Western Culture And Its Influence On The Minority Groups

Whether we are aware of it or not contact zones are prevalent throughout are daily lives. I try to look past it and I feel like we all do but it’s something I can’t escape. I’m constantly reminded of the contact zone that we live in whether by the personal experience, word of mouth, or the media. I see the fight between multiple cultural groups, leading to the oppression of the inferior group and the dominance of the superior group. The social differences of people have been around since man existed. I experience it all the time in my daily life with small issues, as well as larger issues, contact zones always seem to be appearing. I ask myself all the time what really is a contact zone? A contact zone is not only the clash or emergence of contrasting cultural groups, but the thought that one sees himself/herself as better than the other.

As something people tend to hold the most dearly, culture can be a sensitive topic to discuss and engage in. Often, it is made even more difficult due to issues of the past and the way different cultures influence one another. Moreover, the concepts of cultural assimilation and mainstreaming have brought light on problems regarding the treatment of minority cultures within American culture, specifically with the use of stereotyped imagery and hijacking outside cultural ideas. The issues of cultural stereotyping and assimilation, as seen in South Park, have garnered attention due to the nature of offence and its subjective nature.

Anthropologists have always had their discrepancies with the word culture and its background significance. There have been numerous definitions that have filtered through the field, yet not one that everyone can accept or agree with. Franz Boas, an anthropologist in the early 20th Century, and his students, had a difficult time figuring out the objective of what culture is. Culture is about learning and shared ideas about behaviour. Although Boas and his students had a slightly different idea in mind. They ultimately reached a conclusion, a definition of culture in their view that is a contradiction in terms. Boas sates that, “ culture was expressed through the medium of language but was not reducible to it;

I argue that authors and producers often attempt to impose their own set of cultural and political ideologies on its audience through a certain depiction of right and wrong. In this manner, works of fiction might influence, perhaps even alter, the ideologies of the audience.[3] Accordingly, analyzing the depiction of ideologies in media content can serve as a basis for further research on if and how producers intend to influence their audience.

Ronald Takaki writes a very powerful introductory paragraph to show that people need more education on culture diversity. Takaki describes his experience when he was racially profiled by his taxi driver on his way to a hotel. He introduces his setting as Virginia which according to the census bureau has a 70.2% white population to show he is in a predominately white area. He also describes his driver as a “white man in his forties”(539) to portray him as the “average american”. Meanwhile Takaki gives no clue to the reader about his ethnicity or background so we can interpret how his driver was stereotyping Takaki in the following conversation:“How long have you been in this country?” he asked. “All my life,” I replied, wincing. “I was born

culturally constructed as fundamentally different in some way” (320). Furthermore, have you ever heard people talk behind your back saying something like “Oh they’re black they must be trouble.” or “Oh shes white, she must be a quiet, goody, goody.” “Her family is probably rich! I’m sure she has no problems.” Have you ever seen it happen to someone else? Kids at school gossiping about that girl or guy with that outspoken style, girls having shorter hair than those of the dominant discourse, guys having longer hair. “Oh they must be gay.”

In Western culture, people seldom realize the amount of cultural appropriation that occurs around them. Westerners are blinded by cultural mockery and cultural appropriation without realizing its offensive effects to minority groups. During the Halloween holiday, in Western culture, people of all ages dress up in a variety of costumes such as horror themed, fairy tale themed, job themed, cultural themed and much more. Harvard University members have argued that a cultural themed costume is a form of cultural appropriation. Also in Western culture, in the music industry, white artists have utilized and exploited aspects from minority cultures to boost their fame. Costumes, props, ideas, music, and others considered as cultural appropriation is often overlooked but it is apparent when closely examined.

The actress doesn't recognize him, and he tries out the speech on her. Before he can even finish, she throws a glass of wine in his face and storms away. When people talk, they lay lines on each other, do a lot of role playing, sidestep, shilly-shally and engage in all manner of vagueness and innuendo. We do this and expect others to do

In Gloria Anzaldúa article “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” she shows us how different worlds so close can be so different. Anzaldúa shows that people have restricted freedom in society by the social norms set in them. Anzaldúa pressed her awareness and distraught on how people treat her depending on the type of language she uses. She also explains some of her emotions towards the way people are like with speaking and listening to accents. The article is how Anzaldúa explains how culture and accent shapes a person’s identity by being controlled and oppressed to fit into the social norms, which is how she creates cracks using language and code switching.

The Model Minority theory is a concept that puts the assumption in the minds of people that all persons who are from Asian or of Asian decent are successful, smart, hard working, and model citizens who respect the authority of their country. The Model Minority theory became very apparent in 1966 when two major magazines, New York Times Magazine and U.S. New and World Report, each published articles that gave praise to the great achievements of Asian Americans (Fong 62.) While the theory might appear to give Asians praise for their hard work and success, in reality it covers up and marginalizes the real experiences Asian Americans face. For example, one of the ways the Model Minority theory harms the Asian American community is that it

Many of us have different ideas of when talking about culture. We define culture as one's behavior and beliefs that distinguish us between one group to another. Culture has been around for many centuries, modern human culture would have been differentiated with language, tools and weapons. The different genetic makeup for the population would also reflect the major differentiation in culture between the related groups. I believe culture started because of population growing and people trying to relate with one another with their own common lifestyles.

There are many experiences and perspectives within a society and a culture. This paper will outline some of the experiences of African American women through American history. The paper connects sociological theories as a way to explain and contemplate hegemony, equality, and social relations. The paper analyzes two quotations from real and fictional characters that aptly circumscribe their experience in relation to White American hegemony. The paper concludes that theories such and Hegemony Theory, Functionalist Theory, and Feminist Nationalist Theory offer precise and practical insight to the experience and oppression of African American women.

For centuries, racism has become the universal epitome of culture, despite the efforts of various civilizations, such as the Western and European to combat these indifferences among people. A race is specific social group that can be differentiated through various ways, from facial features and hair textures, to social norms and habits that constitutes to that group. These differences contribute to our uniqueness and humanity. Because people can be grouped by any number of differences, Man, lead by his ignorance, perpetuated the issue once social-hierarchies began to develop, splitting society to its various groups. As a result, social disparity from one’s upbringing became the common tendency to look down, or look up at people of other

Hook: Historically, the minority cultures have fought for their freedoms. Most of them have been oppressed and force them to stay in the underclass of society, consequently, they will be unrecognized or assimilated by the rest of the country.

There are a number of cultural issues that pertain to the client. The first is the client’s lack of identifying with an ethnicity or race. While he did indicate “Other”, he did not specify which this may be. The client has the right to determine how he wants to identify, but this may be indicative to another way in which the client feels disconnected. “Ethnic identity requires a connection to a community and a set of shared norms and behaviors” (Marsiglia, & Kulis, 2009, p. 16).