"To feel a sense of belonging, you need to accept yourself and be accepted by others."
This stage of my adolescent life was very memorable. This was the time when my life was becoming more complicated as I struggled to find my own racial identity, and constantly questioning myself, “Who am I?” “Where do I belong?” while facing the pressure of “fitting in” as a biracial teen in prejudicial Asian society.
We all need to belong somewhere and feel comfort in our lives. We as human beings need to open our eyes and see we can all belong together and live in one society without dropping our culture but before this can happen we need to end racism and stereotyping. These are the two main factors that push people, more commonly native people, into the loss of belonging the loss of their culture and the loss of the core of their identity.
Two authors that had shared there struggles with dealing with the concept of being transcultural and how trying to fit in made it very difficult, Amy (Tan) and David (Suzuki).Wrote About how being born as one culture and growing up in a different doesn’t mean you have to fit in letting yourself be who you can let you grow not only in your culture but you genetic one. For example, Amy Tan’s Fish Cheek helps understand a deeper meaning about trying to fit in with being an average; “American Girl.” The article is about a real story about how she wanted to change herself genetically so that she could look average and the person she was trying to impress would like her. As a child she didn't understand the importance of being unique and happy with your culture, her mother explained to her that; "But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame." Most people might find it easy by not trying to fit in but in reality we all want to fit in and be like everyone else. Furthermore, David Suzuki is another person who had struggled with accepting the idea of never fitting in he writes that; “I was born a Canadian.” He writes that he is proud that he is different through the struggles of dealing with not fitting in with either cultures he accepted that
During his childhood, Eric Liu had difficulty coping with the fact that he was an Asian-American living in a predominantly white community. His appearance and his home life, among other things, made him feel out of place. Living in a middle-class suburb that was dominated by “whiteness,” Liu was disoriented by his role in school and society.
It is in gaining a sense of our identity that we find a place to belong. This is presented in Episode 4, Stand Up, of the television series Redfern Now, directed by Rachael Perkins.
Everyone covers their unfavorable identity to submerge in the white mainstream. Asians change their native accents and learn American English pronunciations to make themselves more understandable. They have a new American name to replace their traditional name that might exhibit their ethnicity. African-Americans straighten their hair to make them professional. Arabs change their traditional clothes and wear suits in working. Yoshino admits to be intended to avoid association with the Asian-American group and act Americans. And covering has a clear purpose that is improvement and staying at the center of the western mainstream. Racial covering brings to him improvement and success instead of pessimistic thoughts about his own Asian-American identity. However, when he lives in Japan, he feels frustrated that he is unable to conform to the Japanese society because his every action reveals his western identity. Yoshino suggests that “Racial identity has a behavioral component” (300). Appearances and accents can be changed but habitual behavior and cultural mindset is implanted in individuals’ body and cannot be muted easily. For instance, Asians behave modestly and have a lower self-esteem than westerners. Indians prefer traditional cuisines than western foods. And religious beliefs and cultural heritage roots in the individuals’ mindset. Like Muchin in the example of “good
Belonging is a fluid concept that adapts and shifts within a person’s lifetime. It is subjective and can encourage feelings of security, happiness and acceptance or conversely alienation and dislocation. One's perception of belonging, and therefore identity, is significantly influenced by place and relationships established within one's environment. This is evident in Steven Herrick's free verse novel “The Simple Gift” and the short story “The River that wasn’t ours” by Ashley Reynolds.
Belonging is defined as our need for not only stable but strong relationships. The social need of belonging stems from our need to belong to a specific social group. People need strong and stable relationships with other people. This need for belonging to a group and create bonds impacts our health. An examp...
The psycho social crisis called ‘identity versus role-confusion’ occurs mainly during adolescence, although it is not restricted to this period in life. It is usually the fifth stage in the life cycle, although it may overlap with the stages before and after it. Major circumstances can also later change the outcome of this stage. Throughout this stage, a person finds himself bringing together parts of his life and combining them to form who he wants to be in life. Outside factors, such as the community or family, tend to play an indirect, but important role in forming an identity. This is true in any culture, although family plays an even more significant role in a collectivist culture, such as Yu-i’s.
It is human nature for us to have a strong sense of belonging to a group. Humans get to experience a deeper commitment to a group when they make decisions and actions. This sense of ...
Establishing an identity has been called one of the most important milestones of adolescent development (Ruffin, 2009). Additionally, a central part of identity development includes ethnic identity (ACT for Youth, 2002). While some teens search for cultural identity within a smaller community, others are trying to find their place in the majority culture. (Bucher and Hinton, 2010)The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian chronicles Junior’s journey to discovery of self. As with many developing teens, he finds himself spanning multiple identities and trying to figure out where he belongs. “Traveling between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger. I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other” (p.118). On the reservation, he was shunned for leaving to go to a white school. At Reardon, the only other Indian was the school mascot, leaving Junior to question his decision to attend school he felt he didn’t deserve. Teens grappling with bicultural identities can relate to Junior’s questions of belonging. Not only is Junior dealing with the struggle between white vs. Indian identities, but with smaller peer group identities as well. In Wellpinit, Junior is th...
To belong is an inanimate desire to be respected and to respect those whom you want to be with through association of similar values. To feel a sense of belonging is to feel loved for our entirety or to be loved due to and aspect of your person that is common with those you who belong as one. An individual has the capacity to belong to people, physical places or ideas. Baz Buhrmann’s film “Strictly Ballroom” explores the concept of belonging, to the subculture of Ballroom dancing, through the non-conformist antagonist Scott Hastings and his inexperienced partner, the daughter of a Spanish migrant family. The Picture Book “The Rabbits” by John Marsden and Shaun Tan, confronts belonging through clashing cultures, disrespect of different beliefs and loss of identity.
Billions of people populate the earth, and each person is trying to be themselves. Every person has unique qualities that help define who they are. When qualities such as personalities, beliefs, and experiences come together an identity is formed. Without identities a person is not much of anything. The short story “The Vanishing American” by Charles Beaumont uses the element of invisibility to show how valuable an identity is to a person.
Having a sense of belonging is a common experience. Belonging means acceptance as a member or part. It is such a simple word for huge concept. A sense of belonging is a human need, just like the need for food and shelter. Feeling that we belong is most important in seeing value in life and in coping with intensely painful emotions. From a psychological perspective, a sense of belonging is a basic human need, with many psychologists discussing this need as being at the level of importance of that as food, water, and shelter. A sense of belonging can be so powerful that it can create both value in life and the ability to learn healthy coping skills when experiencing intensive and