Answer

“Queer Customs” and “How Language Shapes Thought”

Question 1

After reading “Queer Customs,” it is clear that culture makes us predictable. Clyde Kluckhohn posits that we behave a certain way because that is how we were raised (Kluckhohn, 2017). Based on this statement, I agree that how one is brought up predisposes them to a certain behavior or culture as is demonstrated by Kluckhohn’s account of the young American boy who was fostered by Chinese parents and thus grew up more Chinese than American. I find Kluckhohn’s arguments rather relatable. For instance, the story about the guests who enjoyed rattlesnake meat as long as they were unaware of the source of the meat (Kluckhohn, 2017). My own cultural environment is a perfect example because certain behaviors are easily expected from people in certain situations. For instance, an adulterous woman is likely to be judged more harshly by the society as compared to a man because the society is more accommodative of men’s illicit sexual encounters.

Question 2

“How Language Shapes Thought” argues that the way we speak influences the way we think and therefore our perspective of the world around us. This is true even for bilingual speakers who seemingly demonstrate a bias towards certain things when using one language and not the other (Boroditsky, 2011). I believe we should be worried about losing language diversity. With globalization, people are picking up new languages and finding themselves in environments where they no longer speak their original language hence the risk of language extinction. I therefore do not support the notion that immigrants should abandon their native languages. English-only policies in official spaces do make sense for the sake of communication but people can speak English at work and still speak their native languages outside of the work environment.