Examples of Cultural Diversity
Examples of cultural diversity are not very difficult to find:
| In our society it is considered normal for a man and a woman to fall in love, get married and not have any other sexual partners (monogamy). | In other societies it is considered normal for a man to marry a number of different women at the same time and have sexual relations with each of them (polygamy). On the other hand, slightly rarer are societies where one woman marries a number of different man and has a sexual relationship with each. |
| In our society, married couples tend to live in a family group that does not involve wider relations (uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.). | In other societies this would appear abnormal, since normal family life would consist of a family group that involved a wide range of kin living together (grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, children and so forth). |
| In more specific terms, we could think about the way men and women dress and behave in our society. It is traditional, for example, for women to use make-up whereas men, in the main, do not. Women are expected to take care of family life within the home, whereas men have traditionally been full-time workers. | Amongst the Tchambuli tribe in Africa, the reverse is true. In this society it is men who are expected to adorn themselves and it is women who are expected to perform most of the work outside the home. |