Individualism is embodied in American culture

楊建

Individualism is a kind of moral， political， and social philosophy which emphasizes personal freedom and independence or importance of human beings as individual. "Man is the measure of all things”， put forward by Ancient Greek philosopher Protagoras，is also an important expression of individualism. In the western countries individualism is considered as the basic values of the society. And individualism， more cherished by Americans， is the basic life principle that they have been pursuing. I hold that individualism is primarily present in such aspects of American culture as daily behaviors， language， family and marriage

The reflection of individualism in Americans daily behaviors

Individualism respects personal life and personal life is protected against interference and probing. Americans will be involved in civil？lawsuits if they gossip to other peoples personal life. Even if there are direct speeches used in American news reports， they are requested to write clearly who said that or who told the author. In America， privacy is the fundamental rights of individuals， so it is offensive that someone takes up others private time and space without an appointment. Americans idea of publicizing personality is also displayed in their clothes. They dress very casually and freely. In their view， clothing is just a good way to express the character. Americans consider individualism as a sort of near-perfect morality which represents the spirit of independence. For instance， American？children start to sleep alone from birth， not only sleep on a separate bed， but also in a separate room. They can freely express their opinions with “no”， “I think” and so on when they communicate with adults. When they begin to work， they would ask the boss for promotion， if thinking they are talented enough. And， if they are ignored by the boss， they would quit jobs without hesitation. Americans still remain their independence and self-reliance when they are old. Many old people are reluctant to accept help. For example， we always see the elderly carrying lots of things on the bus. Most of them will not be pleased and they will say “no， no， thank you. I can manage” if someone help them at this point.

The reflection of individualism in Americans language

The relationship between language and culture is interdependent. Language reflects the culture， and the culture is displayed by its language. Proverb， one of the language forms most？closely？related to？the culture， can reflect a nation's values， such as： "God help those who help themselves". Abraham Lincoln had a humble？birth and lived a hard life， while he finally became the president of America through self-reliance and hard work and thus became the first model of “self-made man”. Another example， in 1841， Emerson wrote an article whose title was self – reliance. The epigrammatic sentences and passionate individualism in the paper had attracted widespread attention from people. For individualists and those people who pursue their true hearts， Emerson's self - reliance has profound attraction. The two stories constantly inspired generations of young people in the United States. Since then， many words related to “self” such as self-made， self-centered， self-esteem， self-dependence， self-advancement get great popularity among people in America. These words reflect that everyone must depend on themselves and be self-reliant.

The reflection of individualism in Americans family and marriage

The America families are nuclear families. Family consists of parents and minor children. When children grow up to 18 years old， they must leave their parents to begin their own life. Once children get married， they need to move out to rent or buy a house to live， no matter how spacious their parents home is. After marriage economic independence is also needed， parents no longer have an obligation to support their children but give children adequate freedom and encourage them to achieve their personal values. Americans characteristic of individualism is also best manifested in marriage. Once people fall in love they would overcome various difficulties and obstacles to pursue their love， because marriage is personal affair and no one has right to interfere in it. It is well-known that Lucy in the film "Titanic" fell in love with an artist without a penny， and she completely ignored the disapproval from her mother and coercion from her fiancé. All of the above are the embodiments of individualism. Meanwhile， American individualism also suggests that one person as an individual has the right to choose his favorite love. Once the marriage is unable to continue， Americans can choose mate again freely without bearing the moral pressure because in their view， it is the most cruel and inhuman to force two people to live together who dont love each other.