I come from a white, American, middle class family and culture.
1. Who do members of your culture consider to be members of their family?
Members of a family are considered to be the immediate family (mom, dad, children), also included in that is step parents and siblings. This culture also thinks of close and long time friends as a part of their family. Relatives are a part of this cultures family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins.
2. What are some roles and responsibilities for specific family members?
Moms are generally thought of as the "homemaker" the ones that take care of the children, cook and clean. Dads are thought of the ones that make the money. Dads go to work everyday and are gone a lot. Children are supposed to go to school and after school go to sports and activities. Children are supposed to be well behaved.
3. Are members encouraged to stay in the same house/area as their family after adolescence?
The family usually wants their adolescence to stay close but if the opportunity arises to the person to study abroad or get into a good school then the family is usually happy for them.
4. What are the cultural norms and taboos regarding dating and meeting people of whom to become romantically involved?
When someone meets a new person to become romantically involved, everyone wants to meet that person and give you their two sense. People are really involved in others romantic relationships and want to know how things are going. When a teenage girl goes out with a boy usually the family wants to meet the boy first. A taboo is when people go to fast with someone they just met, like eloping or moving in together right away. Another taboo would be getting married really young, people always have something to say about that. Also, having a child when they are not married is taboo.
5. How are marriage proposals conducted in your culture?
Marriage proposals are done by the man asking the woman's father for their permission. When and if the father says yes then the man will kneel down on one knee and ask the woman to marry him, while showing her the ring.
6. What is a typical wedding like?
Weddings are usually done by the woman wearing a white dress and walking down the aisle with her father. The weddings are done in a church with the grooms family on one side and the brides family on the other. The couple is married by a pastor and they say their vows. The wedding ends with the couple kissing. After the wedding everyone goes to a reception where there is a dance and dinner. After the reception the couple leaves for their honeymoon.
7. How do members of the culture view divorce?
Members of my culture are used to divorce. It is not wanted but it happens a lot. When divorce happens people get really nervous for the children and hope they are doing well.
8. If a divorce occurs, what are the rights of each partner?
When a divorce occurs usually the mother has full custody and the child can see their father every other weekend and one day a week. The child also sees their father every other holiday. The father has to pay child support to the mother. Many times the couple is going back to court a lot to change rules.
9. What is the general opinion of the culture towards homosexuality?
When someone is a homosexual many people have different responses. The young generations are usually okay with it and could care less about someones sexuality. The older generations are much more against it. They don't think they should be married and that it is against the Bible.
10. How are the general perspectives of this culture the same/different from yours regarding gender roles?
This culture thinks women are usually the "homemakers" and the ones that take care of the children. I don't want to stay home with my children when I am an adult, I really like to work and since I will be a teacher I will have summers off to spend with my family. I think there are all types of families and it doesn't matter who stays home, or who works as long as the children are being loved and cared for.
This was a little hard for me to answer because my family is a part of this culture but we do things a little differently. The hardest one for me was question #4 about dating. It was difficult because my parents didn't do everything by the book in that way.
What question was hardest for you to answer? Did it clash with the way your own family does things?
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I didnt really have any problems answering any of the questions because I felt that it was mainly your culture as in your family's culture so I wrote about how my family acts towards the different scenarios.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest question was number three, if I had to pick. The region I grew up in doesn't always follow cultural norms the rest of the nation seems to (small town). It is also transitioning to people moving away from family instead of staying, so it wasn't a situation that was clear.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest question for me to answer was number 2. My family does not really have specific roles for each person. The only things we have I would define more as chores - who takes out the garbage, who loads the dishwasher...that kind of stuff. I definitely think that members of my culture are similar due to the fact that none of them have roles like which is just like my family.
ReplyDeleteI wrote in generalities about my culture as "white culture," and in that respect there weren't any truly difficult questions, as I mostly expressed my unique perspective through my answer to question 10. However, I thought that the issue of homosexuality was the most difficult, because it varies so much across the board even with culture because of religious affiliation, personal experience, and family values. However, I thought that most of the questions that I thought might be difficult were eventually cleared up in my answer for question 10.
ReplyDeleteThe last question was hardest for me to answer because it was based more off personal opinion. I do not like discussing homosexuality and I do not like to share my own opinion of it. This is such a controversial topic and I don't want to hurt anyone with my opinions. It doesn't necessarily clash with the way my family views, but it does often clash with culture and other people's perspectives.
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