An Autobiography Of My Cultural Identity

When I think about my cultural identity I find myself resorting to the word “normal”. I grew up in a town where everyone looked the same, everyone worshiped the same God, and everyone was in the same economic class. It’s interesting to really break down my individual cultural pieces to find that actually there are so many differences that I was simply too naïve to see. The culture that one grows up can be so different from one household the next, that there really isn’t a “normal” culture out there.

“Good times in your culture makes good memories”. Good memories can connect to your culture even if it’s good or bad. Your culture can have many different things about it . There’s different kinds of cultures. Some people are dedicated to their culture. People do things in their culture many different ways and some people do things the same way if they have the same culture. My cultural identity is interesting because of all the memories, food, and a specific t.v show.

My cultural identity, as I know is Mexican American because both my parents are born in Mexico and I was born here. I can also be defined as a Chicana because that is another way used to call a Mexican American. My culture can be seen in so many different ways like for example it can be seen in food, music, religion, dance, art, festivals, and even more. Most of these traditions have changed a little bit over time as they were brought to the U.S. What I mean by that is that some of those traditions were brought from Mexico, and had a little change into them because they were combined with some traditions that have already been here in the U.S.

Allan Rufus wrote “Life is like a game of chess. To win you have to make a move. Knowing which move to make comes with insight and knowledge, and by learning the lessons that are accumulated along the way. We become each and every piece within the game called life!” To me this quote means when you know yourself you can foresee the decisions that you need to make to be beneficial. As you grow older you learn and grow and down the road you get to know yourself on a deeper level. Everything I do, what I see, what I believe in, how I act is and the values that I hold is what makes me who I am. The more I am in synch with my behavior and characteristics the better in tune I am to understanding

Most people call me Colby, but on the field i'm know as number 40. Soccer has been a part of my life since I was 3, my 12 years of experience have influenced how I act, what I eat and most aspects of my life-like who I hang out with and what I dislike. In the United states especially, sports are a huge part of everyone's cultural identity. With all this in mind I would call my cultural identity a soccer game. It can change in a blink of the eye but is consistent through life.My family is like the other players, education is like the field and my hobbies are like the ball.

What is my cultural identity? Personally, I don’t think I am completely assured on what my cultural identity is, but I can do my best on explaining it. However, I won’t get started on that yet, first I’ll explain the occasion of me learning about my identity. At almost the beginning of the year, it was announced in our English class that we would be doing an essay on our cultural identities. When my teacher announced this I thought to myself, “What in the world is a cultural identity, or even my cultural identity?” In these months, we have gotten to learn the definition of culture, and what it means to us, individually., I believe that culture means a group of people that share the same customs, way of life, and beliefs. Also, over these last couple of months we have been reading texts all about people knowing and understanding their cultural identities, meanwhile I still didn’t understand my own. All I know is that I was born on February 11, 2002, I like movies and music, and my mom is from Chile and my Dad is from Virginia. Now that didn’t feel like enough for me to write on, but then I started thinking about all of the cultural differences that my parents have had raising me as a person, and how those have all combined to make me. In my short 15 years of life, the culture clashes have sometimes affected me on my thoughts and opinions, which I’ll talk about later on. As well as how movies and music have affected my perspectives and opinions.

Charles F. Glassman once said, “In a few seconds, we judge another person and think we know them. When, the person we’ve lived with the longest, we still don’t know very well- ourselves.” Writing about my values has gave me a better understanding of who I am. I now understand the several ways my culture has shaped me to become who I am. My cultural autobiography will allow me to reveal who I truly am by understanding my cultural identity. My cultural identity is the combination of my worldview and values as well as my position in the eight microcultures.

“ I am a feminist, and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning of the fact I am black: It means that I must . . . respect myself as though my very life depends upon self-love and self-respect.”- June Jordan. As life goes on I am learning that we do not always get what we want. In my English class, we read two passages; one was a novel called Two Kinds by Amy Tan and the other was a poem called “ Legal Alien “ by Pat Mora. The text Two Kinds is about the conflict between a mother and daughter; her mother just wants her daughter to triumph in the world, while her daughter wants to just be herself. The other text “ Legal Alien “, is about the speaker describing being bicultural, and how she is fluent in the Mexican and American culture but seen as “ different & exotic” by the Americans, and an “ alien & outsider “ by the Mexicans. Reading and analyzing these texts lead me to realize that I am a staunch feminist in the midst of the world who adores being an eccentric human, and struggles with an overprotective family.

In fact, the most important thing to kids is having their mother next to them to feel comfortable. I don t think mothers should work to bring money, that's men's business, but in some cases like divorce, or if the man died, then the mother is obliged to work instead of him.” Even today many women, just like the narrator's sister, are okay with the fact that they are held to a different standard to men. For women to have the same mentality as men only makes it harder for women to get out of that gender role. Asked the same question, another women who disagreed says, “Dads can do that too.”

“Dale, dale, dale, No pierdas el tino; Porque si lo pierdes, Pierdes el camino”. The classic piñata song that is sung at parties. It translates to “Go, go, go, don't lose your aim; because if you lose it, you will lose your path.” The phrase ties in with my identity because of my cultural background and experiences at parties. Who am I? What is my cultural identity? The questions that have me trying my best not to have an existential crisis. I am a Mexican American, my parents were born in Jalisco and I was born in California. As for my cultural identity, I am a NSHS student that has been shaped by music, technology, and sports.

The way I see it humans are just biotic machines where people from the first SECOND we are born to expect us to be used to be in their likeness or their standard of code. Luckily, due to a creation of identity and personality, people often never reach that likeness and become different. Cultural identity impacts us for our interests can make a person grow and gain traits. My cultural identity is made up by many factors, Mx-Bones and my mom impacted my life and guided me to be an artist and an aspiring scientist of some sort that is not confirmative and very curious.

My cultural identity stems from my countless brave ancestors that made the journey to the United States many eons ago. Since then, every generation has impacted our original customs. As the years passed on, so did behaviors and other tendencies. These have eventually made their way throughout the entire family tree and down to my generation. Now, as a social work student, I am forced to face these behaviors head on and even challenge them.

In comparison from the three generations of women in my family, including my grandmother, mother and myself the difference in women’s opportunity, freedoms and overall social norms have greatly changed. From expectations in the home, work, school and society there has been a large leap in positive alterations, many would agree that this change is for the better of societies overall functions. The biggest difference between the three generations of women was societies common idea that a woman belongs in the home. Although, this stereotype is still prevalent one can see a trend of raising young women to become independent and successful. Women have fought for their freedoms for many years and although there is still the question of true equality

My mother has always promoted sisterhood and support for women. Growing up, I was taught that women, although we can do anything we want to do, need a support system, because we are traditionally the underdogs, and we should not accept being treated unfairly. My mother likes to tell a story about how, when she was a girl, she told her dad that she had decided to become a lawyer when she grew up. In response to her proclamation, my grandfather, an attorney himself, asked, "Isn’t that an awfully expensive education for a girl?"

Women are born into a man’s world. The traditional tasks of a woman are meant to bolster a man. These tasks include taking care of children who will go on to represent the father, sewing so the man always looks his best, or even making herself look good to represent the man. Kizer describes women as “freed in fact, not in custom,” but they can begin to change the customs and lead the world in a new direction. As mothers, they have developed respect for life and place life above abstractions such as “national honor.”