Page 99 - Vimarsha Volume 2

is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs
and any other capabilities acquired by man, as a member of society” (Edward B.

Tylor, 1871). In Cambridge English Dictionary culture has defined as “the way of
life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a
particular time”. It’s an acquired status. That means culture is a learned behavior. It

varies from one society to another society. When considering about culture, value
systems (e.g.: relationship between child and mother) and cultural norms (e.g.: incest

taboo) are important.

Cultural norms are the behavioral standards that a society adopts as a whole and

follows when interacting with one another. In simple terms 'culture' refers to
attitudes and patterns of behavior in a given group and ‘norm’ refers to attitudes and
behaviors that are considered normal, typical or average within that group. Cultural

norms are the expectations and rules by which a culture guides the behavior of its
members in any given situation. These cultural norms influence every aspect of our

lives, including what we value, our attitudes and how we behave. Sociologists
concern about four types of norms, such as folkways, mores, taboos and laws. Every
society has cultural norms and it can be different from one society to another. For

instance, an American cultural norm may not be a Sri Lankan cultural norm.
American people maintain fairly direct eye contact when conversing with others.
But when it comes to Asian countries like Sri Lanka and India, they prefer to keep

eye contact minimal or avert their eyes from the other person while talking.

4. How Cultural Norms Influence to Gender Discrimination?

It is clear that there is a strong relationship between cultural nomrs and gender

discrimination. Cultural norms impacted on gender roles in many ways in our daily
lifestyles. We receive thousands of cultural messages each week concerning gender
roles, including advertisements, movies, TV, music, magazines and family

influence. Due to cultural norms people have to think twice before acting whether
it again with the gender role which is described by society or not. When focusing

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