Anthropologists Benedict, Williams, and Geertz

When it comes to sociology there are many different theories that need a critical in-depth analysis. The anthropologists that study the subjective and objective sides of culture and societies accomplish this. They break down these topics and inspect them from every aspect. They study, interpret, and criticize every part of their subject in order to completely understand it. Whether it’s diversity or the economy, Benedict, Williams, and Geertz analyze the major and subtler ideologies to their cores.

Ruth Benedict is a cultural anthropologist. Benedict’s focus was on articles that dealt with theories of culture diversity. “She was one of the first female anthropologists of her time. Her books serve as reference points of humanistic thought…”("Ruth Fulton Benedict"). In relation to Annex 1, Benedict’s benefit to the sociological world was her study of cultural diversity.

In Benedicts article, The Diversity of Cultures, the main focus is cultural differences. The benefit of this article was the ability for readers to look deeper into the many subjects that warp a culture and separate one from another. The thick description, as Geertz would express, is Benedict’s ability to place the diversities into context from gender roles, puberty rites and language, to age and any events associated with it. Ruth explains the diversity, historically, as a continuation of the past. When something enters a culture it can stick and become embedded into that culture for decades to come. From her critical analysis of culture we learn that “human societies cannot be explained simply by nature…different elements within a culture are interconnected…and must be understood by placing them in their context” (Spillman, 25). This means that in order to ful...

... middle of paper ...

... Washington University, DC. 8 March 2011 .

"Objective." 3a. Merriam Webster. 2011. N. pag. Web. 14 Mar. 2011.

.

"Ruth Fulton Benedict. "EMuseum. Minnesota State University, 1998. Web. 7 Mar.

2011. .

"Subjective." 4c. Merriam Webster. 2011. N. pag. Web. 14 Mar. 2011.

.

Tagliabue, John. "Insects as Food? Trying to Change ‘Ick’ to ‘Yum’." New York Times

15 Mar. 2011: A6. Web. 14 Mar. 2011.

.

Williams, Ray. "Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory." New Left

Review 82 Dec. (1973). Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

.