Studying Culture: Becoming Culturally Conscious - Essay Example

Studying Culture: Becoming Culturally Conscious The likelihood of interacting with people of different cultures from ours has increased over time because of the world becoming a small village. Hence, there is a need to become culturally aware; which is interpreting and evaluating other people’s values, beliefs and norms. Becoming culturally aware implies acknowledging cultural diversity and having self-awareness. Therefore, to be able to interact with people from different cultures, we must first become aware of our own culture. This is done by taking note of our experiences, behaviors and attitudes and identifying why they are the way they are (Quappe and Cantatore, 1-2). I shall thus embark on identifying my own culture and the influences it has had on my experiences, behaviors and attitudes. I am a 22 year old, heterosexual male of Arabic ethnicity, brought up by reserved parents. Their reservation arises from the fact that they uphold certain beliefs and values primarily influenced by their religion- Islam. For example, they believe that children should not be born out of wedlock; therefore, in the event of an unplanned pregnancy the parents must get married before the child is born. Their beliefs and values have become imparted on my siblings and me but as we get older, we are slowly deviating from them and forming our own. However, as we grew up we knew that we were expected to act in a certain way and failure to do so result in certain consequences. These beliefs and values that we ascribed to were influenced by our ethnicity and religion. My attitude towards more liberal cultures has obviously been influenced and more often than not, I find myself repelling people from such cultures. This is because my background is centered on traditional forms of family where both parents are supposed to be present in the upbringing of a child. Conversely, this denotes that divorce is not an option when one gets into marriage. This strong value on marriage has particularly stuck in me because it was not only upheld by my parents and extended family, but also within the environment, I grew up in. This refers to my neighbors, pediatrician, dentist and teachers in the schools I attended. On joining high school, some of these values and beliefs became watered down as I made friends with people from different cultures thus upheld different values and beliefs. This, I can conclude, marked the beginning of my cross-cultural awareness. This is because I came to realize that just because I have a certain belief it is not superior to what others believe in. In addition, in life challenging circumstances arise and force us to adapt thereby, loosening/ letting go of that which we held on to so firmly. For example, I had a classmate in high school whose parents divorced because of her father’s alcoholism. The mother had to leave him as his drunken stupors caused him to be violent and wasteful of money. I can closely relate to one of the forms of communication established under the framework of Arabic culture. This is the playfully toned behavior which I can interpret as ‘tough love’ as per my background. I can acknowledge this as my mother always strived to toughen us up for the harsh world out there. This meant she never tolerated self-pity after failing at something or not attaining what one had hoped. For instance, I once decided to participate in the Annual Sports Day in middle school. I joined the swimming club and looked forward to being at least in the top three come the day of competition. Unfortunately, I came out fourth and my mother only let me pout about it that night. The following day she made it clear that she would not tolerate any more self-pity and that instead I should sit down and come up with ways of ensuring I came out on top next time. A stranger may interpret this as cold but I knew she meant well and to her this was the proper way of raising me to face the world. In addition, another concept that is evident in my culture is that of relationships between humans where the avoidance-style of communication during conflicts is present. This happens when, for example, any of us at home did something wrong and all you got was an ‘intense look’ from my father that would immediately bring you to endless apology and making right the wrong. I can attest to the fact that confrontations are avoided at all costs and matters of conflict are handled ‘in closed doors’. This is something that has been passed on from my grandparents who, in the event we misbehaved in a public place, would wait until we got home and administer punishment. In addition, as an Arabic, I have found that we are inclined to ‘ignore’ history and live more in the present evidenced by how enormous our extended family gatherings are done. This is regardless of the nature of our parents’ financial situation. Money is not spared during such functions, the best dishes are prepared, new outfits are bought and people are allowed to bring their friends. This describes our orientation of time as being one that appreciates the power of the present (Martin and Nakayama, 102). Even from my friends of the same ethnicity, I notice the same behavior and attitude of optimism in the face of harsh realities such as low finances. However, most of the values and beliefs I attribute to my parents and that I take on have become more accommodating because of interacting with people from different cultures, with whom I have now developed close friendships. This combined with reading Nakayama and Martin’s book, has made me wary of the importance of recognizing cultural diversity and consequently learning to communicate better in the face of intercultural interactions. Works Cited Quappe, Stephanie, Cantatore, Giovanna. “What is Cultural Awareness?” Culturosity.com. 2005.Web. 22 Jan. 2012 Martin, Judith, Nakayama, Thomas. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”.5th Edition. McGraw-Hill.2010. Web. 22 January 2013 Read More