1.Plasticity is a capability, if I understand correctly, of any culture. Plasticity is evident in Hmong-Americans, per the utilization of parking lot spaces for herbs.

2.This is a non-academic tone shift, and stands out as abrupt from the rest of the essay.

3.Consider elaborating – if I had no knowledge of the Hmong, I would have no idea why this was asserted.

4.”Prestige” may be a better word choice here.

5.Don’t forget to indent the second line of the citation!

Cultural Anthropology

Valerya Quintanilla

Lonestar College Cy-Fair

Cultural Anthropology

Cultural Change among the Hmong

The Hmong were initially a minority group in lowland Lao and are currently struggling with involuntary mass dispersal that has seen them scatter across the globe. For this reason, they have struggled to retain unconventionality and ethnic culture. Moreover, acculturation, diffusion, and diaspora among other factors have resulted in a significant change in their culture. This essay examines the various causes of cultural change among the Hmong in addition to an overview of various relevant general cultural terms including but not limited to worldview, symbolism, values, and norms.

-5614841535342-22380047624224623562357582Various key terms and concepts in anthropology provide direction on this etic perspective of the Hmong society. An etic perspective allows a researcher, like in this case, to study and obtain viewpoints of society as an outsider or from an observer’s perspective. This perspective includes social norms or simply norms that represent standards of behavior or rules that create conformity in how members of society conduct themselves. Values augment social norms and constitute things members of society perceive to be important in their daily operations and way of life. The Hmong’s worldview entails an interconnection of all the things in the world. “..the world is full of things that may not seem to be connected but actually are..” (Fadiman, 1998. P. 21). According to this culture, everything in the world may appear isolated but is actually connected to something. There is no event to a Hmong that happens in isolation.

-168910211455-10716420827124956359471Plasticity is the capability of a society to be easily molded or shaped. The Hmong society cannot be viewed in this light because they are extremely conservative and reserved. This attributes to limited interaction with other ethnicities, consequently limiting observation and imitation, which are the basis for cultural transmission. The functionalism theory in anthropology examines the different sects of society and their affiliation through organic analogy.

5061658321398246962583034702428513831833822821305157162527278181835258-952501229360306981466258It is very clear that societal pressure has inevitably assimilated the Hmong to a different more dominant culture. Their current mode of dressing is a good indication of acculturation. Majority of the Hmong especially those in the United States dress in western-style and reserve their traditional wear for special occasions and festivities such as weddings and New Year’s. The women are a bit reserved and still wear Lao Sarong skirts but this can be attributed to the community’s gender roles that tend to have women kept back (Vang & Bogenschutz, 2014). Before, the Hmong had attires specific to the various subgroups. Today, as the community increasingly comes into contact with subgroups from Thailand, China, Laos, and Western Civilization, purchasing clothing has become easier than making their traditional attire. As a result, clothing is no longer an identity but rather a mark of wealth and fancy.

The Hmong’s long history of contact with various ethnicities through migration resulted in the adoption of new religions. Most recently is the assumption of protestant Christianity and the desertion of Shamanism and ancestor worship. Christian practices have influenced their response to Western biomedicine another addition to their culture. Western biomedicine is a new practice alongside herbalists in response to illness. The arrival of Hmong refugees to the United States where communication, technology, and transport is very advanced meant an enrichment to their culture through cultural diffusion.

In addition, the plight of the Hmong over the years is a good definition of diaspora. The Hmong people have been involuntarily dispersed for over a thousand years and in the past century fled persecution from Chinese forces to settle in Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand (Pfeifer, Chiu, & Yang, 2013). Then came the United States conflict with South East Asia which resulted in 150,000 Hmong receiving refuge in the United States as Fadiman (1998.) indicates “Because the Lees are among the 150,000 Hmong who have fled Laos since their country fell to communist forces in 1975,..” (p. 13). As exiles, the Hmong created a fertile location wherever they relocated for the foundation of a hybrid culture incorporating the elements of western civilization and their home culture.

As much as the Hmong people have been exposed to different cultures in their response to persecution and calls to assimilate, they have conditioned themselves in a manner that avoids extreme exposure to alien world perspectives. However, the power of cultural innovation has seen them imitate the behaviors of the host culture. Lia’s parents in Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down seek western biomedicine for their daughter although they still maintain caution. The Hmong people are exposed to new ideas of disease causation and diagnosis that their traditional methods cannot explain or provide solutions.

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References

-266387-547818Fadiman, Anne. (1998) The spirit catches you and you fall down :a Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures New York : Noonday Press,

Pfeifer, M. E., Chiu, M., & Yang, K. (2013). Diversity in Diaspora: Hmong Americans in the twenty-first century. University of Hawai’i Press.

Vang, P. D., & Bogenschutz, M. (2014). Teenage marriage, and the socioeconomic status of Hmong women. International Migration, 52(3), 144-159.

10718801550035-68580-318135

Cultural Anthropology
The authors of the article “Stone Agers in the Fast Lane: Chronic Degenerative Diseases in Evolutionary Perspective”, Eaton, Kroner, and Shostak, provide an argument for the increasing diseases in modern societies. They build an evolutionary model to justify their argument, which suggests that biocultural evolution promotes chronic illnesses such as cancer, atherosclerosis, obesity, and diabetes mellitus among others. These diseases result from the interaction between genetically controlled biochemical processes and many biocultural influences (Eaton, Kroner, and Shostak 739). The genetic composition of modern people is not different from that of their ancestors. However, their culture has greatly transformed since the industrial revolution.
According to Eaton, Kroner, and Shostak (746), industrialization has resulted in many changes. Every person’s health is now dependent on the interaction between genetically controlled biochemistry and lifestyle factors. For instance, chemically manufactured foods have altered people’s nutrition. In aIDition, environmental evolution has resulted in congestion and lack of exercise, and people are continuously exposed to harmful substances such as alcohol and tobacco. The article by Eaton, Kroner, and Shostak reflects some of the health challenges for peri-urban slum dwellers. These challenges are discussed in an article “The 21st Century Health Challenge of Slums and Cities” by Sclar, Garau, and Carolini. The 21st century industrialization has facilitated proliferation of urban centers, and their ever increasing population has resulted in health challenges, especially for slum dwellers.
Health problems are common in urban populations of developing countries, which experience socio-economic hardships. According to Sclar, Garau, and Carolini (901), close to half the urban population in Africa, Asia, and Latin America have health problems. Economic challenges have forced millions of people in these countries to live in slums, which are characterized by inadequate safe drinking water, poor housing, inadequate access to sanitation, insecurity of tenure, and overcrowding. Slum dwellers are constantly faced with a threat from communicable diseases caused by the deplorable conditions. Inadequate water and sanitation leads to diseases such as diarrhoea, typhoid, and worm infections, and overcrowding facilitates their fast spread.
Furthermore, the economic challenges deny slum dwellers proper nutrition and access to a quality health care. This leads to low body resistance, accelerating transmission of these diseases. Poor drainage systems increase the risk of malaria by forming breeding grounds for mosquitoes. High levels of poverty, harsh physical standards, and poor social conditions lead to chronic stress. According to Sclar, Garau, and Carolini (902), depression affects many urban adults, with poor urban residents suffering the most. Sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV are high in cities, particularly in slums, where poverty has led to a high rate of sex workers.
Eaton, Kroner, and Shostak’s proposed evolutionary model justifies the increasing diseases in the modern society. These diseases are unusual, rare, or almost unknown in cultures, with features almost the same as those of Late Paleolithic ancestors. However, their prevalence changes suIDenly when the previously unaffected society adopts a changing lifestyle. Sclar, Garau, and Carolini identified urbanization as one cause for their increased presence. This is facilitated by socio-economic changes, where the poor population lives in deplorable conditions in slums, which encourage proliferation of diseases such as diarrhoea, typhoid, and worm infections. People’s lives in slums is dependent on the interaction between genetically controlled biochemistry and lifestyle factors. The latter is caused by economic hardships, which force people to live in conditions that increase disease prevalence.

Works Cited
Eaton, S. Boyd, Melvin Konner, and Marjorie Shostak. “Stone Agers in the Fast Lane: Chronic Degenerative Diseases in Evolutionary Perspective.” The American Journal of Medicine 84.4 (1988): 739-749. Print.
Sclar, Elliott, Pietro Garau, and Gabriella Carolini. “The 21st Century Health Challenge of Slums and Cities.” The Lancet 365.9462 (2005): 901-903. Print.