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What are the influences of culture in society
How culture affects a society
What are the influences of culture in society
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bonding with each other always comes first. Living life as a whole, making relationships most important, and recognizing oneself as “we” is a part of the collectivist culture in Guatemala.
The value of focusing on relationships with people rather than time is also a norm in Guatemala (Rivers, n.d., Norms section). As several Americans shake hands to greet each other, a Guatemalan folkway is a handshake with an additional hug or kiss to close friends or family. Communication in public is expected to be quiet and private; talking loudly is looked down upon (“GUATEMALA”, n.d., Taboos section). Unlike Guatemalans, Americans do not have such guidelines of speaking in public. It may be considered rude to yell across the street or disrupt the silence
of a classroom, but conversations are not required to be kept private. A taboo in both cultures consists of rude gestures, such as giving someone the middle finger in America, which is equivalent to putting your thumb in between your index finger and middle finger in Guatemala. Instead of disconnecting cultures with such actions, certain holidays and special occasions bring people together. In order to unite people in Guatemala, several rituals take place. Holidays, such as Easter Week, Independence Day, and Christmas are nationally celebrated each year in both Guatemala and the United States of America.(“Culture of Guatemala”, n.d., Guatemalan Holidays section). Easter is celebrated for an entire week in Guatemala with a religious festival, but in the United States it only occurs on one day with a combination of religious purposes and the make believe Easter bunny. America’s independence day is a different date than Guatemala’s independence day and celebrates independence from England rather than Spain. However, the celebration of
In El Nahra, for example, the cultural ethos is family honor. All actions in the community are based on the strong family bonds that exist throughout. However, individualism drives the majority of America. Our actions seem to be a direct result of the cultural ethos. In that, lied much of the confusion between Bob, BJ and th...
As far back as Rigoberta Manchu can remember, her life has been divided between the highlands of Guatemala and the low country plantations called the fincas. Routinely, Rigoberta and her family spent eight months working here under extremely poor conditions, for rich Guatemalans of Spanish descent. Starvation malnutrition and child death were common occurrence here; rape and murder were not unfamiliar too. Rigoberta and her family worked just as hard when they resided in their own village for a few months every year. However, when residing here, Rigoberta’s life was centered on the rituals and traditions of her community, many of which gave thanks to the natural world. When working in the fincas, she and her people struggled to survive, living at the mercy of wealthy landowners in an overcrowded, miserable environment. By the time Rigoberta was eight years old she was hard working and ...
“The Contact Zone”, is defined by Mary Louis Pratt as “the space in which transculturation takes place – where two different cultures meet and inform each other, often in highly asymmetrical ways.” Pratt describes what she calls ‘contact zones’ and elaborates on the pros and cons of these cultural interactions. She sees the contact zone as a place that allows people to exchange cultural ideas and break down the dividing cultural borders. When a contact zone is started, people are able to interact on new levels gaining a new perspective because they are able to collaborate with people from foreign cultures. If you are always with people of the same culture as you, you become used to hearing everything from the same perspective. With a new perspective, you can see your culture from a different point of view and reanalyze the logic behind your cultural traditions. Every ethnic/ religious/ regional/ cultural group has its high and low points, and it is just as important to learn about the low points as it is to learn about the highs. Gloria Anzaldua’s essay, “how to tame a wild tongue”, focuses on the ideas of losing an accent or native language to conform to the dominant culture.
I was born in Guatemala in a city called, called Guatemala City. Life in Guatemala is hard which is why my parents brought me into the United States when I was eight months old. Some of the things that makes life in Guatemala hard is the violence. However, Guatemala has plenty of hard working men, women, and children who usually get forced to begin working as soon as they are able to walk. However, unlike many other countries, Guatemala has a huge crime rate. I care about the innocent hard working people that live in Guatemala and receive letters, threatening to be killed if they do not pay a certain amount of money at a certain amount of time.
From the time of its colonization at the hands of Spanish Conquistadors in the early 1500’s, Guatemala has suffered under the oppression of dictator after dictator. These dictators, who ruled only with the support of the military and only in their own interests, created a form of serfdom; by 1944, two percent of the people owned 70 percent of the usable land.
The Hmong also believes that a combination of natural and supernatural cause’s results in illness, and spells or curses, violation of taboos, accidents, fright, and infectious disease are other causes of illness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008, Queensland Health, 2004). As our textbook states, “Communication includes the willingness of individuals to share their thoughts and feelings” (Purnell, 2103, p. 21). To that end, the Hmong people are primarily illiterate. For this culture, they have a belief that Americans are rude because direct eye contact is maintained when conversing, as well as asking direct questions.
Guatemala’s culture is a unique product of Native American ways and a strong Spanish colonial heritage. About half of Guatemala’s population is mestizo (known in Guatemala as ladino), people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry. Ladino culture is dominant in urban areas, and is heavily influenced by European and North American trends. Unlike many Latin American countries, Guatemala still has a large indigenous population, the Maya, which has retained a distinct identity. Deeply rooted in the rural highlands of Guatemala, many indigenous people speak a Mayan language, follow traditional religious and village customs, and continue a rich tradition in textiles and other crafts. The two cultures have made Guatemala a complex society that is deeply divided between rich and poor. This division has produced much of the tension and violence that have marked Guatemala’s history (Guatemalan Culture and History).
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,
I always live as a Guatemalan for the last 15 years, it was hard when I had to move from my country to another that was very different than mine and find out that in this new country is a different languages and different cultures. Maybe for the first time that I was walking to the school, I feel like I was in Guatemala people with the same skin color as me, but when I heard them talked I heard a new word, different accents and I realized that everything was chance.
When I was a toddler, I had blonde hair, blue eyes and white skin, and still presently do. My parents are Guatemalan, however they fit the stereotype of a Guatemalan, small, a bit chunky, and tan. My siblings also carry the same genes as my parents, but yet I stand out like the moon in a night sky. But just like the moon, the public looks at me different. Growing up in a hispanic community and having a Latino family I gained numerous titles for my abnormality. “Canche” is the George Clooney of my nicknames, it means white boy.
Latin American society places a great deal of importance on the family as a support network; it is not uncommon for several generations to reside in the same house. This emphasis is called familismo, and the mother in the family is usually the most important figure. She “is seen as the primary nurturer and caregiver in the family…[and] plays a critical role in preservation of the family as a unit, as well as in...
In the New York Times article, A Wrong Turn for Guatemalan Democracy, Guatemala’s political situation is regarded as a declining state where Congress has most control over corruption, leaving little room for their new president, Jimmy Morales, to consolidate the country’s politics. A democracy is a form of government that reflects the wants and needs of the people through political action. The people of Guatemala are viewed by the author of the article, Anita Isaacs, as the only option to reform the country’s corruption since Mr. Morales has only 11 out of the 158 members of Congress in his political party and the United Nations ceases to assist in aiding the corruption. [Isaacs, A Wrong Turn]. Guatemalan Democracy may be unstable due to the
The Agrarian Reform Law Decree 900 was enacted in 1952 under President Jacobo Árbenz’s government. President Árbenz wanted Guatemala’s financial system to grow and he wanted to transform the rural population through land redistribution and by giving them agricultural privileges. However, these ideals for land reform were short-lived; coming to an end with his coup in 1954. This essay will explain what the Agrarian Reform law in Guatemala was as well as what were its effects on landowners and rural hacienda workers, while touching on why the reform failed despite its progressive ideals.
Racial divisions are evident in societies across the globe, and have been for centuries. While there are distinct differences between these relationships of class and race, many similarities are clear. History has shown a long list of tactics to exploit, terrorize, and manipulate racial minorities and lower class citizens. For the indigenous people of Guatemala and the American Indians, the inception of racial and class discrimination occurred during colonialization and continues to show its impact today.
Peruvians represent a minority group in the United States. Two of the main reasons why Peruvians have migrated to different cities of this country are: political and economic changes in Peru. As most of people who abandon their countries, what motivates Peruvians to come is the desire to improve their life here as well as their families’ life (Paerregaard, 2005). However, even when they migrate from Peru to the United States, they tend to keep their views and values with them, which continues to influence their lives. Even though, this group share similar characteristics with other Latino groups that have Hispanic origins, Peruvians have social and cultural distinctiveness. An interview