The Theories of Culture - PETA - Essay Example

The Theories of Culture - PETA What is culture? The world is a cultural stage, holding diverse groups of people that acquire and share, as members of a society, common activities, interests, structures, knowledge, beliefs, morals, laws, customs and habits. Every country has its own culture, one that sets a country apart from other countries, and one that gives meaning to people’s life experiences and to how people see the world they live. We are all product of our own culture. Our actions, our thinking, our perceptions of the world and of things around us, our own habits and traditions are culturally-bounded. From the moment we were born, until the time of our death, culture is the invisible cloak that gives meaning to our world and gives us a constant self-identity. We are the microcosm of the culture that shaped and is shaping our lives. Although we exhibit our own culture everyday through our actions and thinking, it is hard to talk about or explain it because it already seem second-nature to us. For example, Americans celebrate Independence Day to commemorate the end of war and oppression, celebrate Thanksgiving with roasted turkey, and celebrate Halloween with kids going door to door for the “trick or treat” – all these are part of the American tradition. Americans are also pro-democracy, and will go to a great extent to fight against tyranny. These traditions and beliefs all seem very natural to an average American that most go about them without question or resistance. They are just the way they are, and they represent the status quo. Our culture defines and dominates us as result of a lifetime of socialization through many cultural institutions (Pearce, 1999). Socialization & Toys Socialization is important for a culture to survive, so it can pass itself from one generation to the next generation. A culture needs to perpetuate itself and preserve the society and its identity, and it does this by conditioning its members that the culture is natural, normal, good and in their best interests (Pearce, 1999). Children are socialized by their parents or caretakers to behave in a way that is pleasing and socially acceptable. At an early age, they are subjected to authority, to control, to conformity, according to society’s beliefs and practices. In the same principle, teenagers follow the same socialization process but modelling from friends and peer groups rather than from parents. Women too have been socialized to act, think and feel as second-class citizens by the generally paternalistic society, although the advent of feminism is slowly changing this. Lastly, poor people and the ethnic minorities have also been socialized to feel and believe that they are economically and culturally inferior compared to the dominant educated, affluent majority. In our lifetime, we are exposed to many different cultural institutions such as schools, churches, the media, the arts, and others. These institutions shape the way we think and the way we communicate. We conform to social conventions that were thought to us by these institutions. Conventions can be any commonly agreed forms of behavior, dress, art, literature or film, etc (Pearce, 1999). For instance, we label a girl who wears a miniskirt, a cleavage-revealing top, high heels and full make up, as a slut. We do so because there is a common understanding in our society about how a slut should dress, and we agree to that understanding. Since childhood we have been conditioned to understand how the world of adults is like. Parents give their children toys that actually are smaller versions of adult objects such as playhouses, dolls, cars, kitchen utensils, appliances, toy guns and many more. All these toys, with the exception of educational toys, mean something and they all present to the child how modern adult life is played (Barthes, 1954). The toys are conditioning and preparing children to accept adult life, and not merely entertaining them. For instance, girls are given dolls and playhouses to play with, which is in fact a way of preparing girls for their future roles as house-keepers and mothers (Barthes, 1954). Boys are given cars, war machines, and toy guns to “educate” them about dominance and war. Toys represent things the adult does not find unusual: war, bureaucracy, ugliness, etc. (Barthes, 1954). These are only some examples yet these are also the most common and widespread. Every society has it. Perhaps teaching gender roles is culture’s way of propagating itself; of making sure it survives. By supplying members (children) ready-made specific roles, these children grow up all accustomed to the roles, and they use those roles, and they live their lives according to it. Even the material from which toys are made – plastics and metals – communicates a message of use and not of pleasure (Barthes, 1954). Children are reduced as mere users and not creators. They cannot be creators because they don’t see any value in creating; there is already a world invented for them. This is a way of upholding society’s conventions. Conventions, Socialization and Internalization Socialization is not an end to itself; it moves as a part of a continuum. At first, we follow society’s conventions and behave in certain ways by law and fear of punishment (children to parents, students to teachers, citizens to law implementers) (Pearce, 1999). Then the fear transcends into socialization and we learn to live with these conventions at will, motivated by the desire to be good and to please our parents, teachers or other authorities and the society as a whole. Then, socialization gets deeply rooted into our being and we act the way society expects us to, not out of fear or desire to please, but because we’ve internalized society’s values and we believe in its goodness and righteousness for us and for others. Internalizing the cultural values is tantamount to seeing those values as our own. This systemic approach to preserving culture is important for the culture to thrive. The only way it can do that is by preserving its values and making sure that its members adhere to them (Pearce, 1999). Culture and Sub culture In a culture, many sub cultures exist. In fact, a person may belong to different sub-cultures simultaneously. For instance, a university student may also be part of the varsity swimming team, part of a student organization, a Christian, an animal rights activist and may be a part of a gay community. In a sub culture members also conform to specific and distinctive styles (include fashions, mannerisms), symbols and language. Sub-cultures exist because it fulfils a role to society by contributing to the beliefs, philosophy, behavior, artistic expression, social interaction and goals of its members. Participation in the sub-culture is voluntary and is not based on non-voluntary conditions such as geography (Filipino, Spanish); ethnicity (black, Mayan); economic status ("the poor", "middle-class"); or biology (senior citizens, children, sickly, healthy, male, female, sexual orientation). It is also more than a function of occupation since accountants, doctors, or journalists can belong to a particular sub culture at any time. People participate in specific sub cultures to find meaning and to understand the world around them. The World of Wrestling Wrestling is a sub-culture because it has its own traditions, customs and habits, and people who watch wrestling are conforming to such culture. A lot of people may think that wrestling is a sport, but it is not. It is a spectacle where the audience sees suffering, injustice, powerlessness and defeat. Even the outcome of the contest is rigged. Yet audience could care less about the truthfulness of the result because they completely abandon themselves to the spectacle, since in wrestling, what matters is not what it thinks but what it sees (Barthes, 1984). The public knows the difference between wrestling and boxing. Boxing is a sport where one can bet on the outcome of the match by observing who, between the players excels the most. The logical, scientific conclusion of a boxing game is the player who has most points, wins. In wrestling, however, it is a show, a sum of spectacles rather than of scores. Wrestling demands an immediate reading of the juxtaposed meaning, so there is no need to connect them. Each moment of passion stands alone, without ever extending to the crowning moment of a result (Barthes, 1984). Wrestlers are like actors performing in a theatre. Inside the ring, players act out what is expected of them. Their sole object in the show is to entertain and not to win. Even in time of defeat, the wrestler doesn’t see it as disgusting. For him, it’s an opportune moment to completely captivate the audience with one’s suffering; it’s never a shame to cry and to lose. Tragedy is its appeal. Wrestling is the modern version of classical drama performed in theatre. Wrestling is a drama fraught with grandiloquence. Like in a show, wrestlers are assigned roles, and they live up those roles excessively. The audience easily sees a wrestlers’ character in the way he looks and acts on stage. From the body of the wrestler, the audience can tell right away how the match will be like, because always, a wrestler perfectly corresponds to the essential viscosity of his personage. For instance, Thauvin is a fifty years old wrestler with a hideously obese and sagging body. His presence on stage alone gives the audience a sense of baseness and ugliness of his character. Looking at Thauvin, one can be sure that his actions will lead to treacheries, cruelties and acts of cowardice. Apart from the physical and the obvious, wrestlers also exchange snide comments in episodic yet opportune moment. Their grand display of gestures, attitudes and mimicry further present the absolute clarity of the drama, since one must always understand everything on the spot (Barthes, 1984). It could be argued then that wrestling is a fake match. The public display of passion and great spectacle of suffering, defeat and justice is just that, a display. What you see in wrestling, is what you get. There is no fairness in the match, either, since evil is the natural climate of wrestling. Only one out of five wrestling matches is fair. The orgy of evil alone makes good wrestling (Barthes, 1984). This is the culture of the match. Experienced wrestlers will give only what the viewers want to see, and expect to see. They will conform to those expectations and excessively demonstrate them, sometimes to a fault. Foul play is an example of an excessive display of performance. Foul plays can consist of treacherous kicks from behind and continuously beating up an obviously defeated opponent. Disgusting or irritating the fight may be, it never disappoints because the players act out their roles completely. Wrestling exists in the absolute sense of good and evil, black and white. There is no gray area in wrestling, only the portrayal of idealism. It ceremoniously offers the public euphoria and temporary escape from life’s uncertainties and everyday injustice. It can be argued then that wrestlers, who embody tragic or comic "stock" personas to please their fans, through their exaggerated gestures, dramatic portrayal between good and evil conflicts, are like god. Even for just a few moments, wrestlers provide an avenue for the public to have a cathartic experience, through which life’s disappointments can find release and the complexity of modern existence go back to the old simple ways. The World of PETA PETA or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is a non-profit organization based in Virginia, United States, that fight for animal rights. It has more than 1.8 million members and supporters, and can be considered the largest organization of its kind in the world. The organization focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry. PETA also work on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of beavers, birds and other "pests," and the abuse of backyard dogs. PETA works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns (Baker, 2008). Fighting for animals could be the hardest thing to do because a lot of people do not believe in the cause. Many see animals as objects to be used and exploited to advance science and technology (like laboratory animals), provide food for the many (farm animals) and even to entertain the majority (circus/entertainment animals). Basically, people use animals for profit. And where money is at stake, it’s hard to instil changes or implement the new paradigm shift. To join a group such as PETA requires courage, an innovative mind and a big heart for animals. One has to want to do more than just help a certain number of animals at an animal shelter by cleaning their cages, walking dogs, and playing with cats. One has to want to reach out to people to educate them on a larger scale: to protect animals and promote animal rights. One has to embrace the meaning of “respect for animals” in a rather unconventional way such as being vegetarian, boycotting clothing brands that manufacture fur clothing, handing out leaflets outside KFC or the Manila Zoo, and believing that animals should live for themselves and not for humans (Regodon, 2008). On the monetary standard, working for PETA would also entail working long hours for small pay. One has to be passionate, smart, and sophisticated because animals can’t afford to have dead weight working for them. PETA and its affiliates have very little money to work with, so the staff and volunteers have to get the most bang for their buck (Baker, 2008). PETA’s purpose is to stop animal suffering, and it uses all available opportunities to reach millions of people with powerful messages, so called “shocking tactics.” People do pay more attention to PETA’s more provocative actions, and since public attention is extremely important in furthering the group, PETA has used tactics—like naked marches and colorful ad campaigns—that some people find outrageous or even “rude,” but it does do its job of grabbing people’s attention and even shocking them, thus initiating discussion, debate, questioning of the status quo, and, of course, action. The situation is critical for billions of animals, and PETA’s goal is to make the public think about the issues. Getting the animal rights message to the public is not always easy and straightforward. Unlike PETA’s opposition, which is mostly composed of wealthy industries and corporations, PETA must rely on getting free “advertising” through media coverage. Outrageous things have to be done to get the word out about animal abuse, because the media usually do not consider the facts alone “interesting” enough to cover. Colorful and controversial gimmicks, on the other hand—like activists’ stripping to “bare skin rather than wear skin”—consistently grab headlines, thereby bringing the animal rights message to audiences around the country and, often, the world. Experience has taught PETA that provocative and controversial campaigns make the difference between keeping important yet depressing subjects invisible and having them be widely seen. The alternative is to be ignored in the torrent of tabloid-style stories that dominate the popular media (Regodon, 2008). It comes down to shock tactics and attention-grabbing campaigns to get the message across because sitting and talking alone about the issues do not count anymore in this time of MTV and sound bite news. Facts are simply not enough. Nothing is worse for a social movement than to be unheard. The reality is that doing semi-naked protests or involving celebrities in the campaign can direct millions of people to it and educate them about animals’ suffering (Baker, 2008). The world now is full of injustices and anarchy but the fact remains that anyone can make a difference if one would want to. People complain about how terrible the world is, but the fact is that if people aren’t part of the solution, they’re part of the problem because they aren’t doing anything to fix the problem. One only has to want to help and one can help. In the cause against animal cruelty, one has to understand that people and animals share the same intrinsic desires—to feel joy and not be hurt. It is no more than appalling to see people eat dogs, than it is to see people consume pigs and fish. There’s no difference between the said animals other than what these animals look like, which is akin to prejudice of the worst kind (Regodon, 2008). The very heart of the ethic that underlies and informs all of PETA’s actions is the right of all beings—human and nonhuman alike—to be secure from violation and harm. In today’s world of virtually unlimited choices, continued exploitation of animals is simply unacceptable. Humans can eat better, educate themselves better, clothe themselves better, and entertain themselves better without torturing and killing animals. Human have the power to spare animals excruciating pain by making better choices about the food they eat, the things they buy, and the activities they support (Regodon, 2008). Animals are simply at the mercy of humans, and we humans, have to be merciful. PETA Interview with Rochelle Regodon, PETA Asia Pacific Project Coordinator Fighting for animals could be the hardest thing to do because a lot of people do not believe in the cause. Many see animals as objects to be used and exploited to advance science and technology (like laboratory animals), provide food for the many (farm animals) and even to entertain the majority (circus/entertainment animals). Basically, people use animals for profit. And where money is at stake, it’s hard to instil changes or implement the new paradigm shift. To join a group such as PETA requires courage, an innovative mind and a big heart for animals. One has to want to do more than just help a certain number of animals at an animal shelter by cleaning their cages, walking dogs, and playing with cats. One has to want to reach out to people to educate them on a larger scale: to protect animals and promote animal rights. One has to embrace the meaning of “respect for animals” in a rather unconventional way such as being vegetarian, boycotting clothing brands that manufacture fur clothing, handing out leaflets outside KFC or the Manila Zoo, and believing that animals should live for themselves and not for humans. The world now is full of injustices and anarchy but the fact remains that anyone can make a difference if one would want to. People complain about how terrible the world is, but the fact is that if people aren’t part of the solution, they’re part of the problem because they aren’t doing anything to fix the problem. One only has to want to help and one can help. In the cause against animal cruelty, one has to understand that people and animals share the same intrinsic desires—to feel joy and not be hurt. It is no more than appalling to see people eat dogs, than it is to see people consume pigs and fish. There’s no difference between the said animals other than what these animals look like, which is akin to prejudice of the worst kind. The very heart of the ethic that underlies and informs all of PETA’s actions is the right of all beings—human and nonhuman alike—to be secure from violation and harm. In today’s world of virtually unlimited choices, continued exploitation of animals is simply unacceptable. Humans can eat better, educate themselves better, clothe themselves better, and entertain themselves better without torturing and killing animals. Human have the power to spare animals excruciating pain by making better choices about the food they eat, the things they buy, and the activities they support. PETA Interview with John Baker, PETA Asia Pacific Director PETA or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is a non-profit organization based in Virginia, United States, that fight for animal rights. It has more than 1.8 million members and supporters, and can be considered the largest organization of its kind in the world. The organization focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry. PETA also work on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of beavers, birds and other "pests," and the abuse of backyard dogs. PETA works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns. To join an organization like PETA requires passion and love for animals. On the monetary standard, working for PETA entails working long hours for small pay. One has to be passionate, smart, and sophisticated because animals can’t afford to have dead weight working for them. PETA and its affiliates have very little money to work with, so the staff and volunteers have to get the most bang for their buck. Time has come that shock tactics and attention-grabbing campaigns are needed to get the message across because sitting and talking alone about the issues do not count anymore in this time of MTV and sound bite news. Facts are simply not enough. Nothing is worse for a social movement than to be unheard. The reality is that doing semi-naked protests or involving celebrities in the campaign can direct millions of people to it and educate them about animals’ suffering. Even members do not anymore just clean cages or feed stray dogs and cats but rather they go undercover—a tactic which PETA and its affiliates have spearheaded—by going into labs and exposing things that people have no idea are happening; going into industrial farms and showing people why they should go vegetarian (because of the animals’ immense suffering); and targeting companies that care more about money than animal rights. A Pleasing Cultural Ritual In this complex world, people oftentimes find ways to make sense of it and understand it in a way that is pleasing to them. People who watch wrestling find in it a way of escape from the unintelligible presentation of life – its injustices that make no sense, suffering that is somehow unfair and defeat that seem to diminish the very core of life, which is hope. In wrestling they see the good and evil in equal footing, comprehensible and simple to understand. The fact that membership to sub cultures are voluntary gives people the power to choose for themselves, what they want for themselves. Conversely, they join sub cultures that make the most sense to them, that please them. PETA is one such example. It provides its members a way to channel their frustrations about cruelties and injustices to animals (and in effect, to Mother Nature) by constructing for them an ethical understanding of the world – humans and non-humans have the right to live in this world and even animals have the right to “self-determination.” As an organization that needs to thrive, PETA uses the same ways that cultures use to propagate. It socializes its members with its beliefs, customs and traditions (way of doing things), and even changes the habits of its members. Members do not anymore just clean cages or feed stray dogs and cats but rather they go undercover—a tactic which PETA and its affiliates have spearheaded—by going into labs and exposing things that people have no idea are happening; going into industrial farms and showing people why they should go vegetarian (because of the animals’ immense suffering); and targeting companies that care more about money than animal rights (Baker, 2008). Because PETA members are now socialized on PETA’s core beliefs most of them even change their way of life by going vegetarian and using only clothing that were not made out of animals. PETA’s morals are now integrated in its members’ life. Members now see the world as black and white, good and evil. They are part of the good and this goodness in what they do, somehow help them define who they are. The evil that they deal with are the people criticizing their beliefs and stand on animals, businesses that they contend against in fighting for animals, even people who are put off with their attention-grabbing tactics such as naked protests and releasing photos of animals in inhumane situations. Despite this, they know and believe that they are making a difference in the lives of animals, they stay motivated and optimistic on the end result. There is pride in what they do; it has become a way of life. Every single thing – no matter how seemingly unimportant – matters: when they turn someone to be vegetarian, when they walk a dog that has been chained most of the time, when they answer an e-mail from someone interested in helping animals, even when they euthanize animals. Euthanasia is a reality of the overpopulation of animals today. It’s not about the quantity of life—it’s about the quality of life. They have seen animals that have burned or frozen to death, died from all kinds of diseases, and had alarming medical conditions go untreated. Many neglected animals live in back yards, spending years on chains alone with no stimulation and with no protection from the elements. One of the best things someone can do in such situations is to step up and to end their suffering (Regodon, 2008). Indeed, members have embraced the reality that nothing in life is fair but someone has to make the right decisions. We are all product of our culture and of the sub-cultures we get involved with. Culture may be the case of an involuntary membership yet we turn that around when we become “cultured” to the ways and customs of our chosen sub cultures. We choose sub cultures based on interest or beliefs that we have developed from years of socialization with our cultural institutions because in our lifetime, we continuously search for meaning and we seek to understand our purpose in this world. Works Cited Baker, Jason. "Interview Questions for PETA Volunteers." E-mail to the author. 22 March. 2008 Barthes, Roland. “Toys.” Mythologies. Trans. Annette Lavers. Hill and Wang: New York, 1954. 53-54. Barthes, Roland. “World of Wrestling.” Mythologies. Trans. Annette Lavers. Hill and Wang: New York, 1984. Ivan Davidson Kalmar’s Faculty Webpage. Scott Atkins, ed. September, 1995. University of Toronto. 15 May. 2007 Pearce, Richard. “Multicultural Web.” Wheaton. 1999. Wheaton College Norton, Massachusetts. 5 February. 2005 Regodon, Rochelle. "Interview Questions for PETA Volunteers." E-mail to the author. 22 March, 2008. Read More