I come from a Mexican family of four. My brother and I were raised as Mexican Americans. As my parents’ only daughter, their teachings has made me who I am today. In this class I have evaluated my relationship with my family. I learned how their culture has influenced my upbringing, what type of relationship we have and how to communicate properly. Cultural influences have formed who I am. “Every aspect of global communication is influenced by cultural differences”(Goman). Being both Mexican and American has affected my upbringing. “Culture is, basically, a set of shared values that a group of people holds. Such values affect how you think and act and, more importantly, the kind of criteria by which you judge others”(Goman). Since values of both cultures have been instilled in me, my family has certain expectations for me. In Mexican culture women marry young and are supposed to maintain the household and children. An education past high school is not necessary. In the U.S a woman is encouraged to have a career and be independent. My parents mix these two values together. I am expected to be able to maintain …show more content…
“Of course, we are all individuals, and no two people belonging to the same culture are guaranteed to respond in exactly the same way. However, generalizations are valid to the extent that they provide clues on what you will most likely encounter” (Goman). People have expectations on how I should act. I usually have a problem with these expectations. My big problem is that in a modern world I was raised in I believe that male and females should play an equal part in the household. I am responsible for the household chores and my brother does little to no chores. I get upset that people think it is okay for my brother to do nothing, but if I do nothing people automatically call me lazy. I believe we should both do work so we could both have
North America has a monochromic culture, where time is treated as a valuable resource and business tasks are needed to be completed as quickly as possible. Mexicans follow a polychronic culture, which emphasizes relationship. Thus, Alan, US sales representative in Mexico, experiences difficulties with doing business because people with whom he works get used to be late on the meetings. Moreover, his hosts want to talk about sightseeing and his family in order to establish a relationship. Mexico is also characterized by high-context culture, where communication is conveyed implicitly and considered as a means to establish relationships. Alan’s low-context culture leads to employees’ miscommunication because he counts long not job-related conversations irrelevant. In addition, family is the first priority for Mexicans, so Alan’s meetings are frequently interrupted by customers’ children who come into the office.
Mexican Americans have been in this country longer than many groups of people. Although, they have been here longer, whites took thier land from them. Along with taking their land from them, they took all the pride that the Mexicans Americans had. It seemed that way until they started fighting for their rights in the early nineteen hundreds. Treaties were made that gave land rights to them and speeches were made by political leaders deeming this countries actions unjust. However, the treaties were ignored and the speeches were ploys to gain votes. Many Mexican American leaders noticed that their people were mistreated and walked all over by the anglo government.
The way of behaving or thinking, beliefs, custom, or arts in a particular society is known as culture. There are many different cultures in todays society, however some parts are alike while other parts are more diverse. American culture versus Hispanic culture has some similarities and differences. Whether its food, religion, language, politics, marriages, sports, family, hobbies, or technology; Americans share some of the same things as Hispanics.
Even though CHI-50 was intended to be an introduction to Chicana/o Culture and was not comprehensive, the major factors that best define this culture are values, norms, symbols, and communication forms. All these major factors were covered in depth, including the cultural productions such as the manifests in art, poetry, and music. In my opinion, we could have delve deeper and made more connections between the factors. As I learned more of Chicana/o Culture, I felt that religion took a major part in establishing and defining the Chicana/o Culture we know now. Religion was intimately tied with many of the major factors, since this is what most of the Chicanos grow up experiencing.
Frequently, we do not put too much attention to our own cultural values and traditions until we are exposed to a different culture, and start comparing. In order to have a more productive and fruitful life I believe we need to become more self-aware and more sensitive to the culturally and ethnically diverse community we live in. Two cultures that have been sharing the same living space for centuries are the Hispanic and American culture. In this paper I would be analyzing each culture giving a brief background and pointing out some aspects in how they differ, like the perception of time, family, orientation, and others. American culture has a couple of aspects in which it differs from the Hispanic culture, which for the most part are Latin in root. Clearly there are strong points and weak points between the two cultures. That is why I personally believe that specifically these two cultures complement each other so well. The lives of people in American culture mainly revolve around work, and time has to be carefully divided in order to achieve everything they have mind. Hispanic culture is a culture where family and relationships are more important than anything else, time and schedules can be changed. You could say a little bit more relaxed. Certainly, these are only general remarks and there are always exceptions, like everything else.
Mexico which was the colony of New Spain was put in existence for the advantage of their mother country. After the tumble of the Aztec Empire, Spain retitled the captured lands as the “viceroyalty” of New Spain and governed Mexico for three hundred years. Tenochtitlan was the prior capital of the territory and turned into what is known as Mexico City. After studying and obtaining power over some of the lands in Central Mexico, the Spanish government established a colonial mining technique wherein gold, silver, and additional metals were obtained and taken to Spain. Shadowing the techniques that was started in Spain, the colonial authorities granted the new arrivals and warriors the power to make haciendas near the country. The laborers most times were native people that were paid poorly which made them rely on the hacienda proprietor to maintain a living. Some of the workers
Cultural Difference between Mexicans and Americans While Texas leader Stephen Austin initially had no contempt toward Mexicans, the Anglo-American citizens in the area did. The American Texans of the 1800’s defined Mexicans as “a race alien to everything that Americans held dear” (De Leon 4). This sentiment would serve as the primary catalyst to the Texas secession from Mexico. When Austin began colonizing the area, he envisioned a place in which Anglo-Americans and Tejanos, Mexicans living in Texas, could live together. Eventually, though, the public opinions of North American settlers in the territory and in Washington would make him realize that the goal of unity between the two groups was impossible.
My family’s Mexican traditions and life experiences played a great role in shaping my individual beliefs and values. I learned to embrace important values, roles, and norms from the Mexican culture. However, the experiences I have encountered throughout my life have influenced my interactions with others, life’s point of view, and the development of having my own sense of reasoning that differs from my family beliefs and values.
Folklores are stories that have been through many time periods. Folklore include Legends, Myths, and Fairy Tales. Legends are traditional tales handed down from earlier times and believed to have a historical basis. Myths are ancient stories dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes. Fairy Tales are fantasy tales with legendary being and creators.
Understanding where one’s natural impulses come from may be difficult to understand without looking at past generations and family history. Knowing that generations before us helped shape our development is important to note. Generational trends can help explain the importance of said values. Through analysis of my cultural genogram I found that many of my core values came from my Mexican culture, despite having had great exposure to values established by the dominant culture here in the United States. I found that my family over many generations regarded familismo, respeto, religion, and work ethic as highly important values. It is important to deeply analyze where these values came from, how they may be oppressed, and how
My grandma was the source of knowledge of the Hispanic culture for me. Through her sweet broken English to the eloquent way she spoke Spanish, I was always intrigued with her behaviors, beliefs, and values. One time she told me to learn Spanish fluently, and I responded with “it’s too hard grandma and I really don’t need to at this time”, and I’ll never forget with what she told me. She said, “Mija, it’s not about any reason that stops you, it’s about who you are. When you don’t learn and embrace the Hispanic culture, where I come from, you are not doing well. You blend in like everyone else. Si, you are half white, but that’s not all you are. Don’t ever forget to be proud of who all of you is.” I am proud to be Hispanic. The Hispanic culture
Growing up in a marginalized minority is a difficult task because there are a lot of differences between cultures. In the Mexican American culture, family is crucial, this is where one comes when one needs someone to talk to. In my experience, I had was raised being stuck in the middle of two different cultures I had to know what my identity was through, family, school, and through my travels.
Adaptation and Acculturation weighed heavily on my cultural expectations. Belonging to immigrant parents in their notion on child rearing created uncertainty for my “Americanized” views. Belonging to mix ancestry, did not seem to help either. My mother is of East Indian ancestry while my father is of African ancestry. My household was headed by my mother. My father usually worked long hours and was the family’s breadwinner. My mother was a stay at home mom so her child rearing views were particularly more dominant towards East Indian conviction on parenting. My cultural expectations were prevalent during my adolescent years which created many intergenerational conflicts. My mother tends to be more removed from the culture of the US. She always wanted to maintain her native ideologies, values, religious beliefs and to maintain a distinct ethnic and
The ethnic- Mexican experience has changed over the years as American has progressed through certain period of times, e.g., the modernity and transformation of the southwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, the labor demands and shifting of U.S. immigration policy in the 20th century, and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Through these events Mexican Americans have established and shaped their culture, in order, to negotiate these precarious social and historical circumstances. Throughout the ethnic Mexicans cultural history in the United States, conflict and contradiction has played a key role in shaping their modalities of life. Beginning in the late 20th century and early 21st century ethnic Mexicans have come under distress from the force of globalization. Globalization has followed the trends of conflict and contradiction forcing ethnic Mexicans to adjust their culture and combat this force. While Mexican Americans are in the struggle against globalization and the impact it has had on their lives, e.g., unemployment more common, wages below the poverty line, globalization has had a larger impact on their motherland having devastating affects unlike anything in history.
There are a lot of different cultures in the world we live in today. Finding the place you belong and discovering your own culture can be a challenge. This is especially true when you look at culture as an individual versus culture in your family, or even within your community. I’ve always been very family oriented, so that plays a big part in who I am and how my family’s dynamic works. I believe that my family has had a huge impact on the development of my culture, and I hope that I have had the same impact on theirs.