The literacy of my Hispanic culture has always been part of my life. Having parents from Mexico has been a great impact on my exposure to Hispanic traditions and customs. Growing up in a Hispanic household showed me the importance and meaning of Hispanic traditions. Some of the traditions I became accustom to were Day of the Dead, Quinceañeras, and the Three Kings. Hispanic culture puts an emphasis on family, unity, and the transition of childhood to adulthood. As I grew older I understood the traditions and customs better. They weren’t just parties with colorful decorations, candy bags, and piñatas. They were holidays that commemorated our dead, parties that acknowledge the change from a little girl to a woman, and they were celebrations I …show more content…
finally understood. Hispanic culture became a fundamental part of my life and lead me to be the person I am today. Growing up in a community were Hispanic culture was prominent. There were events every other week. As a child, I was filled with anticipation and excitement for the coming festivities. Regardless if it was a party or holiday there would always be cake and candy. As the young kid I was that was all it took to convince me to go. These festivities were just gatherings to have fun to me. I saw it as days I got dressed up to go play with other kids and get free candy. Up to the age of nine I remain oblivious to the meaning behind each celebration I attended. I paid no attention to rituals done at these celebrations, the outfit people wear, or the food served. At age nine I started noticing how instilled Hispanic culture and traditions were in my life.
I started noticing the small things that made up my culture. Such as our own version of the Happy Birthday song called Las Mañanitas, the traditional cake to the face, and the food we ate. I noticed that the food I ate at home and the Hispanic community parties differed from my school food or the fast food joints. The cake to the face was another small tradition we held at every party just for fun and giggles. Las Mañanitas became a song that every child memorized as they grew older to sing before the blowing of the candles. The song is a small part of our culture, which unites us as a Hispanic community. The song creates a special moment where people unite to celebrate and share their happiness with someone …show more content…
else. These small traditions became part of my life and showed me the importance of unity and togetherness. As I grew older the emphasis in family became more prominent with different traditions. I learned that family will always be there for you in the good and bad. Also how important it is to stay united. Each new tradition and custom I encountered shaped me to become the caring and family oriented person I am. As a girl turning fifteen years old in the Hispanic culture was a major deal.
Our culture we has a coming of age party that celebrates your transition from childhood to adulthood called a Quinceañera. It’s similar the American version of a sweet sixteen. It differs in the rituals and meaning behind the party. Quinceañeras consists of multiple traditions and customs. Starting with the attire of the fifteen year old. Traditionally they wear dresses similar to ball gowns of which ever color of preference they chose upon. Other traditions consists of dance numbers they perform with their male dancers, chambelanes, to present their self to the community and show their transition to adulthood. My experience in the passage to adulthood helped me understand and practice my culture better. It brought me a better understanding of how my culture celebrates coming of age. I felt fortunate to have the possibility to experience this tradition. It was a celebration uniting us to participate in our own
culture. Hispanic culture has been with me since the beginning and it has become an immense part of my life. Over the years I have learned multiple information about our traditions and customs. Belonging to the Hispanic culture has led me to have a close family that supports and backs me up. Growing up it created a welcoming atmosphere to talk with my family and have a closer relation. I held a high trust for my family. That I could confide in them with any of the problems I had. They gave me the courage to try new things and support to reach my goals. My family is my backbone and they will continue to support me to strive for my new goals. My culture has overall given me a different perspective and appreciation to life. Hispanic culture will continue being a fundamental part of my life.
The Quinceañera is a celebration in Latin America that is very comparable to our Sweet 16 celebration, also know as the fiesta de quince años. The origination of the word comes from the feminine term of fifteen-year-old in Spanish. The overall celebration marks the transition from childhood to becoming a young woman. In earlier times this celebration was meant to be a teaching point for young women to learn how to cook, weave, and the art of becoming a mother. Depending on the family specifically, some can carry a religious tone, and some can be more traditional and casual.
The Latinos make up close to 16 percent of the total American population, thus becoming the 2nd largest ethnic community. Just like many other migrant populations, the Latinos seek to keep in touch with their Hispanic traditions and cultures. As Alvarez puts it, children born in the US are thus taught certain cultural events and values so as to maintain their lineage. The most common one as discussed by Alvarez in her book is the quinceañera. This refers to a girl’s celebration as she reaches fifteen. This day of celebration is supposed to mark a girl’s transition from being a child to an adult woman. Among other traditional symbols, these parties are huge and include choreographed dances and ball gowns.
of the native tongue is lost , certain holidays may not be celebrated the same , and American born generations feel that they might have lost their identity , making it hard to fit in either cultures . Was is significant about this book is the fact it’s like telling a story to someone about something that happened when they were kid . Anyone can relate because we all have stories from when we were kids . Alvarez presents this method of writing by making it so that it doesn’t feel like it’s a story about Latin Americans , when
quinceañeras are a tradition for a girl who at the age of 15 becomes a young women. Another example, in the United States Culture theres sweet 16 which is similar to a quinceañera, but in this case a girl becomes a young women at the age of 16. Each culture has their own rituals, traditions, rite of passage that contributes to the development or defines one’s self identity, there’s similarities or differences between the rites of passage, why do only girls receive quinceañeras, and does commercialization of rituals and or rite of passage have an affect on its overall
All birthdays are special. Birthdays celebrate life and the passing of time. In a young Mexican girl life, there is no birthday more important then her quinceañera. The quinceañera is a celebration of a girl’s journey into womanhood. The story of my fifteenth birthday is contributed for a better understanding of how special it is to celebrate a girl’s transformation into a lady, and how it differs from any other birthday she celebrates.
The history of a quinceanera dates back to the Aztecs in 5000 B.C. The Aztecs believed that by the age of fifteen, young boys had to take on a job of a grown man. As for the girls, the Aztecs believe that when they turned fifteen they were already a young woman. At that age, the young ladies were given instructions and responsibilities of womanhood. Young girls were also considered marriage ready by the age of fifteen. The quincearenas were plain and simple back then. The only thing the quincearena had to do that evening was to enjoy herself and have a great time with her family members and friends. The quincearenas now a days are not so plain at all nor simple. At times the birthday girl is given the opportunity to wear and choose two or three different dresses to wear on her special day. A traditional
Compare and Contrast Between Hispanic Culture and American Culture I. Introduction The Hispanic population has experienced incredible growth in the past decade in the United States of America. In 2006 it was estimated that the Hispanics cover 11% of the population in North America. Their origin is in Mexico and the few Spanish speaking countries in the Caribbean. American culture is derived from people who originated from the European nations like Italy and the Great Britain.
As a traditional, collectivistic cultural group, the Latino population is believed to adhere deeply to the value of familismo. (Arditti, 2006; Calzada, 2014). Familism is an emphasis on the importance of the family unit over values of autonomy and individualism”. (Santistaben, 2012). Family is considered to be the top priority in the Latino culture. Comparatively, at times, this isn’t true of our busy, work devoted western culture. In western culture we think of our family in a nuclear sense made up of a: mom, dad, and siblings. Conversely, Hispanic culture focuses on the whole extended family including aunts, uncles, grandparent, and cousins. Their culture believes having close connections with the entire extended family benefits the development of their children. The entire family helps the child by giving them differing levels of social and emotional support. (American Home Resolutions,
Folklore is a collection of stories passed down from generation to generation that includes Legends, Myths and Fairy tales. Legends are a semi-true story, which has been passed on from a person to another person that has an important meaning. Myths are a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon. A Fairytale is a children's story about magical which they have imaginary beings and lands. Hispanic Folklore is the traditional is mostly about beliefs, legends, customs and stories of the community of the hispanic culture. Hispanic or latino culture encompasses the traditions, language, religious beliefs and practices, legends, music and history.
A Quinceanera celebrates a young girl turning 15. A Quinceanera is a very big party. The Quinceanera recognizes a girl’s journey from childhood to maturity. The customs of a Quinceanera highlight God, family, friends, music, a lot of food, and dancing. They also embrace religious customs, and the virtues of family and social responsibility. Many families today are merging their American and Hispanic heritages by choosing to celebrate a Sweet Sixteen. For their fifteenth birthday the Hispanic do the full-blown quinceanera traditions. The Quinceanera consist of the religious ceremony, the reception, the tiara with the number sixteen, and much more. The families are encouraged to select the customs that have a special meaning to them and add
Kanellos, Nicolás, Felix M- Padilla, and Claudio Esteva Fabregat, eds. Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States: Sociology. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1994. Print.
The Hispanic community represents many nationalities and ethnicities, including Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, 15 Central and South American countries, Spain, and the Dominican Republic (Cattan, 1993). Hispanic group are well known in the workforce, politics, education, social economic and religion. The Spanish culture influences a variety of areas such as music, food, language. Most languages are rooted in Latin. It is always good to learn about other cultures if we expect the same consideration when we visit other countries. Differences are what make life interesting. Majority of the United States is built on immigration, which has made this country the most diverse. And the Hispanic group contributes to that diversity.
To help me understand and analyze a different culture, I watched the film Selena. The film tells the life story of the famous singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. Not only does it just tell personal stories from her life, it also gives insight to the Mexican-American culture. Her whole life she lived in the United States, specifically in Texas, but was Hispanic and because of that both her and her family faced more struggles than white singers on the climb to her success. Even though the film is a story about a specific person, it brought understanding into the culture in which she lived. Keeping in mind that these ideas that I drew about the Mexican-American culture is very broad and do not apply to every single person in the culture, there were very obvious differences in their culture and the one that I belong. Mexican-American culture identifies with their family rather than individualized or spiritual identities and the culture has gone through significant changes because of discrimination and the changing demographics of the United States.
The term Hispanic is one used in today's world as a description of the culture and people from all countries which were at one time under Spanish rule. In America the influence of Hispanic culture is evident. Hispanic culture affects certain things such as media, food, people, and in particular education. In certain states at least half of the population is full of Hispanics. With every passing day, the Hispanic population increases rapidly. Because of this Hispanics increase more and more jobs have become bilingual; schools have changed curriculum to meet the needs of Hispanic students, and the Spanish culture is being taught to American students. As the Hispanic population grows, the increase in changes of American education has grown as well.
My older sibling was suppose to have a Quinceanera, but they didn’t feel like wasting all that money for just one birthday party. When a female turns 15 they have a Quinceanera. During their Quinceanera they greet everyone, and dance. Most of the times you see them wearing a poofy dress, and sandals. At some point during the party they sit down, and someone puts high heels on their feet. This shows that the girl has become a woman, or at least has stopped being a little girl. This Hispanic and Latino tradition shows the theme Coming of age, since they use the high heels to show that the girl became a