ipl-logo

Cultural Identity

1821 Words8 Pages

Cultural Identity Paper
Casey Tjandra (5010-1697)
Intercultural Communication
University at Buffalo

There has always been and always will be an element of controversy when it comes to one’s cultural identity. Some may see it as qualities adapted from wherever you were born and raised, while others may see it as something you develop from being around groups of people that are most prevalent in your life. However, one thing’s for sure, throughout life there has to be at least one moment that you have felt different from everyone else around you. Everyone around you may have lived different experiences, witnessed different events, or just know different things, because of the fact that we all didn’t grow up the same way. And whether it has …show more content…

However, I cannot only thank these sources for the person that I am today, and the cultural identity that I have learned to embrace. My own personal experiences and feelings have definitely had a large impact on my cultural views. Growing up in California, I definitely had exposure to the homosexual culture growing up, and this has shaped my cultural views positively in a way where despite my Asian roots, which tends to be extremely conservative and anti-gay, I actually developed an admiration for these people and have always supported their fight for equal rights. And the fact that America has recently shed light upon the idea of same sex marriage has only strengthened my supportive view and made me feel a sense of pride, because in a way, at one point in my life, I was living amongst that …show more content…

racism: it’s a two way street. Are there Asian racists out there? Definitely. Often times I have been questioned for being Asian because of the fact that I failed a math test, or didn’t play a particular music instrument. But are there also White racists out there? Yes. And I’ll be the first person to admit that growing up I always assumed that my White friends with blonde hair are and always will be stupid. But I strongly believe that the racial biases we have do not and should not in any way determine our cultural identities, and that we should never stereotype people based on the color of their

Show More
Related
896 Words | 4 Pages

"[I]magine culture as invisible webs composed of values, beliefs, ideas about appropriate behavior, and socially constructed truths" (Trumbell, 9). Everybody has a different background to correspond with how they see the world through their values, beliefs, and ideas. People act a certain way and dress a certain way because of their culture also. Someone's culture has a significant impact on the way they view themselves and others because cultural identity shapes not only how we make sense of our own experiences, but of our worldview as well. One indicator of the strength of a person's cultural identity is how certain, or uncertain, they are about their culture.

Read More
710 Words | 3 Pages

What’s your cultural identity? You don’t have one? That’s not true, everybody has culture. Everything a person does with their life creates cultural identity. For example, the music you listen to, the books you read, the sports you play, your schooling, all the things that you do are a part of culture.

Read More
1727 Words | 7 Pages

This value placed upon self identification and differentiation from the group is particularly telling of how multiple different cultures came together and clashed multiple times along the way. The american ideal is a constant struggle between fitting in and claiming your self differences as valuable and needed. The battle is waged against later

Read More
1093 Words | 5 Pages

Or sometimes, they get rid of their own customs and fuse themselves with the mythologies by the white. By discussing the other cause of racism, Eric Liu has opened my mind and drawn me into a new direction of thinking about the social issue. From this chapter, I am not only learning more about racism, but also about the ethnic people’s psychology: they are pressed down too much by stereotypes, and consequently, they will see them as the universal truth. And at the end of this chapter, I am also impressed that Liu advocates the Asian students to get involved in improving their political view. However, after imploring them to be conscious of the world’s news, the Asian students focus on each other, tell tales, and have different conversations.

Read More
705 Words | 3 Pages

Another reason that contributes to this stereotypes is that Asian parents are really strict about studying. For instance, my parent set a goal for me to achieve mostly “A”s and 1 “B” is allow and if I fail to do so, there will be severe consequences. Due to a strict education and public school mostly focus on teaching math and physics so we Asian do have an upper hand in those subjects. Stereotype is a funny thing to talk about because it’s easy to make a joke out of it. But when the stereotype is true, it’s really hard to deny the fact that the stereotype is not true and most people, including Asians, think that all stereotype is true.

Read More
652 Words | 3 Pages

Literature is made to express ideas, provoke thought processes and allow readers access to otherwise unknown experiences along with many other things. Literature has also been used to pinpoint different times in history to be able to understand how our past is affecting our current society. Occasionally, literature is used to concoct propaganda that which can be harmful to our community. In the speech “The American Scholar”, Ralph Waldo Emerson states the greatness and weakness of literary works. “Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst,”.

Read More
337 Words | 2 Pages

I have no qualms telling others that I was left on the side of a dirt road as a newborn baby. For many in the United States, the image is appalling. However, for most adopted Chinese-Americans it’s a harsh reality. Growing up I had the disadvantage of balancing between two cultures: the one I was born into, and the one I grew up in.

Read More
365 Words | 2 Pages

Scene 1 Both: (Black background) Hello ladies! Welcome to Culture Identity! Jade: Do you or anyone you know find it hard to balance your culture and the American culture?

Read More
430 Words | 2 Pages

Most think one’s culture is always unique to him or herself, that every person is so much different than one another. One’s culture should be something defined by one’s individual self, and who they really are, but sometimes that is not always the case. Factors in life such as school, society, or obligations often get in the way of one forming a unique identity, and these factors can take a toll on someone’s strive for cultural identity. For 67 percent of my life, I have been dedicated to school. There, schoolwork, homework, constant lack of creativity, and other left-brained activities dictate what you do and who you are.

Read More
572 Words | 3 Pages

My outward appearance definitely reflects my cultural identity. I am African American and black, as such the following things reflect that; some of the makeup I wear is made specifically for my coloring and my hair is in its natural state; full of tight, dark brown curls. My clothing is that of a typical American in her twenties, who works in retail most of the week and goes to casual events during her days off. My behaviors and practices definitely reflect that I’m American.

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

I suppose when i used to think of cultural identity, i perceive it as what racial background we come from, what race we are. Whether it’s Mexican, Asian, French, etc… I assumed it meant what special foods we eat, and events or activities we participate in according to our background. Little did i know this is a misconception; quite a common one actually. Cultural identity is actually how you live your life and how you express yourself, the things you enjoy that make you, you. I am someone who enjoys many things, ranging from A-Z.

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

The background of my cultural identity I am an African American female but that isn’t all there is to know me for. I am an African American girl who is very interactive with my religion and also my culture. Cultural identity can be hard to explain because some people don’t know what’s really in their culture and they fail to see , and understand it. I know what my cultural identity is because of my ethiopian flag, the baked macaroni, and the movie the lion king.

Read More
957 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction The concept of identity has been a notion of significant interest not just to sociologists and psychologists, but also to individuals found in a social context of perpetually trying to define themselves. Often times, identities are given to individuals based on their social status within a certain community, after the assessment of predominant characteristics that said individual has. However, within the context of an ethnicity, the concept identity is most probably applied to all members of the ethnical group, and not just one individual. When there is one identity designated for the entire group, often times the factor of “individuality” loses its significance, especially when referring to the relationship between the ethnic

Read More
1883 Words | 8 Pages

Throughout my experiences in this course so far, I have had many opportunities to reflect on my own past and have begun to better understand my own cultural identity. It has been much more difficult to wrap my head around than I would have predicted it to be because so many things play into the construction of an identity that it can be hard to look at all of those separate pieces together. My cultural identity, like all others, is more complicated than it first appears. I identify as a white person, a woman, an American, a gay person, and a feminist, just to name a few. While all of these labels carry with them stereotypes and expectations, they also interplay with the cultural influences I was subject to throughout my childhood.

Read More
1010 Words | 5 Pages

Cultural identity plays a very vital role in cross cultural communication, people from a particular culture communicate with partners and employees from many different cultures and in this situation every individual strives to keep their cultural and individual identity. According to Gardiner and Kosmitzki, identity is defined as “a person 's self-definition as a separate and distinct individual, including behaviours, beliefs, and attitudes” (Gardiner & Kosmitzki, 2008, p. 154). Also, Ting-Toomey defines identity as a "reflective self-conception or self-image that we each derive from our family, gender, cultural, ethnic, and individual socialization process"( Ting-Toomey, 2005). Both definitions bring out the generalisation of cultural identity

Read More

More about Cultural Identity

Related Topics

Open Document