Wednesday, September 7, 2011

My Cultural Mosaic

Chao and Moon use a mosaic as the metaphor to describe the various factors that form an individual’s cultural identity. The primary identifiers are demographic, geographic, and associative factors (p. 1132). This mosaic is complex by nature, and the relationship between the factors can reveal insight into the individual’s behavior.

When analyzing my own cultural mosaic, the categorization and theories proposed resonated with my struggle to define my cultural identity. Growing up, my identity was simple: white, working class, suburban, Christian, female. As I developed as an individual, this mosaic inherited from my parents was personally conflicting and unrefined. The intersecting and merging of demographic, geographic, and associative factors have evolved into an even larger and more complex mosaic. This evolution has defined my cultural mosaic into a more distinctive picture, and stronger narrative.

When filling out profiles on the latest trend in social networking, I have always struggled in what to put, not for lack of adjectives to describe myself, but because I did not identify with the meanings of these words. Demographically, I am a white woman in my 20’s, but have never viewed this as an identity. I am the third generation of immigrants from Italy, Belgium, Yugoslavia, and Germany ("Euro-mutt," I have always called it) yet no customs from any of these places were practiced in my home.

I was raised in the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights, and moved to Detroit when I was 18. I have always loved the cultural offerings of cities, and cannot imagine living anywhere else in Michigan besides Detroit. A community of suburban transplants has sprung up in the city, further reinforcing this “Detroiter” identity.

I value individuality, equality, autonomy, creativity, curiosity, and community. I think these values have contributed to or extended into my associative identities. I am a feminist, a liberal, an atheist. Some of my friends are my age, some range into their forties. I am a librarian (to be) and an officer of the Progressive Librarian’s Guild. My family is incredibly important to me, and I am the middle child of 7 siblings.

The contradiction and conflict that Chao and Moon spoke exist in my cultural. My personal values conflicted with the often patriarchal, conservative values my parents taught me and, indeed, have caused much “stress and indecision” (p. 1113). As I broke away from the identity of my parents, my sense of self has become stronger and surer. These tiles, albeit a smaller part, are still a piece of my cultural mosaic.


Referenced Text

Chao, G. & Moon, H. (2005). The cultural mosaic: A metatheory for understanding the complexity of culture. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90 (6), 1128-1140.

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