family culture

Often times when we hear the word culture, we think of the differences of different countries. That statement may be true; however, there are different cultures within the same country, even within the same city. No matter what culture we call our own, there are distinct differences between that of other cultures around us. One of the major differences occurs in the realm of family; family affection to be more specific. When talking about family affection, we should consider many different aspects. It was my task and privilege to explore these aspects.

I consider myself having a strong American culture. My family has been here for many years and has adopted the “American Way”. After being born and raised in Wisconsin, I now spend my summers in Hawaii with my relatives. Despite my being away from my family for the summers, my family and I are very close to all of our relatives, and family affection is a daily occurrence. I recently interviewed Teresa Tran, a student at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Teresa was born and raised in Minnesota “after [her] parents emigrated from Vietnam. When [her] parents came to the United States, they brought with them their Vietnamese culture. [She] grew up in a culture mixed with mainly Vietnamese and some American from [her] surroundings.” Even though we have different cultures, we have both differences and similarities in our family affection.

The first aspect that I explored was by which medians affection is portrayed in the family. When looking at my own culture, my family and I show affection verbally, through gestures and through voice tones. For example, every night before I go to bed, I give both of my parents hugs, and occasionally kisses, and I always tell them that I love them. As far as tonal affection goes, by not raising our voices at one another we are showing affection in a small way. We still fight, but instead of yelling, we choose words carefully and try to show our point of view without putting down the other person. One last way that we show affection is simply by remembering important dates, like mothers’ day, fathers’ day, birthdays, and anniversaries. Teresa’s Culture differs very much from my own when comparing family affection. The differences come in all of the medians in which to show affection. “Affection towards my family members is rare,” says Teresa, which is the biggest differ...

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...through hugs and kisses and so on. I think as long as you know that you care about each other, it is enough. So I guess my family ‘affection’ does not fit in to society’s view of what affection should be.”

Family affection is a big difference throughout cultures. The many aspects of affection, how it is shown, how people react, public versus private, face value, family versus friends, and family versus society, account for the many differences that are present. No matter what the differences are, I believe that each family member knows that they care about each other and are cared for themselves. I believe that my relationship with my family is excellent. I love them all very much and I let them know it time and time again. However, people do not have to be a part of my culture to feel as I do. Take Teresa for example. Our cultures are very different, but in the end, it comes down to how you feel about your family and how your family feels about you. As for Teresa, “My relationship with my family is very good. We have our own privacy yet know that we have each other. We make each other laugh, scream, sometimes swear, and even throw tantrums. However, in the end, we are happy.”