Culture – the way of life of a group of people passed down from one generation to the next through learning
Enculturation – learning our native culture(s) in childhood
Acculturation – adapting to another culture
Culture shock – the stress associated with acculturation

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

On stuff people like

So, I know I'm a little late to get on the "Stuff White People Like" etc. bandwagon (speaking of which - it really should be called "Stuff Yuppies Like" but whatev) - but I have to admit I'm really fascinated by those sites (I think my favorite might be Stuff Korean Moms Like). There's a fine, fine line between culturally useful generalization and negative stereotyping, and in a lot of ways these sites are really toeing the line. Nevertheless, I think identifying artifacts and customs that are typical of a certain group can be a useful (and entertaining!) window into that culture or subculture's norms and values.
If you scroll down this page, the right-hand sidebar now features a blog roll dedicated to Stuff People Like - if there are other similar sites out there that I'm missing, please send them my way!

As an aside - thanks for the mention, DCBlog!

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