What Culture and Diversity Mean to my Family and Friends

            I have been given the assignment to talk to at least three of my family members and friends about their definitions of culture and diversity. I actually talked to six people of diverse ages, genders, sexual orientations, religious backgrounds and ethnicities. All of these people had some aspect that differentiated their specific cultures from mine.

            My mother, who is 86 years old, used the words “elite” and “refined” when she heard the word culture. She thinks of culture in terms of “being cultured or well-bred”. My husband’s response to the word culture was “educated”, because those that are well educated understand the more sophisticated things in life. Other younger members of the group responded with terms such as: customs, trends, ideals, beliefs, traditions, and lifestyle. When it came to the responses for diversity, all of the people responded with ideas that centered on the idea that people are different. One member of the group specifically mentioned race, and several people talked about accepting others for whom and what they are. My husband’s response to this question was “a willingness to adapt” to different things and different people.

            Most of the answers that they gave were things that I have studied about during this course and in other work that I have done, with the exception of three answers. My mother was raised in a time when the word culture held a different meaning. My husband was raised in a different socio-economic culture than I was, and he equates culture to intelligence because those who are ignorant are not cultured. He is also unfamiliar with the term “culture” as it is used today. When we talked about diversity he explained that part of understanding diversity is the willingness to try and see things from another’s point of view. I think this answer may be a good example of something that we have studied because it address seeing things from another’s point of view, which is the key to making diversity successful.

 

            It was very interesting sitting with this group of my family and friends and realizing that, even among those people that I know very well, there is a variety of thoughts on these two topics. Although I understand my mother’s and husband’s different definitions of culture, I realize that the last time both one of them was in school this was the definition, and it has since expanded. I enjoyed the exercise but I think that I will stick to the thinking that is a little more up to date! J