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Anthropology Essay : Practicing Anthropology

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Practicing Anthropology When I think of anthropology, in my mind I think of a researcher of different cultures or the study of people, places, and the historical life of others from around the world. Never, would I have thought that I practice anthropology in my personal life. This paper will describe situations in my life that led me to unknowingly practiced anthropology. I grew up in a home that was very much dysfunctional and full of hypocrisy. This was difficult for me because I was often confused about what was expected from me. The culture of my surroundings was that of entitlement, prejudism, racism, and ethnocentrism. They valued nothing and took whatever they could from government funding and from others while often put others …show more content…

As a parent, I ensured that my children were raised with the polar opposite of social structure that I had received. When my children do well, I praise them and display their hard work for everyone to see. As my children grew up, I taught them about my religious culture and allowed them to choose their own religious or non-religious path, (even though I may want them to have the same beliefs as I have). When I was eleven years old, my biological mother had requested I come live with her. Despite my excitement to go live with my mother, in my mind, I moved to a foreign country where I felt as if I were an alien. I moved from Eugene, Oregon with a population of mostly white Caucasians to Indio, California highly populated with the Hispanic culture. I was the minority in my neighborhood and in my school. Indio was a city full of enculturation, and the children practiced the same cultures as their parents and their parent’s parents. It was highly populated with the Hispanic culture. Everyone spoke both English and Spanish but Spanish was used most often. While I did not learn the language, I was intrigued by everything around me such as the primary religion most practiced (Catholic), the language, food, music, and the family values. The social structure of the Hispanic people was something I was not familiar with, these were very large families who cherished one another and their religion was taken serious. They valued hard work and play. I truly enjoyed living within the

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