Azariel Isa Manokham
9-17-15
3*
Mrs.Smith-English
My Cultural Identity-EA #1
What describes me? Would it be only; my clothes, my face, what i like to eat, etc. But no, these are all defined under two words that describe yourself and no-one else, cultural identity. In my cultural identity, your; values, beliefs, morals, clothes, ethnicity, food and more all play a role in how your defined. To me, someone can’t describe who you are because they, well, aren’t you. Most of us at a young age may not even know ourselves to the full potential, we just think we do. How we define ourselves shouldn’t be a conflict of interest to ourselves, rather an uprise in how we will prevail through the good and bad times of our lives. I would say i’m defined by what I eat and what this represents. This plays a major role in someone's culture, whether they are that culture, are fascinated by that culture, or want to inherit that culture are part of our cultural identity.
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My eating habits and what and how I eat are inherited by my parents.
They influenced and raised me on how and what I eat. Their influence on me has made an impact on me more than I realized until now. My cultural identity of food compares to my mother and father’s because what they like is mainly what I like. The comparison between us is that we are more similar than we think in that what we eat is passed down. Either the same or with variations acquiring to your own taste. Taste becomes a big role in your cultural identity because what your belly tastes is where your feet go. For example, if you crave fajitas you are most likely going to go to a Mexican restaurant where there culture is everywhere including; smell, decorations, language, clothing, and even music. The waitresses might even help you out acquire the culture history. How do others or yourself affect your
perspective. Our internal and external conflicts are a part of our cultural identity. The conflicts that were in my life changed who I was and every now and then I look back to see who I can be now and how my future will carry out. My internal conflicts include time management, being a procrastinator, and many, many, many more. This shows me that I need to work on many things and that it tells you one big thing about me, I’m lazy. Laziness plays a key piece in how I define myself. I tend to not look at that side of me, rather, the better side of my identity. My cultural identity defines my perspective because it shows who I am and what traits i kept from my pass. What describes us can’t be told by someone else just like how you can’t read a book by it’s cover. My cultural identity is what I am and what feeling I give off, sort of like a burning flame. The older i get, the more knowledge I know I can keep and to grow in power and in wisdom. I know and everyone else knows or will soon accept is that we all die at one point or another. And until then, my cultural identity is to; grow and never stop, to stay motivated, stay positive, and to remember to always, always, always, just be happy. There is one thing that will never stop me from living, is from family. The best of the best, the true and only thing that can bring me back from rock bottom. My brother, mom, and dad will always show me through the better!
What the texts suggest about the relationship between how an individual sees themselves vs how the individual is seen by others, is through the concept of identity. An individual’s identity is shaped by many factors: life experiences, memories, personality, talents, relationships and many more.
What is culture? Culture is the idea of what is wrong or right, the concept of what is acceptable within our society. Culture serves us as a guide, taking us to the "right way" and helping us to make sense of things that surrounds us. There are many different cultures around the world. A lot of them are similar in specific ways and others are just completely different, this difference explains why we think that people from different backgrounds are "weird".
(Disraeli, n.d.) The influence other cultures have made over the years can be found in our language, music, clothing, architecture, and food just to name a few. Our American English is distinctly different from the “Queen’s English” we have left in Britain. Our architecture varies across the country and is influenced by the culture that has settled in the area. Tacos, burritos, eggrolls, barbeque, pizza, corn bread, soul food, Cajun food, and Tex-Mex are a few examples of how other cultures have influenced American food.
Human beings and what defines us is a complex, never-ending process. We are a combination of our biology and our experiences. I believe that a person is born with a personality that becomes molded overtime due to our experiences and produces who we are as people. Who we are as people is determined by a multitude of interactions and constructs. This idea of personality is nearly impossible to define, as everyone defines personality differently. The construct of personality is hard to define, and many personality theorists continue to debate on its definition. Personality is a difficult construct to define because so many theorists evolved their own distinctive perspective due to a lack in agreement on the nature of humanity. Due to a lack of
After reading different articles and learning more about African American culture, it made me want to find out more about my own family culture. There are different traditions that are pasted down in generations, which could have been a part of African culture that we don’t realize such as parenting styles. I don’t remember hearing too many stories about my past relatives growing up, so I had to find out more on my family experiences in the south. Also, I wanted to see how spirituality played a roll in my family choices. My goal in this paper is to show how I got a better understanding of the reason my family could be structured the way it is now.
One’s cultural identity consists of their race, gender, socioeconomic status, age, religion, and so on. Being aware of your own cultural identity is just as important as being aware of other’s. People’s cultural identity defines who they are, the privilege (or lack of privilege) they receive, and how society views them. It is important to understand that White individuals have more privileges than individuals of color. White individuals do not experience detriment and difficulties due specifically to their skin color and instead receive advantages. White privilege is defined as benefits that white individuals have that people of color do not (Kendall, 2012). The following walks through my personal cultural background, how it was shaped, defined, and developed, and limitations to my personal competencies.
My personal cultural identity is a lot different compared to the society I am surrounded by. I am considered an outsider in my society. I am an outsider living in a constantly changing environment where there are many different kinds of people and many different cultural identities. In my culture we know how to respect people and their belongings, know how to work hard, use what we have while being thankful for it at the same time, and last we know how to stay true to ourselves in this very fast pace world of ours. I am a cowboy.
Identity-“Ones personal qualities.”Identiy is something only he or she can fully define. My uncle says I am affectionate,cheerful, and calm. My grandmother sees me as slim, pretty and sweet. My dad described me as perky, cheerful and happy, my mom says beautiful, gentle, and self-conscious. These adjectives describe me accurately, yet they are only abstract versions of me. Adjectives cannot begin to describe me and I aknowlege these descriptions for what they are, a condensed translation from my outward self to the world. It is impossible for anyone to understand me completely because nobody has experienced the things I have. My mother has never cherished a raggedy doll named Katie and my father never spent hours upon hours making collages and scrap books for his future children. My uncle never hid in the back of a pick-up-truck and traveled four hours to New York and my grandmother has never walked hours in the rain looking for the Queen of England. My identity is something only I can define.
...can go through an entire lifetime and not really know how to define their own identity. In many cases people suffer through a great crisis to discover who they really are. If someone doesn?t know the meaning of their own identity, how can society apply a definition to the word? It leaves people to ponder whether or not there are some feelings and parts of life that simply cannot be explained. When defining the word identity scholars and common men alike must agree to disagree. It is a word so diverse in context that it is seemingly impossible to take it down to a simplified definition. There are some things in life that just aren?t meant to be completely understood, and one?s identity is among these things. Not until a person has a lived out their live could they sit down and tell you how their adventure has shaped them into the person they became in the end.
Who am I; my beliefs, values, morals, and views on society have assisted in molding me into the person that I am considered to be today. I was raced with specifics values, traditions, and norms. Being raised in a small town made being socially aware very easy. I was raised under the southern Baptist Christian religion. Church was always the same and it had a majority of women in attendance although the men and elderly people ran the church overall. It was always the same, repetitive habits and events that occurred in my town but after a while I became accustomed to always being near or known by others.
A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects. Family, culture, friends, personal interests and surrounding environments are all factors that tend to help shape a person’s identity. Some factors may have more of an influence than others and some may not have any influence at all. As a person grows up in a family, they are influenced by many aspects of their life. Family and culture may influence a person’s sense of responsibilities, ethics and morals, tastes in music, humor and sports, and many other aspects of life. Friends and surrounding environments may influence a person’s taste in clothing, music, speech, and social activities. Personal interests are what truly set individuals apart. An individual is not a puppet on the string of their puppet-master, nor a chess piece on their master’s game board, individuals choose their own paths in life. They accomplish, or strive to accomplish, goals that they have set for themselves throughout their lifetime. Individuals are different from any other individual in the world because they live their own life rather than following a crowd of puppets. A person’s identity is defined by what shaped it in the first place, why they chose to be who they are, and what makes them different from everybody else in the world. I feel that I have developed most of my identity from my own dreams, fantasies, friends, and idols.
When a person enjoys a dish from a different country, this can cause a positive perspective to the culture itself. According to SooCheong Jang and Jooyeon Ha, authors of “The Influence of Cultural Experience: Emotions in Relation to Authenticity at Ethnic Restaurants.” A study conducted to identify customers’ cultural experiences with authenticity of ethnic restaurants. “This study uncovered that a customer’s experiences with a particular culture are a significant factor for eliciting positive emotions regarding authentic aspects of ethnic restaurants” (302). Furthermore, the authors suggest that providing different parts of one’s culture (including their food) will get people more interested in different cultures (302). Ethnic restaurants can become the start point that gets people interested in different cultures. To encourage people into learning more about different cultures, ethnic restaurants can give out flyers about their culture to their customers or add a factoid of a certain dish next to it’s name in the menu. This can increase the chances of a customer getting to the start point of being interested in learning about a different
How many times have people asked themselves, who am I? What defines me? Culture plays a very important role in the identity of people. People are born in a culture, their family's culture, but not with an already established culture. The term culture refers to the values, beliefs, customs, style of dress, food, songs and stories that are shared and learned in a characteristic group. On the other hand, identity is a set of features, attributes and characteristics that define a person. Identity is constructed by language, social structure, gender orientation and cultural patterns. Although many do not relate these two themes, there is a complex relationship between culture and identity.
We are the sum of our experiences. As we grow and mature, so do the things that shape who we are. Our personalities and characteristics are fluid. Each person has a unique story to tell, and it is only when we hear that story and move past labels that we can begin to truly understand someone. If I were to describe myself, I would say that I am a college student, a progressive, and most importantly, an idealist.
In the end, no matter what may be said about me, I know that I am some what of an abstract project. I continue to grow everyday and discover new factors that define me. I know what I stand for. I love myself, and the people around me. They don't create me, or make me who I am, but they do help be define myself