My Culture / My Community

While I use the word ‘culture’ in conversation all the time, when I started writing this paper I realized that I don’t truly understood the word so I looked it up online at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/culture . While the online dictionary has twelve definitions, the word ‘culture’ seems to have three basic meanings:

1. ‘excellence’ in the arts, music, theatre, and academia
2. the behaviors and beliefs of a ‘group’ of people (‘group’ is described as social, ethnic or age group)
3. cultivating, or growing, things (bacteria, plants, animals, etc)

For this paper, I am focusing on the second meaning.

It is interesting that the definition of the word 'culture' forces us to categorize people based on one aspect of a person. All of the categories (race, gender, class, sexuality, language and religion) except sexuality are intially chosen for us, and thus these aspects of our culture are originally formed without our choice. These categories don't only have a 'role' in shaping our culture, but they ARE our culture, at least initially. What makes an individual's culture unique is how the categories are combined and how that individual reacts to the categories.

Each of these categories has stereotypes that we were taught to either embrace or reject at a young age. Using gender as an example, my generation was always told, both explicitly and implicitly, that we were so lucky to grow up in the 1970's/1980's when women could do everything - be a mother AND have a career. Being female had a huge impact on my culture - my closest friends were always girls, I can shop 'competitively', and my math skills were something I always used to 'prove' that girls can do anything. However, none of my friends chose the 'stereotypical' female careers (nursing, teaching) out of spite rather than a lack of interest. Today, a number of us are re-thinking our decisions as we realize that you can't work 80 hours a week as a lawyer or investment banker and also be the primary caregiver to your children.

Our culture is also our initial teacher of other cultures. I was always taught that because I was Jewish (a religious category with a culture of its own) and I was part of a minority that has historically been persecuted, I needed to always be sensitive to people of other minorities. I believe that this policy has significantly impacted how I view people of other minorities - and not always in a good way. I am often TOO aware of other people's 'categories' and I'm TOO careful to be sensitive. I think it took me a long time to feel comfortable asking questions that would enable me to learn enough to actually BE sensitive rather than ACT sensitive. I think that for most people, one or two aspects of their culture significantly impact how they view others. Their culture teachers them how to see others, how to behave toward others, and how to act toward others.

My culture, and my 'categories', have always been a comfortable place for me to rely on when I'm in a new situation. I know I'm not alone in this. My first friend freshman year in college was a girl who introduced herself to me because she was looking for 'girls she thought looked like her'. What this meant, but she didn't say until many years later, is that she was trying to find 'Jewish girls from the northeast' - she thought she would have a lot in common with me. I wish I could say that I proved her wrong, but she is one of my closest friends to this day. I think this is true of most people. It is easier to be with people who are similiar to you - they don't challenge your beliefs. However, this is also what makes people closed-minded. We need to be challenged in order to learn about ourselves and others. So, how does my culture shape how I view myself? I HATE to think of myself as a hick from a small town so I spend a significant amount of wasted effort making sure that I don't 'seem' that way. I think that every one of my 'cultural categories' define who I am, how I think of myself, and how others view me.

We would all like to think that we judge everyone as an individual. This might be true in the long run, but initially we all need to be careful to set aside the assumptions we have about each other, based on what our culture has taught us about other cultures, to enable us to learn about individuals instead of groups.



My gender had a huge impact on my learning experiences. My father LOVED the idea of a daughter who was good at math and science and he instilled in me such pride in these skills. My favorite moments in high school were when I walked into AP Physics and AP Calculus and was one of only two girls in the classroom. I think I succeeded in certain classes more to prove that a girld could than out of any interest in the subject. In addition, when other girls said things like 'I just don't understand math', I would get angry. I thought that was just giving in to a stereotype.


I believe that the most important thing is a good education. I believe that everyone should share this belief. My cultural categories all combined to make me value success in an educational environment as the most important accomplishment. I bring these beliefs into the classroom, currently as a student and in the future as a teacher. However, there are religions and ethnicities that don't share these beliefs. Some people think it is more important to get married and have children, or to memorize religious texts, than to succeed in the standard academic environment. I need to be careful to tread lightly to avoid insulting people. However, I also hope that I'll be able to make people see the value of education, perhaps by figuring out ways that education will help them succeed at the things their culture has taught them to value most.




All students and teachers walk into a classroom with their own culture, the stereotypes and values that they've been taught about their own culture and that of other people. These preconceived notions will impact how teachers and students interact and how they teach and learn.

The word culture, by its very definition, forces us to admit that our 'categories' have had significant impact in how we view ourselves and others. We need to use this realization to learn from each other, rather than discriminating against each other.