Cultural Identity Synthesis Essay
Humans, as a whole, are naturally affected by others around them. We all assimilate to be the most likeable and successful we can be. Due to this, we are extremely affected by our upbringing and culture, some argue. Others argue that this is false, as every individual has the ability to choose their outlook on the world. In my opinion, I believe that our culture affects how we view others around us, though we do pick and choose the manner in which we conduct ourselves--either accepting and promoting our cultures, or refusing to acknowledge certain aspects of them. In regards to culture, every person has a certain personality that dictates which philosophies he or she displays. Our culture does not completely
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One way in which this occurs is through family. Throughout a person’s upbringing, family ingrains certain values into them. They teach them the wrongs and rights of life, and how to deal with different situations. This all in all is exhibited in the way someone views the world. An individual’s culture greatly shines through in their day-to-day life, especially in areas with opportunities to teach or learn, such as in school. Wind-Wolf from “An Indian Father’s Plea” is one of the affected individuals, as his teacher is seemingly not allowing him to “share his knowledge, heritage, and culture with [her] and his peers” (Lake 21). This boy’s cultural identity is being muted, and he is labelled a “slow-learner” (1) in the class. Wind-Wolf was raised to believe certain ideals, those which may differ from the majority of kids in his class, and this is evident in the way the teacher reports on his behavior in class. His Indian culture is causing him to be viewed as different, or lacking in some way, even though that is completely untrue. His family-acquired values are not being recognized in an adequate way, as the teacher disregards what his father calls a “secure environment, [that is also] very colorful, complicated, sensitive, and diverse” (5). Through this example, we can clearly see that family in a massive aspect of one’s life. Family introduces us to many diverse cultures, whether it …show more content…
Hobbies, such as art or music, sort us into an artist or musician culture, for example. For this reason, I can infer that every person views the world through the lenses that their personality consists of. For instance, Frida Kahlo was a famous Mexican painter, and her perspectives are altered due to that. Kahlo doesn’t see the world like every other citizen--she sees the world not only as a Mexican woman, but as a painter. She explicitly portrays this in her painting “Self Portrait Along the Borderline Between Mexico and the U.S.” A common person would normally view this area between the two countries as a simple borderline, one that does nothing more than separate the two. Through Frida’s eyes, however, she saw the artistic value in it, and what the border means to her. She created the painting expressing how she feels caught between the two worlds--on one side, there is creative opportunity and money: the U.S. On the other side, there is her life in Mexico where she has grown up in, which is full of history and cultural connections. This is a unique non-artists may have never concluded, without the experience of analyzing areas in order to create a masterpiece. Frida’s “painter’s view” exemplifies my philosophy that every person’s view of others and the world is altered by his or her cultures, other than cultures obtained from family, as their personality consists of those
Culture is a unique way to express the way one shows the world and others how different each one is. Culture affects the way one views the world and others. This is demonstrated in the stories “Ethnic Hash” by Patricia Williams, “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora, and “By Any Other Name” by Santha Rama Rau. These stories come together to show examples of how people of different cultures are viewed by others as different. Mora, Williams, and Rau all have very unique styles, and this is shown throughout the following quotes.
Culture is expressed through a variety of different ways, from clothing styles to lifestyles to faithful traditions. It can also have a deep impact on the viewpoints of those around you, whether negatively or positively. No matter how a person goes about their everyday life, they can rise above the expectations of their culture to change the world around them. Culture does not have to be the basis of every thought, word, or deed of a person.
To begin with, culture is something that may change evolve within time but culture is something that come with your heritage or your ethnicity the traditions and things that happen that make up your culture like how your parents raised you are culture. In the informational text “ What is cultural identity” by Elise Trumbull and Maria Pacheco, and in the personal essay “Ethnic Hash” by Patricia Williams, there are similarities and differences in how each writer conveys their message about cultural identity. Based upon their research, Trumbull and Pacheco present the idea that culture changes and that it will never stay the same, while Williams uses her personal experience to develop the idea that many things influence cultural inheritage but
In today’s society there are many words that are used or said without giving it complete thought. For example, the word “identity” is something to which I have never really given much thought or even considered how I identify myself.
One of the main things that shapes a person’s cultural identity is their parents. Culture is passed down from generation to generation. In the story Two Kinds Amy Tan tells about a mother and daughter that clash heads because the mother wants her daughter to be something she’s not. They are Chinese, and in Chinese culture children are pushed to excel in everything they do and be better than everybody. The mother tells her daughter “You can be best anything. Of course, you can be a prodigy too”. The mother is pushing the Chinese culture down on her, because that’s the way she was raised. People’s parents were raised one way, which in their mind is the “right” way, so they raise their children the same way implementing
Some people believe that a person sees the world based on their culture. Others believe it is the choices and life experiences that shapes a person’s point of view. However, not many people know that it is actually both. In texts such as “Ethnic Hash”, “Two Ways to Belong in America”, and “Legal Alien” readers can see that sometimes culture can affect how a person lives but other times it does not.
There are many different types of cultures and ways people would react in different situations. When a person thinks of the word culture they start to think of races, places, and states. Culture is in fact a lot more than that, culture is a society’s set of unique patterns, behaviors and beliefs (M.A., Lucas, Social Psychology Sociological Perspectives 3rd edition). Culture can be identified in various ways for example, the way you feel about certain situations or how would one person react differently from the way they grew up environmentally or religiously. The way a person was raised environmentally, physically, and spiritually all have an effect on other cultures. The way a person would normally act would no longer act that way due to the actions of the past. Different cultures affect other cultures in almost any way possible.
One way culture affects our point of view of others and the world is our heritage. What heritage is, it's what's passed down from generations
Am I Yaman Hussayni or a Syrian? A question that has been stuck in the halls of my brain for the past week. As it seems to be the issue of identity is a complicated one. Do we choose our identity or it chooses us? And what is identity exactly? According to common idea in society identity is a very general word as it has several branches, cultural identity, personal identity, or even educational one are only some of them. To me, identity is the state of mind by which someone is directly recognized as character in public. It is the fragments of our life that will always remain with us, the permanently unchanging parts of us. Our looks, our beliefs, our culture, the places and things
Culture sometimes informs the way one views the others and the world in our everyday lives. Some say your culture shapes you as who you are but others say that it’s the experiences you’ve had. Whenever I hear the question “To what extent does one’s Culture inform the way one views others and the world?” I think of two different things. I think of the differences between people, an example being people who have homes and the homeless. They have different point of views because they are in drastically different situations. So I do agree with it may have to deal with experiences, but then I also think about racism and racial judgement, etc. Thats where the Culture comes into play and then with that information I stand in the middle. Its both,
The world is affected by culture, and in many countries if not all, base their ways of life around culture. For example, English culture influences kids in England to be proper, speak properly, and also eat properly. This is the case with many countries around the world. Many cultures teach young children to respect other’s way of life, to co-exist peacefully with different people, and also influence what we eat, the way we talk and pronounce things, and how we perceive things.
No human being is culture free. We are a product of the many different cultures which surround us. Our values, worldview and experiences are structured by the society and culture that exert influences on our lives each day.
“The various disciplines that make up the arts and sciences are the cultural frames in terms of which attitudes are formed and lives conducted. The interpretive study of culture represents an attempt to come to terms with the diversity of the ways human beings construct their lives in the act of leading them.”
Who am I; my beliefs, values, morals, and views on society have assisted in molding me into the person that I am considered to be today. I was raced with specifics values, traditions, and norms. Being raised in a small town made being socially aware very easy. I was raised under the southern Baptist Christian religion. Church was always the same and it had a majority of women in attendance although the men and elderly people ran the church overall. It was always the same, repetitive habits and events that occurred in my town but after a while I became accustomed to always being near or known by others.
I have never really sat down and thought about my cultural identity, at least until I started this class. I never thought about how my identity was different than that of other members in my community. I also never put much mind to the communication challenges that I could face when speaking with members of my community. To be totally honest, there is more cultural differences that I have faced and actually paid attention to, and now I seem to understand the importance of how one culture differs from another.