What is American Culture?


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What exactly is culture? How does one go about defining characteristics of a country as vast as the United States? It was hard at first to come up with a defining answer. Since there are so many people with different backgrounds, it is hard to pinpoint what American culture is. If the question was "what is an example of Southern culture?", the first thing that comes to mind is Southern hospitality. I've come to realize that's the beauty of American culture. It's not one set thing. It's a bunch of values from different groups of people that becomes shared over time.  America is full of people with different ideals and morals. American culture is grouping with people to share said ideas.To me, American Culture is adaptability. American culture is more like a salad bowl than a melting pot. We do not 'melt' as one. There is individuality throughout America and that in itself is a part of our culture.  We all contribute different ideas that add to the American culture and without those ideas, the 'salad' becomes bland.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 24, 2018 at 9:28 AM

    I've noticed that a lot of people and articles describe America as a melting pot and you're right, the metaphor isn't entirely accurate. I agree with how you say it's more like a salad bowl because yes, we all share our cultures and ideas but we still keep different identities from our old cultures while still identifying as American. If we were truly a melting bowl, that would mean that everything would be a perfect homogeneous mixture of cultures but that usually isn't the case. But, it's okay. That's what makes America unique.

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  2. Julie Quinn TACMarch 25, 2018 at 8:05 AM

    Your post is interesting--I grew up in the South, but was never "of the South" being that my family was military and we still moved around a lot. I noticed that there really was no such thing as Southern hospitality. From my anecdotal experience, people were nice to another's face, but the barbed "sotto voce" commentary was quite brutal. Isn't it intriguing when one's cultural narrative runs counter to historical convention.
    I've heard of the "salad bowl vs. melting pot" analogy as well. I think that does reflect in the idea that different cultures can still retain their identify without having to melt away.
    Keep going!

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  3. Troy LibbyMarch 25, 2018 at 5:37 PM

    It's funny you talk about the south as Virginia is technically the south. We don't recognize it as the south, and I would categorize it as the middle, but historically it is the south. I really liked your analogy of the "salad bowl." I actually had not heard that one before. I have heard melting pot (which I have also constantly heard that being disproved) and I have heard mosaic, but I like the salad bowl. Everyone tossed together. Also, nice use of a food related adjective with the word "bland." Overall though, I really liked you blog post. Great work!

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