Reflection About Mexican American Culture

These traditions include Day of the Dead and Cinco de Mayo. There is a smaller portion of Americans more towards the Mexican border that celebrate Day of the Dead, but I feel as if within the next several decades, many more people will share and adapt this holiday into their own. We both have the traditions to celebrate our independence day with fireworks and parades, birthday parties with piñatas (which originated from Mexico), and our Mardi Gras is their Carnaval. When it comes to Christmas, we only celebrate for two days while Mexico starts their celebrations December 12th with Posados and ends on January 6th. The children there open their presents they receive on the 6th and christmas trees are starting to become more popular in

As a little girl, I learned a lot about my Mexican heritage. I even joined my parents in their dance group and still involved in it today. Over the years it’s been so fun, and it helped me learn a lot about different Mexican counties. Who would've thought that I would learn so much just by dancing. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. Also being a little girl I learned about “Day Of The Dead” which in Spanish is called “dia de los muertos” which is a two day celebration. The day’s in which this takes place is September 1 and 2nd. September 1st we honor the children and September 2nd we honor the adults. When I was little I never fully understood why we celebrated people deaths. I always thought when someone dies we show our respects and grief about it, but throwing a whole

In Mexico, fiestas occur frequently throughout the year as a custom. Mexicans gather on these holidays to eat dance,take part in parades, and remember historic or religious events. Mexican Independence Day celebrates the separation of the country from Spain on September 16, 1810. Another famous celebration is Day of the Dead which is celebrated on the first of November. Although it may sound scary, this celebration is a cheerful time of remembering friends and family members who have died.

Foreigners have more trouble understanding Dia de Los Muertos than any of Mexico's other celebrations. At first glance, they see Day of the Dead decorations which are colored paper garlands, little skeletons performing daily tasks and sugar skulls inscribed with names, which remind them of Halloween. Other tourists discover that much like Memorial or Remembrance Day in the US, families here visit, clean and decorate graves of loved ones for the

As I begin this essay comparing two separate cultures I feel it is necessary to first describe what exactly culture is. Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." It includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief.

Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group. It is part of a person’s self-conception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has it's own distinct culture, my culture identity is being Mexican American.

In our society today, culture is not what it used to be hundreds of years ago. There is no more “pure” culture. Our culture today is enriched with many different traditions and customs that are being shared and adopted. Due to emigration and immigration, a variety of diverse customs, beliefs, and knowledge moved with every exiting and entering human being. Thus, changing and shaping the culture of many. Throughout the world, the beliefs and religious views of culture are dissimilar around the world. By taking the time to read, listen and learn about certain people’s culture, there will be knowledge and understanding that will be gained.

Mexican culture dates far back as the 13th century. This is when the Aztecs were prevalent in northern mexico. Aztecs were a people who were all about war and honor. They made many enemies going to war with smaller tribes and brutally killed their enemies. In the 16th century the Aztecs Empire crumbled due to the invasion led by Hernan Cortez. Disease, superior weapons, and aid of the Aztec’s enemies were all contributing factors to the Aztecs downfall. Fast forward September 16th 1810 when Mexico gained its independence from Spain Mexico's identity started to develop. Mexican culture is defined by many things, its food, its language, its clothing, its art. However, There is one aspect that defines Mexican culture and that is family life. Mexicans have a very rich family life that defines the culture. The way that family is organized and the way each member acts can be traced back to the very beginning. It's a mixture of the indigenous peoples culture as well as the Spaniards culture. The indigenous peoples pass on their ideas of honor and machismo and the Spaniards pass on their ideas of catholicism, and family value and structure. I fit into this because I grew up on these ideas and my family still practices some of these ideas today.

In Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is a celebration to honor the dead. This holiday was made for people struggle with losing loved ones, and celebrating it was found to be a good way to help them cope. Families can be seen in the cemetery bringing festive gifts to memorialize lost members.

A cultural analysis is a combination of many elements. Cultures have traditions, customs, habits, beliefs, practices, and values. Each culture can have different traditions in their own essence. These traditions can come from their ancestors ' and passed down the generations. However, some people don’t like to continue their ancestors traditions and adapt others customs from another culture. The culture change depending on the time and place. The enrichment of cultures consists of adaptation and acceptance of another culture 's beliefs. Not all of the people can tolerate other cultures, traditions, languages or stereotypes. Cultures attack or support other cultural values The Mexican culture is hard-working and are strict in their values and traditions. The power and oppression of the cultures are current; social and economic conditions in the people in cultures. The Mexican culture has social and economic conditions oppressed by the power of its Government. In the play “Los Vendidos” Luis Valdez, talks about the multiple accent and background of Mexican people.

The first time my mom went over to my dads house for dinner it showed how different their cultures are. They all sat down for dinner when my mom noticed there were no forks, confused she asked where she could get them. My dad and his family all laughed and proceeded to eat their dinner without forks and instead with tortillas. Later on, I was born into this mix of american and hispanic culture. My parents have shaped the cultural identity I have from the type of food I eat, my hobbies, and the values I have.

An immigrant's culture and beliefs take a shift, sometimes going extinct, or they evolve to include elements from both countries; where they grew up, and where they’ll grow old. Transculturation is key in order to fit into a new society, those who do it well have a smoother time transitioning. For example the Hmong and Mexicans both had to flee their country, but the Mexicans found it easier to transition to the American culture than the Hmongs.The Hmongs never thought they would leave their home in Laos, they were happy and thriving on their lands. Unfortunately war struck and the Hmong agreed to help the US fight back, due to their involvement in the war, they were seen as traders, therefore they were persecuted by the Vietnamese. Due to this the Hmong people suffered in

Mexican culture celebrates their independence with a holiday and fireworks on Cinco de Mayo. The American ritual for independence is celebrated on July 4th also with a holiday and fireworks. Another ritual that is participated in annually by both Mexican and American cultures is the celebration of Christmas. Gift giving is a common ritual during the Christmas season. There are also some very unique rituals specific to each culture. For starters, one the most distinctive rituals in all of the World takes place in the Mexican culture, Dia de Los Muertos. Dia de Los Muertos is a celebration with masks like skulls and dancing honoring late ancestors. Another ritual specific to the Mexican culture is the holiday recognizing the Lady of the Guadalupe. The ritual feast remembers the sightings of her near present day Mexico City. American culture also contains some unique rituals. A very patriotic ritual takes place in the grade school class everyday; it is called the Pledge of Allegiance. This ritual instills patriotic values as well as teaching loyalty to thy nation. Thanksgiving is another example of a ritual not in Mexican culture that is in American culture.

This is a narrative of one Mexican American woman’s experiences and her views on the importance of passing down the cultural beliefs of her ancestors. In the section of the country in which I live there is a large population within the community of Mexican American culture. Although I have frequent contact with people of Mexican American heritage either through employment or interaction out in the community, I have a limited understanding of their culture. For this reason, I chose to learn more about the population of people I have frequent contact with and as a professional work with as clients in the field of mental health counseling. The quest of finding someone knowledgeable to discuss the population, their cultural background and some of their necessities, as well as some past experiences, led me towards contacting a church. This took calling two different churches before the person at the second church informed me that I needed to speak with, Mrs. Socorro Garcia head of their Hispanic Ministries. Unfortunately, Mrs. Garcia was on vacation when I called, but I was able to speak with her over the phone the following week, setting up an interview in person at her office a couple days later. This was a relief because I was becoming concerned about locating someone for a personal interview.

Mexico celebrates a variety of holidays that are a mixture of religious, cultural, and patriotic. Celebrations that are not religious based include Cinco de Mayo, May fifth. This celebration memorializes the Battle of Puebla when the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862 (MexInsider). Another celebration that is patriotic is Mexican Independence day on the night of September fifteenth and the date of September sixteenth. There are often reenactments of