There are many ways to define cultural identity. How I define cultural identity is ethnicity, religion, sports, clothes, social class, or anything important to a person. This definition applies to me because I consider myself multi-racial with Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and caucasin. I have internal conflict due to presenting as white, but in reality I am more than that. I identify with a pan, paint, headphones, paintball marker, hair, and a soccer ball.
A pan is one of the biggest components of cooking. Cooking and eating food has always been an important aspect of life for my family and my culture. Since my grandmother is from South America, there is a heavy influence of Hispanic cuisine. My father is from Hawaii born to a multiracial family (Hawaiian, Filipino, German, and Asian)
..., so there is a collection of different fare. A pan is needed to cook and prepare food. It is used a lot in the kitchen and sometimes in the woods when we go camping. I’ve learned how to cook from my family and enjoy doing it when I am not feeling lazy. Family is important to me and food has been used as a catalyst in many of our social gatherings.
Painting is a prime aspect of my life. Painting demonstrates my cultural identity because it is an outlet for how I see the world through my background experience. Painting is important me because it helps my creative growth, stress, and helps emotional growth. Painting helps me pass my time and express my worldly creativity. Painting is affected by my culture because I view the world from a family of minorities and immigrants. There is
history of minority voices being silenced, so painting and using visual communication is a powerful way for me to get my message across. Painting and visual communication is becoming more popular because of the internet and my age group.
Headphones help us escape the world. This is an example of my cultural identity because my age group and my cultural love music and listening to other people on the internet all the time. Music is a part of everyone’s lives and has been around for hundreds of thousands of years. Living would be difficult would it not be for music. It affects the human brain by reducing stress, depression, and help produce neurons. Different types of music changes our emotions , upbeat songs create positive energy, while a slower beat can calm our brains down. I do not listen to music from my ethnic background, but more towards my own individual taste and culture.
My father has been playing paintball for as long as I can remember, even before I was born. Paintball is an example to my cultural identity because I grew up with it in my life. The people who play are aggressive and are big in team players who look out for each other, almost like family. When it was introduced to me i was first scared to play because I might get hurt. Indeed I did get hurt, one of my worst injuries came from paintball. I tore my ACL sprinting and tripping over a root. Even after my injury I still played. After a bit it was fun, but the nerves still sit in your stomach.
Soccer is the most famous sport in
the entire world. Soccer is important to my culture because ive been playing since I was young. My dad played soccer while growing up and a huge sport in south america. I play that sport in the position of goalkeeper. Frankly, it is one of the hardest things to do, no mistakes are aloud. Adrenaline pumping through veins as the whistle blows and players running to the ball. Gloves on each hand, ball flying through the air. Having to sacrifice my body to protect the ball from entering the goal.
In our society culture sometimes informs the way we view others and the world around us. Barack Obama wrote in The Audacity of Hope, opposing claims that black culture is to blame for African Americans condition , “In other words, African Americans understand that culture matters but that culture is shaped by circumstance. We know that many in the inner city are trapped by their own self-destructive behavior but that those behaviors are not innate.” African Americans might share similar cultures but their experiences are different because of where they live, how much they make, and how they view the world. Even though they are in the same cultural area they can experience very different outlooks of the world and of people. In the article How Important Is Culture in Shaping Our Behavior?, by David Vognar, “It is naive to believe, as the now discredited New Yorker writer Jonah Lehrer did, that culture creates a person. Culture shapes us, but many events mold culture and we shape these just as much.” Culture helps shape us, but culture by itself does not take into account socioeconomic and
biological factors. In this quote culture shapes but does not determine everything that will influence in our life. Its culturally important for my grandma's culture to know spanish and I don't. In the article cultures influence on perception by Psychology and Neuroscience “culture plays an important role in molding us into the people we are today. It creates an environment of a shared belief, way of thinking, and method interacting among that group of people. It is dynamic and constantly changing across time. The culture you are born into will shape your eating behavior, such as what you eat, when you eat, and even how you eat. It will influence the clothes you choose to wear and the sports you play. Social norms set forth by your culture will determine how you interact with family members, friends, and strangers. Do you shake their hand when you greet someone or kiss them on the cheek?” Culture does impact a certain part of expectations but not all accounts for how we interact with others. For example, my great aunt came up from florida and kissed me on my cheek in greeting. I only do this on my grandmas side of family and don't do this with other family.
My cultural identity is a mixed kid with many cultural influences. Pans, paint, headphones, paintball marker, hair, and a soccer ball, all shape me. I am a washingtonian growing up in a libearl area with crackheads, I enjoy spam musubi and arepas. My culture helps to inform the way we view the world but does not entirely.
