|
2016 Midterm2
(assignment) Sample Student Midterm2 Answers Part 1: Essays on New World Immigrants |
LITR 4340
|
 |
Trey Kibodeaux
Dividing the Dominant Culture: Traditionalists, Individualists, and the New
World Immigrant
The dominant culture serves as an inherently elusive phrase, one that
should be further analyzed and clarified. One
indisputable attribute of America’s dominant culture is its whiteness, or else
to say the culture conglomerate of European-descended Americans. This catch-all
term compels a distinction to be made between the practices of the dominant
culture, specifically traditionalism and individualism. It seems when referring
to assimilation or cultural similarities, these things are cherry-picked to fit
(or not) into the aspects of the dominant culture when the dominant culture is
in fact made up of two opposing ideologies. For instance, one cannot claim an
immigrant’s culture is reflective of the dominant culture for being both
traditionalist and individualist at the same time. Now an immigrant’s culture
may have some aspects of traditionalism as well as some aspects of individualism
in their cultural makeup, but they cannot both be attributed to the dominant
culture without this distinction being made. Traditionalism is the counterpoint
to individualism and vice versa. But these two ideologies together, even though
they are different from one another, should be seen as two sides of the same
coin: the dominant culture. This essay seeks to surmise how the new world
immigrant relates to the dominant culture, and in which aspects of the dominant
culture do they relate, rather than the platitude of whether the new world
immigrant relates to the dominant culture.
American traditionalism, observed by family-oriented, distrust in
education, anti-government (except military and police), and usually
rurally-centered, serves as the indication marker for conservatism. These
Americans focus their time and effort on themselves and their own, showing less
empathy for others outside of their conceived group or community. They also hold
true to values such as hard work and merit. Although they tend to sympathize
with capitalistic tendencies, the traditionalists sacrifice various means of
success for their family or community. They tend to demonize outsiders,
believing that immigrants do not share their work ethic or skill, which therein
leads to distrust of forced diversity in the field of occupation by governmental
authority. However, the conservative side of the dominant culture does favor
immigrants who conform to their ideology. This is an easier process for
immigrants than it is for minorities, since traditionalism is usually imbedded
in immigrant culture.
The individualist side of the dominant culture coin is expressed by
satisfying one’s own desires without limitation, as well as emphasis in
education, pro-government (except police and military), and are usually
urban-centered. These Americans could be considered progressives: they believe
in destroying cultural norms and roles as a means of freeing the individual to
his or her full potential. This ideology is the anti-thesis to the
family-oriented traditionalists, as they see satisfaction with stagnation in
life to be a form of selling out or giving up. Although they place emphasis on
maximizing one’s own abilities, they side with governmental limitations on these
successes. They tend to view their own cultural traditions as unnecessary or
irrelevant, while bolstering other cultures’ traditions as interesting and
valued, even if the culture is infested with traditionalist practices. The
individualists see meaning and purpose for spreading diversity of race and
culture into the field of occupation, making them fare well with minorities who
feel that the hand they have been dealt was unfair.
Hispanic culture is essentially traditionalistic, in that it’s
overwhelmingly family-oriented, patriarchal even, and focuses on trade or
skill-based jobs as a means of providing for the nuclear household. Hispanic
culture wishes to serve its own community or family and minimize fraternizing
with American white culture, which they deem as degenerative or
hyper-individualistic, entitled. This notion of race-mixing with white Americans
as undesirable stems from the assumption that whites operate under the auspices
of individualism rather than traditionalism. In “Like Mexicans,” Soto writes
that his grandmother was once lecturing him about the “virtues of the Mexican
girl,” she claimed that “first, she could cook, second, she acted like a woman,
not a man, in her husband’s home” (p.302). Again, only their culture believes
that they truly value traditionalism, furthermore, the cultural and gender roles
and norms that this ideology entails. So the grandmother calls for her son to
reject individualism as far as a romantic partner is concerned, in favor of a
woman who submits to the man of the house and serves him sufficiently.
Next, in Cisneros’s “Barbie-Q,” she exclaims the satisfaction of the girl
in story being content with less expensive toys and seeing worth in what one has
rather than what one does not (p. 252). So, the main character sees no point in
striving for the most expensive or flashy toy, no point in having the best
Barbie. The looks of the Barbie are near-insignificant to the girl, as she has
no conception of flawing in the cheap, damaged toys. This value on being
satisfied with not having the best of something because of one’s financial
situation is reflective of traditionalism. Now, in “Silent Dancing,” one of the
characters seeks to escape the oppressions brought on by traditionalism by
claiming, “Not me, I’m an American woman, and I will do as I please” (p.185).
This is to say, “I’m an American,” and that means I have agency. The woman wants
to be an individual and wants to utilize her potential outside of traditional
roles. She claims that she “can type faster than anyone in her senior class,”
showing her proficiency in merit with a certain skill and wish to capitalize on
it (p.185). She holds nothing but disdain for complacency and wants to achieve
her own success as an American, as she wants to leave behind her culture.
Lastly, in “How to Date a Brown Girl,” Junot Diaz describes how to appear
as an individualist, despite living in a traditional culture, in order to
achieve romantic favors from immigrants and minorities. This combination of the
two sides of the dominant culture hints at a more realistic adaptation of how
immigrants make their way in America, as there is a certain amount of both
traditionalism and individualism in each person; or, each person holds some
traditional values as well as some individual values. The way in which one takes
the most desirable traits from both ideologies shapes their narrative. For
Hispanic immigrants, the choice of traditionalism or individualism lies within.
The Afro-Caribbean narrative is a much more difficult culture to tie
down, since it consists of such instability that choice of how to live one’s
life in the most fulfilling manner seems insignificant. The Afro-Caribbean
countries are constantly bombarded by war and political strife so that cultural
norms are not quite observable because the societies cease to settle. So because
their countries are often in turmoil, they have not yet been able to make the
decision of traditionalism or individualism. But, the journey to America serves
as that freedom, and quality of life, in order to determine how they would like
to live their lives. Because of this, and because this quality of life is the
most heavily denied, individualism must be the most influential part of the
dominant culture in which the Afro-Caribbean immigrants value. In “Children of
the Sea,” the male character was cast out of Haiti for his political beliefs,
critiquing government policy (p. 99). Here, the Haitians are being denied
essential human rights, and therefore, wish to journey to America to experience
freedom and escape political persecution. The characters in the story feel that
they do not have enough individual agency, so they seek to find a place where
individual agency is accepted.
However, Afro-Caribbean writer, Marshall, explains in “The Making of a
Writer…” that the role of the housewives in the kitchen is advantageous in the
way that women write and talk and learn (p.83). She expresses value of the
traditional culture by noting that this exchange between women and girls in the
kitchen grows them as individuals, and it can aid them in their own endeavors
from this process. So once again, it’s the combination of traits from
traditionalism and individualism that leads one to the most beneficial goal.
The new world immigrant has much in common with American values, be it
traditional, individual, or a combination of the two. America does more than
just offer one possible living situation, in fact it offers choice: a concept
that immigrants are not all that familiar with, hence its wide appeal to
immigrants. So the dominant culture does not inherently wish to dominate or
oppress those living within its bounds, but it serves as choice, for how one
wishes to embark on his or her journey through life.
