CULTURE AND SOCIALIZATION: ANALYSIS OF A CARTOON IMAGE (Essay Sample)

CULTURE AND SOCIALIZATION: ANALYSIS OF A CARTOON IMAGE Student Name Institutional Affiliation Instructor Name Course Code and Name Date of Submission Culture and Socialization: Analysis of a Cartoon Image The cartoon image provided is a depiction of how culture and socialization influence the perceptions that an individual may have about another culture. While the two women depicted in the cartoon hold a common belief that male-domination influences women’s dress code, the differences in their cultures cause each woman to view the other culture as having wrong cultural values. Cultural relativism helps people to judge another culture based on its cultural values or norms (Conerly, Holmes and Tamang, 2021, 70). In the cartoon image, culture, socialization, gender socialization, and religion cause the two women to have different perceptions of the each other’s culture, while failing to depict cultural relativism. Causes of Disagreement between the Two Women First, ethnocentrism causes the two women to have different opinions. Ethnocentrism refers to situations when individuals judge values, beliefs, and norms of another culture based on their own cultural values, norms, and beliefs (Conerly et al., 2021, 69). The other culture is viewed as wrong if it does not meet the cultural norms held by the individual. Ethnocentrism causes each woman to view the dress code of the other as wrong due to the differences in their cultures. Second, socialization possibly causes disagreement as it influences what is considered as the acceptable dress code. Socialization causes people in any particular culture to learn the acceptable values, norms, beliefs, mores, and folkways or societal expectations (Conerly et al., 2021, 121). Socialization determines the acceptable dress code. For instance, one woman finds it socially acceptable to wear a niqab covering all her body parts except her eyes but despises the dress code of the other culture in which the woman exposes most of her body parts. Third, gender socialization is another factor possibly causing the difference in opinion between the two women. According to Gilligan’s theory, gender socialization involves teaching the societal expectations of each gender thus this influences the values, behaviors, and beliefs held by individuals of a particular gender in any given culture (Conerly et al., 2021, 123). Gender socialization may have influenced the dress code of both women. In the cartoon, both women seem to believe that the other woman comes from a society whereby gender expectations have been reinforced through cruel male dominance. For the woman wearing glasses, her dress code may have been influenced by socialization through factors such as peer groups, work, family, or mass media (Conerly et al., 2021, pp.128-135). The woman wearing niqab may be wearing it due to reasons such as social expectations or religion that determine acceptable dress code for each gender. Lastly, religion may also have caused the difference in opinions of the two women. Religions influence socialization by dictating certain gender norms or values or roles shared by women or men of a particular society (Conerly et al., 2021, pp.131-132). In the cartoon, there is an image of a woman wearing a niqab covering all her body parts except her eyes. This dress code is common amongst Muslims and is dictated by religion. As such, the dress code of the woman wearing a niqab is not necessarily due to male dominance in the society. Therefore, the other woman wearing glasses may be wrong to think that the other woman comes from a cruel male-dominated society. While the two women are judgmental of each other’s culture and the cause of the values or norms, this ...