Jeepney Wondering #3

Jeepneys have had me pondering the Filipino culture of late. This logically led me to a period of introspection on Australian culture. And hence, jeepney wondering number 3 was born.......

Culture is a word that is bandied about a lot, but do we ever know what it means when we say it? When we hear it used on the news, or read it in the papers we nod sagely and make thoughtful noises. But what does it mean? In fact why do we try to define culture? Is it to make comparisons, to segregate, to order, to understand? Is it the global response to personality profiling? Is it the human need to describe and ascribe characteristics?

I have come to the possibly over simplified) conclusion that we use “Culture” to collate and bundle up the characteristics of one country, in order to compare them to the collated and bundled characteristics of another. Not content with this, the cogs of my brain set to whirring about the characteristics of Australia. This oh-so-innocent distraction led me into a maze of headaches and confusion as I tried to define the personality of my country.

In the end I gave up, updated my status, and watched a DVD (the current version of having a bex and a good lie down). But my watching pleasure was rudely interrupted by yet more pondering....

Can we ever truly define our own culture? Can we consciously cultivate and design a culture? We spend millions attempting to do this in marketing campaigns and tourism promotions, but are these imagines, slogans and catchphrases an accurate portrayal of our culture – or is this simply who we wish to be?

Culture is neither a positive nor negative but a descriptor, yet as we try to define our own culture we inherently instil within it only positive attributes. We are not afraid to characterise other countries by their characteristics – good and bad. But are we brave enough to see ourselves as others see us?

What about this example from a Filipino resort website:

"Australians and Germans should indicate their actual drinking pattern upon booking, because we need to consider approximates when stocking up."

Or the common response of Filipinos to my distaste of the golden elixir of life:

“you don’t drink beer? That is very strange for an Australian.”

At first when faced with such “unfair” generalisations I would huff and puff about Australia being more than just beer loving, bikini wearers. But I have given up defending my country’s love of a cold one (just as at home I had given up defending my right as an educated female to enjoy a good rum and coke). I make judgements on the Filipino culture based on what I see and often they differ from the official version. Surely it is only fair that I in turn accept what they see, and the judgements they make.

So if my earlier conclusion is indeed correct, and we use “culture” to understand the actions and responses of a community, then in order to make judgements on these we must have a reference point – our own actions and responses – our own culture. If we cannot look upon ourselves and our practices, our morals and our foibles and remain objective and truthful, then surely our reference point is false?

We do ourselves, and others, a disservice when we blindly accept the tourism version of our culture, when we define ourselves so simply by beaches, BBQ’s and our love of sport. Australian culture is made of more than this, it is made up of our response to others in times of need, of our sense of place, of our humour, our history, our policies, our faith(s), our mixed and matched peoples.

But knowing this, and momentarily looking from the outside, I still cannot clearly and succinctly define our culture. I can tell you how it feels and I can tell you how much I miss it. But I can’t tell you what it is. Maybe I should ask the Filipinos.....