Cultural Anthropology: Analysis of Cultural Dynamics at Starbucks

This essay presents a cultural anthropology observation conducted at a Starbucks café, focusing on the various cultural etiquettes and interactions among customers. The observation identifies and analyzes four key anthropological concepts: gender roles, kinship, market system, and common interest association. Gender roles are illustrated by observing a woman caring for her baby while the man orders food. Kinship is highlighted through the interactions of an Asian family, emphasizing the importance of familial relationships. The market system is demonstrated by formally dressed individuals valuing coffee and paying for it, while common interest association is shown through a group of friends, including an Asian, discussing a movie or video game. The author reflects on the value of the course, noting the ability to observe and understand subtle nuances in human behavior and the realization that despite busy lives, people still find time for personal connections. The study underscores the significance of ethnography in understanding cultural dynamics within a familiar setting.

Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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The scene chosen for the assignment is the Starbucks Café at a local shopping mall. The
time when the observation was done was 20:00 hours and the date was April 2, 2018. The
customers thronging the café were observed and many interesting things were observed. The
main aim of this observation was to notice the various etiquettes of the different cultures and
subcultures. Culture, as mostly defined is the way of life. It encompasses the ways people eat,
drink, sleep, sit, and converse and interacts with others. Defining culture from an anthropological
point of view, culture is the “complex whole includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law and
custom amongst other habits acquired by man as a member of the society” (Lysgård, 2013).
Many anthropologists have defined in different ways one of which has been used here. Culture
provides humans with a great advantage to enter into every place in nature. Its development and
maintenance is what demarcates the humans from other living species on the earth. Another
dynamic aspect of culture is that it varies from place to place and from time to time (Surber,
2018). The present paper shall discuss the observations done at the café and provide insights into
the different aspects o culture. Four anthropological concepts have been identified while
observing the scene that will be analyzed.
The coffee shop has chairs arranged in a circular order with customers having to face
each other while they enjoy their snack and coffee. Customers are filling in every chair of the
café with friends, families and colleagues accompanying them. The paintings hanging on the
walls within the dimly lit interior of the café presents a sense of sophistication. Within a group of
the customers, a woman is seen looking after her baby while the man, probably her husband is
ordering the food. Within another group, probably friends, one being an Asian, they were
discussing something related to a videogame or a movie as evident from their hand gestures and
facial expressions. Then a middle-aged man was observed entering the café with his colleague

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probably because both had adorned formal suit and tie. They sat for around five minutes, had just
a sip of coffee and then one of them paid the bill in cash and they left. Another group of
customers who were at the café seemed to belong from a different community probably Asian.
The woman and the little girl had flower garland attached to the pony and they had something on
their forehead. They sat quite silently and the mother was seen instructing the little girl on how to
sit properly and eat the sandwich.
After observing the scene for about 25 minutes, many interesting aspects of culture came
to the fore. During the entire observation, many things happened at one given time and hence
went unnoticed. However, the observation helped explain the various concepts of anthropology
that was studied during the course. Four anthropological concepts shall be discussed in the paper
that includes gender roles, kinship, market system and common interest association.
Gender role is that anthropological concept that defines the expectations a culture has of
an individual’s role in the society as per their gender. In almost every society, the role of men
and women has been preconceived (Alesina, Giuliano & Nunn, 2013). Women mostly are
allotted the role of raising the children and men have the role to give financial support to the
family along with providing security and safety. The woman looking after her baby and the
husband ordering the food at the coffee shop demonstrated this concept.
Kinship as an anthropological concept refers to the blood relations people have. The
prominence given to kinship differs from culture to culture. In Western culture, kinship is given
minimum importance compared to the Eastern culture (Carsten, 2013). This might be because
western people give prominence to career, success and achievements. In addition, the concept of
joint family is not prevalent in the western culture as it is in the eastern part. Staying with a joint

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family influences the way kinship is viewed and valued. Within the observation, the family from
the Asian ethnicity demonstrated the value of kinship. To an average American, it is hard to
imagine a girl of 15 years of age having coffee at Starbucks with her parents. To add to that, she
even follows her parents’ instructions on the ways to eat her snack and drink her coffee.
Market system is the anthropological concept that means buying any item or service in
exchange of money. In the contemporary world, people give as much value to the market system
as they do to the social system. Money defines the social status of people (Caruso et al., 2013).
The instance of the two formally suited individuals who were willing to pay handsome amount
of money for things that held little value could be associated to this concept of market system.
Common interest association is an anthropological concept that could be defined as
comprising a group that has a common interest binding them together. The common interest
could be a movie, a game, a sport or even a political ideology. Common interest associations are
formed across cultures because it is based on the liking and disliking of a particular thing (Lewis,
2017). The group of three friends, one of whom was an Asian display the traits associated with
this concept. Despite belonging to different ethnicities, they shared a common interest that was
either a movie or a videogame enthusiasm.
Reflecting back to this assignment, I feel that I was fortunate to have undertaken this
course. It allowed me to observe the minutest nuances of people and the surrounding and
understanding it from the perspective of cultural anthropology. The cultural scene observed at
Starbucks helped me learn about the processes involved in ethnography. While observing the
cultural scene, I was able to detect a common pattern amongst the customers who often visit the
café. They all seemed oblivious of the surrounding environment as they were engulfed within

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their own world. However, one thing that gave me a satisfying feeling was the realization that no
matter how busy and materialistic we become, we always find a time or two for ourselves.

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References
Alesina, A., Giuliano, P., & Nunn, N. (2013). On the origins of gender roles: Women and the
plough. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128(2), 469-530.
Carsten, J. (2013). What kinship does—and how. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 3(2),
245-251.
Caruso, E. M., Vohs, K. D., Baxter, B., & Waytz, A. (2013). Mere exposure to money increases
endorsement of free-market systems and social inequality. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: General, 142(2), 301.
Lewis, I. (2017). Social and cultural anthropology in perspective: Their relevance in the modern
world. Routledge.
Lysgård, H. K. (2013). The definition of culture in culture-based urban development strategies:
antagonisms in the construction of a culture-based development discourse. International
journal of cultural policy, 19(2), 182-200.
Surber, J. P. (2018). Culture and critique: An introduction to the critical discourses of cultural
studies. Routledge.

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The cultural scene
I paid a visit to a local shopping mall and sat at the Starbucks Coffee Shop to observe people and
their behaviors. I found the following observations:
 Gender roles
 Kinship
 Market system
 Common interest association