This is a picture of my best friend Chelsea and I, she is one of my artifacts representing best friends and how in culture it doesn’t matter what your heritage is. As long as you can find a person you can be 100% real with, not only will it shape your personality and identity, it will also shape how much you as a person shape culture.

My baby chinchilla Storm, she is one of my artifacts because she represents my love for animals. In Peru, chinchillas are wild animals, however in America they are house hold pets. I am glad that I can help save chinchillas from the dangerous wild while showing loving responsibility and taking care of my pets.

To me artifacts that represent my culture is shown by the way I live my life. Its not just about my identity that shapes culture, its everyone’s identify put together that shapes the definition of culture. Artifacts don’t always have to be something human crafted such as a tool, weapon or ornament with a historical interest. They can be something humanly formed such as a friendship, or relationship (love). As humans we constantly work at this types of artifacts which cause us to shape our identities and mesh personal interests with people or things we care about keeping us interested and focused on who we truly are. Wither your best friend is a person or an animal the friendships and relationships we make are what shape us as individuals and as individuals we shape culture. Two of the hardest accomplishments in life to find are trust and love. To trust and love someone or something else you must be able to find trust and love in yourself first. Culture is how we are born as raised as well we what we make it.

Identity is not what I promise others
Identity is what I do when I am alone
Identity is what I think of others
Knowing all the hatred they’ve shown

Identity is what every wound reminds me
Identity is what I learn and what I pass by
Identity is what I see in the mirror
After giving my best try

Identity is what I make out of my given chance
Identity is what I accept and what I deny
No one else has control over me
Life is about me, and what I identify
By Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha

This poem represents me in many ways, it shows how I was born and raised into a strong family that is there for me 100%, who will always have my back and keep me safe. Being raised to be true to myself as well as to others and to show and respect people of all ages. When I am alone I act the same as if I was with a crowd of people, and how I think of other people is the same way I think about myself, never negative. I have learned from my past mistakes just like everyone has before at least once in their lives, and these mistakes help keep me from making the wrong decisions in the future. My family as well as my mistakes have taught my what is right and wrong, good and bad, dangerous and safe as well as fake and real. Being real is identity, knowing yourself inside and out while being able to share who you are with other people is your identity. Stability of your self if key in identity and I feel as if this poem represents me in so many ways. Truth, honestly, loyalty, happiness, sadness, sorrow, grief, forgiveness, all of these feelings and emotions are what we are taught as little kids. As long as we remember all of our childhood emotions and feelings as well as the new ones as we grow, (such as maturity) you will find how to be true. Being true is being able to act exactly the way you want to whenever you want and having people love and respect you for who you are. Staying true to yourself as well as others and not making promises you cant keep is something my parents always said to me as a child. Taking in these words of wisdom has shaped me into who I am today.

Cultural Assignment#1

Over the last week I have come to notice that everyone is approached in different ways by their friends. Depending on what ethnicity you come from will determine how your friends walk up to you, say hi, yell your name, speak slang to you, etc. I believe that the way we are approached shows how unique we are to our culture. Just because we are a certain ethnicity we can be approached in completely different ways than someone of another. Coming from an Italian family I am constantly approached about the color of my eyes and skin tone. Just recently I’ve been approached by two stranger telling me I have beautiful eyes and skin, while one tried guessing my heritage the other asked me. This is a constant conversation my family members have when meeting new people or simply by being approached by strangers, either way it is a great conversation starter and a way to show my individuality. Italian is who I am, it is how I was born and raised as well as my past, present, and future. Being Italian is only a part of who I am, there are many other aspects to my individuality although I would consider being the ethnicity that I am to be a giant fact to who I’ve grown to be today.

Homework#9

When taking to Americans weight is an issue that shouldn’t be brought up in every day conversation. In society today the numbers of obesity and anorexia are sky rocketing resulting in weight to be a very touchy subject. Income is also a topic that most Americans do not discuss with people that they have just been aquatinted with. Income to Americans is very personal and private, this type of information is usually only shared with family, friends and loved ones.  Much like politics is only discussed with those who are close to you, it is very uncommon to talk to new people about your political views. Americans tend to make political views a main topic for debates, therefore it is not likely that upon meeting someone you would want to get on their bad side and possibly start a debate immediately after meeting them.

In America as time goes on important decisions have to be made, wither it be for ourselves or elderly family members there are always options available when it come to taking care of elderly Americans. There are sky rises, elderly communities, hospital care, retirement homes etc, providing us with options that will suite our needs and our wants as we grow older. It also depends a lot on the religious aspects of life, depending on what religion you are, decisions must be based upon your beliefs moreover what way your family has approached elderly situations for years passed. There are many different types of religions found in America and they all have different thoughts about life. In America a religion is the way you are born, raised, live and die, religion is very important to Americans.

Another aspect in American culture that is important to us is tradition. Traditions are held all over America every day wither it is simply for a birthday tradition or something that Americans have developed and celebrated such as the 4 of July. As I was growing up in an Italian family, each Christmas my grandmother would prepare the 7 fishes. Each fish had a different meaning in which it would carry us through the year until the fallowing Christmas. For example health and love are 2 of the 7 meanings of the 7 fishes, and of course grandmother would not let you leave the dinner table until you had a little piece of each type of fish. Most cultures would think this is odd but my Italian family as many other Italian families in Italy, Sicily and America all celebrate this Christmas tradition every year.

Homework#8

In society today TV/movies tend to portray images that don’t usually happen naturally in the reality of life. TV/movies are a source of entertainment therefore they are usually spruced up in multiple ways to catch the viewers attention. Without making TV/movies more interesting than the reality of life there would be no point of having them. People would be content without watching TV/movies if it was of the same interest of reality. Why not live it instead of watch it? International students may find that drama shows such as Jersey Shore are not very realistic here. No one continues to live in a house with multiple people who scream and yell at each other every day. Nor does action packed movies such as Mr. and Mrs. Smith occur.

Americans are said to be obsessed with time, we fallow tight schedules, have due dates as well as timed events. Americans use time to keep events that occur during their day in order therefore they get everything completely correctly and don’t have work piling up for the next day. Just like Americans don’t like when they aren’t on their daily schedules we do not like interruptions. When we are interrupted we feel as if whoever we are having a conversation with does not care what we have to say nor do they want to listen to what we have to say. It is a sign of ignorance and therefore it is not tolerated in most clubs, events, and especially not tolerated in public places.

A statement that I found interesting is “When one is uncertain about how to address another person, it is best to observe others and fallow their examples.” This caught my attention because most Americans in my opinion would address the person incorrectly and look foolish instead of observing someone else before address the person correctly. Americans tend to learn from their mistakes which is always a good lesson. Humor is also a big part of out society but what I did not know what in the eyes of an international student humor is considered another language. Personally I would not consider humor as a language, I would consider it more as a type of attitude, emotion, or personality.

Homework#6

Throughout my life weight issues have been a constant struggle for all the members in my family, EXCEPT for me. Being a first hand witness to your typically Italian family who all look like little meatballs except for you is hard. People always ask why I don’t look anything like my family and why I am skinny, I would always reply that sports are what keep me fit and healthy. Just because I am physically fit and can fit in a size small doesn’t mean I am anorexic or have an eating disorder. I may stand out in the crowd when the crowd is my family but in reality I feel like there is never to big and never to small. I learned that outer appearance isn’t really important but its what is on the inside that counts. Unfortunately everyone is society today thinks differently, people are so quick to judge today that appearance is becoming a major reason of how society has been shaped over the last few years, and when I say shaped I literally mean shaped.

Society today I feel is based upon where you live, the public eye and famous personal. Citizens tend to look at famous people for tips on whats hot and whats not. Sadly there are people in todays society that are looking up to their favorite stars such as Zoey Saldana who is extremely thin or JamieLynn Spears who was pregnant at 16. In my opinion I feel as if their body images are not the right path. Both ways can damage your body severely between not being well nourished and or possibly damaging your body by having a baby at such as young age. No matter how many people this happens to eating disorders and teen pregnancy is becoming a greater risk in todays society everyday. As for males, that can be a whole different story.

Personally I believe males do tend to want to look like their role model (a famous person) but most of the time I feel as if they just want to do what all of their friends are doing and will go work out. There are some males who just simply don’t care as well don’t want to work out and thats okay in my opinion too. Also the “male run way” is becoming more fond the natural thin look rather than muscular which is an added stressor for males to be thinner which can lead to weight disorders.

When turning the topic around and discussing the word “masculine” the first images that pop into my mind are our troops, professional athletes and my dad, male cousins and friends as well as my boyfriend (my protectors). I feel as if our troops can be considered muscular because I know how hard the training and preparations as well as the fight for our country is. Having a boyfriend who is in the USMC I hear stories and I see the way the men and women who serve our country are shaped into the new people they become after going to serve. As for professional athletes, it almost seems like a requirement now for them to be physically fit. For example a professional football team members range form S-XXXL but in reality I bet you they call lift up massive amounts of weight.

When talking about my dad, male cousins and friends as well as my boyfriend, I see them as my protectors, people who I feel will never let anything happen to me no matter how rough a situation will be. They will be the ones that will make sure that nothing terrible or tragic happens to me as long as I am in their presents. They are the ones who make me feel safe twenty-four seven.

When thinking of why males would act muscular, I picture in my mind a brother standing up for his sister. This would be very helpful to a male because it will shape his identity and teach him responsibility. Also, so men need to act muscular for sexual attention from females. This however I feel can result in massive head syndrome or as I like to say, guys think that they can get whoever they want whenever they want. This can be very harmful to male development.

 

Homework#4

I personally am for what Schor has to say, she is 100% correct when she discusses consumer culture, people today do tend to develop a shopping disease, wither they are in stores or online, hoarding and compulsive shopping is becoming a disease. Also isolation or alienation from society is also occurring, this also contributes back to the factor of disease, people today are taking advantages of their abilities online and in stores and are developing sicknesses because of their mass amounts of consumption.

Those who are on a tight budget and have this problem or so called disease I have been referring it too will find ways to bend the rules of money. They will see items such as morgues on their homes and cars just so they can continue to compulsive shop. Sales prices usually don’t stand in serious shoppers ways but on occasion they have no where to turn to and sometimes will get help or will resort to buying cheaper merchandise. The rise or fall of sales will not help these alienated shoppers, they will adjust to the sales so that 1. They can find the best sale and 2. They will find the items cheaper and for a deal such as buy one get one, resulting in more merchandise being bought by them, hence the word compulsive.

A right to a decent standard of living, quality of life rather than quantity of stuff, and ecologically sustainable consumption, are all examples of how our society is creating even more reasonings for certain people to be in certain social standing and social classes. The consumer rate is sky rocketing and more, and more people are slowly but surly being classified all the way down to welfare. Everyday there are people who are trying to do their best to get out a welfare and never chose to be in it while there are also people who are being put on welfare because of this compulsive consumption / competitive consumption disease they are digging themselves into just so they can fit in with a crowd.

Anyone who has a competitive bond in their bodies have different paths to fallow when making influential decisions. You can either take the plus path or the negative path, a plus path would be considered in my opinion playing a sport and using your competitiveness to succeed in the game and become a bold, powerful team mate whereas someone who takes the negative path would be someone who develops problems in things such as gambling, shopping and drugs. The negative path is usually fallowed by those who want to compete so much that their lives turn into a struggle and they end up looking what matters to them because their minds become captivated my competitive consumptions of either materialistic items or problematic diseases such as gambling problems which still in itself is a competitive compulsion for  things such as money,

Homework#3

When discussion something so serious as a ruinous incident, I agree with the texts prediction. I too believe that there will be somewhat of an incident that we will have to face soon. There are always challenges when new and improved technology is created, and the further the world advances our technology the bigger and more destructive incidents we will have to overcome. As for the public, I feel as if they would treat it the same way everyone treats every day life in society today. One minute it would be headline news and the next people would forget all about it until it happens again.

As for Artificial Intelligence, I again agree with the prevision that they will be creating sooner than expected and that they will be able to fully function without human help. This in a way scares me, can the human mind be replaced by computers? Personally I do not believe this, I believe that the human mind is more complex than a computer system could ever be. When creating a computer mind, you could easily create the same mind numerous times whereas the human mind has not yet been replicated.

I do not believe this will affect our human identity, I believe that over time our identity develops, individuality is not a computer program. Because I believe this I find that where are more negatives than positives about the development of artificial intelligence. Negatives are things such as malfunctions, viruses, glitches, and system crashes whereas the positive outcome is that we would become more technologically advanced in society.

All technology today seems to have more negatives than positives to them, cell phones, ipods, laptops and ipads all find their own ways to have system malfunctions and blue screens of death (even if they aren’t blue). For example my worst experience with technology was when I first got a full touch screen phone. Constantly freezing, having to recalibrate, and cracked screens were my speciality. Although they are made much better now then they were a few years ago they still constantly have problems with imperfections. The only way to know how technology will work is through trial and error.

Homework#2

The names of Mother Teresa and Bill Gates are names I’ve heard before, whereas Norman Borlaug does not ring a bell. While I continue to read, thoughts of how many people who’s names haven’t been heard of are in todays society? Who is the most admired person in the world? Also, do they really deserve to be admired?  Mother Teresa was my original first choice, until I learned who Norman Borlaug was. Just because someone is well known doesn’t mean they deserve the limelight, there are others in the world who do bigger, more challenging and better things than famous people. Why can’t those who strive for excellence and who won’t quit until they make a difference be known? I believe that everyone deserves to be heard, wither it is through their actions, words, expressions or publicity they deserve the attention just as much as a famous person.

To me using the word “most admired’ doesn’t always mean one person, it can also mean a group. I admire all of those who serve our country, those men and women deserve to be admired. From the Army to the Navy and the Air Force to the Marines, every one of them deserve a standing ovation. Also parents, parenting cannot be an easy task, knowing that raising a child who is watching your every move has to be nerve-racking and stressful. Knowing that someone is always looking up to you and wanting to be just like you is a heavy task to manage. I admire all those who know that doing things like protecting our country and things such as teaching us how to take out first steps hold a similar meaning. It doesn’t always have to be the little things in life, or doing big things that get you noticed.

As for universal morality, I do not believe that we are born with such morality. As we grow from being infants to being elderly we are constantly developing and learning. Therefor I do not see how it would be considered universal, even looking at the 5 elements of morality which are harm, fairness, community (or group loyalty), authority and purity, I am still not convinced, I believe we develop morality.

In todays society I believe that people tend to put authority and fairness first, Americans looks up to authority figures to show them the way, to guide them down the correct path in life, whereas being fair is respected by most Americans to keep things from causing corruption. Being fair and being authoritative are both looked up to very much by Americans, kind of like how Americans look up to those who are admired. Having my own opinions on who I believe are admired Americans and how morality shapes my life, I understand that doing whatever I can for others will always pay off in the end.