BOOK REFLECTION:
“A Critical Approach to Youth Culture”
This book discusses the various definitions of culture, how culture is shaped, and how it shapes us. The book also explores youth culture and how, as a youth minister, would be the best way to understand it and further enhancing this understanding through theories.
I agree that my uniqueness is derived biologically, and through inheritance, which is culture. A countless number of cultures have shaped who I am. I am an Italian descendant born in a Portuguese colonised country (Brazil), and I currently live in Australia. Furthermore, Brazil is made of immigrants. I will attempt here to describe some of the contexts that have impacted on my identity, values and beliefs.
I spent most of my childhood living in the countryside. In a small town, everyone knows everyone, and there is a strong collectivistic spirit, that is, “a commitment to support and nurture others.” Everyone meets
…show more content…
My personality changed to be very quiet as I tried to make sense of this new world. I learned a new truth: the necessity to adjust. I stopped playing soccer daily and had to do what the city kids do: parties, videogames, fastfood, movies, etc. I started playing videogames and listening to music. The music culture influenced me in many ways. For instance, as a heavy-metal fan, I had longhair and dressed mostly black. I wanted to be like most of the musicians and artists I admired. Later on, music became a great means of self-expression, particularly after my conversion, when I integrated music as part of my spirituality. TV was also very influential. My favourite shows were super-heroes, which developed the importance for justice and fighting the “bad-guys”; and cartoons such as Tom&Jerry, which made sarcasm part of my identity - always playing tricks on others or making them
“Our own culture is often hidden from us, and we frequently describe it as “the way things are.”” People do not even realize their own cultural identity, so then how do people know what shapes it? A person’s identity is shaped by cultural experiences that make them into the person they are today. Some of these experiences include someone’s parents, the media, and where they grew up.
It is not something that you can explain in a class. Culture is caught, not taught. Culture develops and evolves on a daily basis and is a living breathing part of how society lives life. Culture is determined and defined by words, actions, and priorities. Whether people know it or not, God has put the seed in every person and when they come into an environment of literature and creative arts they are remind of who they really are. A truth we must embrace is that literature and the creative arts shape culture, which includes church and unchurched people alike. We are all a part of shaping culture. That is not to say that Christians must accept everything culture throws at us, but it does mean that we refuse to hide from it. Christians are called by God to be the salt and light of the earth. While we cultivate and embrace wholesome and God fearing lives, we must not ignore the fact that this same light needs to be shone within culture. When one reads the Book of Acts in the Bible, one will discover that the Gospel was meant to thrive in the public square. If the Gospel was meant to thrive in the public square, then Christians should not fear, but embrace the assortment of culture within society. In fact, this is our
Culture is a difficult concept to put into words. “Traditionally anthropologists have used the term culture to refer to a way of life - traditions and customs - transmitted through learning” (Kottak, et al. 2008: p.11). Children inherit their culture, as well as social norms and ethics, through a process called enculturation. Enculturation, in essence, determines who a person will become, because culture defines who a person is. More specifically, “Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities or habits acquired by man as a member of society” (Taylor, 1971/1951: p. 1). In modern society, our traditions and customs come from a variety of different sources. Television,
Walking down the street you would recognize about every friendly face to be your neighbor. It’s an “everyone knows everyone” type of setting. Everyday you see the same people, same time, going about their usual routine. Parents, knee deep in places they have to run their children, children driving their parents off the walls, all the usual.
Starting with one of the surface aspects of my cultural identity is my language. I speak English, like most people who were born in America I learned English and only English right from the start. I
“Culture is often described as the combination of a body of knowledge, a body of belief and a body of behavior. It involves a number of elements, including personal identification, language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions that are often specific to ethnic, racial, religious, geographic, or social groups”.
As a living human being we are in a constant state of flux, life events constantly change us. From the smallest thing like a flat tire on the way to work on a raining Monday morning or a compliment a kind person gave you last year that still rings in your ear, all these events change you and shape you. Catherine Latterell points to assumptions about identity and how it is created in her book titled “Remix”, assumptions about identity and how it is created. The three assumptions being: identity is something we are born with, identity is shaped by culture and identity is shaped by personal choices. The assumption that environment has a role in who we are and who we become, as well as what we are born with or without – including our culture, all play a part in bringing together the mosaic of a whole person. Yet it is never fully complete, for it is always reshaping and growing. Mrigaa Sethi discusses these issues in
Culture and identity are two very strange ideas. They are received at a very young age, yet they are very hard to give to someone else. They will affect you for the rest or your life, yet for the most part you are born into them. However, they soon become very important to us and we cannot, no matter what we do, live without them. They are a part of us, and a vital aspect of society. However, it took me a very long time to recognize that I had an identity and a little while after that before I knew what it was.
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
Everyone has a background, a past and a cultural identity. Our cultural identity identifies who we are and where we come from. My cultural identity shows how I talk, what kind of language I speak, what kind of foods I eat, the way I dress and the way I look. Your cultural identity has a lot to do with where you are from and where you are going in life.
Whether you belong to a certain race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, geographical region or you identify with a certain sex you belong to a particular culture. Culture as define by Shiraev and Levy (2013), “Is a set of attitudes, behaviors, and symbols shared by a large group of people and usually communicated from one generation to the next” (p. ). In other words, we are a product of what has been handed down to us from the generations before. However, culture is evolving and it changes all the time. Hence the reason, no one group has a unique culture, since we are all influenced by each other’s way of life. As a result of this influence, we form relationships with people we know little about and share our values and beliefs with each other. Thereby creating a cross-cultural mix.
Everyone comes from a different cultural background. Many of us though, never really stop to think about what defines our own, I, myself included. This is important to do though, so one, we can know ourselves better, but also so we can start to understand other cultures as well. Surrounding the idea of culture are the concepts of ethnicity, class, gender, age, and belief, each of which I will be reflecting upon.
“Culture consists of values, traditions, worldview, and social and political relationships created, shared, and transformed by a group of people bound together by a common history, geographic location, language, social class, religion, or other shared identity” (Nieto & Bode, 2008). Now that we have identified the characteristics of culture in the definition provided above, we can discuss the upbringing of the student I chose for my observation. For this observation, I chose a third grade male student named Israel Oketunmbi. I gathered most of the information about...
Everyone has their own unique identity. For instance, people can relate their identity to their culture, their social surroundings, and their interests. Personal identity can be viewed in a variety of ways. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Eric Olson discusses personal identity as the defining factor of a person. “Outside of philosophy, ‘personal identity’ usually refers to certain properties to which a person feels a special sense of attachment or ownership. Someone’s personal identity in this sense consists of those features she takes to ‘define her as a person’ or ‘make her the person she is’” (Olson, par. 5). While considering this definition, identity can be depicted on several levels. A common way to describe personal identity is through a person's background and culture. Although using culture as a descriptive term can be helpful in defining a
1. What is Culture? What I personally think is that our culture is the foundation of who we really are in life. It identifies the lifestyle and pursuits that are practiced in the group of people we relate with in our society. In other words, an important concept to understand is that cultural beliefs, values, and practices are learned from birth first at home, in church, and other places where people meet. Some practices and beliefs in human culture include religion, music, sports, food, health beliefs, and art which represent the values we have in life. Also, our own culture is diverse and it is significant to look with in and identify what we value the most, what is essentially needed, and how we see the world. It is our remaining tool and we don’t even realize it is needed to communicate and socialize with others.