La Republica Dominicana- Cultural Self Awareness
Coming to the Dominican Republic has made me reflect on myself as a U.S. citizen and how the culture of the U.S. has molded me into the person I am today. To figure out certain cultural aspects I have compared to someone from the Dominican Republic, I have looked at my background. Looking at my passport I am proud to say my nationality is United States of America and my regional identity according to myself is an East Coast woman for life. Since I live in North America and just saying I’m American is not enough I am African and Native American, but I would prefer American because I think that shows my love for my nation. I feel like every other country says their nationality as their identity when asked compared to U.S. citizens who say they are American when only abroad. Then again I have learned a huge cultural difference between the U.S. and other countries is that we value our uniqueness/ independence, so in some perspectives saying my ethnicity is reflecting how proud I am of my heritage. Other aspects of my background that I have reflected on are my philosphical beliefs and my linguistic identity. Basically I believe there is something bigger and greater then human beings because of personal experiences…to each his own. Linguistic identity….colloquial English, formal English, East Coast English, Columbia slang :) and Southern English…I can’t specify, but I can communicate with people from all over the United States. Of course my generation has terms that older generations will never get in the context we use them in, but I don’t know how to classify that type of linguistics. In the end all of the above is what makes me different from other students in the US of A let alone in the world.
Now that the background information is out of the way I can get to some culture values of U.S. Americans. I think the number one is independence in personality, beliefs, fashion, aspirations, religion, etc. I embraced these values everyday of my life subconsciously and consciously because from day one we are influenced by our parents and the media. Think about it….we are taught to be our own person, make our own decisions, etc because different stands in a crowd. I think every U.S. citizen embraces these qualities and we should because I think it makes us a great nation, but from the outside world I have learned we are seen differently. I’ll use a place I have recently visited (Turkey) and where I am living now (the Dominican Republic). A common belief is that a typical person’s identity from the U.S. is a White European descendent in a middle or upper class. Also, that U.S. citizens believe “time is money”, we believe in equality (even though it is not practiced in so many ways), individuality is valued, and that we are blunt. Some of these are true and some are not and every time I encounter people with this opinion I try to tell them to judge someone from my country based on the person not the media about celebrities and the government.
In the end, what I value the most of my cultural background in the U.S. is the focus on individuality because it’s the best way to express my personality. I can use music, fashion, my career, my hairstyle, piercings, tattoes, etc to say who I am without even opening my mouth. None of these ways are to intrusive on someone else’s personal space or beliefs ( in the U.S.). In the U.S. we definitely judge a book by the cover, but there’s nothing wrong with that because appearance attracts us. How do you pick out a book to read that isn’t assigned to you? The cover art, title, synopsis, reviews and author….which are all on the front and back cover. If every book looked the exact same no one would think twice about picking one up.
Focusing on the Dominican Republic, the biggest cultural values that sticks out the most are independence on religion and the way I express myself vocally and fashionably. No matter what I will not change who I am because I was taught not to let peer pressure influence me. Instead I respect the difference between religions because Christianity and Catholicism are not at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Vocally I meant I am blunt because there is no point of sugar coating, but I will approach a subject from a sensitive angle if I know it will offend the person I am talking to. Lastly, is fashion and I think this is numero uno for how a typical U.S. American expresses one self and the only thing that i have adapted to is not wearing shorts because my university is Catholic. Otherwise I dress the same because a Dominican told me, ” No matter how you dress you will look like a gringa so don’t change yourself, why would you.”
