My Cultural Identity: Modern American Teenage Girl

At the age of 5, I aspired to either become a professional athlete or an ESPN anchor. Ever since I could remember, I would kick a soccer ball around, dribble a basketball, or throw a baseball around with friends and family. I used to be the league champion and MVP of the team every season, but as time progressed, other competitors would rocket past in height and become the best players because of their size advantage. Although other young athletes became stronger and taller than me, it did not change the passion and commitment I had for sports.

Jade: Do you or anyone you know find it hard to balance your culture and the American culture?

Subcultures form due to our deep rooted preference for likeminded individuals and ideas. We hold anxieties about how people are different and we worry about our own status within society (Andrew Campa 2015 YouTube). Schouten and Alexander (1995) describe that “a subculture of consumption is a distinctive subgroup of society that self-selects on the basis of a shared commitment to a particular products class, brand or consumption activity” (43). It is through this continued communal consumption that an individual finds social validation for their beliefs, value and way of life. Popular culture has magnified high school subcultural identities. For example, Tina Fey’s Mean Girls (2004) is a critical representation of one of the most popular and long-standing subculture’s in mainstream society: the high school popular female social clique. The basis and inspiration for this movie was from Rosalind Wiseman’s self-help book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, which focuses on how high school girls form cliques that are permeated with aggressive behaviour. Mean Girls (2004) aptly portrays the complex hierarchal social dynamic of a subculture. The overall aim is to critically analyse Cady Heron’s socialization from

The foundation of the house is what will set the course for the piece that follows. The groundwork that my parents and ancestors have laid out for me to follow and guide me onto the right path. On both sides of my family, the major cornerstones are to serve and or give back to your country. Every male in my family in the past century has been involved in the military or served the country to assist those who serve. My dad’s father fought in the Korean War, while my father himself had fought in the Vietnam War. After the military, my father continued his service to his country in a different form. He became a California Highway Patrol Officer. My mother’s grandfather had volunteered

George Bernard Shaw once said, “Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” Everyone is the way he or she is for a number of reasons. Sometimes things that happen in someone’s personal life majorly influences them; other times world events have a lasting impact on a person. Many things may influence a life, but in my case, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, an ongoing recession, and the legality of same-sex marriage have taken a great impact on me, my life, and my views.

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.

People often imagine American identity as unassuming and accepting. America is a place made up of a mixture of cultures, supposedly allowing one to live their life no matter how different it may be from their neighbor. American identity is seeing someone 's appearance, and no matter how different someone 's skin color or clothes, they are sanctioned as an American. Wouldn 't America be a place that welcomes different appearances and heritages as one? Okita 's poem "In Response to Executive Order 9066" and Cisneros 's story " 'Mericans" reveal the illusion of what American identity is differs from the truth of American identity.

Maintaining school grades, staying injury free, and competing for the number one spot for a sport can all be hard for just a high school student. Being a jock is a very tough, and yet society would much rather see them as the handsome, muscular, and the less smart person in school. Stereotypes are what people believe, misconceptions are the stereotypes people exaggerate, then they tend to believe them as true. Stereotypes are usually determined by society, misconceptions are made by people who believe in the ones spreading the stereotype. Jocks are one the most stereotyped topics across the world, but are mostly viewed in movies. Being a jock is not just the cool, athletic kid, stereotypes make it seem like they are bullies and such. A jock is just another high school student. The jocks are an extremely misconstrued topic, they are viewed very low around their school such as, rude or arrogant, short tempered, and self-centered.

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. So, in looking at my cultural identity, I am examining both my own labels and what they mean to me and layering on top of that cultural influencers that operate within my life and how the interplay between these layers works.

In the world, there are many arguments around. But the biggest argument people are questioning is: are sports good for you or are they a bad chance for a concussion. Your choice, is the wrong choice. Sports are better than sitting around with nothing to do. But not just for one day, everyday! The author Thelma Gomez, says “Playing sports is an important elemen5t in the lives of many American children.” And she is correct. Sports can make kids the next David Wright, the next LeBron James, the next Eli Manning, or the next Lionel Messi. The best part of sports is that you're improving your physical health, psychological health, social skills, and academic benefits.

Sports provide opportunities to explore and develop young athletes. Young athletes can identify themselves apart from playing sports through connecting with others and building new relationships

Some deem others who do not wear the most fashionable clothes unpopular. In fact, according to the website Daily Mail, “children are so heavily influenced by brands that they bully or shun classmates who do not keep up with fashions and logos” (Clark). For example, in Heather Havrilesky’s essay “Bobos”, she discusses conflicts in school with fellow classmates treating her differently and ridiculing her because the shoes she normally bought were not the name brand shoes everyone else bought (Havrilesky 34). This is merely one example illustrating people being viewed differently and judged because of a misunderstanding of what normal is. In hopes to solve such problems, some schools even implemented school uniforms. By enforcing school uniforms, schools hope that uniforms will decrease the pressure felt by students to wear the most popular trends and lessen the harsh judgement of other students. As stated by the website ProCon.org, “when all students are dressed alike, competition between students over clothing choices and the teasing of those who are dressed in less expensive or less fashionable outfits can be eliminated” (“Should”). By having students dress in uniforms, schools create a new normal that is more equal for all students. Unfortunately, not everywhere as made this change. People are still greatly pressured to fit in by others who believe keeping up with trends is a normal, important aspect of

From the time I was born, I was given certain characteristics and behaviors that follow through my life and creates a barrier for myself to have a limit on opportunities that could be taken. Every single person has a unique way of expressing their cultural identity because no one grew up exactly the same. I wouldn’t have my own identity if I didn’t carry morals and beliefs I had while growing up. I also gained characteristics that represent me from the society we live in today. Thinking of the daily tasks I partake in and how I do them in a certain way makes me wonder why I do it. Sociological imagination determines how individuals in society differ from one another based on their historical or social circumstances. This essay will define sociological imagination, and how race, religion, and gender plays a significant role in my life to affect how I am as an individual today.

Self expression is a term many people use. The meaning of it is how you show your true self around people expressing thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Many of it can be seen through art, writing, music, and dance. People show themselves with many different expressions. It can be any type of art and even writing. Some people have art when it come to make up they might be really good at making other people look better than they already do or even by how they write. For example some people will right all these happy books with happy endings and some people write sad books with sad endings. Everyone is different. Other expressions can be how they dress, act, and even by their voice. Personally i show my best self in many ways but one of them is how i dress. I

Sport is a unifier. Sport unifies teams, provinces, cities, countries and in some cases even the whole world. These games have the ability to put all problems on hold and find solutions to the most difficult situations. During these events we as spectators are able to see the athletes as more than just fellow human beings but as role models to society. Not only can sports unite countries around the world, but they can also bring individual sportsmen and women together as a team. Sport allows team mates to form bonds that teach them to function as part of a whole, which is also a worthy skill to have in life. These bonds formed sometimes not only exist during the game but off the field as well. Sports can bring strangers