There is a growing concern on the change of American self-identity for hyphenated Americans. For many biracial people, communication problems are often accrued differently, while the dilemma is the same which is they feel themselves hard to fit in either group. Americans with multiple cultural identities usually feel they have to make an option to pick one identity and give up all the others in order to fit in the American culture. However, such sacrifice is not necessary and understanding must be established to the whole Americans. Zadie Smith in “Speaking in Tongues” discusses her biracial identity. Smith advocates an understanding to people with multiple voices. In her opinion, people with or without multiple cultural backgrounds can have …show more content…
Amy Chua in “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior” shares her unique parenting method, which, compared with Western parenting method, focuses on the parent’s desires rather than the children’s. Chua is an American citizen with some Chinese values, while her husband Jed is a typically Western American, so the cultural shock can be shown on how they rear their daughters. Both Chua and Smith have multiple identities, but the way they facing it are totally different. Chua has very strong confidence and rarely cares about what people thinking about her, so she has no pressure dealing with cultural conflicts. Nonetheless, Smith is very sensitive and struggled with her multiple cultural identities for a long time and she finally gets the courage to express herself freely. A multiple cultural identity can positively influence most American citizens’ values and Americans can learn to speak more flexibly and this can achieve cultural …show more content…
Due to the cultural differences, we may find what is appropriate in one culture may not be suitable for another culture. Under such conditions, people need to learn to speak in a more flexible way and make compromise if necessary. By doing so, people can express themselves in a more acceptable way by not offending anyone. Chua serves herself as an example to show that how inappropriate word can make gaps between hyphenated Americans and other Americans, “I once did the same thing to Sophia, calling her garbage in English when she acted extremely disrespectfully toward me. When I mentioned that I had done this at a dinner party, I was immediately ostracized” (53). When she says she did the same thing, she means her dad once called her “garbage” in their native Hokkien dialect, and that explains why she would call Sophia “garbage”. Chua’s goal is to make Sophia realize her mistakes, but not making Sophia and other guests feel embarrassed and uncomfortable, which required Chua to learn when to speak which voice. If Chua can simply change her way of speaking, she can have more relax relation with Sophia. Over time, hyphenated-Americans may be less separated by their multiple backgrounds. Differed from Chua, Smith states a positive demonstration of how president Obama can turn his biracial identity into advantages by knowing to speak flexibly to make American citizens accept him, “Throughout
Amy Chua utilizes evidence to verify that Western parenting practice is wrong and not as effective as Chinese parenting practice. In her article, Chua comments, “Chinese parents can do things that would seem unimaginable-even legally actionable-to Westerners, “Hey fatty-lose some weight.” By contrast, Western parents have to tiptoe around the issue” (Chua 54). She also gives her observation as evidence to convince Westerners treat their kid wrongly. She adds her observation in her article “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” “I also once heard a Western father toast his adult daughter by calling her “beautiful and incredibly competent.” She later told me that made her feel like garbage” (Chua 54). Brooks, in opposite, does not fight against to prove Chinese parenting techniques are completely wrong. However, he just want to give evidence so that Chua and Chinese, in common, understand Western parenting practices are good in some ways. In Brooks’ article, he clears, “So I’m not against the way Chua pushes her daughters” (Brooks 59). Furthermore, David Brooks writes in his article “I wish she recognized that in some important ways the school cafeteria is more intellectually demanding than the library” (Brooks
America is a presumptuous country; its citizens don’t feel like learning any other language so they make everyone else learn English. White Americans are the average human being and act as the standard of living, acting, and nearly all aspects of life. In her essay “White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh talks about how being white has never been discussed as a race/culture before because that identity has been pushed on everyone else, and being white subsequently carries its own set of advantages. Gloria Anzaldua is a Chicana, a person of mixed identities. In an excerpt titled “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” she discusses how the languages she speaks identifies who she is in certain situations and how, throughout her life, she has been pushed to speak and act more “American” like. McIntosh’s idea of whiteness as a subconscious race that carries its own advantages can enlighten why Anzaldua feels like she
One type of effect the Chinese mothers’ expectations has in their relationship with their “Americanized” daughter is negative since the mothers are unable to achieve anything. An-Mei Hsu expects her daughter to listen and obey as the young ones do in Chinese culture, but instead receives a rebellious and stubborn daughter, “‘You only have to listen to me.’ And I cried, ‘But Old Mr. Chou listens to you too.’ More than thirty years later, my mother was still trying to make me listen’” (186-187). Instead of the circumstances improving, the mother is never able to achieve anything; her forcing and pushing her daughter to the Chinese culture goes to a waste. They are both similar in this sense because both are stubborn; the daughter learns to be stubborn through American culture and wants to keep herself the way she is, whereas the mother wants to remove this teaching from American culture and does not give u...
Similarly, Wong also grew up in America with a traditional Chinese mother. In contrast, Wong’s upbringing involves her mother forcing her into attending two different schools. After her American school day, Wong continues on with Chinese school to learn both cultures. Her mother felt it was her duty to “[. . .] learn the language of [her] heritage” (Wong 144). This puts a burden on Wong as she starts to despise the Chinese culture.
Amy Tan’s ,“Mother Tongue” and Maxine Kingston’s essay, “No Name Woman” represent a balance in cultures when obtaining an identity in American culture. As first generation Chinese-Americans both Tan and Kingston faced many obstacles. Obstacles in language and appearance while balancing two cultures. Overcoming these obstacles that were faced and preserving heritage both women gained an identity as a successful American.
Identity is one of the main questions throughout all of our readings, because it is hard for people to accept who they are in society. Accepting their identity as a minority with little if any freedoms sparks many of the social problems which I will show happening in all communities and cultures. The main issue we will discuss is how social environments effect the search for identity. The Mexicans in the U.S. module gives us examples how Mexicans try to keep their customs while living in a discriminated environment by the Whites. This module also gives us examples how people are searching for personal identity while struggling with cultural traditions. Finally, the African-American module gives us more examples to compare with the Mexicans in the U.S. module, because these readings deal with Blacks finding personal identity also through discrimination from the Whites. To properly understand the theme of identity, we must first look the factors influencing it.
The Chinese mothers, so concentrated on the cultures of their own, don't want to realize what is going on around them. They don't want to accept the fact that their daughters are growing up in a culture so different from their own. Lindo Jong, says to her daughter, Waverly- "I once sacrificed my life to keep my parents' promise. This means nothing to you because to you, promises mean nothing. A daughter can promise to come to dinner, but if she has a headache, a traffic jam, if she wants to watch a favorite movie on T.V., she no longer has a promise."(Tan 42) Ying Ying St.Clair remarks- "...because I remained quiet for so long, now my daughter does not hear me. She sits by her fancy swimming pool and hears only her Sony Walkman, her cordless phone, her big, important husband asking her why they have charcoal and no lighter fluid."(Tan 64)
There are big differences in how Chinese mothers act towards their children compared to Western mothers including the expression of feelings and approval, the worth of their children, and what is best for them. Amy Chua (2011) incorporates her own personal experiences of being a Chinese mother within her article and compares that to what she witnesses in America.
“The Contact Zone”, is defined by Mary Louis Pratt as “the space in which transculturation takes place – where two different cultures meet and inform each other, often in highly asymmetrical ways.” Pratt describes what she calls ‘contact zones’ and elaborates on the pros and cons of these cultural interactions. She sees the contact zone as a place that allows people to exchange cultural ideas and break down the dividing cultural borders. When a contact zone is started, people are able to interact on new levels gaining a new perspective because they are able to collaborate with people from foreign cultures. If you are always with people of the same culture as you, you become used to hearing everything from the same perspective. With a new perspective, you can see your culture from a different point of view and reanalyze the logic behind your cultural traditions. Every ethnic/ religious/ regional/ cultural group has its high and low points, and it is just as important to learn about the low points as it is to learn about the highs. Gloria Anzaldua’s essay, “how to tame a wild tongue”, focuses on the ideas of losing an accent or native language to conform to the dominant culture.
It is apparent that there are many types of dialect within American English. The coexisting of two or more languages, either serving together in the same area or servicing different areas, is as old as language itself (Pei 106). This has happened throughout time and appears to be inevitable. It is impossible to believe an entire country could conform to one language, and then only one dialect of that language. Throughout history societies have survived for some time using different languages until these language barriers tore territories apart. It is apparent how, in America, barriers between dialects separate black men from white men even more than physical conditions.
Have you ever wondered how your ethnicity can impact the way you interact with people? What about the conversation you might have with people? Do you have a voice in our society that allows you to speak for yourself or a group of people? In the poem “Sure You Can Ask Me a Personal Question” by Diane Burns, the author focused on showing the importance poetic devices have through allusions, repetition, and imagery. Through poetic devices, author of “Sure You Can Ask Me a Personal Question” shows how stereotypes from societies and her ethnicity affects her life. Diane Burns uses three poetic devices to communicate her tone throughout the poem.
Chinese-Americans authors Amy Tan and Gish Jen have both grappled with the idea of mixed identity in America. For them, a generational problem develops over time, and cultural displacement occurs as family lines expand. While this is not the problem in and of itself, indeed, it is natural for current culture to gain foothold over distant culture, it serves as the backdrop for the disorientation that occurs between generations. In their novels, Tan and Jen pinpoint the cause of this unbalance in the active dismissal of Chinese mothers by their Chinese-American children.
Over the years, a Yale professor named Amy Chua, has harassed a huge amount of attention due to her idea on certain parenting styles that are foreign. The parenting styles are foreign figuratively and literally. These styles are ' 'foreign ' ' to most Western parents. The style focuses on a Chinese idea that Chua embraces, and has ended up well known or notorious, for the stern and thorough practices that Chua upheld with her own two little girls. Chua has gotten major feedback because of this. One of the people that is against Chua is, Hannah Rosin, who in fact is a author. In light of Chua, Rosin states an alternative idea for raising a child. It can become a very heated argument when considering both Chua and Rosin 's opinions. While they
Lindo Jong provides the reader with a summary of her difficulty in passing along the Chinese culture to her daughter: “I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix? I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it's no lasting shame . . . You do not have to sit like a Buddha under a tree letting pigeons drop their dirty business on your head . . . In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you. . . . but I couldn't teach her about Chinese character . . . How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring. Why Chinese thinking is best”(Tan 289).
The idea of hyphenated Americans has been around for centuries and seemingly just helped to categorized people into different groups, based on culture. They appear in just about any survey or poll, “Please check one of the following: African-American, Asian-American, Mexican-American, etc.” However, they go far beyond mere categories. In school yards the students are divided into these categories, and in cities entire neighborhoods are segregated in terms of hyphenated Americans. Now it is important to analyze: How does this divide come into existence and what role does it play in society? Of course, a division between citizens of a country can result in catastrophic occurrences; therefore, it is critical that this idea of hyphenated Americans be dealt with. Americans should work harder to eliminate the socially constructed idea of hyphenated Americans, because