According to our definition from class, culture is "a group of people and who they are, what they make, and how they understand and create their reality." Culture is defined and determined by the kinds of people we are, the kinds of people we are surrounded by, and how we feel about all of it. According to Howard Becker, the pot-smoking culture is the essence of what makes people smoke pot in the first place. The signs- a bong, an actual marijuana plant, and so on, argue us into taking different positions based on our understanding of the culture. A person who has never smoked pot before, or, according to Becker, tried it but didn't enjoy it, might see these signs and think nothing of it. An avid pot-smoker might see these signs and think, "...Yes please." The pot-smoker's understanding of the world was socially constructed by the subculture of people who smoke. Becker's argument was that until someone has been taught by the culture to smoke, how they should feel while smoking, and how to enjoy it, they won't understand it at all. People's feelings are socially constructed.
For example, in our culture, social construction has trained us into understanding that making eye contact with people is normal, if not essential, for social contact. It is a sign of respect. In other cultures, however, making eye contact is actually very abnormal, and even a sign of disrespect. So, the sign of making eye contact is completely different in our culture from what it is in places like Japan. It all depends on what our culture has taught us to believe- SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION.
If I moved to Japan, or started hanging around people who enjoy smoking pot, eventually my own culture would be changed as well. My ideas would be shaped by Japan's or the pot-smokers' cultures, thus changing the positions I take when I see signs such as a bong, or someone looking me square in the eye.
Except with the sneaky, interesting idea of 'docile bodies,' there's no 'pressure'!
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