American?
You would think that I, being a cultural anthropologist (if you can add the "-ologist" after a few short years of not exactly focused study) and an American, would know how Americans work culturally. I even took a class on American culture. I suppose we did actually cover this topic and it's not entirely new, but I hadn't thought about it recently until Laura jogged that memory for me in a recent post where she left us some interesting quotes from a Fulbright preparation packet. The paper is: “The Values Americans Live By” by L. Robert Kohls.
“Americans think they are more individualistic in their thoughts and actions than, in fact, they are. They resist being thought of as representatives of a homogeneous group, whatever the group. They may, and do, join groups…but somehow believe they’re just a little different, just a little unique, just a little special, from other members of the same group.”
How many times have I considered myself different, an outlier, outside the norm, beyond explanation, strange beyond belief and a whole host of other descriptors to indicate the same thing? Does that mean I'm America's American. Red, White and Blue through and through? Oh God, the thought of it disgusts me, yet, that sentiment furthers this guy's argument.
I mean, yeah, I'm in "finance", but I don't work for the man. I'm a Democrat, but have a Republican boyfriend. I go to church, but think the church is inherently evil (which is not why I like it). I'm in the Back Bay Chorale, but I'm the youngest. I do database work and am good at computers, but have no interest in becoming an IT professional or a programmer or any of that. I didn't even take math in college... and I'm guiding statistics students. I have two mommies--not even that is so different anymore.
Think of the ad campaigns that support this idea in American culture. "Different is Good." (Apple). And there's a new one which I saw repeatedly while watching the Masters' today: "What makes you special?" (IBM). There are plenty that talk about tailoring to your special needs etc.
So how did we get this way? Is it our economic system? Capitalism driving us to specialize, diversify, and drive toward the top? That they only way to be successful is to stand out from the pack? Or was it the culture that created our current economic system? Is it even that special that we want to be different? Are we still trying to break away from the British influence?
My experience is that people are often desperately seeking to "fit in" somewhere. Is our interest in non-conformity inherently conforming?
But, is there anything wrong with wanting to be different, special? Or is it just that thinking you're more special than you are (which, of course is insanely subjective and largely based on perspective) the thing we should watch.
I don't know, but I doubt that being aware of this concept is going to make me stop adding "that does analysis on environmental, social and governance factors" to the end of "I work for an investment research firm."
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Different is....
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2 comments:
C,
Thoughtful post; raises more questions than I can answer at the moment, but will add one observation: Besides living under an economic system that does indeed produce higher and higher degrees of specialization*, it is also a system that will continue to reward and privilege one class as long as the other class remains more divided than united. While grad students, nurses (even doctors), research analysts refuse to see themselves as and unite with workers in their industries to demand change, their bosses continue to erode their power, economically and politically. I think its a very old trend, and not particularly American, divide by race, by gender, by sexual orientation, by education, by skill, by immigration status, etc etc etc ... Well, I think my point is stated.
*We have a hilarious degree of specialization in our economy, I think its the early signs of late-stage capitalism. Cheese in the crust of the pizza is my favorite example, its no longer good enough to simply put more cheese on the pizza...
Part of it, I'd imagine, is our mythologized "rugged pioneer" archetype. I've been reading a lot of Viking-age Icelandic sagas recently, and they're strikingly similar to American westerns. Both feature strong, individualistic men striking out into a forbidding environment and making up their own rules as they go along. Both groups ended up with a society and system of government that was unique for its time, and I don't think that it is a coincidence that both cultures put a premium on uniqueness, maverick thinking and superlative qualities.
Oh, by the by: I'm working near you (I think), at a company that does fundraising software for non-profits. I've been there for about a month and a half now...yesterday I did lunch with folks from Greenpeace, and today I spent most of my day investigating some bugs for a childrens' cancer hospital, a public broadcasting station, and the American Diabetes Association. Perhaps it's weird, but I look at "working for good people" as a job bonus.
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