The Importance Of Culture On Culture

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Culture is what a particular group of people’s beliefs and traditions are concerning education, art, language, morality, social norms, and many other aspects of life. There are thousands if not millions of different cultures around the world. One’s culture is a large contributing factor to who he/she is, and although a person’s culture affects them from the day they are born, it is not instinctive. Culture is taught through interactions with others, and involvement with institutions such as churches and schools as noted by Harro’s Cycle of Socialization. Thoughts on race, gender, and social class are all affected by one’s experiences and life lessons. In this essay I will describe how my life experiences, and K-12 education has affected my …show more content…

My mother is a teacher in Wichita, Kansas’s school district, and has experienced much more cultural diversity than anyone else in my family. Having seen a lot of discrimination and hate in her career she was very intent on teaching me that I was to look down on no one. Black, white, brown, purple – we all have equal opportunities to achieve success despite the color of our skin. Although she meant well by her message it skewed my understanding of the problem: If we were all equal how could it be any more difficult to succeed if you are another race? I don’t believe the term “equal” accurately describes the situation. We all have the same capacities, but each culture has their own struggles and circumstances – some being much more difficult to overcome than …show more content…

I have learned that girls like pink, and boys like blue. Girls are weaker than men (Gender Norm Citation) both emotionally and physically, and men are more aggressive and protective. When they grow up women are supposed to get married, have kids, stay home and take care of the family, and men are supposed to go to work from nine to five to provide for their homes. These social norms have been pushed upon me since the day I was born when the nurses saw I was a girl and wrapped me up in a pink blanket. I remember visiting my grandmother during the summers when I was young and her teaching me how to sew and bake while my older brother got to work down in the shop with my grandfather. For my birthday when I was five my grandparents even got me a miniature kitchen set including a small cabinet, stove, pots, pans, and fake food, so even as a child I could practice cooking for my future family. Ever since I was a little girl I was taught that my place was in the home, sewing, cooking, and taking care of

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