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Social and cultural influences on personal identity
How is our identity influenced by society
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There are many diverse cultures in the world, and one’s culture consists of language, beliefs, values and behaviors that can either distinguish or connect themselves to other people of different cultures. In the film Spanglish, there are many conflicts or struggles between Flor and the Clasky family since they come from different cultures. However, sometimes there are some similar values between Flor and the Clasky family. In my opinion, the movie’s main goal was to show how Flor and the Clasky family handled the situations in their lives based on their beliefs, rules, and values. In the following paragraphs, I explain how ethnocentrism, individualism versus collectivism, and masculinity versus femininity caused problems, differences, or connections …show more content…
For example, when Deborah searched for a translator to translate to Flor about her working for the Clasky family in the summer, she showed frustration toward her mom about Flor not having learned English yet (Ansell, Brooks, & Sakai, 2004). Deborah believed that Flor should learn English because Deborah and her family speak English, yet Deborah does not learn Spanish to speak with Flor. In addition to that, Deborah sometimes undermined Flor by providing gifts to Cristina and taking Cristina to places, such as shopping or touring a private school, without asking for Flor’s permission, and these actions from Deborah were unsettling to Flor. Flor tried to make Deborah understand her point of view of why she felt her actions were wrong, but Deborah was fixated on her own beliefs of right and wrong and did not try to understand Flor’s perspective or at least respect her wishes (Ansell, et al., 2004). These examples caused struggle between Flor and Deborah due to …show more content…
An example of collectivism that I witnessed was Flor’s actions in always trying to live for Cristina, such as when she switched from her two jobs in her comfortable, Spanish-speaking neighborhood to a higher paying job in a new, different, and non-Spanish speaking neighborhood in order to have a more active presence in Cristina’s life. Flor also gave up her chance to commit to a romantic relationship with John in order to follow through with her responsibilities as a parent for Cristina (Ansell, et al., 2004). Flor would constantly sacrifice her personal goals or wants in the best interest of Cristina’s well-being (Jandt, 2016). As for Deborah, she showed individualism in her lack of concern for her children and her involvement in an affair in order to make herself feel better and loved (Ansell, et al., 2004). Deborah only focused on her wants and needs (Jandt, 2016). These examples, I believe, exemplified collectivism and individualism and how it separated the personalities of Flor and Deborah based on their value for themselves and
Gender and culture are two concepts that were principally shown throughout the film. The film revolved around Toula’s traditional Greek family and how they exemplified gender roles, gender stereotyping as well as gender stratification. The film also epitomized on subcultures, countercultures, ethnocentrism, cultural relativism as well as cultural diffusion. It is forthrightly for a sociologist to relate trends in the film to prevailing trends occurring all around the
Thorough out this novel, Bowen attempts to reconcile her Western prejudice with those of the Tiv society. Her experience and her failures contribute to her lessons and revelations. She now holds the knowledge that language and social relationships are indispensable to research. Conclusively, Bowen understands that culture is reliant on understanding the cultures language and that this understanding will aid in social relationships.
In conclusion, this book gave me a whole new view on life and how we can interact better with different people. The book emphasized that culture is key to understanding people. Sometimes it is hard to connect with others because they are indicated as different but in due time we can adjust. Every culture has their own traditions when it comes to what they eat, what to wear, dating, various ceremonies, holidays and more. Reading this book helped me become more accepting of who I am and where I come from.
... collectivism holds many different meanings pertaining to many different people and how they feel about both. To this day many people don’t know what they fall under because it has come confusing as the world has changed. The more we evolve the more we need the strength of one another for us to be able to be individuals and hold the title of individualism.
Due to the colonial ideas of heteronormativity and traditional family roles, Caribbean people, much like Chandin, forced themselves to embody these ideals (Rosenthal 3/20/17). “But evenings, sitting quietly in the living room with his new family, he had a very definite place. The Reverend had a chair that he alone sat in, as did Mrs. Thoroughly, and Lavinia invariably lay on her back or stomach on the very same portion of rug… near her mother. Chandin found that… [his] chair became an antidote to the chaos of his uprootedness” (Mootoo 31). With this depiction of the family member’s place in their living room, Mootoo suggests that European family’s heteronormativity places family members in ridged and fixed locations in the family hierarchy. As Chandin feels that he is integrated into this family system, he feels more accepted into the European way of life. Because of this acceptance, he further distances himself from the society in which he formerly belonged. With the acknowledgement of the changes caused by the heteronormative family roles, one sees that the family roles reinforce European images of how society should look (Rosenthal 3/20/17). This reconfiguration of the home makes it a more disputed and contentious place for those that do not parallel with the roles of heteronormative families (Rosenthal 3/22/17). Because the home becomes a disputed place, it
An early principle the film explores is that of ethnic attrition. Leon-Guerrero defined in her book, “Social Problems: Community, Policy, and Social Action” ethnic attrition as “individuals choosing not to self-identify
Individualism and collectivism are conflicting beliefs with the nature of humans, society, and the relationships between them, however, these ideologies are not diametrically opposing since both are essential towards balancing beliefs from becoming extremes. The first source represents the idea of collectivism and suggests that the society must focus on moving their viewpoint from ‘me’ into ‘we’ in the interest of survival and progression. This perspective presents the idea that the individual’s advantage belongs not only to the person, but to the group or society of which he or she is a part of, and that the individual’s values and goals are for the group’s “greater good.” Likewise, Karl Marx’s principle of communism emphasizes in the elimination
It is human nature to see those who are different and group them into distinct categories. The distinction of Individualism versus Collectivism is one that is currently being studied extensively. On one side, individualism sees individuals as the fundamental unit of a society. Individuals are supposed to be unique, independent, and most importantly, willing to put their own interests above all others. On the other hand, collectivism views the basic building block of society as social groups, stressing the interpersonal bonds between people. Collectivist values dictate that group goals and values have higher precedence than an individual’s. Due to the seemingly polar opposite nature of these ideologies, it is inevitable that they will be compared to see which is more beneficial to the country and its people. Some might point to the success of the US, an extremely individualistic country, in support of individualistic values. They will point to the freedom of choice and diversity that individualism boasts of. Others stress the flaws of the US in response, and while both sides do have their truths, the costs that come with individualistic values are too great to be ignored. Highly individualistic attitudes have caused many large scale problems which have long been identified as difficult to resolve issues. These problems include, but are not limited to, promoting aggressive acts, creating an obsession with social power, and allowing a system of injustice to be born.
The first basic issue confronting all societies is to define the nature of the relation between the individual and the group. This dimension is frequently labeled as individualism versus collectivism (Hofstede, 1980, 1991). In cultures at the Conservatism pole of the dimension, Schwartz (1994) noted that the person is viewed as embedded in a collectivity, finding meaning in life largely through social relationships, through identifying with the group and participating in its shared way of life. Schwartz (1999) noted that this value type emphasizes maintenance of the status quo, propriety, and restraint of actions or inclinations that might disrupt the solitary group or the traditional order. Exemplary specific values are social order, respect
This book serves to teach readers about the varieties of cultures, social
There are a lot of peoples’ perspective. One is interaction which influences the society’s language and culture for a better change. In this movie, all considerations
I never even thought about this word “individualism” before I came to America. Instead of collective, normal is the way I considered as my culture, and for American culture, I would say they are selfish and unkindly sometimes back then. However, after my 2-year study here and all the research I’ve been read for this paper, now I say that neither individualism nor collectivism is purely bad or good.
Globalization is becoming one of the most controversial topics in today’s world. We see people arguing over the loss of a nation’s cultural identity, the terror of westernization, and the reign of cultural imperialism. Through topics such as these we explore the possibilities or the existence of hybridization of cultures and values, and what some feel is the exploitation of their heritage. One important aspect that is not explored is that such influences can also be more than just a burden and an overstepping of bounds. These factors can create an educational environment as well as a reaffirmation of one’s own culture.
Her message on the different reasons why immigrants come to new countries and cultures is highly perceived in her story. Her use of rhetorical devices helps success her in her story. The usage of ethos, storytelling, word choice and structure played a major role in aiding her beliefs and illustrating them to her audience. Ethos helped her compare her and her sister’s beliefs on their culture and lifestyle in India and America. Storytelling made it possible for readers to connect with her thoughts and stay entertained throughout the paper. Her word choice and structure also helped the outline of the story and made her beliefs sound more
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.