Born Of Different Cultures

“Many of us live on the hyphen of Different cultures.” This statement by Richard Rodriguez is true from many people in the world today. But what factors contribute the identification with culture and a nation? The various factors that define a culture are the way people see a cultures attitude, family values, religion in the family, and the origin of your family. At the present time the people of the world are very stereotypical, this is one of the many ways to misinterpret people of a different culture. To best understand a culture you should take the time to absorb their way of life to really appreciate their culture.

The first factor, which contributes to the identification with a culture and a nation, is a culture attitude towards outsiders. In “Canadians: What do they want?” written by Margaret Atwood, it tells of Americans attitude toward the Canadians as a lesser person and their need to be liked by others. The Canadians are looked at as inferior because after WW II, American business owners went into Canada and took over most of their businesses. Some Canadians hate Americans for this because they have taken their own identity away from Canada. In “The Arab World” by Edward Hall, he uses hidden dimensions and proxemic patterns to show how the Arab culture presents itself. “I moved my body in such a way as to communicate annoyance. Strangely enough, instead of moving away, my actions seemed only to encourage him, because he moved even closer.”(p.201) This statement shows how an Arab man makes an American man nervous by getting to close. But what is too close? In the Arab culture closeness is a sign of

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respect, but in American culture closeness is only for people who are affectionate. Another example of attitudes in culture is in the story “Some Reflections on American Manners” by Alexis de Tocqueville. Tocqueville argues that American have no code of behavior and also has too much mobility in their actions. Through his essay Tocqueville uses the example that America has turned into an Individualistic Society and have destroyed the Aristocratic way of life with the new idea of democracy. The attitude of an insider of a culture is seen differently than what the visitors of that culture see. This view f...

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...en their child is growing up in a neighborhood where they are the majority they can identify with them more easily. But when they move into a new neighborhood where they are the minority, they are usually picked on and have lower self-esteems. Trying to identify with a culture is a hard task to do for the children of the world today. Trying to find an identity for a child is an important thing while growing up.

In conclusion I believe that the factors that contribute to the identification of a culture are attitude, family values, religion, and the origin of your family. I was brought up not to stereotype; my parents put me in a school where there were diverse cultures. I

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made many friends of different cultures and that has helped me to this day. Being able to identify with a culture better helps you to understand why and how the do things differently than you do. Most people are afraid to learn something new but when learning a new culture and not having a basis against it makes other cultures more interesting. I believe having more influence from many cultures make you a better person because you have the view of many, not just a few, or just one.