Depictions of Culture

2026-03-20

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Many news and current-events outlets have a section focusing on culture. The articles contained therein often feature cuisine, art, movies, dance, fashion, and sometimes even national sports. The goal of each piece is often to highlight a work of creativity or skill that draws inspiration wholly or primarily from a given culture.

These are all fun to see and appreciate. At the same time, though, I find them a little reductive. A society's culture encompasses more than just oil paintings, recycled murals or Michelin-star meals. Culture permeates every level of daily life in a society, from mannerisms and expressions to styles of dress and interior decoration. Culture affects how we establish trust, how we show respect, how we conduct business, and how we come to agreements with each other. Culture shapes our thoughts, our values, and our fears. Culture, at its best, is a bridge by which the richest magnate and the poorest subsistence farmer can find common ground on which to communicate.

What annoys me about modern coverage of culture is that it intrinsically caters to high society. Fashion implies fashion shows, supermodels, lavish parties, and outrageously expensive, impractical outfits. Only those with the luxury of time and money to attend a show or shop in high-end boutiques around the world are really interested in it. The same is true of premier restaurants that serve two-hundred-dollar dishes and five-hundred-dollar wines: is it fair to give the impression that these are vanguards of modern culture, and thereby "exclude from culture" those who can't afford it?

Self-expression is important; I won't argue that. But something doesn't sit right with me when we celebrate the act of taking daily necessities, like clothing and food, and elevating them to a luxury that only a privileged few can ever enjoy. Haute couture, gastronomy, and other forms of high art definitely have their place in society, but I hesitate to place them at the forefront of modern culture, implicitly shunting aside the rest of what makes a civilization for the rest of us.

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[Last updated: 2026-03-20]