CrossCultural Studies

Running Head : The American Culture in Me

In many languages culture usually refers to art , music , history , and literature . In the United States , these would be viewed as the results or artifacts of culture . Our definition of culture is much more anthropological . In American English "culture " simply means the way of life of a group of people passed down from one generation to another through learning . It includes fundamental beliefs , values , thought patterns , and worldviews that are shared by most Americans . We can examine these external aspects of culture and infer that

they reflect our internal values , beliefs , and worldviews

Being fully American , as the United States defines its citizens , does not presuppose an ancestral linkage to the nation or to its predominant ethnic cultures or religious traditions . Americans , as individuals participate in a multitude of historic cultures , but what they share with one another is something quite different . At the heart of their nationhood is an enduring social contract and the energetic process it sets in motion

When immigrants first arrived to America , they brought their European beliefs and values to the "New World " They had landed in a place where there appeared to be unlimited natural resources and vast opportunities to excel . In Europe , if you were born poor you died poor . The combination of European beliefs and values and the abundant supply of resources and opportunities created a new set of cultural values that we call "American

These new beliefs and values of individual achievement and class mobility were rewarded and reinforced . Americans then began to identify themselves in terms of what they do . People from many other cultures however , identify themselves in terms of who they are . His status is based upon family and heritage , not what he does as an individual or what he may do in the future

Many people believe that the United States is a mixture of many different cultures without a dominant or mainstream culture . The metaphor often used to reflect this assumption is the "melting pot People from around the globe bring their cultures here and throw them into the American pot . The mixture is stirred and heated until the various cultures melt together

The United States is certainly a culturally diverse society however there is also a dominant culture . Immigrants became a part of this culture by giving up many of their differences so that they could fit into the mainstream of society . However , not everyone could fit the cookie-cutter mold . People can 't change their gender , skin color , or hair texture . Some people melted more easily than others

Of course , the United States has changed . Most Americans would no longer accept a melting pot or a cookie-cutter culture . These days it is now acceptable to keep one 's differences and still be part of the overall society . Today , it is easier to keep your differences . Differences in gender , race , national origin , ethnicity , religion , and sexual orientation are acceptable and need not be abandoned to have an equal opportunity...