their ties will be a subdued stripe or and even
more subdued paisley. Shoes will be either wingtips or plain with
tassels, and hair length will demonstrate the wearer’s close
relationship with his barber. Employment, promotion, success
with clients and one’s colleagues require a particular uniform—
and serious departures from the standard spell failure.
Modes of dress and appearance are simple examples of the
force of culture. The force of culture permeates every aspect of
our daily lives: art, literature, entertainment, food, music, car
styles, architecture, manners, language, are all shaped in some
part by the society of which we are a part. Whether or not the
standards of a culture are good or bad, right or wrong, better or
worse than another culture is not the issue; the fact is that we are