Socialization The past twenty-one years I felt I have been surrounded by two different cultures. My mother is Hispanic and my father is Caucasian. They both raised my sister and I in a very Americanized culture but with a little twist. We did not have many traditions in our family it was pretty straightforward. Both my parents were catholic, yet they both expressed the same religion in different ways. When going to my mother’s side of the family’s house they had saints and religious pictures everywhere, along with rosaries. Then going to the paternal side of the family it wasn’t as much displayed, it was more practiced, such as going to church every Sunday. Although my parents were somewhat religious, due to the pressure from their parents, …show more content…
My family owns a hardware store in Long Beach and from the time I started working there at the age of 15 I was told by everyone one that would come in that I was the future boss. So since that day I have been in preparation for this new role, taking on responsibilities and managing the shop when my father is away. I am obtaining new knowledge about skills and values I need for this role to live up to my father’s standards of running a business. I think as individuals we learn just as much through reverse socialization than any other socialization. It would be easy to say that one example of this would be children teaching their parents about technology, but one thing that I often learn from the younger generation is to not be afraid to achieve something bigger, such as going to college. Children today are more driven to go to college, but when I was in elementary school I did not even know what it really was. My family is all girls as far as children go. There are no boys and I think if we did have a boy in our household he would be already running the store on his own yet there would be higher standards for him, or I as a boy. As a boy I think he would be expected to know everything that came to hardware, where as I am more expected to know how to run the store as far as the office work goes. I believe if I were the opposite gender there would be a lot more pressure on my
In the text, “The American Cultural Configuration” the authors express the desire of anthropologists to study their own culture despite the difficulty that one faces attempting to subjectively analyze their own society. Holmes and Holmes (2002), use the adage “not being able to see the forest through the trees” (p. 5) to refer to how hard it is for someone to study something they have largely taken for granted. Holmes' article focuses predominately on paradoxes within our own culture, many of which we don't notice. In a paradox, two contradictory statements can appear to be true at the same time. This essay looks at two paradoxes commonly found in everyday life: the individual versus the family and religion.
Bobbie Harro states in “The cycle of socialization” (2000), “No one brings us a survey, in the womb, inquiring which gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, cultural group, ability status, or age we might want to be born. These identities are ascribed to us at birth through no effort or decision or choice of our own” (p.16). I was born into a system, just like everyone else, where I was judged and labeled due to the social categories that I identify with. What I have experienced throughout my schooling has shaped and molded my sense of self and the way that I view myself in terms of my gender and race/ethnicity. I live in a world where I have been both praised and ridiculed for these differing characteristics that seem to define me, but
Coming from a mixed background causes great confusion on what tradition to follow. If a person
The chant “Girls go to college to get more knowledge; boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider” is commonly recited on the elementary school playground. This sexist chant may seem silly, but elementary aged children are socialized to recognize and accept these roles in Western society. Children receive this socialization through their parents, peers, school, and the media. According to Wheiten et al., gender stereotypes are defined as, “widely shared beliefs about males’ and females’ abilities, personality traits, and social behavior” (Wheiten et al. 227). Girls are stereotypically known to be nurturing, caring, and artistic while boys are generally associated with aggression, assertiveness, and athleticism. Girls are typically given dolls,
Coming to America, I have experienced many cultural changes as well as many different religious and social views. I was bought up in a Taoist family where we focused on how to find our individuality in natural. We would go to different temples to worship different Gods according to the lunar calendar. One Christmas, my best friend’s church was throwing an event that she wanted me to attend with her. Reluctantly, I agreed to go for support, however, did not have any expectations. Although it was against my belief to go to church, I gained more insight on another religion. I participated in the games and
I was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. My mother was born in Taiwan and moved to the United States to continue her education when she was in her mid- twenties. My father is from Fort Walton Beach, Florida. My parents have different cultures, and as a result they have completely different backgrounds. When I was growing up, I had a hard time reconciling these different cultures. It was difficult for me and my sister to know what to do in many social situations because our primary schema (our parents) would act completely different in similar social situations. When I would ask my parents for advice, they would give me contrasting suggestions. As I grew older, I started to realize that both my parents were right, even if they acted like opposites.
I was born and raised in the United States, where I lived with my mom, dad and two brothers. More specifically, I was born in Mission Hills, Ca., where we lived for about a year before our first major move to Bakersfield, Ca. When I was a little girl, my Dad switched jobs quite a few times, requiring us to move frequently. I was not raised in one specific place, rather a bunch of different places. When I was about 11 years old, we finally settled in San Diego, Ca., where we lived in the same house for about 8 years until I moved out on my own at 19. When I describe to others I usually say I was raised in San Diego, since I lived there the longest and have the most memories of my adolescence from here. As result of all the moving, I went to
There were several instances in my childhood when my Family had a direct influence on me according to my gender. Right from birth my role as an individual was predestined. The gifts I was to receive at a baby shower were all based around my gender. It would have been unheard of for someone to give me pink clothes or flowery decorations at my baby shower. Young boys have always been told not to cry when they fall and scrape their knees. Comments like these from family members definitely had an impact on my aspirations. My dream to be a fire fighter was most likely related to those comments to not cry. Being a fire fighter would definitely be an occupation where stress would be high. If I could be a fire fighter I would definitely have the opportunity to prove to my parents that I could be strong and not cry. The media was also a factor that had a large impact on my childhood ambitions. Television is a great example of this. In almost all Television shows the gender roles are very prominent. Things such as male characters being strong or in positions of authority are prevalent. Even th...
Dads would expect their sons to help him in the garage or any other projects around the house and moms expect their daughters to help them in the kitchen. All of these characteristics are not unusual or out of the ordinary, this has been the tradition for hundreds of years and as far as I can see it will still remain the same. Society is a social factor that has many ways in which it molds an individual and defines his/her gender as a character. Society includes your friends, mentors, enemies, and our. co-workers and significant others.
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 the sociological norms of American culture; however, my sense of cultural identity contrasts differently to that of my family in which results in my cultural displacement in society, conflicting me internally.
In order to understand what it means to be human, it is important to understand the key role that socialization and culture play in the process. Socialization is defined as “the process by which the various representatives of society teach people the ways of society and, in so doing, form their basic qualities” (Charon, 2010, p.31). Throughout the world socialization is lifelong and is necessary for survival (Charon, 2010). Socialization also plays a major role in the creation of the individual qualities of an individual (Charon). Through the interaction with others, people are able to learn what directions they will decide to take during their lifetime (Charon). Preforming these tasks through socialization will help to form a better meaning
I became a deacon at my church, and soon after I started to build a community culture with the people in my church who shared my beliefs and values. While not every person can agree on everything, having people with similar cultures get together to not only discuss religious beliefs, but discuss family and life is very helpful in growing as a person. They were there for me, and I learned so much from the people I created meaningful relationships and connections with. This made me so much stronger in my faith than I was before, and I felt that I could put my faith in a higher position in my life. During this time I had a son, and not long after another came along; thus, shifting the culture of my family a great deal. Raising my sons proved to be a different experience altogether than raising my daughter. While I still put my faith in God first and taught that to my children, my culture shifted to include more things for them, especially as they got older and became more involved. My life was no longer about me and my priorities, but my faith and my children above everything else. My personal culture was no longer important. It was all about my family culture and what pieces of my own culture I could incorporate to raise my children in the best way possible. The biggest part of my culture that I incorporated was my faith, as I said before. Another important aspect was my family values. I am a very family oriented
What is socialization? Socialization is the process in which we as people become members of society. As individuals our sense of belonging is shaped through the agents of socialization. The agents of socialization that contribute to the shaping of an individual’s sense of belonging to a group consist of educational institutes, peers, Mass media, family, and religious institutes. The five agents of socialization play a large roles in an individual’s perspective on the way of life, behavior, social interaction and how the communicate with other members of the group. Socialization not only makes us aware of ourselves as being part of a group but also deeply affects ones understanding of norms, beliefs, desires
Socialization is learning what is expected from us by the people we are interacting with. We learn what is considered normal and how to interact with others. Socialization also gives us the ability to learn what is not acceptable behavior and the negative treatment that can come along with behaving outside of the norm (New York University Department of Sociology, 2013). It is beneficial to reflect on educational experience as a site of socialization because for the majority of us, this is our first real, complete, and honest experience of socialization. We may receive leniency or special treatment from our parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles because we are younger and cute. They do not expect the same level of standards for behavior as peers who
Socialization is the process of passing down norms, customs, and ideologies that are important to the society by the previous generations to the younger generations. The school system is a social agency that was created to enhance the processes of socialization through education. The importance of school as an agent of socialization can be best explained by the amount of time students spend in school and in activities happen around school. The manifest functions of school are to educate students the social norms, and the knowledge and skills that help them become economically productive in order to benefit the society. But students not only learn from the academic curriculum but they also benefit from socialize with their teachers and peers.