Final Journal Entry
Identity
Culture
Affects the way we unerstand, not just ourselves, but also the rest of the world.
Not only individual, can also be shared by a community.
Built off of both external and internal factors: clothing, nationality, likes, languaje, health, etc.
The way we see ourselves; self concept.
Global Issues
Individual and shared on more than one scale: family, friend groups, schools, urban tribes, states, cities, countries, etc.
Nauances phenomenon of the inner and exterior workings of a community.
Affects relations to other groups, influences views over external forces and directly affects how different countries (for example) work and/or communicate with each other.
Deep phenomemnon, goes from clothing, dances and traditions to gender roles, social norms and slang.
Installs a sense of belonging to all those that share a culture; creates divisions between all different cultures.
Culture and identity are heavilly linked since they affect each other; our identity often includes the cultures we belong to and our cultures generate a shade of our self concepts by giving people communities with shared ideals as well as foreign groups that differ from said ideals and can be though off as "common enemies".
Directly affects our sense of belongin -or lack there of- to other communities.
Cultural expressions give people aspects to their identity and the opportunity to share that identity with the rest of the world because these expressions allow for individuals to explore aspects of themselves they like and are proud of, as well as exploring possibilities to their personal development they hadn't thought of before (clothing, hairstyles, make up, etc). Also, these expressions facilitate for people to find other who belong to theur same culture and establish a sense of community.
Every culture has its own approach to specific global issues that affect them directly. These solutions are not absolutely good nor bad, they are dependent on the inner workings of culture and shared identity.
Affect everyone either directly or indirectly.
Approaches and possible solutions to the same issue vary depending on the culture that comes up with them.
Some cultures use traditions as an excuse to apmlify dangerous and inmoral practices, even when change is demanded (female genitalia mutilation, police brutality, racism).
People may find that a specific issue affects them more significantly than others based on aspects of their identity (nationality, sexuality and/or gender, religion, likes and/or dislikes, diet, etc).
Some are correlated to culture and resistance to change (governmental policies, laws that should no longer apply, traditions that are now problematic, etc).
Solutions
Some solutions are linked directly to cultural perservation, others to survival.
Global issues can only be solved when more than one culture joins forces to find common ground and stop using identities as a separation force, instead build a global one (human, people).
When beliefs overlap, different cultures can work together to achieve a common goal (several countries joining the BLM movement, fight for mentah health resource accessibility, etc).
People that share a culture work together in order to solve shared problems (local laws and reforms, unfair treatment within a specific industry, ect).
Advocate for sustainable devlopment.
The way we percieve global issues and which issues we percieve the most is significantly related to our identity. If our identity places us at a vulnerable state, we will focus on those vulnerabilities first, so it is important that we research and stay informed on the going ons of the world beyond our periferal.
In my daily life I am mainly defined as part of a community by the languages I speak, the books I read, the entretainment I consume, the topics I'm interested in, the ideas I advocate and the spiritual practices I integrate. Others may find that they share this elements, but also the issues they are mostly affected by may differ from mine, they may find a community in religion, in music, in their countries, based on food, etc.
Global issues affect all cultures and identities in different ways and it is important for research,m reasoning, respect and empathy are used so that satisfying solutions to these issues are found.
By the use of critical thinking skills, like analysis, we can research the cultural breaches between us and other countries in order to understand where they come from and why they are there, so that we can take this differences into account whenever we deal with a culture different to our own and are able to understand their needs and what we can do to respect them.
My perspectives have been shaped by both personal experiences and research on topic of my interest. But, speaking only of these experiences, I have felt what it is to fear being open about crucial parts of my identity out of fear for rejection and violence; I have seen people that share my gender and sexuality be attacked or hurt; people that share my needs and require medical assistance not be able to recieve it due to a failed economical system and/or stygma, etc.