I agree that we are creatures of our cultures. I believe that we are raised a certain way, and once we hit "teen" years, we start to focus more on what we will be.
I would like to use a non-conventional example of a culture. For lack of a better term, and in no way do I mean this offensively, the "dork" culture: those who play Dungeons & Dragons, who read the sci-fi/fantasy genres on a constant basis, and who tend to be a little more lenient on the "fantastic." I won't lie, most of my group consists of people who fall into this culture. As one who in high school didn't really fit in to any particular group, I found my friends though my job. I used to make fun of the "dorks" until I realized they didn't focus on what was "popular" and instead focused on what made them and their friends feel good. It was interesting, transitioning from a group that was about fashion, who was screwing who, and where the party was this weekend, to a group that didn't need to get completely wasted to have a good time, didn't judge each other on what they were wearing (unless it was a particularly ugly Hawaiian shirt), and focused more on having fun with whatever they were doing, rather than the he-said, she-said nonsense that occurred in other groups. Oh, don't get me wrong, this group had the occasional bit of drama; however it was nothing compared to the other groups that I interacted with while growing up.
I know that a lot of people consider culture to be a heritage thing; they consider it to be what race you are, what religion you practice, and what you grew up knowing. After knowing hundreds of people, being a part of different groups, and seeing all the differences that make us up, I don't believe culture is based on just the above: I think culture is whatever makes you who you are, in almost every way.
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I agree that it is the teen years that we start to come into our own and start to become individuals, rather than living in our parent's shadow sort to speak like when we're kids. As teens, we start thinking about our future and who we want to become. It's a transition era, where we do the most changing.
ReplyDeleteGood example on the "dork" culture, which reminds me that different cultures even exist in high school too: Dorks, nerds, jocks, populars, intellects, etc. I didn't really fit into a particular group in high school, either. I hung around all sorts of people from higher/lower grades than me. If I had worked, I probably would have gotten my friends mostly from my job, too.
That is the popular definition of culture with most people, race/religion etc but as you said culture isn't just based on that. Good job on pointing that out.
I thought your response to this question was extremely interesting. You actually made complete sense as to how when we reach teenagers years we start to wonder about ourselves and who we want to be. I know once I hit my teenage years I thought I knew everything, which now looking back was completely stupid of me. It was interesting to see your example of the "dorks" and "popular" groups. I can kind of relate to that because my brother fit in to the "dork" category, and I was apart of the "jock" group. However, I grew up in such diversity I never looked at the "dork" group as weird or anything especially since my brother was apart of that group. I always kept an open mind to things. Which is why I agree with you that "culture is whatever makes you who you are". I grew up with so many different cultures that its made me the person I am today. I completely agree with what you were saying.
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