dominant culture
{{Short description|Sociological term for a cultural phenomenon}}
{{see also|Cultural homogenization}}
{{globalize|date=April 2018}}
A dominant culture is a cultural practice that is dominant within a particular political, social or economic entity, in which multiple cultures co-exist. It may refer to a language, religion or ritual practices, social value and/or social custom. These features are often a norm for an entire society. An individual achieves dominance by being perceived as belonging to that majority culture which has a significant presence in institutions relating to communication, education, artistic expression, law, government and business.{{cite journal |last1=Lears |first1=T. J. Jackson |title=The Concept of Cultural Hegemony: Problems and Possibilities |journal=The American Historical Review |date=1985 |volume=90 |issue=3 |pages=567–593 |doi=10.2307/1860957 |jstor=1860957 }} The concept of "dominant culture" is generally used in academic discourse in fields such as communication, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies.{{cite book|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-dominantculture.html|title= A Dictionary of Sociology | year=1998|author=Gordon Marshall|publisher=Oxford University Press}}
In a society, culture is established and directed by the individuals with most power (hegemony).{{Cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AcwFntawOcC&q=The+practice+of+cultural+studies&pg=PP2|title=The Practice of Cultural Studies|last2=Chambers|first2=Deborah|last3=Raghuram|first3=Parvati|last4=Tincknell|first4=Estella|date=2004-04-14|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-1-84860-514-5|language=en}} In a culture, a group of people that have the ability to hold power over social institutions and influence the rest of the society's beliefs and actions is considered dominant. A dominant culture is established in a society by a group of individuals that direct the ruling ideas, values, and beliefs that become the dominant worldview of a society. Individuals from the dominant culture spread their dominant ideologies through institutions such as education, religion, and politics. A dominant culture makes use of media and laws to spread their ideologies as well.{{cite web|title=Cultural Hegemony – What exactly has construct us?|url=https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/imanigarcia/?page_id=46|access-date=2021-07-13|language=en-US}} Furthermore, a dominant culture can be promoted deliberately and by the suppression of minority cultures or subcultures.
The culture that is dominant within a particular geopolitical entity can change over time in response to internal or external factors, but one is usually very resilient. Antonio Gramsci has written that the masses are in the grip of a monolithic ruling class.{{Cn|date=May 2024}} However, the overall picture that Gramsci provides is not a static, closed system of ruling-class domination. Rather, he states that a society is in constant process, where the creation of counter-hegemonies remains a live option.
The concept of a dominant culture, or the concept of hegemony, originated in Ancient Greece. Although Vladimir Lenin, a politician and a political theorist, defined the concept as “Domination,” Gramsci redefined it as “An intellectual and moral leadership directed by contradictory political and, cultural agents and organizations.”{{cite quote}} He called these organizations “organic and traditional intellectuals” which represented the interest of the working class.{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.12084-7 |chapter=Hegemony: Anthropological Aspects |title=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |date=2001 |last1=Kurtz |first1=Donald V. |pages=747–749 |isbn=978-0-08-097087-5 }}
Examples of dominant cultures
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=United States=
In the United States, for example, a distinction is often made between the indigenous culture of Native Americans, and a dominant culture that may be described as "WASP", "Anglo", "white", "middle class", and so on. Some Native Americans are seen as being part of the culture of their own tribe, community, or family, while simultaneously participating in the dominant culture of America as a whole.{{cite journal|date=May 1974 |title=The Native American in Juvenile Fiction: Teacher Perception of Stereotypes |url=http://jaie.asu.edu/v13/V13S2tea.html |journal=Journal of American Indian Education |volume=13 |issue=2 |author=Maria Falkenhagen and Inga K. Kelly |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120232414/http://jaie.asu.edu/v13/V13S2tea.html |archive-date=2015-01-20 }} Also, ethnic groups are said to exist in the United States in relation to a dominant culture, generally seen as English-speaking, of European ancestry, and Protestant Christian faith. Asian Americans,{{cite book|author=Lisa Lowe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CZXtZ8lFepsC&pg=PA71|title=Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics|publisher=Duke University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-8223-1864-4}} Jews,{{cite news|url=http://www.thejewisheye.com/whybejewish.html|title=Why Be Jewish? Intermarriage, Assimilation, and Alienation|date=2004-02-10|publisher=The Jewish Eye|author=Lisa Lowe (review of book by Rabbi Meir Kahane)|access-date=2009-01-29|archive-date=2019-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326093121/http://www.thejewisheye.com/whybejewish.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.acpr.org.il/English-NATIV/03-issue/sharan-3.htm |publisher=NATIV Online |title=Assimilation, Normalcy and Jewish Self-Hatred |author=Shlomo Sharan |date=April 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203180954/http://acpr.org.il/ENGLISH-NATIV/03-ISSUE/sharan-3.htm |archive-date=2008-12-03 }} African Americans,{{cite journal|url=http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ629261&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ629261|title=African American Women Executives' Leadership Communication within Dominant-Culture Organizations: (Re)Conceptualizing Notions of Collaboration and Instrumentality|author=Patricia S. Parker|journal=Management Communication Quarterly|volume=15|issue=1|date=August 2001}} Latinos,{{cite news|url=http://www.flaglive.com/flagstafflive_story.cfm?storyID=189846&sid=122 |title=Culture and Controversy:The 'Otra Voz' exhibit aims to create conversation |author=Penelope Bass |date=2009-01-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711005116/http://www.flaglive.com/flagstafflive_story.cfm?storyID=189846&sid=122 |archive-date=2011-07-11 }} and Deaf people,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCgibUdWfPkC&pg=PA176|author=Joan B. Stone|title=Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience|editor=Ila Parasnis|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-521-64565-2}}{{cite journal|url=http://www.colorado.edu/journals/standards/V5N2/AWARD/halpern2.html|title=Listening In on Deaf Culture|author=Carla A. Halpern|publisher=Harvard University|journal=Diversity and Distinction|year=1995|access-date=2009-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006014139/http://www.colorado.edu/journals/standards/V5N2/AWARD/halpern2.html|archive-date=2013-10-06|url-status=dead}} among others, are seen as facing a choice to oppose, be opposed by, assimilate into, acculturate (i.e. exist alongside), or otherwise react to the dominant culture.
Interactions between dominant culture and co-culture
Co-culture consists of minority groups, or groups whose beliefs and values differ from the dominant culture.{{Cite book|last=Hebdige|first=Dick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXhHAQAAQBAJ&q=subculture+meaning&pg=PP1|title=Subculture|date=2013-10-08|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-49473-4|language=en}} Minority groups such as LGBTQ+, women, and black people or African American members, for example, can experience negative effects resulting from their interaction with the dominant culture.{{cite web|url=https://www.apa.org/topics/racism-bias-discrimination/health-disparities-stress.pdf|title=Health Disparities and Stress |access-date=2021-07-30|website=www.apa.org}}{{Cite journal|last1=Kaholokula|first1=Joseph Keawe‘aimoku|last2=Iwane|first2=Marcus K|last3=Nacapoy|first3=Andrea H|date=May 2010|title=Effects of Perceived Racism and Acculturation on Hypertension in Native Hawaiians|journal=Hawaii Medical Journal|volume=69|issue=5 suppl 2|pages=11–15 |pmc=3158444|pmid=20544603}} Minority groups can be victims of stress produced by the dominant culture. Minority stress can be described as the product that results from the differences between the minority and dominant values. Furthermore, minority stress is the outcome of the conflict that minority group members experience with their social environment.{{cite journal |last1=Meyer |first1=Ilan H. |title=Minority Stress and Mental Health in Gay Men |journal=Journal of Health and Social Behavior |date=1995 |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=38–56 |doi=10.2307/2137286 |jstor=2137286 |pmid=7738327 }}
= LGBTQ+ Community =
Members from the LGBTQ+ community, that live in a heterosexist society, are susceptible and inclined to suffer from chronic stress due to their stigmatization. Minority stressors include internalized homophobia, stigma and experiences of violence and discrimination. Internalized homophobia can be described as an LGBTQ+ member's disposition to societal negative attitudes towards the self while stigma refers to an LGBTQ+ member's expectation of discrimination and rejection.
= Women =
Women, as many other co-culture groups, are greatly affected by the dominant culture that surround them. The dominant culture tend to perceive women as less worthy of economic and educational opportunities.{{cite web|title=Women as a Minority {{!}} Boundless Sociology|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/women-as-a-minority/|access-date=2021-07-31|website=courses.lumenlearning.com}} Also, in many cultures, women are expected to behave in a certain way and be responsible for tasks that men are not as they are also subject to double standards.{{cite web|title=Gender and Socialization {{!}} Introduction to Sociology|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-introductiontosociology/chapter/gender-and-socialization/|access-date=2021-07-31|website=courses.lumenlearning.com}} These interactions can lead to unfavorable and negative effects on women. For example, women can feel restricted from expressing freely, fighting for their aspirations, and trying new activities.{{cite web|last=Andrews|first=Dr Shawn|title=Council Post: How Culture Impacts Our Value Of Women|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/04/06/how-culture-impacts-our-value-of-women/|access-date=2021-07-31|website=Forbes|language=en}}
= Black and African American community =
{{unclear|date=October 2023}}
Globally,{{where?|date=October 2023}} black or African American communities have been affected by the dominant cultures. In different countries, in order for black people to incorporate into the cultural hegemony, they were frequently isolated from their own cultural group, or an attempt was made to eradicate their culture completely. Many examples of cultural alienation and annihilation can be found across black and African American communities.{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-373951-3.00047-8 |chapter=Cultural Influences on Adolescent Development |title=Encyclopedia of Adolescence |date=2011 |last1=Ng |first1=J. |last2=Nagayama Hall |first2=G.C. |pages=44–51 |isbn=978-0-12-373951-3 }}{{cite web|date=May 26, 1997|title=Bringing them home|url=https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/pdf/social_justice/bringing_them_home_report.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=July 30, 2021|website=Australian Human Rights Commission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623202101/http://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/pdf/social_justice/bringing_them_home_report.pdf |archive-date=2013-06-23 }}
See also
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