chapter 12
Chapter 12 discussion board
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Discussion: Chapter 12
Please answer one of the following questions and respond to at least one other classmate’s posting. Please remember that you should respond to a different question than the one you originally discussed (i.e. if your initial posting was about question 1, please respond to a classmate’s posting for question 2 or 3).
Postings must address all aspects of the discussion question and consist of a well-developed paragraph that includes integration of concepts and terms from the text (please put the terms in bold type or ALL CAPS if your system will not cooperate, and also include page citations). Emphasis should be placed on discussing the concepts and theories discussed in the text. One sentence responses are unacceptable. Please respond in approximately 150-200 words.
As a friendly reminder, please post your response to a discussion question by midnight on Wednesday, October 28, and your response to a classmate’s posting by midnight on Friday, October 30.
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koleson@bellevuecollege.edu
koleson@bellevuecollege.edu
Sep 16, 2020
Sep 16 at 12:12pm
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Question 1. What overlapping cultural identities do you have? Identify the different roles you play in different cultural groups: age, gender, race, nationality, educational level, sexual identity, religion, and so on. Think of situations when these identities conflict. How do you resolve these conflicts? What advice does the text give in managing identity conflicts?
(In 324-325)
Cultural Identities Are Overlapping
As our discussion of the communication patterns of some Native Americans showed, we belong to multiple overlapping cultures, some of which work together and some of which conflict. At a minimum, we all belong to national, regional, class, ethnic, religious, professional, age, and gender cultures. At various times, one or more of these identities may become crucial while the rest fade into the background.
If we are lucky, our overlapping identities fit together into a coherent whole. If we are less fortunate, we experience conflicts. The woman who believes in equal rights yet belongs to a traditional culture in which women are subservient to men feels pressure from each identity. The immigrant who wishes to assimilate into his adopted country but does not wish to abandon tradition also experiences stress. The adolescent who is no longer a child and yet is not an adult has difficulty determining how to act.
Although multiple cultural memberships can cause stress, they can also be a source of strength, allowing us to be unique individuals rather than cultural clones. Seldom are any two people members of exactly the same cultures, and none of us manages to follow all of the rules of the cultures to which we belong. As Marshall Singer points out, “that is precisely what makes each of us humans unique. And while that makes for a more rich, varied, and interesting world, it also makes generalizing about people … that much more hazardous and difficult.”15 The task that confronts each of us is to find a unique sense of self in the face of our own conflicting cultural identities and to recognize when we speak to others that their cultural identities are also complex and overlapping.
