Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

In addition to a dominant culture, most societies have various —regional, economic, social,
religious, ethnic, and other cultural groups that exert influence in society. Other co-cultures develop
among people who share specific beliefs, ideologies, or life experiences. For example, within the United
States we commonly refer to a wide variety of different cultures: Amish culture, African American
culture, Buddhist Culture, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersexed, and asexual
(LGBTQIA+) culture. With all of these different cultural groups, we must realize that just because
individuals belong to a cultural group, that does not mean that they are all identical. For example, African
Americans in New York City are culturally distinct from those living in Birmingham, Alabama, because
they also belong to different geographical co-cultures. Within the LGBTQIA culture, the members who
make up the different letters can have a wide range of differing cultural experiences within the larger coculture
itself. As such, we must always be careful to avoid generalizing about individuals because of the
co-cultures they belong to.
Co-cultures bring their unique sense of history and purpose within a larger culture. Co-cultures will
also have their holidays and traditions. For example, one popular co-cultural holiday celebrated in the
United States is Cinco de Mayo. Many U.S. citizens think that Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday.
However, this is not a Mexican holiday. Outside of Puebla, Mexico, it’s considered a relatively minor
holiday even though children do get the day off from school. One big mistake many U.S. citizens make is
assuming Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day, which it is not. Instead, El Grito de la Indepedencia
(The Cry of Independence) is held annually on September 16 in honor of Mexican Independence from
Spain in 1810. Sadly, Cinco de Mayo has become more of an American holiday than it is a Mexican one.
Just as an FYI, Cinco de Mayo is the date (May 5, 1862) observed to commemorate the Mexican Army’s
victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla that conclude the Franco-Mexican War (also
referred to as the Battle of Puebla Day). We raise this example because often the larger culture coopts
parts of a co-culture and tries to adapt it into the mainstream. During this process, the meaning associated
with the co-culture is often twisted or forgotten. If you need another example, just think of St. Patrick’s
Day, which evolved from a religious celebration marking the death of St. Patrick on March 17, 461 CE,
to a day when “everyone’s Irish” and drinks green beer.
The last major term we need to explain with regards to culture is what is known as a microculture. A
, sometimes called a local culture, refers to cultural patterns of behavior influenced by
cultural beliefs, values, norms, and rules based on a specific locality or within an organization. “Members
of a microculture will usually share much of what they know with everyone in the greater society but
will possess a special cultural knowledge that is unique to the subgroup.” 6 If you’re a college student
and you’ve ever lived in a dorm, you may have experienced what we mean by a microculture. It’s not
uncommon for different dorms on campus to develop their own unique cultures that are distinct from
other dorms. They may have their own exclusive stories, histories, mascots, and specializations. Maybe
you live in a dorm that specializes in honor’s students or pairs U.S. students with international students.
Perhaps you live in a dorm that is allegedly haunted. Maybe you live in a dorm that values competition
against other dorms on campus, or one that doesn’t care about the competition at all. All of these
examples help individual dorms develop unique cultural identities.
We often refer to microcultures as “local cultures” because they do tend to exist among a small
segment of people within a specific geographical location. There’s quite a bit of research on the topic of
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Interpersonal Communication