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Hairdressing

Hairdressing

:For the terminology used in finance, see haircut (finance). haircut (finance).]] For humans, a haircut, hairstyle or hairdo normally describes cutting or styling head hair, rather than other body hair such as pubic, facial, or underarm hair. Unlike other animals, human beings of many cultures cut their hair, rather than letting it grow naturally. Hair styles are often used to signal cultural, social, and ethnic identity. Hair styles in both men and women also vary with fashion. There is a thriving world market in cut human hair of sufficient length for wig manufacture. In less developed countries, selling one's hair can be a significant source of income — depending on length, thickness, and color, wig makers have been known to pay as much as US$40 for a head of hair. In the United States, cut hair of at least 10 inches (25 cm) length may be donated to a charity such as Locks of Love.

Groups who generally do not cut their hair


- Nazirites
- Sikhs
- Rastafarians
- Exclusive Brethren women
- Sadhus
- Many sects of aboriginal North American peoples

Types of haircuts


- Afro, a bushy hairstyle
- Bangs.
- Beatle haircut or Moptop, after the fashion of the early Beatles, long all around, neatly cut, very new to Americans at the time, but not an uncommon British haircut. During the height of Beatlemania Beatle wigs were sold.
- The Beehive, a large "big hair" style popular in the 1960s.
- Bun.
- Buzz cut, also called a butch cut, short all over
- Bob, a short cut for women, first popular in the 1920s, considered a sign of a liberated woman.
- Bowl cut or Moe, after the Three Stooges character
- Caesar cut, a short men's cut with longer bangs, also called a Clooney cut. Wildly popular among men from the early 1990s to the present.
- Chonmage, a samurai's topknot. The hair on the top of the head was usually shaved, and the rest of the hair gathered together and tied in a topknot. A modified version is still worn by some sumo wrestlers.
- Comb over, combing hair over a bald spot.
- Cornrows, raised, continuous braids woven closely to the scalp; originating in Western Africa, they remain a popular African American hairstyle.
- Crew cut, similar to buzz, originally worn by college rowers in the 1900s to distinguish themselves from football players, who had long hair (to supplement the inadequate helmets of the time)
- Croydon facelift.
- DA, for "duck's ass", combed long on sides, parted in back, also called ducktail or southback. The parting in the back caused the hair to stick up, hence the name.
- Devilock, Short in back and on sides, long in front.
- Dreadlocks, where hair is divided into many long, matted plaits. Originally a Rastafarian hairstyle.
- Fauxhawk, a fake Mohawk: short on the sides and back, medium length on top pushed up in a Mohawk direction, a portmanteau of the French 'faux' (false) and 'Mohawk'.
- feathered,a style which rose dramatically in popularity during the 1970's but died down in the mid 80's.It is slowlly gaining back popularity.Was a main hairstyle for men in the antiquitic meditereanean such as ancient Greece and Rome.
- Finger wave, popular in North America in the 1920s and 1930s
- Flattop, just as it says, when combined with DA, called a Detroit. Because the flat top is not always compatible with a round head, there is often a spot on the top that is buzzed shorter, almost to the point of being shaved. This area is called the landing strip.
- Fofa, short to medium length on the sides and back, with a receding hairline from the forehead back due to a natural baldness. Usually found on distinguished gentlemen and derived from the style of the monks.
- French braid/French plait/French twist, a classic "updo" in which long hair is gathered into a ponytail, then twisted together, and finally tucked and pinned together along the length of the roll.
- High and tight, cut/buzzed very short (or even shaved) on sides and back up to the crown where the hair is left longer, can be a variation of crew cut or flattop
- Hockey Hair, short bangs with medium length "flipped up" hair in the back and sides.
- Horseshoe Flattop, The sides and are shaved also shaved up in the back to the top of the head making the remaining hair looks from above like. The top is cut like a flattop.
- Induction Cut, the very shortest of hairstyles, without actually shaving the head with a razor.
- Jheri curl, A perm that loosens the curls of a black person's hair. Known more for the oily residue of the chemicals used ("Jheri Curl Juice") than the actual style.
- Japanese Hair Straightening, A process that takes wavy or curly hair and breaks the cystine bonds by way of chemicals, then a hot iron reorganizes the structure of the hair leaving it permanently straight and healthy looking.
- khokhol/chochol/chachol, a Slavic name for a longer tuft of hair left on top or on the front side of the otherwise cleanly shaven or shortly cut man's hair.
- Layered hair, where the top layers of hair are cut shorter than the layers beneath.
- Low and tight, cut/buzzed very short (or even shaved) on sides and back up to a line above the ears but below the crown, hair is left longer above this line
- Mohawk, long hair divided into sections which are then braided and worn down (Also used interchangeably with "Mohican")
- Mohican, both sides shaved or buzzed, long and usually spiked in the middle
- Moptop, a shaggy straight cut with straight fringe, over the ears
- Mullet, "business" (short) in the front and on top; "party" (long) in the back.
- Odango, a women's hairstyle consisting of two long pigtails eminating from two perfect "spheres" of hair on the top of the head. Made famous by Sailor Moon.
- Ofuku, worn by apprentice geisha in their final two years of apprenticeship. Similar to the wareshinobu style. Also called a momoware ("split peach") because the bun is split and a red fabric woven in the centre.
- Pageboy, a women's hairstyle in which the hair is almost shoulder-length except for a fringe in the front.
- Perm, or "permanent wave," is a chemical-induced curling of naturally straight hair. Originally done electrically with an apparatus resembling an electric chair. Among African-Americans, a perm is the straight or large-curled look created by chemical relaxers.
- Pigtails, long hair is parted in the middle and tied on the sides, often curled into ringlets (hence the name).
- Pompadour, big wave in the front, named for Madame de Pompadour aristocratic fashion leader of pre-Revolutionary France, mistress of Louis XV of France. Elvis Presley had one.
- Ponytail, a hairstyle where most of the wearer's hair is pulled away from the face and gathered at the back.
- Recon, a radical version of the High and Tight, with the sides and back cleanly shaved very high up the head, intentionally leaving a very extreme contrast between the longer top hair and the shaved sides.
- Shaven head, or "skinhead"; no longer a political statement, but rather a popular hairstyle among men (and occasionally women) from all walks of life.
- Short back and sides, "boy's haircut"
- Side-locks: a hairstyle popular amongst Orthodox Jews where the peyos or side-locks are allowed to grow long, whilst the rest of the hair is cut.
- Side-part: a hairstyle where the hair is, instead of being parted in the middle, parted on the side.
- Spiked: a hairstyle where hair gel/spray/wax is applied to the hair "usually daily" and spiked into a series of designs varying from large to small.
- Tonsure, a haircut where the crown of the head is shaven.
- Über-Patch, Das, shaved to the skin on both sides, completely bald (or shaved to skin) on top, with a large square or rectangular patch of short hair about 1 inch(25 mm) on the back of the head.
- Undercut, variation of a bowl cut where the sides and back are cut very short (or even shaved) so that the longer top hair (partially) covers buzzed hair
- Wareshinobu, a hairstyle worn by geisha. Resembles a large bun and enhanced with a large number of flutters and other decorations.
- Quiff, a hairstyle where part of the hair is put up high on the top of the head.

See also


- Hair coloring

External links


- [http://www.genesbarbershop.net/barber_cuts.html Gene's Barber Shop: Glossary of haircuts] Category:Hairdressing

Haircut (finance)

In finance, a haircut is a percentage that is subtracted from the market value of the assets that are being used as collateral. The size of the haircut reflects the perceived riskiness associated with the assets. For example, Treasury bills (which are seen as fairly safe) might have a haircut of 1%, while for a stock option (which are seen as less safe) the haircut might be as high as 30%.

ECB use of haircuts

The European Central Bank (ECB) applies a haircut to all securities offered as collateral. The size of the haircut depends on the riskiness of the security offered as collateral. See the [http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/other/riskcontrolframeworken.pdf ECB Risk control framework]

LTCM and haircut fees

LTCM was able to obtain practically next-to-zero haircuts, as it was considered safe by its lenders. This was likely due to LTCM’s clout and the fact that no counterparty had a total picture of the extent of its operations

References


- Jorion, P. (1999), "“Risk Management Lessons from Long-Term Capital Management"

Head hair

Head hair is a type of hair that is grown on the head (sometimes referring directly to the scalp). scalp ----

Body hair

:Hair is also the name of a musical; see the stage production and the movie. movie Hair is a filamentous outgrowth of the skin found only in mammals. In some species it is absent at certain stages of life. It projects from the epidermis, though it grows from follicles deep in the dermis. So-called "hairs" (trichomes) are also found on plants. The projections on insects and spiders are actually bristles. The hair of non-human species is commonly referred to as fur. There are varieties of cats, dogs, and mice bred to have little or no visible hair. Hair serves a number of different functions. It provides insulation from the cold, and in some species from hot weather. It is generally pigmented, providing coloration, sometimes the same as the underlying skin. It often serves as camouflage, both for prey and predators. In some species the pigmentation changes with the seasons; e.g., becoming white during the snowy winter, and in cases even more rapidly than that with changes in background. Hair can also provide protection against abrasion, and head hair can buffer impacts to the skull. In some species, hair patterns can be a part of sexual dimorphism; e.g., the long manes of male lions. In modern Western societies it is considered masculine for men to maintain the naturally thicker hair on their faces, arms, chests, backs, buttocks and legs, but the hair growing from the top of the head is generally kept relatively short. By contrast, it is considered feminine, for women to have little or no hair on their bodies, including pubic hair, but to let it grow long on the tops of their heads. Before World War I men generally had longer hair and beards. The trench warfare between 1914 and 1918 exposed men to lice and flea infestations, which caused the order for hair to be cut short, establishing a norm that has persisted. Hair care for humans is a major world industry with specialized tools, chemicals and techniques. In most societies, people style or adorn their hair for aesthetic reasons and often have it cut or removed by shaving or other means. In some, women usually shave their legs, armpits and sides of the pubic area, and shape their eyebrows.

Human hair

eyebrow Typically, humans have the longest hair on the top of the head, with shorter hair on the eyelids and eyebrows. The axillary (armpit) hair and pubic hair serves as lubrication during rubbing. Sometimes, the term body hair is used, to distinguish it from hair on the head. Individual hairs alternate periods of growth and dormancy. During the growth portion of the cycle, hair follicles are long and bulbous, and the hair advances outward at about a third of a millimeter per day. After three to six months, body hair growth stops (the pubic and axillary areas having the longest growth period). The follicle shrinks and the root of the hair rigidifies. Following a period of dormancy, another growth cycle starts, and eventually a new hair pushes the old one out of the follicle from beneath. Head hair, by comparison, grows for a long duration and to a great length before being shed. The rate of growth is approximately 1.25 centimeters, or about 0.5 inches, per month. Anthropologists speculate that the functional significance of long head hair may be adornment, a by-product of secondary natural selection once other somatic hair had been lost. Hair grows from all areas of the skin on humans regardless of sex or race except in the following locations: the lips, the nipples, the palms of hands, the soles of feet, certain external genital areas, the navel and other scar tissue. Some people seem to have less body and facial hair than others, but in fact have shorter and finer body hair while the total number of folicles is relatively constant. Several theories have been advanced to explain the unique features of human hair. One suggests that nature selected humans for shorter and thinner body hair as part of a set of adaptations including bipedal locomotion and an upright posture. There are several problems with this theory, not least of which is that cursorial hunting is used by (other) animals that do not show any thinning of hair, and that hair similar to chimpanzees and gorillas also shades the skin from radiant heat and protects it from hot winds, and thus another mechanism for heat loss is not required. Another problem is that bipedal locomotion possibly predates hominids moving from a forest environment to a savanna environment. A more recent theory for human hair loss has to do with a possible period of bipedal wading in a salt marsh in the Danakil region of Ethiopia, possibly occurring in the hominid lineage between 5 and 7 million years ago. As a wading animal, it was more efficient to develop short body hair and a layer of subcutaneous fat for streamlining and insulation in the aquatic environment; the eccrine sweat glands developed later after the hominids left the water; see Aquatic ape hypothesis. One problem with this theory is that both chimpanzees and gorillas have the same density and distribution of the eccrine glands, but that they have not been developed for sweat production. A third theory proposes that sexual selection played a role, possibly in conjunction with neoteny, with the more juvenile appearing females being selected by males as more desirable; see types of hair and vellus hair. This would also explain the sexual dimorphism in human body hair. At this point the evidence is inconclusive as to the cause of the unique features of human hair.

Structure

sexual dimorphism Hair consists 90% of a biological polymer, α-keratin, and about 10% water, which modifies its mechanical properties. This α-helically coiled protein is further wound into supermolecular coiled-coil microfibrils, many of which are held together with a protein glue to form long macrofibrils, which are packed inside dead hair cells about 100 µm long by 3 µm across. Several of these associate to form one strand of hair, which is covered with tiny surface scales. The ends of individual keratin chains are high in the amino acids proline (an α-helix breaker) and cysteine. Adjacent keratin chains are held together by many disulfide bonds bridging their cysteines. These links are very robust; virtually intact hair has been recovered from ancient Egyptian tombs. Different parts of the hair have different cysteine levels, leading to harder or softer material. Hair consists of an inner cortex, comprising spindle-shaped cells, and an outer sheath, called the cuticle. Within each cortical cell are the many fibrils, running parallel to the fibre axis, and between the fibrils is a softer material called the matrix. It grows from a hair follicle. The cuticle is responsible for much of the mechanical strength of the hair fibre. It consists of scale-shaped layers. Human hair typically has 6-8 layers of cuticle. Wool has only one, and other animal hair may have many more layers. Hair responds to its environment, and to its mechanical and chemical history. For example, hair which is wetted, styled and then dried, acquires a temporary 'set', which can hold it in style. This style is lost when the hair gets wet again. For more permanent styling, chemical treatments (perms) break and re-form the disulphide links within the hair structure. The diameter of a human hair ranges from about 18 µm to 180 µm. In people of European descent, blond hair and black hair are at the thinner end of the scale, while red hair is the thickest. The hair of people of Asian descent is typically thicker in diameter than the hair of other groups. The cross-sectional shape of human hair is typically round in people of Asian descent, round to oval in European descent, and nearly flat in African peoples; it is that flatness which allows African hair to attain its frizzly form. In contrast, hair that has a round cross section will be straight. A strand of straight round cross-section hair that has been flattened, for example, with an edge of a coin, will curl up into a micro-afro. The speed of growth is roughly 11 cm/yr = 0.3 mm/day = 300 nm/s. Cells at the base of the hair follicle divide and grow extremely rapidly. Drugs used in cancer chemotherapy frequently cause a temporary loss of hair, noticeable on the head and eyebrows, because they kill all rapidly dividing cells, not just the cancerous ones. Other diseases and traumas can cause temporary or permanent loss of hair, generally or in patches. Hair is strong. A single strand can hold 100g (3.5oz) of weight. A head of hair could support 12 tonnes. It is equivalent in strength to aluminium or Kevlar. Wet hair, however, is very fragile.

Types of hair

Kevlar On most adult humans there are two main types of hair: terminal hair, and vellus hair. A third type, lanugo hair, is present in the fetus, and some newborn babies. It can also be seen on the bodies of those who are extremely emaciated. Terminal hair grows thick and long, and is what grows on the head, armpits and pubic area, as well as on the face, chest, arms and legs (better evident in men). Vellus hair is a very soft and short hair that grows most places in the body in both sexes. In Caucasians it is often colourless, or blonde. It is best seen in women and children, as they have less terminal hair to obscure it.

Hair change with aging

Older people tend to develop gray hair (actually colorless) because the pigmentation in the hair is lost and the hair becomes colorless. The age at which this occurs varies from person to person, but in general nearly everyone 75 years or older has gray hair, and in general men tend to become gray at younger ages than women. The older a person is, the more likely he or she is to have gray hair, and above 85 almost nobody has his or her original hair color. Gray hair is considered to be a characteristic of normal aging. People starting out with very pale blond hair usually develop white hair instead of grey hair when aging. Some degree of scalp hair loss or thinning generally accompanies aging in both males and females, and it's estimated that half of men are affected by male pattern baldness by the time they're 50. The tendency toward baldness is a trait shared by a number of other primate species, and is thought to have evolutionary roots. (See evolutionary theories of baldness). There are also perhaps 50,000 bald women in the U.S.

Androgenic hair

The hair follicles on much of the body respond to androgens (primarily testosterone and its derivatives). The rate of hair growth increases and the heaviness of the hairs increases. However, different areas respond with different sensitivities. As testosterone level increases (normally at puberty), the sequence of appearance of sexual (androgenic) hair reflects the gradations of androgen sensitivity. The pubic area is most sensitive, and heavier hair usually grows there first in response to androgens. The following regions also respond to androgens, in order of decreasing sensitivity: axillary and perianal areas, sideburns, above the upper lip, periareolar areas, chin and beard areas, center of chest, arms and legs, across the chest, shoulders, buttocks, back, and abdomen. It is the hair in these areas that appears earlier or grows to excess in disorders of excess androgen (e.g., precocious puberty, late-onset congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and polycystic ovary syndrome).

Other information

Notable variations in physical appearance of the top and back of the head are:
- headgear
- hair color (original or artificial)
- hair type
- haircut, curls, dreadlocks, braids, ponytails, wigs, decorative hairpins, the way the hair is combed or otherwise arranged, or disarranged. Hair spray, gel, etc. may be used for fixation of the arrangement and may also make it shiny. It is commonly claimed that hair and nails will continue growing for several days after death. This is a myth; the appearance of growth is actually caused by the retraction of skin as the surrounding tissue dehydrates, making nails and hair more prominent. The hair shafts may also store certain poisons for years, even decades, after death. In the case of Col. Lafayette Baker, who died July 3, 1868, use of an atomic absorption spectrophotometer showed the man was killed by white arsenic. The prime suspect was Wally Pollack, Baker's brother-in-law. According to Dr. Ray A. Neff, Pollack had laced Baker's beer with it over a period of months, and a century or so later minute traces of arsenic showed up in the dead man's hair. Mrs. Baker's diary seems to confirm that it was indeed arsenic, as she writes of how she found some vials of it inside her brother's suitcoat one day.

External links


- [http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=122411 Discussion about shaving and cultures]

See also


- Facial hair
- Pubic hair
- Hirsutism
- Baldness
- Depilation
- Widow's peak
- Cowlick
- Social role of hair
- Blond
- Brunette
- Red hair
- Trichophilia

References


- [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_site=ozarksnow&f_site=ozarksnow&f_sitename=Springfield+News-Leader+%28MO%29&p_theme=gannett&p_product=SNLB&p_action=search&p_field_base-0=&p_text_base-0=baldness&Search=Search&p_perpage=10&p_maxdocs=200&p_queryname=700&s_search_type=keyword&p_sort=_rank_%3AD&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date%3AB%2CE&p_text_date-0= "Uncovering the bald truth about hair loss."] Springfield News-leader, May 10, 2005. "Half of men" estimate is made by the American Academy of Dermatology and specifically estimates prevalence in the U.S. population, though this should reflect prevalence in other populations. Category:Human appearance Category:Integumentary system ms:Rambut ja:毛 (動物) simple:Hair

Pubic hair

Pubic hair is hair in the frontal genital area, the crotch, and sometimes at the top of the inside of the legs; these areas form the pubic region. Although fine vellus hair is present in the area in childhood, the term pubic hair is generally restricted to the heavier, longer hair that develops with puberty as an effect of rising levels of androgens on the skin of the genital area

Development of pubic hair

Before puberty, the genital area of both boys and girls has very fine vellus hair, referred to as Tanner stage 1 hair. In response to rising levels of androgens as puberty begins, the skin of the genital area begins to produce thicker, often curlier, hair with a faster growth rate. The onset of pubic hair development is termed pubarche. The change for each hair follicle is relatively abrupt, but the extent of skin which grows androgenic hair gradually increases over several years. In most girls, pubic hair first appears along the edges of the labia majora (stage 2), and spreads forward to the mons (stage 3) over the next 2 years. By 3 years into puberty (roughly the time of menarche for most girls), the pubic triangle is densely filled. Within another 2 years pubic hair also grows from the near thighs in most young women, and sometimes a small amount up the line of the abdomen toward the umbilicus. In boys, the first pubic hair appears as a few sparse hairs on the scrotum or at the upper base of the penis (stage 2). Within a year, hairs around the base of the penis are too numerous to count (stage 3), and within 3 to 4 years, hair fills the pubic area (stage 4), and by 5 years extends to the near thighs and upwards on the abdomen toward the umbilicus (stage 5). Other areas of the skin are similarly, though slightly less, sensitive to androgens and androgenic hair typically appears somewhat later. In rough sequence of sensitivity to androgens and appearance of androgenic hair, are the armpits (axillae), perianal area, upper lip, preauricular areas (sideburns), periareolar areas (nipples), middle of the chest, neck under the chin, remainder of chest and beard area, limbs and shoulders, back, and buttocks. Although generally considered part of the process of puberty, pubarche is distinct and independent of the process of maturation of the gonads that leads to sexual maturation and fertility. Pubic hair can develop from adrenal androgens alone, and can develop even when the ovaries or testes are defective and nonfunctional. See puberty for details. There is little if any difference in the capacity of male and female bodies to grow hair in response to androgens. The obvious sex-dimorphic difference in hair distribution in men and women is primarily a result of differences in the levels of androgen reached as maturity occurs.

Variations

Patterns of pubic hair vary among people. On some people, pubic hair is thick and/or coarse, while on others it may be sparse and/or fine. Pubic hair and axillary (armpit) hair can vary in color considerably from the hair of the scalp. In most people it is darker, although it can also be lighter. On many men, pubic hair color is closest to the color of their beards (before their beards start turning white with age), which again can vary from the color of the hair on top of the head. On most women, the pubic patch is triangular and lies over the mons veneris, or mound of Venus. On many men, the pubic patch tapers upwards to a line of hair pointing towards the navel. As with axillary (armpit) hair, pubic hair is associated with a concentration of sebaceous glands in the area. Like other hair, pubic hair may be infested by lice, with a specific category of pubic lice.

Purpose of pubic hair

It is believed that the functions of pubic hair include the dissemination of pheromones, protection from the friction of sexual intercourse; natural selection may also have sustained it insofar as it can symbolize sexual maturity to a potential sexual partner. Pubic hair and the growth between the tops of the legs and the buttocks, like under arm hair, helps to lubricate the areas, making movement smoother and more comfortable.

Cultural

Attitudes

Attitudes toward pubic hair are similar to those regarding axillary (armpit) hair in that cultural and personal norms can be reflected in reactions ranging from pleasure to revulsion, both for the presence and absence of such hair. As with any sexually charged matter there are persons of both sexes who have strong points of view toward the culturally related issues associated with presence or lack of body hair. points of view In Japanese drawings pubic hair is often omitted for legal reasons (see hentai), as for a long time the display of pubic hair was not legal. The interpretation of the law has since changed. In Islamic societies, removing the pubic hair is a religiously endorsed hygiene practice, ranked along with circumcision, clipping the fingernails, brushing the teeth, etc. In Western societies since the 1960s it has become increasingly common to trim or completely remove pubic hair. In some Asian societies, such as Korea, a lack of natural pubic hair is sometimes common. In contrast against current Western trends, in these cultures excess pubic hair is often seen as highly desirable. Some have gone as far as having hair surgically transplanted from their head to the genital area to attain the desired amount. [http://www.ishrs.org/articles/hair-east-asians.htm] Before the twentieth century, fine-art paintings and sculpture in the Western tradition usually depicted women without either pubic hair or a visible vulva. John Ruskin, the famous author, artist, and art critic, was apparently accustomed to these depictions and unaware of the actual appearance of nude women. On his wedding night, he was allegedly so shocked by his discovery of his wife Effie's pubic hair that he rejected her, and the marriage was legally annulled. Francisco Goya's The Nude Maja was probably the first European painting to show woman's pubic hair, though others had hinted at it. Some common slang includes bush, muff, curlies, pubes.

Modification of pubic hair

Trimming or completely removing pubic hair has become a custom in many cultures. A preference for hairless genitals is known as acomoclitism. The methodology of removing hair is called depilation (when removing only the hair above the skin) or epilation (when removing the entire hair). The trimming or removal of body hair by men is sometimes referred to as manscaping.

Reasoning

Some arguments for modification of pubic hair have included:
- hygiene, especially during menstruation
- aesthetic
- tradition
- religious
- sexual practice, such as BDSM cultures or for oral sex

Removal methods

Pubic hair is usually removed or reduced by shaving, but often for more long-term removal, waxing or use of a mechanical device is used to pull the hair out at the root. Methods to remove pubic hair include:
- Shaving - uses a razor (straight razor, safety razor, or electric razor) to cut the hair at the level of the skin (or very close to it)
- Epilators - these electric devices use rotating coils to pull the hairs out by the roots
- Laser epilation and Intense pulsed light (IPL)
- Waxing and Sugaring - Some hair salons in France offer what is called "epilé complet" which is the removal of all pubic hair using hot wax.
- Hair removal creams and lotions
- Electrology - involves using a current of electricity down the length of the hair to kill the hair root
- Hair Growth Inhibitors - these lotions claim to slow the hair growth and even prevent its growth but they have had limited success
- Tweezers - this is a manual method usually done to remove any remaining hairs after use of the other treatments. Note that:
- Electrical razors are a little safer and do not shave off skin along with the hair.
- Shaving can cause skin irritation (pseudofolliculitis barbae, or "razor bumps") and hair getting locked under the skin area.
- Hair re-growth can sometimes be uncomfortable and itchy, although continued removal reduces this effect.
- Using hair removal creams or lotions in the pubic and chest areas is not advisable, as it may result in serious skin irritations. (See the [http://www.euronaturist.com/smooth.htm Smooth Naturist] webpage for more advice on pubic shaving)

Style

The modification of pubic hair can also be considered a statement about one's style or personal lifestyle. The fashion designer Mary Quant was famously proud that her husband trimmed hers into a heart shape. In the 1930s the louche Baron Martin Stillman von Brabus shaved the pubic hair of his lover Margaret, Duchess of Argyll into a representation of the Mercedes-Benz 3-pointed star. Some common styles include:
- Bikini waxing - trimming the sides of the triangle so that pubic hair cannot be seen while wearing swimwear (either gender)
- Strip - removing hair from both sides of labia majora, leaving a strip (females) sometimes called a "landing strip"
- Brazilian Waxing - removing all pubic hair, or (less commonly) removing all except a small patch, line, or triangle over the clitoris or penis

External links


- [http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/saltz/saltz4-10-02.asp Pudenda Agenda] - From artnet.com
- [http://www.hairchick.com/pubic-hair-removal.php Pubic Hair Removal] Category:Integumentary system Category:Human appearance Category:Secondary sexual characteristics als:Schamhaar ja:陰毛

Facial hair

Facial hair is a secondary sexual characteristic in human males. Most men develop facial hair in puberty. Male pogonotrophy (the growing of facial hair; beardedness) is often culturally associated with wisdom and virility. Many men style their facial hair into beards, moustaches, goatees or sideburns. A man's facial hair (especially short hairs that were missed in shaving) is often affectionately known as his whiskers (however, only nonhuman mammals have true whiskers). However, many others shave their facial hair. Women rarely grow hair on their faces (apart from the fine fuzz that all people have covering their entire bodies). However, a very few women are afflicted with noticeable facial hair growth. Excessive hairiness (especially facially) is known as hirsutism, and is an indication of hormonal variation. The amount of facial hair on a man's face varies from individual to individual, and also between ethnic groups. For example from men from many East Asian or Native American backgrounds (Mongoloids) typically have less facial hair than those of Caucasoids (Europeans and Middle Easterners). However, as with all generalizations, this isn't always the case for everyone. For instance, Northern Mongoloids and Eastern Africans can be quite hairy. Middle East]

Topics about facial hair


- Men and facial hair: moustaches, beards, goatees, sideburns, royale and the lack of facial hair: clean-shaven
- Women and facial hair: depilation and bearded women
- Shaving: the Romans and Greeks
- Straight or cut-throat razors and safety razors, Electric razors

See also


- Hair, Axillary (arm-pit) hair, Body hair, Leg hair, Pubic hair, Whiskers

External links


- [http://dmoz.org/Arts/Design/Fashion/Hair/Facial_Hair DMOZ Open Directory Project - Facial Hair] Category:Human appearance Category:Secondary sexual characteristics ja:髭

Animal

:For the Muppet Show character, see Animal (Muppet). For the professional wrestler, see Joseph Laurinaitis.

    - Porifera (sponges)
    - Ctenophora (comb jellies)
    - Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anenomes)
    - Placozoa (trichoplax)
- Subregnum Bilateria (bilateral symmetry)
    - Acoelomorpha (basal)
    - Orthonectida (flatworms, echinoderms, etc.)
  - Rhombozoa (dicyemids)
  - Myxozoa (slime animals)
  - Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus)
    - Chordata (vertebrates, etc.)
    - Hemichordata (acorn worms)
    - Echinodermata (starfish, urchins)
    - Chaetognatha (arrow worms)
  - Superphylum Ecdysozoa (shed exoskeleton)
    - Kinorhyncha (mud dragons)
    - Loricifera
    - Priapulida (priapulid worms)
    - Nematoda (roundworms)
    - Nematomorpha (horsehair worms)
    - Onychophora (velvet worms)
    - Tardigrada (water bears)
    - Arthropoda (insects, etc.)
  - Superphylum Platyzoa
    - Platyhelminthes (flatworms)
    - Gastrotricha (gastrotrichs)
    - Rotifera (rotifers)
    - Acanthocephala (acanthocephalans)
    - Gnathostomulida (jaw worms)
    - Micrognathozoa (limnognathia)
    - Cycliophora (pandora)
  - Superphylum Lophotrochozoa (trochophore larvae / lophophores)
    - Sipuncula (peanut worms)
    - Nemertea (ribbon worms)
    - Phoronida (horseshoe worms)
    - Ectoprocta (moss animals)
    - Entoprocta (goblet worms)
    - Brachiopoda (brachipods)
    - Mollusca (mollusks)
    - Annelida (segmented worms) Animals are a major group of organisms, classified as the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. In general they are multicellular, capable of locomotion and responsive to their environment, and feed by consuming other organisms. Their body plan becomes fixed as they develop, usually early on in their development as embryos, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on. Along with sponges, gastropods, emus, dolphins and all other animals, Homo sapiens sapiens meet all the criteria above for membership in the group of organisms known as animals and they do not meet the criteria of the other groups. Some humans often consider themselves separate from animals, not on the grounds of biology, but through the use of "other contexts". Whilst self-delusion may be a unique characteristic of the human species it is not cause for exclusion from the Kingdom Animalia. The name animal comes from the Latin word animal, of which animalia is the plural, and ultimately from anima, meaning vital breath or soul.

Characteristics

Aristotle divided the living world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carolus Linnaeus in the first hierarchical classification. Since then biologists have begun emphasizing evolutionary relationships, and so these groups have been restricted somewhat. For instance, microscopic protozoa were originally considered animals because they move, but are now treated separately. Kingdom Animalia has several characteristics that set it apart from other living things. First, animals are eukaryotic. This separates them from the Kingdom Monera. Second, animals are multicellular, which separates them from Kingdom Protista. Third, they are heterotrophic, setting them apart from Kingdom Plantae and several plant-like protists. Finally, Kingdom Animalia consists of organisms without cell walls, which makes it unique compared to Kingdom Plantae, algae, and Kingdom Fungi.

Structure

With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges (Phylum Porifera), animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues. These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and a nervous system, which sends and processes signals. There is also typically an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings. Animals with this sort of organization are called metazoans, or eumetazoans when the former is used for animals in general. All animals have eukaryotic cells, surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins. This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules. During development it forms a relatively flexible framework upon which cells can move about and be reorganized, making complex structures possible. In contrast, other multicellular organisms like plants and fungi have cells held in place by cell walls, so develop by progressive growth. Also, unique to animal cells are the following intercellular junctions: tight junctions, gap junctions, and desmosomes.

Reproduction and development

Nearly all animals undergo some form of sexual reproduction. Adults are diploid or occasionally polyploid. They have a few specialized reproductive cells, which undergo meiosis to produce smaller motile spermatozoa or larger non-motile ova. These fuse to form zygotes, which develop into new individuals. Many animals are also capable of asexual reproduction. This may take place through parthenogenesis, where fertile eggs are produced without mating, or in some cases through fragmentation. A zygote initially develops into a hollow sphere, called a blastula, which undergoes rearrangement and differentiation. In sponges, blastula larvae swim to a new location and develop into a new sponge. In most other groups, the blastula undergoes more complicated rearrangement. It first invaginates to form a gastrula with a digestive chamber, and two separate germ layers - an external ectoderm and an internal endoderm. In most cases, a mesoderm also develops between them. These germ layers then differentiate to form tissues and organs. Animals grow by indirectly using the energy of sunlight. Plants use this energy to turn air into simple sugars using a process known as photosynthesis. These sugars are then used as the building blocks which allow the plant to grow. When animals eat these plants (or eat other animals which have eaten plants), the sugars produced by the plant are used by the animal. They are either used directly to help the animal grow, or broken down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the animal the energy required for motion. This process is known as glycolysis.

Origin and fossil record

Animals are generally considered to have evolved from flagellate protozoa. Their closest living relatives are the choanoflagellates, collared flagellates that have the same structure as certain sponge cells do. Molecular studies place them in a supergroup called the opisthokonts, which also include the fungi and a few small parasitic protists. The name comes from the posterior location of the flagellum in motile cells, such as most animal sperm, whereas other eukaryotes tend to have anterior flagella. The first fossils that might represent animals appear towards the end of the Precambrian, around 600 million years ago, and are known as the Vendian biota. These are difficult to relate to later fossils, however. Some may represent precursors of modern phyla, but they may be separate groups, and it is possible they are not really animals at all. Aside from them, most animal phyla with known phyla make a more or less simultaneous appearance during the Cambrian period, about 570 million years ago. It is still disputed whether this event, called the Cambrian explosion, represents a rapid divergence between different groups or a change in conditions that made fossilization possible.

Groups of animals

The sponges (Porifera) diverged from other animals early. As mentioned, they lack the complex organization found in most other phyla. Their cells are differentiated, but not organized into distinct tissues. Sponges are sessile and typically feed by drawing in water through pores all over the body, which is supported by a skeleton typically divided into spicules. The extinct Archaeocyatha, which have fused skeletons, may represent sponges or a separate phylum. Among the eumetazoan phyla, two are radially symmetric and have digestive chambers with a single opening, which serves as both the mouth and the anus. These are the Cnidaria, which include anemones, corals, and jellyfish, and the Ctenophora or comb jellies. Both have distinct tissues, but they are not organized into organs. There are only two main germ layers, the ectoderm and endoderm, with only scattered cells between them. As such, these animals are sometimes called diploblastic. The tiny phylum Placozoa is similar, but individuals do not have a permanent digestive chamber. The remaining animals form a monophyletic group called the Bilateria. For the most part, they are bilaterally symmetric, and often have a specialized head with feeding and sensory organs. The body is triploblastic, i.e. all three germ layers are well-developed, and tissues form distinct organs. The digestive chamber has two openings, a mouth and an anus, and there is also an internal body cavity called a coelom or pseudocoelom. There are exceptions to each of these characteristics, however - for instance adult echinoderms are radially symmetric, and certain parasitic worms have extremely simplified body structures. Genetic studies have considerably changed our understanding of the relationships within the Bilateria. Most appear to belong to four major lineages: # Deuterostomes # Ecdysozoa # Platyzoa # Lophotrochozoa In addition to these, there are a few small groups of bilaterians with relatively similar structure that appear to have diverged before these major groups. These include the Acoelomorpha, Rhombozoa, and Orthonectida. The Myxozoa, single-celled parasites that were originally considered Protozoa, are now believed to have developed from the Bilateria as well.

Deuterostomes

Deuterostomes differ from the other Bilateria, called protostomes, in several ways. In both cases there is a complete digestive tract. However, in protostomes the initial opening (the archenteron) develops into the mouth, and an anus forms separately. In deuterostomes this is reversed. In most protostomes cells simply fill in the interior of the gastrula to form the mesoderm, called schizocoelous development, but in deuterostomes it forms through evagination of the endoderm, called enterocoelic pouching. Deuterostomes also have a dorsal, rather than a ventral, nerve chord and their embryos undergo different cleavage. All this suggests the deuterostomes and protostomes are separate, monophyletic lineages. The main phyla of deuterostomes are the Echinodermata and Chordata. The former are radially symmetric and exclusively marine, such as sea stars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. The latter are dominated by the vertebrates, animals with backbones. These include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. In addition to these, the deuterostomes also include the Hemichordata or acorn worms. Although they are not especially prominent today, the important fossil graptolites may belong to this group. The Chaetognatha or arrow worms may also be deuterostomes, but this is less certain.

Ecdysozoa

The Ecdysozoa are protostomes, named after the common trait of growth by moulting or ecdysis. The largest animal phylum belongs here, the Arthropoda, including insects, spiders, crabs, and their kin. All these organisms have a body divided into repeating segments, typically with paired appendages. Two smaller phyla, the Onychophora and Tardigrada, are close relatives of the arthropods and share these traits. The ecdysozoans also include the Nematoda or roundworms, the second largest animal phylum. Roundworms are typically microscopic, and occur in nearly every environment where there is water. A number are important parasites. Smaller phyla related to them are the Nematomorpha or horsehair worms, which are visible to the unaided eye, and the Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, and Loricifera, which are all microscopic. These groups have a reduced coelom, called a pseudocoelom. The remaining two groups of protostomes are sometimes grouped together as the Spiralia, since in both embryos develop with spiral cleavage.

Platyzoa

The Platyzoa include the phylum Platyhelminthes, the flatworms. These were originally considered some of the most primitive Bilateria, but it now appears they developed from more complex ancestors. A number of parasites are included in this group, such as the flukes and tapeworms. Flatworms lack a coelom, as do their closest relatives, the microscopic Gastrotricha. The other platyzoan phyla are microscopic and pseudocoelomate. The most prominent are the Rotifera or rotifers, which are common in aqueous environments. They also include the Acanthocephala or spiny-headed worms, the Gnathostomulida, Micrognathozoa, and possibly the Cycliophora. These groups share the presence of complex jaws, from which they are called the Gnathifera.

Lophotrochozoa

The Lophotrochozoa include two of the most successful animal phyla, the Mollusca and Annelida. The former includes animals such as snails, clams, and squids, and the latter comprises the segmented worms, such as earthworms and leeches. These two groups have long been considered close relatives because of the common presence of trochophore larvae, but the annelids were considered closer to the arthropods, because they are both segmented. Now this is generally considered convergent evolution, owing to many morphological and genetic differences between the two phyla. The Lophotrochozoa also include the Nemertea or ribbon worms, the Sipuncula, and several phyla that have a fan of cilia around the mouth, called a lophophore. These were traditionally grouped together as the lophophorates, but it now appears they are paraphyletic, some closer to the Nemertea and some to the Mollusca and Annelida. They include the Brachiopoda or lamp shells, which are prominent in the fossil record, the Entoprocta, the Phoronida, and possibly the Ectoprocta or moss animals.

History of classification

In Linnaeus' original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, the Chordata, whereas the various other forms have been separated out. The above lists represent our current understanding of the group, though there is some variation from source to source.

Usage of the word animal

In everyday usage animal refers to any member of the animal kingdom that is not a human being, and sometimes excludes insects (although including such arthropods as crabs). This confusion stems primarily from the familiarity with zoo animals, farm animals and pets, not from an analytical distinction between insects, humans and the rest of the animal kingdom.

Examples

Some well-known types of animals, listed by their common names:
- alpaca, ant, antelope, badger, bat, bear, bee, beetle, bird, bison, butterfly, cat, chicken, cockroach, coral, cow, deer, dinosaur, dog, dolphin, earthworm, elephant, elk, fish, fly, fox, frog, giraffe, goat, gorilla, hippopotamus, horse, human, iguana, jellyfish, kangaroo, lion, lizard, llama, lynx, monkey, mouse, nightingale, octopus, owl, ox, parrot, penguin, pig, quail, rabbit, rat, rhinoceros, salamander, scorpion, seahorse, shark, sheep, sloth, snake, spider, squid, starfish, tiger, turtle, urial, vole, whale, wolf, yak, zebra

See also


- Altruism in animals
- Amphibian
- Animal intelligence
- Animal locomotion
- Animal rights
- Biblical terms
  - Clean animals
  - Unclean animals
- Biology
- Biota
- Bird
- Fish
- Insect
- Mammal
- Macrofossil
- Prehistoric life
- Reptile
- Zoology
- Zoo

References

External links


- [http://www.animool.com/animals/index.jsp Animals Search Engine]
- [http://www.wikianimals.com wikianimals.com] - Documenting the animal kingdom
- [http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Animals&contgroup=Eukaryotes Tree of Life]
- [http://www.arkive.org A Multimedia Database of Various UK or Endangered Species]
- [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wakefield/animals.html Animals and Birds Names] - Large table of words: animal, collective, male, female, young, & home
- [http://www273.pair.com/med/words/animal_adjectives.htm English Animal Adjectives]
- [http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/animals/animals.html Sounds of the World's Animals] - animal sounds in many languages
- [http://www.findsounds.com/ FindSounds - Search the Web for Sounds] - sound files including animal sound files
- [http://www.australianfauna.com/ Australian Animals]
- [http://www.animalreviews.com AnimalReviews] - animals reviewed and evaluated
- [http://animals.timduru.org/ The animal photo archive] - Photos of animals
- [http://www.wildlife-photo.org Photo gallery of animals pictures from the entire world.]
- [http://www.wildlife-photo.org/birds_list.htm Birds Name Check List in Latin, English, Russian and Hebrew.]
- [http://www.wildanimalsonline.com Wild Animals Online] - an online encyclopedia of wild animals - facts, photos Category:Animals zh-min-nan:Tōng-bu̍t ko:동물 ms:Haiwan ja:動物 simple:Animal th:สัตว์

Culture

:For other uses of Culture or Cultures, see Culture (disambiguation) The word culture, from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor), generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Different definitions of "culture" reflect different theoretical orientations for understanding, or criteria for valuing, human activity. Anthropologists most commonly use the term "culture" to refer to the universal human capacity to classify, codify and communicate their experiences symbolically. This capacity is a defining feature of the genus Homo.

Defining culture

Different definitions of culture reflect different theories for understanding - or criteria for valuing - human activity. Sir Edward B. Tylor wrote in 1871 that "culture or civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society", while a 2002 document from the United Nations agency UNESCO states that culture is the "set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs". http://www.unesco.org/education/imld_2002/unversal_decla.shtml UNESCO, 2002 While these two definitions range widely, they do not exhaust the many uses of this concept - in 1952 Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of more than 200 different definitions of culture in their book, Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions [Kroeber and Kluckhohn, 1952].

Culture as civilization

Many people today use a conception of "culture" that developed in Europe during the 18th and early 19th centuries. This idea of culture then reflected inequalities within European societies, and between European powers and their colonies around the world. It identifies "culture" with "civilization" and contrasts the combined concept with "nature". According to this thinking, one can classify some countries as more civilized than others, and some people as more cultured than others. Thus some cultural theorists have actually tried to eliminate popular or mass culture from the definition of culture. Theorists like Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) or the Leavises regard culture as simply the result of "the best that has been thought and said in the world” (Arnold, 1960: 6), thus labeling anything that doesn't fit into this category as chaos or anarchy. On this account, culture links closely with social cultivation: the progressive refinement of human behavior. Arnold consistently uses the word this way: "...culture being a pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world". http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/nonfiction_u/arnoldm_ca/ca_all.html Arnold, 1882 In practice, culture referred to élite goods and activities such as haute cuisine, high fashion or haute couture, museum-caliber art and classical music, and the word cultured described people who knew about, and took part in, these activities. For example, someone who used 'culture' in the sense of 'cultivation' might argue that classical music "is" more refined than music produced by working-class people such as punk rock or than the indigenous music traditions of aboriginal peoples of Australia. People who use "culture" in this way tend not to use it in the plural as "cultures". They do not believe that distinct cultures exist, each with their own internal logic and values; but rather that only a single standard of refinement suffices, against which one can measure all groups. Thus, according to this worldview, people with different customs from those who regard themselves as cultured do not usually count as "having a different culture"; but class as "uncultured". People lacking "culture" often seemed more "natural", and observers often defended (or criticized) elements of high culture for repressing "human nature". From the 18th century onwards, some social critics have accepted this contrast between cultured and uncultured, but have stressed the interpretation of refinement and of sophistication as corrupting and unnatural developments which obscure and distort people's essential nature. On this account, folk music (as produced by working-class people) honestly expresses a natural way of life, and classical music seems superficial and decadent. Equally, this view often portrays non-Western people as 'noble savages' living authentic unblemished lives, uncomplicated and uncorrupted by the highly-stratified capitalist systems of the West. Today most social scientists reject the monadic conception of culture, and the opposition of culture to nature. They recognize non-élites as just as cultured as élites (and non-Westerners as just as civilized) - simply regarding them as just cultured in a different way. Thus social observers contrast the "high" culture of élites to "popular" or pop culture, meaning goods and activities produced for, and consumed by, non-élite people or the masses. (Note that some classifications relegate both high and low cultures to the status of subcultures.)

Culture as worldview

During the Romantic era, scholars in Germany, especially those concerned with nationalist movements - such as the nationalist struggle to create a "Germany" out of diverse principalities, and the nationalist struggles by ethnic minorities against the Austro-Hungarian Empire - developed a more inclusive notion of culture as "worldview". In this mode of thought, a distinct and incommensurable world view characterizes each ethnic group. Although more inclusive than earlier views, this approach to culture still allowed for distinctions between "civilized" and "primitive" or "tribal" cultures. By the late 19th century, anthropologists had adopted and adapted the term culture to a broader definition that they could apply to a wider variety of societies. Attentive to the theory of evolution, they assumed that all human beings evolved equally, and that the fact that all humans have cultures must in some way result from human evolution. They also showed some reluctance to use biological evolution to explain differences between specific cultures - an approach that either exemplified a form of, or legitimized forms of, racism. They believed that biological evolution would produce a most inclusive notion of culture, a concept that anthropologists could apply equally to non-literate and to literate societies, or to nomadic and to sedentary societies. They argued that through the course of their evolution, human beings evolved a universal human capacity to classify experiences, and to encode and communicate them symbolically. Since human individuals learned and taught these symbolic systems, the systems began to develop independently of biological evolution (in other words, one human being can learn a belief, value, or way of doing something from another, even if the two humans do not share a biological relationship). That this capacity for symbolic thinking and social learning stems from human evolution confounds older arguments about nature versus nurture. Thus Clifford Geertz (1973: 33 ff.) has argued that human physiology and neurology developed in conjunction with the first cultural activities, and Middleton (1990: 17 n.27) concluded that human "'instincts' were culturally formed". People living apart from one another develop unique cultures, but elements of different cultures can easily spread from one group of people to another. Culture changes dynamically and people can (must?) teach and learn culture, making it a potentially rapid form of adaptation to change in physical conditions. Anthropologists view culture as not only as a product of biological evolution but as a supplement to it, as the main means of human adaptation to the world. This view of culture as a symbolic system with adaptive functions, and one which varies from place to place, led anthropologists to conceive of different cultures as defined by distinct patterns (or structures) of enduring, arbitrary, conventional sets of meaning, which took concrete form in a variety of artifacts such as myths and rituals, tools, the design of housing, and the planning of villages. Anthropologists thus distinguish between material culture and symbolic culture, not only because each reflects different kinds of human activity, but also because they constitute different kinds of data that require different methodologies. This view of culture, which came to dominate between World War I and World War II, implied that each culture had bounds and demanded interpretation as a whole, on its own terms. There resulted a belief in cultural relativism; the belief that one had to understand an individual's actions in terms of his or her culture; that one had to understand a specific cultural artifact (a ritual, for example) in terms of the larger symbolic system of which it forms a part. Nevertheless, the belief that culture comprises symbolical codes and can thus pass via teaching from one person to another meant that cultures, although bounded, would change. Cultural change could result from invention and innovation, but it could also result from contact between two cultures. Under peaceful conditions, contact between two cultures can lead to people "borrowing" (really, learning) from one another (diffusion or transculturation). Under conditions of violence or political inequality, however, people of one society can "steal" cultural artifacts from another, or impose cultural artifacts on another (acculturation). Diffusion of innovations theory presents a research-based model for how, when and why people adopt new ideas. All human societies have participated in these processes of diffusion, transculturation, and acculturation, and few anthropologists today see cultures as bounded. Modern anthropologists argue that instead of understanding a cultural artifact in terms of its own culture, one needs to understand it in terms of a broader history involving contact and relations with other cultures. In addition to the aforementioned processes, migration on a major scale has characterized the world, particularly since the days of Columbus. Phenomena such as colonial expansion and forced migration through slavery became prominent. As a result, many societies have become culturally heterogeneous. Some anthropologists have argued nevertheless that some unifying cultural system bound heterogeneous societies, and that it offers advantages to understand heterogenous elements as subcultures. Others have argued that no unifying or coordinating cultural system exists, and that one must understand heterogeneous elements together as forming a multicultural society. The spread of the doctrine of multiculturalism has coincided with a resurgence of identity politics, which involve demands for the recognition of social subgroups' cultural uniqueness. Sociobiologists argue that observers can best understand many aspects of culture in the light of the concept of the meme, first introduced by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. Dawkins suggests the existence of units of culture - memes - roughly analogous to genes in evolutionary biology. Although this view has gained some popular currency, anthropologists generally reject it.

Culture as values, norms, and artifacts

Another common way of understanding culture sees it as consisting of three elements: # values # norms # artifacts. (See Dictionary of Modern Sociology, 1969, 93, cited at [http://www.info.gov.hk/coy/eng/report/doc/Youth_Statistical/2002/app/Chp6_Cultural_Capital.pdf]) Values comprise ideas about what in life seems important. They guide the rest of the culture. Norms consist of expectations of how people will behave in different situations. Each culture has different methods, called sanctions, of enforcing its norms. Sanctions vary with the importance of the norm; norms that a society enforces formally have the status of laws. Artifacts — things, or material culture — derive from the culture's values and norms. Julian Huxley gives a slightly different division, into inter-related "mentifacts", "socifacts" and "artifacts", for ideological, sociological, and technological subsystems respectively. Socialization, in Huxley's view, depends on the belief subsystem. The sociological subsystem governs interaction between people. Material objects and their use make up the technological subsystem. [http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~aforsber/ccsf/culture_defined.html] As a rule, archeologists focus on material culture whereas cultural anthropologists focus on symbolic culture, although ultimately both groups maintain interests in the relationships between these two dimensions. Moreover, anthropologists understand "culture" to refer not only to consumption goods, but to the general processes which produce such goods and give them meaning, and to the social relationships and practices in which such objects and processes become embedded.

Culture as patterns of products and activities

In the early 20th century, anthropologists understood culture to refer not to a set of discrete products or activities (whether material or symbolic) but rather to underlying patterns of products and activities. Moreover, they assumed that such patterns had clear bounds (thus, some people confuse "culture" with the society that has a particular culture). In the case of smaller societies, in which people merely fell into categories of age, gender, household and descent group, anthropologists believed that people more-or-less shared the same set of values and conventions. In the case of larger societies, in which people undergo further categorization by region, race, ethnicity, and class, anthropologists came to believe that members of the same society often had highly contrasting values and conventions. They thus used the term subculture to identify the cultures of parts of larger societies. Since subcultures reflect the position of a segment of society vis a vis other segments and the society as a whole, they often reveal processes of domination and resistance. The 20th century also saw the popularization of the idea of corporate culture - distinct and malleable within the context of an employing organization or of a workplace.

Culture as Symbols

The symbolic view of culture, the legacy of Clifford Geertz (1973) and Victor Turner (1967), holds symbols to be both the practices of social actors and the context that gives such practices meaning. Anthony P. Cohen (1985) writes of the "symbolic gloss" which allows social actors to use common symbols to communicate and understand each other while still imbuing these symbols with personal significance and meanings. Symbols provide the limits of cultured thought. Members of a culture rely on these symbols to frame their thoughts and expressions in intelligible terms. In short, symbols make culture possible, reproducible and readable. They are the "webs of significance" in Weber's sense that, to quote Pierre Bourdieu (1977), "give regularity, unity and systematicity to the practices of a group...".

Culture as stabilizing mechanism

Modern cultural theory also considers the possibility that (a) culture itself is a product of stabilization tendencies inherent in evolutionary pressures toward self-similarity and self-cognition of societies as wholes, or tribalisms. See Steven Wolfram "A new kind of science" on iterated simple algorithms from genetic unfolding, from which the concept of culture as an operating mechanism can be developed, and Richard Dawkins "The extended phenotype" for discussion of genetic and memetic stability over time, through negative feedback mechanisms, such as Wikipedia.

Cultural change

Cultures, by predisposition, both embrace and resist change dependence of culture traits. For example, men and women have complementary roles in many cultures. One sex might desire changes that affect the other, as happened in the second half of the 20th century in western cultures. Cultural change can come about due to the environment, to inventions (and other internal influences), and to contact with other cultures. For example, the end of the last ice age helped lead to the invention of agriculture, which in its turn brought about many cultural innovations. In diffusion, the form of something moves from one culture to another, but not its meaning. For example, hamburgers, mundane in the United States, seemed exotic when introduced into China. "Stimulus diffusion" refers to an element of one culture leading to an invention in another. Diffusions of innovations theory presents a research-based model for why and when individuals and cultures adopt new ideas, practices, and products. "Acculturation" has different meanings, but in this context refers to replacement of the traits of one culture with those of another, such as happened to certain Native American tribes and to many indigenous peoples across the globe during the process of colonization. Related processes on an individual level include assimilation (adoption of a different culture by an individual) and transculturation.

Propagating culture

Insofar as culture grows and changes naturally within human society, it requires little or no formal propagation. Families or age-based peer-groups will instinctively foster (and develop) their own cultural norms. But few cultures act in such a laissez faire manner. Most societies develop some sort of religion or similar basis for inculcating and preserving established or "correct" cultural behavior. And many societies take the task of education out of the hands of priests and shamans and place it on a wider footing, so that the young (at least) gain a practical and emotional identification with a standardised version of their nurturing culture. Groups of immigrants, exiles, or minorities often form cultural associations or clubs to preserve their own cultural roots in the face of a surrounding (generally more locally-dominant) culture. Thus the world has acquired many Garibaldi Clubs, Pushkin Societies, and underground schools. On a broader scale, many countries market their cultural heritage internationally. This occurs not only in the promotion of tourism (importing money), but also in cultural development abroad (exporting ideas). Note the roles of cultural attachés in embassies and the function of specific organizations devoted to propagating the mother-culture, its language and its ideologies abroad, for example the work of:
- the Alliance française
- the British Council
- the Fulbright Program
- the Goethe-Institut
- the Instituto Cervantes

Cultural studies

Cultural studies developed in the late 20th century, in part through the re-introduction of Marxist thought into sociology, and in part through the articulation of sociology and other academic disciplines such as literary criticism. This movement aimed to focus on the analysis of subcultures in capitalist societies. Following the non-anthropological tradition, cultural studies generally focus on the study of consumption goods (such as fashion, art, and literature). Because the 18th- and 19th-century distinction between "high" and "low" culture seems inappropriate to apply to the mass-produced and mass-marketed consumption goods which cultural studies analyses, these scholars refer instead to "popular culture". Today, some anthropologists have joined the project of cultural studies. Most, however, reject the identification of culture with consumption goods. Furthermore, many now reject the notion of culture as bounded, and consequently reject the notion of subculture. Instead, they see culture as a complex web of shifting patterns that link people in different locales and that link social formations of different scales. According to this view, any group can construct its own cultural identity.

Sample list of cultures

Cultures of contemporary countries and regions

Main article: List of national culture articles.

Contemporary local cultures


- Culture of New York City
- Culture of Stockholm
- Culture of Sydney

Other contemporary cultures


- Cassette culture
- Deaf culture
- Drug culture
- Esperanto culture
- Hacker culture
- Queer culture
- Underground culture
- Working-class culture
- Youth culture

Historic cultures


- Assyro-Babylonian culture
- Clovis culture — pre-historic in North America and Central America from about 13,500 years ago
- Indus Valley Culture
  - Cemetery H culture
- La Tene culture — from the Iron Age in parts of Europe
- Natufian culture — in the Mediterranean more than 10,000 years ago
- Paideia — Classical Greek culture
- Romanitas — Roman Imperial culture
- Weimar culture
- Western culture

See also


- Acculturation
- Cross-cultural communication
- Cultural bias - cultural diversity - cultural evolution - cultural imperialism
- Culture theory - Culture war - Culture jamming
- Dominator culture
- European Capital of Culture — city chosen by the European Union for a year at a time to showcase its cultural life
- Kulturkampf — a specific cultural fight in 1870s Germany
- Organizational culture
- World Values Survey
- Free Culture Movement

References


- Arnold, Matthew, Culture and Anarchy, 1882. Macmillan and Co., New York. Online at [http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/nonfiction_u/arnoldm_ca/ca_titlepage.html].
- Bourdieu, Pierre. Outline of a Theory of Practice. 1977.
- Cohen, Anthony P. The Symbolic Construction of Community. Routledge: New York, 1995 (1985).
- Geertz, Clifford. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York. ISBN 0465097197.
- Hoult, Thomas Ford, ed. (1969). Dictionary of Modern Sociology. Totowa, New Jersey, United States: Littlefield, Adams & Co.
- Kroeber, A. L. and C. Kluckhohn, 1952. Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
- Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. ISBN 0335152759.
- [http://anthro.palomar.edu/tutorials/cultural.htm Cultural Anthropology Tutorials], Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College, San Marco, California, United States, as of December 12, 2004.
- UNESCO, "[http://www.unesco.org/education/imld_2002/unversal_decla.shtml UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity]", issued on International Mother Language Day, February 21, 2002.

External links


- [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-72 Dictionary of the History of Ideas:] "Cultural Development" in Antiquity
- [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-73 Dictionary of the History of Ideas:] "Culture" and "Civilization" in Modern Times
- [http://samvak.tripod.com/class.html Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations], by Dr. Sam Vaknin