Describe the concept of “variant characteristics of culture.” Which characteristics can change and which cannot? Is equality for variant cultures typically supported in the United States? Provide examples to support your statement.
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Culture is learned from families, peers, institutions, media and the society. The variant characteristic of culture is the main feature that shapes people all over the world and the degree to which individuals identify with their cultural group of origin (Sewell A., & David R., 2010). While culture is shared in a group, there is diversity within these groups. “Variant characteristics of culture” shapes people worldviews and the manner in which people recognize and relate to their own cultures. This is based on an understanding that culture is dynamic and can change in response to the environment, changes in the environment and people’s interactions with others. However, some characteristics change, while others do not change over time.
The variant characteristics that may change include the sexual orientation, the marital status, gender issues, religious beliefs, immigrant status, political beliefs, enclave identity, and the occupation. The variant characteristics that cannot change are; race, color, age, and nationality. For example, one individual’s religious beliefs may change based on the interaction with others. We have Muslims who have converted to Christians in the United States because of the influence of others. An individual’s race cannot change plus their color and age. A black will always remain a black and a white will always remain a white whether he or she relocates to Africa or not. Regarding age, the driving, voting and drinking requirements remains the same
In my opinion, the equality for variant cultures is not typically supported in the United States. This is because some cultures matter more than lives of people from the other cultures. The white culture is becoming dominant in the United States and the minorities are forced to adopt these cultures. For this reason, there is no equality since other cultures want others to adopt their own cultures. In the United States, the healthcare professionals do not favor the other cultures. This is one of the causes of the healthcare disparities since the healthcare professionals are reluctant to attend to the minority cultures. For example, the Black variant culture existed in the 1970s in the US but it is now fading
References
Sewell A., & David R. (2010). Racial differences in sentiments: Exploring variant cultures. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~socpsy/papers/SewellHeise.pdf
http://home.earthlink.net/~youngturck/Chapter8.htm
Cult J. (2004). Cultural variants in caregiving. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15786797