What is my cultural identity? Good question, I actually have no answer to that question. Isn’t it basically asking for my identity regarding my cultures? Well then, what is my identity? I think my identity is based on my ethnicity, my lifestyle, the education I received, and most importantly, my opinions or my perspective which is strongly influenced by my cultures. Since I was born in Japan as 100% Japanese child, I grew up in the environment surrounded by full of Japanese elements. Would you say I will be an adult with intense Japanese beliefs? I thought so until my parents suddenly said we will move to Hawaii and met another culture. Roughly 4,000 miles away from Japan, I began to adopt new cultures which brought a different perspective. …show more content…
Surprisingly or not, I'm a shy but talkative student who had sufficient leadership skill with average grades. I often played outdoor rather than studying at home. Therefore, it was my routine to quickly finish all of my homework and find some friends to play with after I return from the school. Even though I was in first grade, it was natural for me to have school until 3 or 4 p.m. and have homework almost every day. Additionally, in a week, I attended swimming, calligraphy, and English classes, all because my parent let me in or since my brother is attending it. I didn’t take any of these classes seriously, including school lessons. At the time, I find interesting matter, challenged, and enjoyed my life. Thus, my perspective toward subjects was simply fun, interesting and I unconsciously take care of my …show more content…
Recently, I read an article about culture and it stated that as condition changes, the culture will also change. That was true! I experience cultural change when the environment changed from Japan to Hawaii. The education, language, customs, and pretty much everything has changed. Specifically, I see changes in my personality and behavior. After a while in Hawaii, I became silent due to English. Eventually, I became a person who hates irresponsibility and cheating on the tests. Furthermore, my active lifestyle has changed to passive and I lose my habit of doing homework quickly. However, few factors have remained similar. For example, the foods I eat like rice and miso soup stayed the same. Even though I became a resident of Hawaii and receive different education through the different language, my ethnicity doesn’t change. The fact that I’m Japanese kept its culture alive, while it has modified both positively and
“Cultural identity is a broader term: people from multiple ethnic backgrounds may identify as belonging to the same culture” (Elise Trumbull and Maria Pacheco). Though people may identify themselves with a certain culture, their beliefs and actions varies and adjust to their experiences. “…We do not consciously pick and choose attributes from the total set; rather, the conditions and events in our individual lives…” (Elise Trumbull and Maria Pacheco). A person is easily influenced by their culture which also makes an impact on their beliefs as well as their view of the world which can cause conflict with another person.
I am a Japanese-American, growing up I never felt like I belonged in either one. I never felt that I was fully Japanese because I did not have all of the same beliefs and traditions as other Japanese people. Nor did I feel fully American because I fully do not believe in all of the American beliefs. I saw myself relating more to the Japanese culture because it taught me to be more respectful to my elders and other people in the community. Growing up I had to assimilate to the prevailing culture because people were bantering me because I had unusual views than they did. It was hard for me growing up; I was trying to identify myself as either a Japanese boy or an American boy while I was at school and at home. At school I had to be this normal American boy, while at home, I had to be a Japanese boy. I felt like two different people. This also tied into me having an awkward relationship with other kids my age especially the girls. I would ask my parents if it was okay for me to date, their response was “as long they are some sort of Asian, then it is okay.” Today my parents do not believe in that saying, they just want to see me in high spirits, but as I was growing up it was hard for me to find a girl that I liked that fit my family standards I always found myself fond of another race other than my own and my parents were not too thrilled with the choices I made when it came to girls when I was an adolescent.
“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.
My cultural identity consists of being a 22-year-old white female who identifies as White, heterosexual, Christian-Lutheran, able-bodied and a member of the lower-middle class. Through these identities, there are certain roles that I distinguish with like being a student, daughter, sister, and friend. Socioeconomic
Cultural identity is a dynamic and a complex feeling and sense of belonging to one or more ethnic groups. It defines the way an individual identifies or positions himself or herself in different cultural contexts. In our modern society we are experiencing contact with different cultures like never before. As expressed in “If you are what you eat, then what am I” by Kothari, Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas, and Flight by Sherman Alexie. Kothari has her identity but tries to deviate around it with the type of cuisine she was eating, but only to find out that it was an impossible task for Kothari. Piri has his identity also, but going through different environments and cultures has completely puzzled and influenced Piri’s identity which
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.
I am a 52-year-young white female, with ethnicity that spans from England and Ireland to
“Children begin to develop a sense of identity as individuals and as members of groups from their earliest interactions with others” (Trumbull and Pacheco 9). People start to develop their cultural identities as a young child, unknowingly, by their interactions with other people. Though, what is a person’s cultural identity? According to one source, cultural identity can be described as “one of the most basic type of identity is ethnic identity, which entails an awareness of one’s membership in a social group that has a common culture” (Trumbull and Pacheco 9). Considering this definition, I see now that my cultural identity can be best represented by my language because I can speak both English and Spanish and I use both languages on a daily
What is culture? Culture is the idea of what is wrong or right, the concept of what is acceptable within our society. Culture serves us as a guide, taking us to the "right way" and helping us to make sense of things that surrounds us. There are many different cultures around the world. A lot of them are similar in specific ways and others are just completely different, this difference explains why we think that people from different backgrounds are "weird".
One source commented, “Our own culture is often hidden from us, and we frequently describe it as ‘the way things are’” (Trumbull and Pacheco 9). Often times, individuals are blinded by what they consider “normal,” and therefore cannot understand their own cultural identity. People should examine their culture in order to better understand how it affects their identity and perceptions. In order to understand one’s cultural identity, he or she needs to understand what the term means. According to one source, cultural identity can be defined as “invisible webs composed of values, beliefs, ideas about appropriate behavior, and socially constructed truths” (Trumbull and Pacheco 10). Considering this definition, I realize that my cultural identity can be best represented by my close relationship with my family because my they have shaped my beliefs and values. Various aspects of a person’s life that
Identity-“Ones personal qualities.”Identiy is something only he or she can fully define. My uncle says I am affectionate,cheerful, and calm. My grandmother sees me as slim, pretty and sweet. My dad described me as perky, cheerful and happy, my mom says beautiful, gentle, and self-conscious. These adjectives describe me accurately, yet they are only abstract versions of me. Adjectives cannot begin to describe me and I aknowlege these descriptions for what they are, a condensed translation from my outward self to the world. It is impossible for anyone to understand me completely because nobody has experienced the things I have. My mother has never cherished a raggedy doll named Katie and my father never spent hours upon hours making collages and scrap books for his future children. My uncle never hid in the back of a pick-up-truck and traveled four hours to New York and my grandmother has never walked hours in the rain looking for the Queen of England. My identity is something only I can define.
My personal cultural identity is a lot different compared to the society I am surrounded by. I am considered an outsider in my society. I am an outsider living in a constantly changing environment where there are many different kinds of people and many different cultural identities. In my culture we know how to respect people and their belongings, know how to work hard, use what we have while being thankful for it at the same time, and last we know how to stay true to ourselves in this very fast pace world of ours. I am a cowboy.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a wave of Japanese migrants made their way to the foreign country of Brazil in order to make a living due to the economic failure present in their homeland. Generation after generation were then born to these immigrants which lead to the emergence of the ethnic minority of Japanese-Brazilians, one that is growing continually to this day. Though time and space had created a gap between this minority and the native born Japanese, they still clung to their ancestral heritage that they believed as superior to the Brazilian culture that had encompassed them all their lives. However, when economic troubles arose in Brazil, the Japanese-Brazilians made the decision to return to their native homeland of Japan.
A person’s identity is made up of an individual's experiences, ideas, relationships and most importantly culture. I view cultural identity as the most significant portion of who I am because it is my source and influence for all other aspects of my identity; however, this portion of my identity can also be a source of conflict within myself. This inner conflict occurs because of the different parts of my cultural identity that come from my American, Mexican, French and Michoacan Nahuatl cultural heredity. These different cultural versions of myself come to create the way I interact with the world, but they are not all equally ingrained into my identity. My cultural identity of Michoacan Nahuatl is very limited, for I don’t know the Nahuatl
In addition, these developmental changes have been produced by culture and beliefs of each person. For example, Mexican culture is more collectivist culture, where Mexican families tend to stay together and not separate from their relatives. Consequently, a child has been more stimulated to be more independent with family support if a mother stays with a baby that is part of the culture. Even so, a person has changed for different factors not only, but also for culture or society. For example, the environment makes a person not feel comfortable in a particular place