Language defines culture

The language we use helps to create and maintain the cultures we belong to. With language we need to pay attention to what is said and also the way it is said. Our cultures have everything to do with our identity fundamentals such as ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. In chapter 5 the issue of gay marriage is brought up having to do with culture. Denny and Joel are trying to be approved for a same-sex marriage but have gotten denied. The book says that since the marriage request was legally denied then with the denial it also questions there spirituality or relationship with God. For many decades the culture of relationships in America included a woman and a man. Marriage had always been involving a man and a woman; never 2 men or 2 women. The language interpretation of “John and Mary are getting married” is normal in the American culture but if someone were to say “John and John are getting married”, the statement would seem incorrect. Personally I was raised catholic and in the Catholic Church it is strictly believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman. I respect my religion and believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman however, I also feel that love sees no gender and with that said I have no problems with gay couples wanting to be together officially but I feel that if they were to call their partnership “marriage”, it would be highly disrespectful to the Catholic church. The subject of gay marriage is very complicated yet it is becoming more and more popular these days. It is ironic but I have a gay friend who still attends church every Sunday and has a strong relationship with God. Even though the American culture in the past has only advertised heterosexual relationships, the culture seems to be adapting into somewhat accepting gay and lesbian couples. With that said maybe a new language will form to our new culture of acceptance and perhaps a new word will be made for a Gay/Lesbian partnership rather than just calling it “ gay marriage”.

Who am I?

Self Identity has to do with your upbringing, moral standpoint, attitude, beliefs, environment, etc. It is amazing that when it comes down to it, you do not have as much control of who you are as much as you think you do. As people we are thrown into certain environments, certain schools, certain religious practices all chosen by our parents or whoever raises us. The foundation of the environments, schools, teams, and religion we are exposed to will have a huge effect on whom we will be for the rest of our lives. I went to a low-income high school and was exposed to a diverse crowd of students. I have always gone to public school and have always had a diverse group of friends. My whole family is catholic and as a baby I was baptized catholic. When i was 7 I made my first communion in the catholic church and when I was 17 I was confirmed by the catholic church. I am now 20 years old and still stand faithful to my religion but I realize that the Catholic religion is the only religion I am familiar with and I haven’t taken the time into exploring other religions. I feel like my whole life would be different if my parents raised me to be Buddhist or any other religion or maybe just not make religion apart of my life at all. Another thing we talked about in class was about perception. Perception is how you see yourself as a person and how others see you. When I think of myself I feel as if I am a hardworking, smart, and outgoing girl that loves life. When I think of myself I don’t think about my race or what I look like, I just mainly think about my attributes of personality. After today’s discussion in class I realized that others heavily judge and make up a persona of you by what race you seem to be and how you carry yourself as well. Many people think that I am a white girl so when people look at me they probably think that my family is wealthy and that I get everything handed to me on a silver platter. It is the sad truth that when people think you are Caucasian, you get treated better than if you were to look Mexican or have an accent. I was raised in the United States and do not have a Spanish accent because in school I learned to speak, read, and write in English. I feel like I am blessed to be an English speaker because I feel like it helped me get a job, do well in school, and overall communicate better with the public. However, it bothers me how people judge me based on what race I look because I am not white, in fact I am proud to be Mexican/American and I do speak Spanish and I feel that people of my race should be treated with the same respect as I do.