On Becoming Cultural Beings: A Focus on Race, Gender, and Language

Abstract

In this article, the authors present theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence on the perceptual narrowing and meaning attributed by each culture through social interactions to the categories of race, gender, and language. The authors use that evidence to support the idea that by age 5 years, and rapidly within the first years of life, as children become cultural beings, these social categories get defined and adopted by the child. The authors suggest that these processes might provide the bases for the formation of prejudices and biases very early on and conclude that to work toward a more pluralistic world society.