Different Aspects of the American Culture and the American Experience (Essay Sample)

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Analyzing aspects of American culture and the American experience
The term culture may refer to the morals, art, knowledge, law, custom, habits, and the way of doing things that people acquire as a member of a particular society (Moore 5). The culture differs from society to another depending on what they consider being the most appropriate to do and what they term the acceptable behavior. The culture of the community in which the person was born is the major contributor of the kind of behavior that a person adopts and adheres to in life. Therefore, American culture constitutes the customs and traditions of the Unites States (Milton 67). It includes their food, marriage, religion, music, language, what to wear, how to wear it, the definitions of what is right or wrong, how the citizens handle visitors, how they behave when taking their meals, how to treat family members among other several things. This essay aims at analyzing some aspects of the American culture and experience.
The United States is among the largest countries in the world with its population being more than 320 million. The country is also one of the most visited countries in the world with people either going there for further studies, as tourists, visiting for specified periods or as either legal or illegal immigrants. Because of the large population and the high number of people who visit the country, the United States of one of the countries with a diverse culture.
A majority of the Americans have the perception of the culture as characterized by concepts tied to democracy, statesmanship, economics, evolution and other several inconsistencies (Naylor 41). One of the characteristics is that the United States is “the state of the free.” This feature plays a vital role in how the members of certain cultural groups relate with the outsiders. The concept of freedom arises from the beliefs of the people and freedom of individuals which presupposes the American people as tolerant to people with different viewpoints. The country also has a constantly changing culture, which is peaceful and gives preference to the nuclear family, and socioeconomic classes brought about by wealth.
Aspects of the American culture
Diversity
As mentioned earlier, Unites States plays host to a variety of people in different countries and cultures. Many people believe that the country is a mixture of a variety of cultures, and there is no dominant or mainstream culture. Due to this belief, anthropologists have in several cases referred to the United as a “melting point.” (Weaver 3). This term is usually used to mean literally that different people from various parts of the globe come with their cultures to the country, and they are thrown into an American pot. The mixture in the pot undergoes stirring and then heating until the different cultures melt together and produce the current American culture.
The statement is true since the United States is a culturally diverse society. The diversity is brought about by having the country populated by people from different countries. Also, a majority of the American citizens can in some way trace their ancestry or origin to culture from a different country like English, German, Scottish, or Italian. However, there is a dominant culture in America and the immigrants or visitors only become a part of this culture through giving up their differences and adjusting to fit in the mainstream expected behavior and values of the larger society.
Smiling
In the American culture, smiling is one of the aspects that play a very significant role in starting and maintaining social interactions (Wojtaszek and Arabski 174). The citizens believe that a smile is a social mask that everyone is required to wear whenever they come into contact with others whether people one knows or even strangers. The people interpret the smile as being cheerful an element that is indispensable as a self-presentation style in America. Showing a broad smile to others whether familiar or strangers, it helps the person to create a positive self-image in the eyes of the person one is smiling.
Another fascinating feature of this dimension is that according to the American culture, a happy looking person is commonly perceived as one who can be trusted, worthy of being accorded respect, competent and have high chances of likely to be successful. The society also views a happy person as one who is confident enough and in control of the situation at hand.
In addition to having a smiling and self-satisfied face, the societal culture also expects the people to giver self-presentational comments and at the same time positively respond and accept responses to messages of congratulations and compliments together with offering positive responses to formal and informal greetings. Providing positive responses to these messages helps in the creation and presentation of a positive self-image and present the individual as self-satisfied and very successful. The culture perceives such a person as worthy of approval and significant appreciation.
Eye contact
The American culture also perceives the practice of maintaining eye contact when in a conversation with another person as important as having a smile. It plays a significant role in an individual’s self-presentation behavior.
Success and status based on achievement
The American culture also highly values success and status based on performance. Acquiring success in the person’s preferred profession, private life, or in social relations makes a person quite attractive to others and worthy of the consideration of being a role model to other members of the society. The worthy of a person increases depending on the societal perception of how much one can achieve. Also, the respect that an individual receives in the society is directly proportional to the measure of his or her success and achievements. A person’s hard work, competence, and skills are the requirements necessary in the American culture to improve a person’s social status.
In addition to successful people acquiring a good social status, being or appearing to be competent in a certain skill or profession also plays a very critical role in the creation and impact of the positive image of the particular individual in the eyes of the other members of the society. However, despite a person being successful, no one is required to hold a high opinion of him or herself (Wojtaszek and Arabski 174). That is pride. If one is successful, the person does not have to let other know about it. The American culture does not highly value pride that comes as a result of one’s success.
Joining the queue
Joining others that you have found waiting in line is one of the most important aspects of the American culture. The people believe that when you get people already waiting in a line, one should stand behind the last person, and they perceive a person who cuts the line to be rude (St Giles International 3). The common place where people mostly wait in line is when waiting in a bank, for a bus or train, post office of when buying tickets. Even when there seems to be confusion on how many people are there to offer the services they are seeking, the American people expect everyone to stay behind the people he or she found on the line until his turn comes. It is rare to see people get to the front first.
Equality
Americans believe in the idea of holding all people equal. However, this concept is highly violated on a daily basis mostly in the male/ female and interracial relationships. Despite these several violations, the whole American society genuinely believes that all people have the same value, and none is born superior to others (WEC International 01). This ideal of equality is one of the primary causes of the Americans having natural behaviors and relationships. For instance, it is common to find clerks and waiter introduce themselves to their clients on by their first name and mostly do that in friendly and casual manner.
One of the popularly known expressions in America’s state records is that “all peoples are created alike …” (Conlin 139). The culture emphasizes on breaking down the social hierarchies, and the breakdown is the main reason that has led to the preference of informality in all social interactions. Some people who come and start living in the American culture usually find it uncomfortable due to the high degree of informality by the society especially of they come from countries which have perceived difference in the status of people.
The concept of equality also has a significant influence on how the people dress while appearing in public or going for private or public functions. For instance, a well-regarded college advertising it service to the general public may have a photograph of the school’s director on the brochure wearing shorts and an old t-shirt while he is participating in athletics while in the college. An American, who views such a photo of the director, would be very comfortable with the director’s mode of dressing and would perceive the college head as a person who does not think he is better than others and carries himself with the same status as other members of the society.
Openness
The citizens of the United States usually have an open and direct approach when dealing with others. The general assumption for adopting this method is that it is it helps in settling disagreements since it encourages using the means of candid discussion. This aspect of openness encourages the Americans to express plainly their feelings. However, several people are sometimes reluctant to discuss openly i...