Personal Essay: My Cultural Background And 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.

All my life people have always questioned my ethnicity. My mom says it makes me mysterious and intriguing. She says, "You look like you could be born in any part of the world". Any time I 'm in a crowd the question always comes up, "what 's your ethnicity?", "are you mixed with anything?”. I look at them and smile thinking in my head of course you just asked that. I give a big sigh and say "I 'm white and Pakistani". Some look at me with great confusion and ask, "What is that?" I hit them with a huge eye roll and I have to explain where Pakistan is located in Asia. I really think some people did not take World Geography because they 're still so lost. They usually just blurt with "oh, so you 're middle eastern?" It boggles my mind that

In growing up in the position of the ‘other’ in society, Smith provides an empowered stance of identity exclusively through the demonstration of cultural hybridity, as evidenced by Millat and his gangster crew, the Raggastani’s. As Millat becomes increasingly connected to a swaggering identity highlighted by Western popular culture, his sense of belonging becomes established with the multicultural mix of South Asian and Caribbean teens he hangs out with: “It was a new breed, just recently joining the ranks of the other street crews. Becks, B-boys, Nation Brothers, Raggas, and Pakis; manifesting itself as a kind of cultural mongrel of the last three categories. Their ethos, their manifesto, if it could be called that, was equally a hybrid thing” (193). Here, Smith uses the Raggastani’s as a symbol representing the emerging identity of a multicultural London transformed by the migration of formerly colonized populations from South Asia and the Caribbean. Their mission, to put the “invincible back in Indian, the Bad-aaaass back in Bengali, the P-Funk back in Pakistani” (193), is about taking their identities which have been devalued in Western society and linking them together through a collective sense of approval. As a productive example of cultural hybridity taking place, they are a direct contrast with the forms of difference and racial purity that the Chalfen`s represent, and the resistance of letting go of traditions that their parents uphold. The group tries on a series

As future, enthusiastic teachers, it’s a fun thought to imagine what kind of teacher we will be and how we will run our classrooms. So, then it only makes logical sense that we go in depth with this train of thought and analyze how we as individuals will be like as educators and how our personal socialization experiences have affected us as human beings. What compiles our cultural identity will be the general makeup as to what kind of teacher we will be. As I write this now, I am only 19 years of age and in the middle of my second year of college. However, I’ve been through enough throughout my 19 years of living that I’ve formulated a definite idea as to what my cultural identity is and how it affects me as a person, friend, and future educator.

My first recollection about my cultural background started in junior high school because this is when people start fitting into groups or cliques and people tend to be in groups with their friends. The different types of groups included the preps, jocks, band geeks, hoods, druggies, and bookworms to name a few examples. Of course, I was not into sports so much or band, however, I fit with many different groups because I had friends that belonged to different things, however, I was more of a bookworm because I was concerned about doing well in school. People that were considered outsiders were people that were loners, troublemakers, or anyone that did not fit with a specific group. In addition, sometimes it was difficult to be involved with other groups because sometimes I hung around with people that might be considered outsiders and that did not always work because people in my group were not so understanding.

Imagine a life without writing, and without art; it’s pretty grim isn’t it? Without these essential cultural components, life would be a sad place to live in, because no other cultural aspect would survive. The most essential cultural elements are Art and Literature, because art and literature lead into the other cultural aspects.

What is my cultural identity? I had to do some research to figure out exactly what “Cultural Identity” meant. I looked at several essays and websites that explained what cultural identity means. I learned that cultural identity is how you feel when belonging to a group. It is how you perceive yourself and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, or any kind of social group that has its own culture. I decided to focus on the three things that culturally identified me. Those three things are my religious beliefs, my passion for soccer, and my self-values.

My Cultural Identity is very original. Because I’m from small old Louisiana where, they make the best Cajun food. I moved to Louisiana when I was 6 and I loved it ever since the food is great the gumbo is so delicious. When I was growing up I love to compete I used play my brothers in one on ones or even try to play against my brothers AAU team. One day I my step Dad told me they need help at practice, I thought he was talking about racking up the balls until he said no with practice. I was so ready to help out and get involved with the practice until they told me who I was guarding. My cultural identity is defined by food, basketball, and friends.

The purpose of my paper is to identify my of origin family. I will be doing a cultural autobiography. I will be addressing my families overall background for previous generations into the present generation. Furthermore, I also will be discussing the factors that contributed to the overall attitudes towards my family origin. In my paper, I will target three areas this week, which is gender, socio economic, and spirituality.

This pattern defies traditional socialized values, which equate women as cooperative, emotionally expressive, and nurturing (Goldenberg, Goldenberg, 2012, p. 66). The women in my family can be adequately described as Levant and Philpot’s (2002) observance of the “new woman” (As cited in Goldenberg, Goldenberg, 2012, p. 66). The “new woman” is assertive, self-sufficient, ambitious, and competitive (Goldenberg, Goldenberg, 2012, p. 66). However, if there is no avenue for the men to feel needed, important, and competent, issues arise.

Well, obviously I am an african American but I do have a little indian in me to. That is something I did not know. Most of my family is from The United States of America. My grandmother or my mom’s mother is from Montgomery, Alabama and she lived there for half of her life. But she was African American mixed with a little Indian. I don’t believe it because if she has indian in her I want to know why my hair is so bad and not curly or something. But what I did learn was that my mom’s great great grandmother was an Indian and my mom’s Dad’s grandfather was also a full Indian but I didn’t find out what tribes they were in. But my Grandmother gave birth to my mother in Alabama. She was the first daughter of my mother she has an

The following paper will discuss two of the major dimensions of my cultural identity, and analyze the way in which my identity holds privileges, or has exposed me to oppression. Being that I am white, I have lived a life of privilege simply because of the color of my skin. I have been afforded opportunities, and lived a life free from persecution due to my skin color. I have also lived a life that has been impacted by oppression because of my female identity. This unique position between privilege and oppression is where I live my life.

Several years ago I enrolled at California Lutheran University in the Marriage Family Therapy Master Program. It was during this journey as a new and older student that I was introduced to the words Cultural Bias and Cultural Proficiency. At the time I was not sure how I was to respond to questions such as what is your culture, what are your biases and how are you going to integrate those biases into the therapeutic setting? I now found myself questioning how is it that for all these years, no one ever told me that I because I was white, female, from middle- class America that I was not only entitled but privileged. If one does not see color differences, does that make them open-minded and accepting or does that mean they have color blindness? I never questioned my culture, my heritage or my underlying entitlement. When asked what my ethnicity is I always respond that I am Italian/French Catholic. To me “Italian” and “French” are words without meaning, as my ethnicity does not define who I am. At the age of eleven, my family moved from New York to California. Recently, I have begun to feel that I lost out knowing my family history and what it means to belong to a particular ethnic group. I missed being part of my family’s gatherings at holiday’s, marriages, births, and deaths. I lost connections and experiences that enrich one’s life; the foundation of whom you are and where you come from. Shared experiences between family members bind them

I grew up with a very diverse cultural background. My father is an immigrant from India and my mother’s parents are both immigrants from Italy. This mix of societies has taught me to be open to different customs from around the world. Since then, I have always been fascinated with other cultures and how they are all connected while still maintaining fundamental differences. Because of this, I would love to have the opportunity to immerse myself in a foreign culture by studying abroad with MIT.

While looking upon my personal culture and my family’s culture in an attempt to find appropriate dishes for this assignment, it became apparent to me that I have no definite culture. Whereas I have lived in Canada my whole life, my family’s background has engaged me in varying cultures, though I have never felt truly attuned to one culture. On the other hand, my father is a first generation Canadian, his parents both from Scotland. Though aware of my Scottish origins and my grandparents’ migration to Canada, Scottish culture has never been explicitly celebrated amongst those in my family. Furthermore, my family previously migrated from Ireland during the Irish famine, resulting in Irish culture to also represented in my family’s culture. Variously, my mother’s side of the family has lived in Canada for many generations, but I do not consider myself as being authentically Canadian. Accordingly, throughout my childhood, I was never encouraged to celebrate an explicit culture. Furthermore, religion was never prominent in my life either, as my parents decided against baptizing any of my siblings and me, as per the family tradition, because they wished for us to have religious freedom. However, because of the rest of my family’s religion, as well as my background, my family has always celebrated Christian holidays, though I have never been to church for a reason other than a wedding. I find that without any cultural ties from my family’s history and practices, that the culture I