Cultural Self-Analysis Essay

I identify with a White Northern European background mixed with some Native American and Irish, I think. I identify as White since my family doesn’t identify with any other culture than this. Personally I am sad that I do not know truly what culture I descend from because my family is so mixed up and uneducated. I feel I have lost a lot in that.

My family is very Christian, Southern Baptist to be more precise. No other religious values were considered or taught to us because, if “you didn’t obey the good book then you were going to Hell” is the sort of thinking my family has.

I consider myself to be of the Catholic faith, which really pisses my family off. I have taken several religious classes since I have started college and I have drawn the conclusion that no matter what religious sect you are in as long as you are a good person and treat others the way you want to be treated, then you will be okay.

I am female. Females are supposed to be girly and take care of the household. But if you do not get out and help the men too, then you are considered lazy. There is an undercurrent of sexism within the family.

Marriage is male-female only and children are not to be raised out of wedlock although that last one has loosened with the changing times. Adoption is okay. Childrearing used to be a mix of corporal punishment and grounding, but since the great-grandparents have passed the parents have become looser. Where it used to be figure things out on your own, even if you are in over your head, now everyone pulls together and takes the lost ones in to help out.

I am 37. I try to stay within my age group, but I find that have a mixed group of friends, age wise. I respect my elders and parents, but they do drive me crazy with their stale values and beliefs. I hold my tongue a lot and there is a lot of eye rolling, but I love them and I know they will always be there for me. And sometimes I can get them to come around to my way of thinking.

I was raised in south eastern Kentucky until I was 12 then I moved to the big state of Ohio. I was raised by my grandparents there. It helped me get away from the small town minded people and ways of south eastern Kentucky, which I think help me become more aware of the different people and cultures out there, but then I found myself back here when I turned 19 to help my mother take care of my two brothers and two sisters. I am the oldest of five children and I have always taken care of my brothers and sisters. Even when I went to live with my grandparents, I bought school clothes, supplies, and Christmas gifts for them because my mom couldn’t afford it. So, I have felt like I have been an adult my whole life.

Music wise I like rock, but I will listen to anything except the rap of today. I say the rap of today because the rap I listened to in the eighties and early nineties was not the same. Clothing wise, I wear what I like and what is comfortable. I don’t usually keep up with the times because most of that stuff isn’t made for full figured ladies like me. No dresses or girly stuff for me. I do not wear makeup, which my husband doesn’t mind, which I think is why I look younger than I am.

My family claims to be Republican, but they don’t understand they are truly Democrats. I always say you can’t be poor and a Republican. They have issue with the changing laws allowing gays to marry and adopt and all. They are also pro-life and there is no changing their minds about that, even if there was an extenuating circumstance like the girl being raped, still to them it is wrong. I am a full Democratic myself, but I vote for who I think will do the best job, and I believe that people should be free to choose how they want to life and should have access to basic rights. I also believe that wealth needs to be spread more evenly among all persons of a nation. I think that the United States needs to adopt more of the systems of other countries so that everyone is taken care of.

I don’t think I belong to any particular group. It basically is my husband, my son, and I against the world. I teach my son to be kind to everyone and never stop learning or growing, to be the best him he can be.