ipl-logo

The Importance Of Expressing Cultural Identity

847 Words4 Pages

The rise of multiculturalism in nearly all societies across the globe has brought with it countless questions that are still unanswered. The problem of whether people from different cultures should have the right to express their cultural identity in a mixed society has been highly discussed for the last 10 years. There are two main trains of thought. On the one hand, those who believe that expressing cultural identity is a part of freedom of speech, and hence should never be taken away. On the other hand, there are those who argue that people must comply with the cultural norm of the country they are living in. In this essay, the positive and negative aspects of both points of view will be explored in detail. First of all, what is possibly one of the undeniable positive aspects of being allowed to express cultural identity is the fact that you are able to be true to yourself. As long as it is what you want, being able to express your cultural identity is a form of freedom. In this expression of culture, you have the …show more content…

By being forced to comply with the cultural norm of the country you are being denied of the opportunity to explore your own culture. Not being allowed such a vital part of your identity might lead to a lack of self-understanding. It is extremely important to be able to explore one’s culture, to know what you subscribe to and what you do not. That way you figure out whether you identify with the culture or not, thus creating your own sense of cultural identity. Identity development is highly important, and being stripped of it creates an abundant number of problems. Depression being one of the largely common ones. This is also associated once more with discrimination and stereotypes. In a study conducted by the department of Psychology of the New York University on how culture affects immigrant population, it could be seen how identifying with one's own ethnic group relates to the state of their mental

Show More
Related
623 Words | 3 Pages

Have you ever heard of the term "assimilation"? Many children of immigrants have experienced some form of assimilation of their culture, whether it be not knowing their mother tongue or having little knowledge of their home country's history. These skills and knowledge are beneficial to understanding our own cultural identity, without it we find it difficult to grasp our self-identity. Our values and beliefs are set by our identity because it is where we find our fundamentals in societal roles. Our emotions can also impact our identity, since how we feel makes us unique to other species.

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
736 Words | 3 Pages

According to Potochnick & Perreira (2010) there is higher likelihood of anxiety and depression on Hispanic/Latinos when immigration and psychosocial worries are present. With the large majority of foreign-born population in the U.S. originating from Mexican land [I], this is an important matter to consider. 2. Lack of medical care may not be the ultimate factor in the low number of treatment for depressive disorders in this culture, a social-cultural script may also be of substantial significance in this matter. C.

Read More
7092 Words | 29 Pages

Early adulthood is a time when young adults struggle with accepting or rejecting their ancestral roots as they attempt to develop a positive sense of self. Nigerian-American adults, in particular, struggle with the integration of immensely different elements of Eastern and Western cultures while living in the United States. Despite the difficulties in cultural integration among Nigerian-American adults, few studies have been conducted about their bicultural ethnic identity development. Grounded in Phinney’s stages of ethnic identity development and Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory, this study attempted to delineate the demographic and social factors that are correlated with development of a positive bicultural ethnic identity. Contrary

Read More
1397 Words | 6 Pages

Cultural identity is both characteristic of the individual but also of the culturally identical group of members who share the same cultural identity. Cultural identity is important for people’s sense of self and how they relate to others. A strong cultural identity can contribute to people’s overall

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

The structures include Big C and little c, culture as a tree and culture as an iceberg. All the three frameworks revolve around clarifying that cultural identities are composed of aspects that can be broadly categorized as visible and hidden. The idea that the book is putting across in this chapter is that the outward features of individuals that we learn about in our initial encounters with them are not key determinants of their cultural identity. Rather, the hidden aspects of a person are the biggest factors in influencing how people perceive, understand and communicate things. Big C and little C Culture

Read More
570 Words | 3 Pages

1. Describe a significant way that you enact your cultural identity. Throughout daily interactions, I express my Hispanic culture through dialect. Being a native Spanish speaker living in a predominantly Hispanic society, the Spanish language is pervasive in my life.

Read More
757 Words | 4 Pages

Cultural Identity Essay Directions: Using your knowledge on writing MLA formatted essays, write the cultural identity synthesis essay below. Understand Ourselves “One of the most basic types of identity is ethnic identity, which entails an awareness of one’s membership in a social group that has a common culture. ”(Trumbull and Pacheco 10). People should examine their culture in order to better understand how it affects their identity and perceptions. In order to understand one’s cultural identity, he or she needs to understand what the term means.

Read More
1086 Words | 5 Pages

Many components assume a role in shaping a person's cultural identity as they develop and mature. These elements of cultural identity are formed and after that reshaped by the socializing agents that we are put into contact with. The consequence of our socialization then structures the person that we get to be and the person that we change into in the future. Cultural identity and socializing agents additionally shape any biases that a person will convey. By comprehension my own cultural identity and socializing agents I can better see how culture has added to my present identity as a student.

Read More
295 Words | 2 Pages

The purpose of this investigation is to outline how the dominance of the white culture has created racial partiality for people of color blackpeople of color face living within a society where white aesthetics are the only factors equated to beauty, power and worth. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye demonstrates the importance of safeguarding one’s cultural identity. The question examined is “in what ways and with what results does Morrison use the motif of the eye to highlight the theme of beauty within the novel The Bluest Eye”? The cause for the self hate black characters are seen developing is due to the eye, which represents the ignorant look the white society gives to the black community.

Read More
627 Words | 3 Pages

What if one day you 're sitting in the park and a little kid 5 or 6 years old, came up to you and asked you. What 's your cultural identity?; and just walked away. It makes you wonder how does this little fella know what 's cultural identity is? Then imagine, realizing that you may not know or have one. I am Christian Jimenez a latin American student in western.

Read More
90 Words | 1 Pages

Here recent, I got asked, “What is your cultural identity?” To be honest with you, I was stumped for a while; finally, things got a little clearer. Your cultural identity is who you are and who you have become. I don’t know about you but I am a strange child, always have been, and forever will be strange.

Read More
1872 Words | 8 Pages

I believe that many different factors throughout my life have contributed to my cultural identity. Our cultural identity plays a huge role in who we are and how accepting we are of different cultures. I have also considered myself very accepting of different cultures and ethnicities. I always knew racism existed but has not directly affected me until I met my African American husband. We have been married for four years and have a two-year-old son together as well as a nine-year-old daughter that I have from a previous relationship.

Read More
1905 Words | 8 Pages

HOW DOES BEING A THIRD CULTURE INDIVIDUAL AFFECT YOUR INTERNAL CULTURE AND INTERNAL IDENTITY? “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” Many people have heard this quote from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in some shape or form, perhaps no one more than a Third Culture Individual. A Third Culture Individual is a term coined by Ruth Hill Useem in the 1950s about a person who has spent significant time of their developmental years (0-18) out of their parent culture.

Read More
551 Words | 3 Pages

My contribution to UC Santa Cruz Merrill college’s ethos of Exploring Cultural Identities & Raising Global Consciousness has exemplified my awareness and sensitivity towards promoting an inclusionary environment. Merrill’s ethos means to stimulate respect for world cultures and to nurture each students’ culture through the university curriculum. I contributed to Merrill college’s ethos as a teacher assistant who seeks to nurture diversity by helping first-year students adapt their unique culture to a university culture, which led to an inclusionary environment. As an assistant in a university, I worked with a vast number of students from different backgrounds. For instance, international students from a variety of countries, Asian American, African American, and Latino/Latina.

Read More

More about The Importance Of Expressing Cultural Identity

Open Document