Being A Second Generation American Woman

Growing up, I always thought of myself as an American Girl — until I walked into an American Girl Doll store. As the 7 year old daughter of an Art professor who spent an unusual amount of time listening to her mother ramble about artists such as Monet at art museums, I never had the opportunity to explore an American girl doll store until one of my book club friends offered to take me there. So when that happened, I gathered up my life assets of exactly $13.22 and determined that I was going to make an American girl doll, that looked like myself, the first ever purchase purely of my own.

Being first generation Mexican American to me is a title that comes with responsibility as well as an opportunity. Growing up, parents always preach to their eldest children that their actions have the consequences of impacting their younger siblings. I believe that as first generation Hispanics, it is our duty to build a strong foundation that later generations may build on. Whenever I think of being Hispanic, the word heritage comes to mind. In the frame of being an ethic minority in America, it is important for new generations to learn about their individual history and culture. As human beings we find comfort in what we are accustom too; For example I often get advice from friends living on their own saying “leaving home is the hardest

As a first-generation Latina in college, I could not be where I am without the help of multiple individuals. My parent’s sacrificed so much coming into this country. They left behind their family, their home, in order to one day provide a better future for me. Initially, my parents planned on staying in America for five years then they would go back to Ecuador. However plans changed once my mom became pregnant with me. The decision to stay in order to give me the best future possible greatly affected both my parents. They suffer greatly and lament leaving their family everyday. Only my mom has the slight possibly of returning to her home country but unfortunately, the only thing waiting her is her mother’s grave.

Born to Peggy and Edward Garcia on October 4th 1984, I am a third generation American. My grandfather was born in Mexico and my father was born in New Mexico, while I was born at Fort Lewis Washington, I am a Soldiers Son. While growing up my father was stationed at various bases throughout the United States and I was “lucky” enough to tag along.

Many mornings i would wake up to the mouth watering smell of Sancocho, a traditional latin hot stew with chicken, carrots, plantains, corn and potatoes.Loud Bachata would be playing in the kitchen as my mother cooked. The warm,rolled and cascading sounds of the guitar filled the house . “Llora guitarra llora!!” my silly father would say scream off the top of his lungs, enjoying the music as he read the morning paper and family would all laugh at the comment.

Self improvement is defined as the improvement of one’s knowledge, status or character by one’s own efforts. Society has shown us the many different ways people improve their lives today. Any change, no matter how small can become a major factor in someones current or future life. Lets take Immigrants as an example of self improvement. People immigrate to the U.S in search for a better life and the pursuit of happiness. Once they have established themselves in this country of opportunity, immigrants are able to lay a strong foundation for their children and any other decedents in their generation. Being a first generation American child puts a lot responsibilities and expectations to deliver in a person. Relationships in first generation families often deteriorate because they are faced with a conflict between living up to standards, or living a double standard.

Second generation immigrants are becoming more and more common in different countries, as first generation immigrants start having kids. These children are becoming much more integrated into the countries that they are born in and due to that, many of them are becoming assimilated into that country’s culture. This causes several problems with the parents of these children, as the parents feel that their children are losing their cultural and their identity, while the children believe that the best way to integrate into that country is to become like everyone else there. Several things are thought to correlate with second generation immigrants and their integration into society. Some examples include, education, family relationships, and cultural

Traditionally growing as an American kid should be pretty easy and fun. For the most part it should be going to pool parties and eating hot dogs with a group of friends or neighbors. Occasionally going out to the movies, amusement parks, and bowling alleys and other things that you would expect a kid to go to. For the most part its true, but not if you live in a first generation American family.

the story “ the struggle to be an all American girl “ is about a girl who hates her culture of being Chinese and wants to be a race besides her own talks about why she hated being Chinese. The most important phrase in the story is “At last, I was one of you, I wasn't one of them. Sadly, I still am “

Life, people say, is made up of many sacrifices. For many second generation Americans, this sacrifice comes in the form of cultural and identity abandonment. Rather than integrating themselves into the American culture, many second generation immigrants feel the need to assimilate and adopt another culture entirely. Immigrants with non-European or typical “American” names often create an English name that is easier to pronounce. When it comes to job applications, second generation immigrants also downplay their roles or membership in culture clubs. This assimilation is often linked to higher socioeconomic levels, as studies from two Harvard professors have shown that people with whiter, American names are more likely to get job interviews or

I chose motherhood because her identity as a mother is important to her. The story of her 5 children has impacted her life greatly. She has had 7 pregnancies and 5 children. The other 2 were not abortions but they were miscarriages which can also have a deep emotional impact on a woman. Although she has 5 children, her only experience with labor is giving birth at the hospital. Even though she gave birth in the hospital all her children were born naturally with no epidural and I find that amazing.

Being an American in the 21st century to me means giving up what my four fathers worked hard for. The government is trying to take the American peoples heritage away from the people that defended it under their own free will. The right to bear arms is suddenly in question because of a single individuals actions. Our freedom of religion is frowned upon in fear of insulting the person beside them.

Race, ethnicity, religion, class, sexual orientation, ability, and gender have all impacted my life in ways beyond my total comprehension. However, I can begin to identify some of the notable interactions and effects and discuss the ways in which they might present themselves in my teaching practices. I am a White, European American, Christian, and heterosexual female without a medically ascribed disability. I can say that ultimately (and unfortunately) my cultural and physical identity is considered normative within the United States and has placed me on a path of privilege and power. Throughout my life, though, I have been fortunate to encounter other cultural groups in very meaningful ways. My international, religious, and family experiences have shaped my worldview most notably.

For thousands of years, waves of immigrants continue joining the developed countries in the world, bringing with them the unique cultures, languages, and ideas. Over time, those unique values might be faded away with each generation because of the new culture exposition. The second-generation immigrants experience a cultural conflict between that of their parents and that of host society. Most of them are unable to preserve and empower their origin cultures. Many differences between the first-generation and the second-generation immigrants arise. Through the analysis of the mother in “Death of a Young Son by Drowning” and the Das family in “Interpreter of Maladies”, I would like to demonstrate the differences between the first-generation immigrants, who travel from other countries, and the second-generation immigrants, who were born and raised on the immigrated land. These differences include the purpose of being in the foreign land, the connections to their homelands, society’s view, and the culture differences.

There were several social barriers in the personal experience I shared. I believe that the first was ethnocentrism. Obviously the anonymous caller, whose identity was never discovered, felt as though his opinions on the matter were principal and paramount. It seems as though the caller felt so superior that he had a right to demand that my Father, an unprejudiced nondiscriminatory, adopt his way of thinking or he would threaten to destroy my Fathers most precious possessions, his family. Under these circumstances, a person’s true nature is revealed. A second social barrier demonstrated was prejudice. Equally important was a third social barrier that was displayed in that experience. The nameless caller demanded that my Father discriminate