One culture I am personally and professionally interested in is Iranian.
Farsi is my second language. I have lived bilingually and biculturally for
over sixteen years. Along the way, I have read a great deal about this
culture--from popular books to academic articles. When I've talked with
Iranians about what I've learned from reading, I learned infinitely more.
They pointed out misunderstandings by culturally biased authors, historical
inaccuracies, changes with the passage of time, stereotypes, variations
with rural/urban residence, subcultural heritage, socioeconomic status,
religious beliefs, educational level, immigration, acculturation, etc.,
etc., etc. If someone asked me to describe the "typical Iranian" so that
she could have some idea what to look out for in the context of
breastfeeding counseling, I don't think I could do so with any accuracy and
without stereotyping. There simply is *huge* variation.
This is one of the reasons that I wrote my article, "The Cultural Art of
Breastfeeding" (accessible online from the breastfeeding section of the
publications page of my website at http://home.attbi.com/~ammawell). I hope
that the article provides a bigger picture of culture (in an extremely
limited amount of space) than can be gained from brief descriptions of
cultural groups. I hope it will encourage its readers to think about their
own cultural beliefs. I hope it will provide some tools to think about
culture and to respond more effectively to it--when working with mothers
from *any* cultural heritage. If an LC knows a few cultural dimensions, she
can get clues about where a person is culturally from watching how they are
behaving and from listening to what they are saying. She can ask questions
to specifically draw out cultural information. Though, if she asks people
directly, "Can you please describe your cultural beliefs?," they are very
unlikely to be able to do so. You can't ask a fish about water. Culture is
pervasive yet usually invisible to its members. We don't recognize our own
beliefs and behaviors as culturally based. We just recognize them as
"right," "real," "normal," "how things are," "what everybody believes and
does," and "common sense." We do not generally realize that our culturally
based beliefs and behaviors are *not* universal until we must interact with
people whose beliefs differ markedly from our own.
So, if anyone wants to learn about a specific cultural group by reading, I
would suggest that they first read about culture *in general* so that they
have the knowledge to critique what they are reading about that specific
cultural group, read very broadly about the cultural group, and ask several
people from that cultural group to critique your understanding of what you
have read.
One excellent guide to culture in general is:
Triandis, H. Culture and social behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Still, culture is best learned by living. Creating friendships, engaging in
working partnerships, participating in community events, traveling, etc.
are all educational and life-enriching experiences.
Happy to see culture being discussed on LACTNET,
Cynthia
Cynthia Good Mojab, MS Clinical Psychology
(Breastfeeding mother, advocate, independent [cross-cultural] researcher
and author; LLL Leader and Research Associate in the LLLI Publications
Department; and former psychotherapist currently busy nurturing her own
little one.)
Ammawell
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web site: http://home.attbi.com/~ammawell
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