Is Social Milieu Changing Cultural Behavior?

 June 3, 2015

 Celebrations and Rituals of other Cultures

When a member of society undergoes a major important change in life, a rite of passage in all cultures is created and followed in the form of ceremonies such as christenings, puberty, rituals, marriages, funerals, and celebrations. Certain practices all help cultural anthropologists to become so familiar with diversity by seeing and studying which ways people of all cultures behave (Miner, 1956), and treat these important life changes. Cultural anthropologists believe that we are shaped by our culture and subcultures.  Today, due to a constant changing milieu, a rite of passage for Americans with a day off from work to witness it, yet the Presidential inauguration comes and goes giving Americans yet another opportunity not to care or even make time to witness it, whereas the Japanese culture for human life has significant rituals that they keep practicing today, even in a rapidly changing milieu.

Presidents Obama's Inauguration

Across the United States, one aspect of our American culture from an Etic generalization is about our own human behavior when it comes to certain events and holidays that are given because of these events. One in particular is our cultural practice with the presidential inauguration. An indifference to a nation’s rite of passage while many celebrate the day off from work and school, the presidential inauguration fails to excite most American people these days. Most are finding it hard to fit it in with our busy schedules and simply miss it with not much care. A Brazilian couple suggested that the orderliness of the ceremony and the citizenry’s insouciance probably spoke volumes about the stability and health of the United States as a whole (Gugliotta, 1997).  The presidential inauguration comes and goes across America catching some in a philosophical mood, while catching others by surprise and giving still others yet another opportunity not to care or even make the time to watch it.  Popular lunch spots with eight or more televisions mounted on the wall with no cable to watch it in downtown New York nor is anyone asking to watch it (Gugliotta, 1997).  A  Washington Post staff writer states, that this is happening everywhere.  Times Square in New York, the place where there is always a gathering for important celebrations, yet the excitement is just gone. People interviewed stating that it didn’t matter because to be interested in it, you have to believe what these presidents are saying. The Washington Post interviewed Ted Ray who was a server at Randolphs Bar and Grill. He stated that it was a usual day for him as he was waiting for the lunch crowd to arrive. He stated that even though it was on, he did not believe what they were saying and would rather be watching, ‘The Simpsons’ like usual. Airs Georgiadis spend his lunch break standing in snow flurries so could read the text of the presidential inauguration as it flashed across the television screen that were looming above the streets, and he found his attention going more towards his phone.   There were not many other people joining him outside in the snow flurries either.  He felt that the excitement is just not there anymore. Anyka Flores, who is a 19 year sophomore and theater student said, “Yes I am here, but I did not come to watch it. It’s just another day in my opinion.” In the warmer climate of downtown Miami Florida, the inauguration was a silent talking head on the Hard Rock’s four televisions, with thudding rock music drowning out his words. The two hair dressers noted that Miami is such a multicultural place that it was no surprise that few cared about the inauguration (Gugliotta, 1997). Alan Engel, the manager of a Hooters, another bayside bar totally agreed when interviewed. During the inaugural address the nation listens for a moment as one people to the words of the man they have chosen for the highest office in the land but then finds little merit in what he is saying and while everyone recognizes it, very few praise it (Campbell & Jamieson, 1985).  

As Miner stated in his article that most cultures exhibit a particular configuration or style and each may have a single value or pattern of perceiving their world often leaving their stamp on several institutions in society (Miner, 1956). From an Emic perspective within the Japanese culture about death and afterlife has not changed much over the years even throughout the changes in milieu. To Japanese people, these rituals have a very meaningful account but portrays a culture and meanings as only the insider understand it (Crapo, 2013).  The supreme and final crisis of life is how an eminent anthropologist describes death, while the American culture treats death as a crisis with a sense of finality and will provide little guidance for it, whereas the Japanese culture handles it with a sequence of culturally prescribed milestone birthdays that offer a map for the progression of old age that will eventually terminate in death. With this emic perspective within this Japanese culture about death and afterlife, the Japanese proclaim where one came from and where one will go, as well as that death is not the ultimate end of a human life, and believe the deceased continue on in a survivor’s lives. The Japanese prescribe the rites of passage from age 60 to 111. The average life span is 80 years for men and 86 for Japanese women. The auspicious birthdays that are celebrated at 60, 70, 80, 90, 99, 100, 108, and 111 are milestone birthdays and are widely recognized even today in Japan (Tsuji, 2011).  They provide occasions for rejoicing and reflecting on the older generations long lives and different stages of old age. Hence, why these special birthdays are regarded as culturally guided rites of passage to death. Japanese also prescribe these rites of passage even after one’s death in a tradition of worship. The local priest from the family temple comes four times a month to chant and sutra on the monthly death anniversaries of grandparents, aunts, uncles and anyone else who has passed. On occasion, visits to the family grave were during equinoxes and mid-summer. This kept the dead alive and in the world of the living.   In short, their mortuary rituals are rituals of continuity. Culturally prescribed remembrances of the dead also serve as a remedy for coping with the loss of their loved ones where they mourn together and share memories, and also mark the passage of time which help structure the survivors’ lives. The close connection between the living and the dead also eases the passage to death for them.   Almost all Japanese homes for example, have family altars to honor the spirits of their ancestors. Every morning the elders would offer tea, flowers, and freshly cooked rice at the family altar to honor these spirits and it was also customary to offer sweets, snacks and fruit before consumption (Tsuji, 2011). While mortuary rituals in the Japanese culture still where significant, changes and diversifications continue, professionalization and commercialization of these rituals help the Japanese keep practicing them in a rapidly changing milieu. The impacts of social change on mortuary rituals is changing due to marriage, divorce, and traditional three generation families are diminishing in numbers. Nuclear families are on the decline, and also the birthrate is at an alarmingly all-time low. This all contributes to changes in their rituals, however they still believe strongly in them despite what milieu is taking place with the help of their family and professionals in their area. Japanese bookstores actually sell many how-to books on their mortuary rituals. The Japanese nationally circulated newspapers also place half-page advertisements for graves (Tsuji, 2011).

The Presidential inaugural address is a discourse whose significance all recognize although, fewer and fewer people are praising these days as the milieu is changing and our interest in what our president has to say is diminishing, however the Japanese culture continues to thrive in this fast paced milieu finding ways to keep their significant rituals alive and active even through all the changes around them. Cultural anthropologist who study American and Japanese cultures become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which people behave, that we have given them new light by the changing world around us. As Minor states in closing,
“looking from far and above, from our places of safety in a developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudity and irrelevance of magic, rituals, and beliefs. Without its power and guidance early man could not have mastered his practical difficulties as he has done, nor could man have advanced to the higher stages of civilization without these beliefs (Miner, 1956)”.

References

Campbell, K & Jamieson, K. (1985). The Center for the Study of the Presidency. Priorities and

            Strategies in Foreign Policy. Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 15. No.2. 394-411.

Crapo, R. H. (2013). Cultural anthropology [Electronic version]. Retrieved from

            https://content.ashford.edu/

Gugliotta, G. (1997, Jan 21). Across U.S. an indifference to nation’s rite of passage; Washington

spectacle fails to excite interest of many celebrating a day off from work. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/408297918?accountid=32521

Miner, H. (1956). Body ritual among the Nacireme. American Anthropologist, 58(3) 503-507.

            Retrieved from https://www.msu.edu/-jdowell/miner.html

Tsuji, Y. (2011). Rites of Passage to Death and Afterlife in Japan. Generations, 35(3), 28-33.

            Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database