SYMBOLISM
My nationality is Mexican/American. I was born and raised here in America but grew up with my cultural beliefs of my native background (Mexican). I chose this symbol to represent an element of my culture as well as religion. Most Mexicans are raised as catholics which means we believe in the saints, aside from God. The minute you walk through my house this is what you see, I have a Virgin de Guadalupe and a "Niño Dios" which is a baby Jesus. This is what you see in most Mexican catholic homes. I say this is an element of my culture because for most Mexicans, this is our "norm" our expectations are to worship these saints and to have them in our homes as a sign for respect and so they can protect us. If Mexican Catholics don't do this its considered "wrong". It wouldn't be a Mores but it's just something that we are raised to know and if we don't have an icon in our home, we aren't showing respect to our traditions, and we are looked down on or made to feel, ashamed because of it.
BELIEFS-MATERIALS
Herbs and spices are some of our cultures material goods. We use herbs and spices for cooking as well as for remedies. Aside from our food being delicious with all the spices and flavors we use these plants for healing. I remember being sick with a high fever and my mom would put herbs at the bottom of my feet and my socks over so that the plant could absorb the heat of my fever to reduce it. Works 100%, in 5 minutes my fever was gone. I do this now with my son but since I don't have access to that exact plant I use fresh lettuce which takes a bit longer but it works just as good, it takes usually 20 minutes to reduce the fever. These material goods don't just define our culture but also our values. My grandmother does not believe in going to the doctors or emergency room for any little reason, you better be dying if you waiting in that emergency room. Anytime were sick (I am sure most Mexican families do this) we call our mothers or grandparents back in our country and ask them what to do when one of us is sick, because they know EVERYTHING. At least I know my grandma does, she's my phone doctor when I need her, she knows every remedy and form of healing for when we are sick.
MEXICAN CULTURE/TRADITIONS
My nationality is Mexican/American. I was born and raised here in America but grew up with my cultural beliefs of my native background (Mexican). I chose this symbol to represent an element of my culture as well as religion. Most Mexicans are raised as catholics which means we believe in the saints, aside from God. The minute you walk through my house this is what you see, I have a Virgin de Guadalupe and a "Niño Dios" which is a baby Jesus. This is what you see in most Mexican catholic homes. I say this is an element of my culture because for most Mexicans, this is our "norm" our expectations are to worship these saints and to have them in our homes as a sign for respect and so they can protect us. If Mexican Catholics don't do this its considered "wrong". It wouldn't be a Mores but it's just something that we are raised to know and if we don't have an icon in our home, we aren't showing respect to our traditions, and we are looked down on or made to feel, ashamed because of it.
Herbs and spices are some of our cultures material goods. We use herbs and spices for cooking as well as for remedies. Aside from our food being delicious with all the spices and flavors we use these plants for healing. I remember being sick with a high fever and my mom would put herbs at the bottom of my feet and my socks over so that the plant could absorb the heat of my fever to reduce it. Works 100%, in 5 minutes my fever was gone. I do this now with my son but since I don't have access to that exact plant I use fresh lettuce which takes a bit longer but it works just as good, it takes usually 20 minutes to reduce the fever. These material goods don't just define our culture but also our values. My grandmother does not believe in going to the doctors or emergency room for any little reason, you better be dying if you waiting in that emergency room. Anytime were sick (I am sure most Mexican families do this) we call our mothers or grandparents back in our country and ask them what to do when one of us is sick, because they know EVERYTHING. At least I know my grandma does, she's my phone doctor when I need her, she knows every remedy and form of healing for when we are sick.
MATERIAL CULTURE/LANGUAGE
For fun in my culture this is our "casino" or our ''Bingo". This is a game called "Loteria" and this could be considered a material culture, because it's a game that we created. Basically in my home the way we play it is like bingo, but we'll put in a quarter here or a peso (mexican money) in the middle of the table for each card we play. Then we each pick a card and there's one person who calls out the cards but they'll say a riddle to it. That would also fall under SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS which is different languages that mean different things for others. An example of this is how we play Loteria because the riddles we say only make sense in spanish, whereas if we said it in english you'd be like "What?" for example: we would say for the card that has a sun "La covija de los pobres . . El Sol" which is "the blanket of the poor . . The sun". And just little riddles like that to keep the game interesting and make us crack up. What we do in the game is if you fill up the whole card you get all of the money in the middle and you have to shout "LOTERIA!"
Mexican traditions are one of our most important VALUES (values are principals and standards people use to make judgements about the world). Some of the holidays we celebrate are December 12 which is the Virgin de Guadalupe's Birthday and all the little kids dress up as indians. The top picture is my son 3 years ago dressed as an indian. On this day we spend 24 hours at church celebrating the Virgin de Guadalupe's day. Another traditional value we have is when we are named after a saint we tend to celebrate not just our birthday but our saints day as well. For example my moms name is Guadalupe, so on December 12 my family and I give her flowers or make her food (her birthday is in June). We also celebrate "El dia de los Reyes Magos" which is
basically our Mexican Christmas. Here we celebrate christmas the American way but on January 6, we
also celebrate the three saints day which is when they bring us presents like Santa Clause and we cut a Rosca which is a special bread we eat. Another important day is El dia de las Madres (which is mothers day) but for us its celebrated on May 10 and it is very important for us, in Mexico we throw a huge parade for them and we bring Mariachi's to come sing for them, because our mother is held at a very high value of respect. We have many holidays as well such as, Cinco de Mayo, the 16 of September, El dia de los Muertos, Quince Anos and so much more holidays. Our traditions our very sacred to us and we value them all together as a society, much more in Mexico. But even here in America Like in New York, many Mexican families still hold these values, beliefs, and traditions and we celebrate them as we would in Mexico just not as big.
basically our Mexican Christmas. Here we celebrate christmas the American way but on January 6, we
also celebrate the three saints day which is when they bring us presents like Santa Clause and we cut a Rosca which is a special bread we eat. Another important day is El dia de las Madres (which is mothers day) but for us its celebrated on May 10 and it is very important for us, in Mexico we throw a huge parade for them and we bring Mariachi's to come sing for them, because our mother is held at a very high value of respect. We have many holidays as well such as, Cinco de Mayo, the 16 of September, El dia de los Muertos, Quince Anos and so much more holidays. Our traditions our very sacred to us and we value them all together as a society, much more in Mexico. But even here in America Like in New York, many Mexican families still hold these values, beliefs, and traditions and we celebrate them as we would in Mexico just not as big.
NON MATERIAL/ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
Another important tradition is our Quince Años, this is like a sweet 16, but much more important and valued. When a young lady turns 15 she has now become a woman. Yes puberty is the sign of adolescence, but for us almost every girl should have undergone through puberty before the age of 15. We celebrate a quince very big and it is a traditional value. This is a picture of me and my mother on the day of my Quinceñera.
One of our most important non material cultures that society is supposed know, is the importance of our Mother's. When meeting our mother's we make sure to introduce them as "Doña, or Señora" (Mrs) because its a sign of respect. This would be known as a FOLKWAY (a habit or ethic for us) We value family very much but we hold our women on high pedestals, especially our mother's. Because without them we wouldn't be here and we wouldn't have the needs of the home, such as the cooking, cleaning, nurture, teaching etc. our mother's do everything and more for us.Which is why they are at a high position in our families. This is a value that should be known and you are not told you just are raised to respect yours, and everyones mother. That was probably the biggest CULTURAL SHOCK I had while being here in the U.S especially in this decade not many kids have respect these days especially for their mother's. You see them just bring their friends over and not even introduce their mother and if they do they just say "Oh this is Sally". I also see so many cultures and different backgrounds and you don't see the young keeping the traditions of their families. Most of them have become more Americanized and have been subjected to this dominant culture. I know a lot of kids who have hispanic families but do not speak a word of their native language.
CULTURAL WAR
Cultural war is a dispute over core values and moral positions. I think one of the biggest cultural wars is Gay marriage. Most people believe that gay marriage is wrong because it goes against religious beliefs and quite frankly it goes against the dominant cultures norms. This is a way to make people feel as OUTCAST (people who challenge the norms) because heterosexuals are the dominant sexuality that looks down on all other sexual preferences.
CULTURAL WAR
Cultural war is a dispute over core values and moral positions. I think one of the biggest cultural wars is Gay marriage. Most people believe that gay marriage is wrong because it goes against religious beliefs and quite frankly it goes against the dominant cultures norms. This is a way to make people feel as OUTCAST (people who challenge the norms) because heterosexuals are the dominant sexuality that looks down on all other sexual preferences.
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