Essay: The Process Of Acculturation

In the essays written by both Naheed Mustafa and Sheila Watt-Cloutier the process of acculturation is outlined between two women, and their experiences as they adapt to life with new ideals and realizations implicated upon them due to alterations in social normality. In fact, the realization that both women had been brought up in a northern american society in which the worth of a being was measured, and weighed by appearances and materialism.
Firstly, Growing up with attempting to live up to so many unattainable standards these women discovered life outside of their own lives, and once they opened their eyes they were able to rediscover themselves in ways that only bettered their moral values. For example, Sheila began to accept curves as beautiful based on their new found meaning. Once they seen as unwanted, however given enough time in an african society she had learned to accept them as a sign of fertility and beauty. Rather than a flaw, and she even found herself disgusted in those visiting the island whom had fallen anywhere short on the scale in comparison to the elders around her.
Secondly, there are many reasons a person’s social identity gets altered. For example, Naheed and Sheila had undergone social prejudice causing them

to ediscover their inner self, and their inner beauty. After a tiring fight to please the social normalities of placed upon her to look or act a certain way these Naheed decided that the way she looked no longer was the concern of anyone but herself, as a matter of fact, she decided to wear a muslim headpiece called a hijab to represent her new found beliefs. Naheed believed that others may have seen her as, “a radical, fundamentalist Muslim terrorist packing an AK-47 rifle inside my jean jacket… Or maybe they see me as the poster girl for oppressed women everywhere.” Being a muslim women in Canada, representing the hijaab seemed almost so standoffish that it was hard for outsiders to accept if they did not understand the overall purpose of such attire. Whereby, Sheila felt as though she was not meeting up to the social standards of an old african society. In this society, Sheila was seen as an outsider because of her sickly shape and lack of curves which is why the nickname “Chicken-Hips” was given to her by the various members of the tribe.
Moreover, with the struggle to gain the approval of their surrounding society these women had able to rediscover themselves entirely.

As evidence would préces both Naheed and Sheila acculturated due to their surroundings, leading them to new realizations and values. With great discomfort with either how they viewed themselves or how others around them viewed them, the two women had changed in ways that bettered them on various levels. Furthermore, these women both had the chance to change their lives and overall they did, but the effects of acculturation took a negative effect on Sheila. In fact, when she returned home she found herself slipping back into the social norms placed upon her before she had experienced life in

africa.