Cultural Identity Essay

Cultural Identity Cultural identity defines an individual and how they interpret society; however, my cultural knowledge is limited and has remained static due to the consumption of environmental influences. For a long period of time, I did not know why I was culturally disconnected, since I had a hard time grasping my family’s religious practices of Buddhism. This resulted in my inability to interpret my culture and religion. Individuals within society ask, “What are you?” I would like to answer that question myself if I could, so the real question is, “How does one define cultural identity?” My cultural identity is defined by my interpretation and knowledge of how my family responds to American culture versus how I am influenced by

My culture is strict on the aspect of respect and religion in a way that communication towards one another is done so in a respectful manner, whereas the conflicts of a diverse environment cause society to mix with different ideologies. I was not used to the technological and open environment as I was beginning to mature and interpret my surroundings. I was internally conflicted by this, because I was not used to the vast sociological difference of my culture versus the diverse social structure of America, so I struggled to identify my culture. Although I’m half Thai and Vietnamese, I’m closer to my father’s Thai side as opposed to my mother’s Vietnamese side. My grandparents were born in the countryside of Thailand and my father came to America as a refugee at about fourteen years old, so when they arrived in America, they were introduced to a variety of music and environmental customs, but preferred countryside Thai music and cultural standards. As I grew up in the two different environments of my family’s cultural norms versus American cultural norms, I began to mix my ideologies of defining my cultural identity with both American and Thai

This resulted in the gap increase of my sense of cultural identity compared to that of my parents, because I had drawn interests into technology, specifically in computer programming and photography, whereas my parents were interested in neither computer programming nor photography. I came to realize that due to my position in American culture, I am able to experience the new advances in: clothing, food, technology, architecture, and social interaction. Because of this I have acknowledged that I am born in a generation where technology is advancing rapidly, but I believe that every generation has its disadvantages and advantages in which plays a role in the differences between my generation and my parents’ generation. For instance, my parents, peers, and even strangers that were born in a different generation compared to mine appear to have a different taste in: music, clothing, and social interactions. My cultural sense consists of both interests in older generations and the current generation, such as classic films, and ideologies in how music was conveyed in older generations, whereas in today’s generation, I dislike most of the