Cultural identity is derived from various aspects in one’s life, and it is what differentiates us from other people. No other person will ever be able to better exemplify our inherent and natural personal self-identity. Our culture is formed by not only our family history, but our life choices as well. Our lives are a reflection of the choices we have made, so we get to choose how we identify ourselves as well. Family, school, my country, and the year I was born in are all examples of what have built my cultural background. Family plays a big role in how I identify myself culturally, but my life experiences have equally constructed who I am. I am a Mexican-American who was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. I identify myself as a Latina since both my parents are Mexicans, and I have always recognized my ethnicity as Hispanic. I have an older brother from Hollywood, California, and a younger sister from Las Vegas, Nevada. My mother is from the state Durango, which is located in Northern Mexico. My father is from Jalisco, Mexico, which is located in the west central part of the Mexican Republic. Both my parents grew up in humble small towns and came to the United States for citizenship and a better future in the 1980s. They both lived and met in southern California and later moved to Las Vegas because of better job opportunities. My entire family has continued to live in Las Vegas and I have never lived anywhere else. Furthermore, Mexicans are often stereotyped to look a certain way, and my physical appearance does not fall under that category. Mexicans are typically racially categorized as “brown people” with dark hair and eyes. I contradict that stereotype because I am very light skinned, with light hair, and light brown eyes. Most of my physical characteristics come from my father’s side of the family because almost all of them are light-skinned. Many people are light-skinned in Jalisco, Mexico because many immigrants from Europe moved to Northern Mexico during the 19th and 20th centuries. Indeed, since we live in a culture that values whiteness, my skin color gave me privileges that other Hispanics never had. Growing up, I saw how people treated me differently than my siblings because of the color of my
Finally, people’s cultural identity are totally different from different places they were born. Everybody is themselves and there is no way you can change that or them. The most important elements are ethnicity, relationships, community and family to cultural
My parents immigrated to this country in 1996, a year before I was born. My father and his family originate from Oaxaca, Mexico which is one of the most southern states in Mexico. My mother and her family originate from Michoacán, Mexico but grew up in Baja California. Like many Mexican immigrants, my parents came to this country to work and to
Many Hispanic descent can relate to this
What is my cultural identity? Personally, I don’t think I am completely assured on what my cultural identity is, but I can do my best on explaining it. However, I won’t get started on that yet, first I’ll explain the occasion of me learning about my identity. At almost the beginning of the year, it was announced in our English class that we would be doing an essay on our cultural identities. When my teacher announced this I thought to myself, “What in the world is a cultural identity, or even my cultural identity?” In these months, we have gotten to learn the definition of culture, and what it means to us, individually., I believe that culture means a group of people that share the same customs, way of life, and beliefs. Also, over these last couple of months we have been reading texts all about people knowing and understanding their cultural identities, meanwhile I still didn’t understand my own. All I know is that I was born on February 11, 2002, I like movies and music, and my mom is from Chile and my Dad is from Virginia. Now that didn’t feel like enough for me to write on, but then I started thinking about all of the cultural differences that my parents have had raising me as a person, and how those have all combined to make me. In my short 15 years of life, the culture clashes have sometimes affected me on my thoughts and opinions, which I’ll talk about later on. As well as how movies and music have affected my perspectives and opinions.
Growing up in a Hispanic household has its ups and downs. As a first generation Latina, I have family members that are always encouraging me, wanting the best for me, and pushing me to succeed in life so that I don't go through the same hardships that they went through. I have seen struggles my parents have gone through to get to where they are now, but giving it their all to giving my siblings and I the best.
In Mexico I’m not seen as Latina, Hispanic, Chicana or Mexican. For my Mexican relatives I’m just seen as an “American” or as they would say a “pocha”.
My background is interesting. My twin sister and I were raised by parental grandmother until she passed away due to lung cancer when I was 11 years of age. My grandmother had 15 children and raised 2 more. My diverse experiences in life begin here. My Mother was Caucasian and my father was Hispanic, both born and raised in Texas. Both of my families were similar but very different. They were similar in that they were of low economic status, but very different because of their beliefs and their culture. My Hispanic family believed and still believes that God is number one in life (prayed before every meal) and that you respect everyone regardless of how they may treat you. My Hispanic family believed in helping one another when given the opportunity.
I am a young female Hispanic of Mexican decent that I am indeed proud of even though I never wanted to admit it due to all the negativity going on with being Mexican. I am considered a first-generation American born in Georgia and raised in the Rio Grande valley. I am the youngest and only female of three, sadly but fortunate they left a permanent impact on me both positive and negative. They are a big part of my life that have helped mold me into the women I am today. I am grateful that I am the youngest because older siblings just consistently make mistakes after mistakes and thanks to those mistakes I learn from them and I’m careful not to commit them. I am also considered a minority due to my gender and roots, which is sad and completely irritating because being labeled as a minority isn’t really a good feeling, making me feel like if I am less and powerless just because of my gender and ethnicity. Having to hear all the negativity occurring in the country towards minority and women and all the inequality occurring, I would have thought that in this era all the unequal treatment over gender and ethnicity would be vanished but as I grow older I realize that has
When I think of the word “cultural identity”, I think of myself, and what makes up who I am as a person. My cultural identity influences everything about me, from the moment I wake up, to the minute I rest my head on my pillow at night. My culture influences the way I eat, speak, worship, and interact with people. However, I am not only affected by my own culture, but others’ culture as well. I am fortunate to have an extremely rich heritage, and I couldn’t be prouder of my cultural identity.
Throughout my life growing up I have only had one person judge my family and I based on our skin color. I come from a Mexican background,
Cultural identity is feeling of belonging to a group, it is an element that is brought about when a person comprehends his/her own culture, it is part of a person’s self –conception and perception and this helps the person to also comprehend and appreciate the culture of other people as well. It is related to nationality, religion, ethnicity, generation or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. So culture plays an important role in one’s life because it is a strong factor in shaping one 's identity.
Cultural identity refers to the feeling belonging to a certain culture that is attributed to the upbringing of an individual in the given culture. Cultural identity gives a person the sense of belonging and belonging towards their culture. Modern cultural studies show that cultural identification has taken a new face. Various cultural identifiers can be used to identify the culture of an individual. These identifiers include nationality, language, location, gender, religious beliefs, history, and ethnicity. Culture is important in shaping the identity of an individual. The efforts of people trying to preserve their cultural identities can bring about hatred and division in the society. This is likely to happen especially in large cities
Cultural identity is defined as the sense or feeling of belonging to a group. I connect my cultural identity to my immediate family. My immediate family consists of my parents, two younger sisters, and myself. Each one of us has significant values that have been instilled in one another. I believe that they play a large role in making me who I am today. Coming from a large, Sicilian family, the importance of love, loyalty, and support has always been prominent.
Cultural identity is the basis in which identification is used to express different aspects pertaining to identity and heritage. A person's cultural identity may be created by social organization, as well as traditions and customs within their lives. The two aspects that construct my cultural identity are the frequent chores I must complete every day in order to fulfill my behavioral expectations, and the youth group I attend weekly. These aspects are important to my family and me. Therefore, my identity has an immeasurable effect on my upbringing into this multi-cultural world I live in.
Cultural identity is a part of the psychological self-concept that expresses an individual or group’s worldview and perceived cultural affiliations. The first step in finding a societal fit is to establish a cultural identity; this can be on an individual level and group level. Who am I? And where do I belong? These questions start to form in the human mind from an early age; it drives humans to explore their worldviews and how and where they fit in the world. Rosenfeld (1971) argued it is a deep-seated primal process that has ensured our continual survival. By finding others that think and act similarly we are offered some protection (Erickson, as cited in Carducci 2015). Erickson (as cited in Carducci, 2015) and Maslow (as cited in Mcleod 2007) argued that the need to belong is a basic building block of human development. Whatever the reason, the consensus is that humans have an intrinsic need to find a like-minded cultural group to belong to; this chosen affiliation is their cultural identity. A person may identify with more than one cultural