Chapter+02+Culture


 * __ TERMS __**

__**Symbol**__- Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture.
 * When Cady joins the Plastics she learns about new terms that she was not used to using in Africa. She becomes accustomed to the slang used by girls in high school.

__**Culture Shock-**__ Personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life.
 * On Cady's first day of high school she becomes overwhelmed when it is time for lunch. On her first day she eats her lunch all alone in the bathroom instead of in the lunch room.

__**Values-**__ Culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve as broad guidelines for social living.
 * The Plastics have high values set within the group. The girls must be pretty, popular, and follow the rules about wearing certain outfits during the week. When Cady joins the group she must be discret about being in the math league. She also has to wear more revealing clothes in order to belong to the Plastics.

__**Cultural Transmission**__- The process by which one generation passes culture to the next. __**Culture Integration**__- The close relationships among various elements of a cultural system. __**Subculture**__- Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society's population.
 * Regina George's mom is not what you would think to be a typical mother figure. She dresses much like the young girls and that is clearly reflected among Regina and her friends. She promotes provocative behavior and allows them to dress and act however they want, and she acts the same as them to stay "young."
 * At the beginning of the movie Regina describes to Cady the clicks that are spread across the lunchroom. The people of similar interest "integrated" or sat together. The "art freaks," "the Asians," "The African Americans," the list goes on and on. Each bond together through their interests and have bonds with each other.
 * In that schools society or culture one of the many examples of a subculture is the Plastics. They have their own social customs. For example, each day they have to wear something different, but they must all match. This practice sets them aside from the other students at their high school.