The document discusses the author's cultural identity and how it was shaped by their gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The author grew up in a diverse and supportive environment that allowed them to explore their interests without limitations. However, the author acknowledges that discrimination still exists in many communities based on gender, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. The author believes communities must come together to promote acceptance of different cultures and prevent discrimination so people can freely develop their cultural identities.

1. My Unique Cultural Identity
Akshara Raina
COMM 174-Sec 81
8/12/16

2. Raina 1
Cultural identity is unique to every single person and is heavily based on the community
and environment they grow up in. A person can analyze their cultural identity through many
different categories such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and many
more. In the U.S. there is a huge diversity of people who have the same hopes and dreams that
many people forget to realize. I was able to determine by own cultural identity by analyzing my
gender, ethnicity, as well as my socioeconomic status. These particular categories not only
display my cultural identity but are key points that have influenced me to become the person I
am today.
Understanding how ethnicity effects cultural identity is something that I have based on
my own life experiences as well as the community I grew up in. Being shaped by a much more
accepting and diverse school system has allowed me to become more knowledgeable about other
cultures as well as having the opportunity to meet people from around the world with different
backgrounds and experiences. Becoming a more multicultural person is incredibly important in
my life as someone who wants to travel to different countries and learn about their cultural and
experience everything that country has to offer. Learning to be this open minded is something
that has shaped so many of my view points in politics, and how our society communicates with
one another.
Many people don’t realize how important a factor like gender has on how people live in
their communities. I have never felt that my gender was a hindrance on perusing my career and
education. The environment especially the school system that I went through very supportive
about different gender identities. There was a great amount of social support which are social ties
that can create a significant part in psychological health over time (Martin & Nakayama 335).

3. Raina 2
My friends were supportive in pushing me to do the best I could in school as well as my other
artistic ideas. Having a support that pushes you to fulfill the maximum of your potential despite
your gender is something that made me as confident as I am now to peruse whatever goal in any
career without any fear of limitations.
Growing up in a middle class family of immigrants has pushed me to become the hard
worker I am today. Learning the many cultural values of hard work from my parents and how
important education is in this country to become someone that can effect change for people is
something that is incredibly valuable to myself. There is a huge divide living in the silicon valley
of middle class families and the tech valley giants living and working in the bay area. Despite
this divide there is always that value of working hard t to have a better life for yourself as well as
creating change within the community that I have embraced.
In different communities the idea of diversity is not always accepted and that leads to
prejudice and hatred against one another. Discrimination can have a variety of different
categories that can even extend outside of ethnicity such as gender identity. People who
experience discrimination often feel unsafe and unwelcome in their community. Both nonverbal
and verbal behaviors ways that discrimination can affect people. “Discrimination may be
interpersonal, collective, or institutional” (Martin & Nakayama 294). Allowing discrimination to
continue in our community needs to be severely addressed as a great number of people living in
the Us as well as other countries around the world are faced with discrimination on a daily basis
and hinders their ability to lead normal lives and pursue any goals they have for themselves.
History has shown us many instances about how people are treated because of discrimination,
however the problem has yet to be resolved. The only way that it can be resolved is if people

4. Raina 3
come together as communities and learn from a young age to experience different cultures to
grow a larger acceptance for people who are different than themselves. I have never felt
discrimination in the sense of my gender or race so I have felt safe within the community I grew
up in. There are specific ethnic community centers all through San Jose that celebrate their
cultural differences and encourage anyone to come and join them. These cultural centers help
strengthen a community bond between different families and children can also experience more
about their culture with other children.
Media is a huge component of how we see other cultures and communicate with one
another. Silicon Valley is the Tech Capital of the world and because of the acceptance of
diversity in the many big tech companies, the community has also learned to co-exist with one
another. Many immigrants travel from all over the world travel to the U.S because of the huge
amount of diversity as well as the idea of making a better life for themselves, which everyone
wants to have for themselves. In the recent political campaign there has be a great unrest in the
way people view each other from different cultures that is a very big warning of how important it
is now more than ever to learn to communicate and come together as a society. Media has a huge
impact on how we think and form our opinions that many people might not realize. Being
connected to an unlimited amount of information at our fingertips is incredibly useful but a lot of
misinformation is also spread throughout media that can seriously alter the way we think about
certain topics without realizing. We are as a society a consumer nation. The many ads shown
through media shape our beliefs as well as how we spend our money. In Discussion nine the
topic of Cultural jamming was a way to make people think about our choices on the things we
buy as well as many other deeper issues through ad’s and media. Looking at the images in

5. Raina 4
discussion nine I was able to do more research on certain products that I buy to make sure they
are cruelty free and as well read the discussion between other people and their views.
Law’s help communities stay safe as well as show that people have a voice in changing
things within their society when something needs to be changed. These laws can affect many
people’s lives. Many laws that ban same sex marriage in different states in the U.S make it
difficult for couples to share the same benefits a heterosexual couple would have with a marriage
certificate. There are many stereotypes as well as beliefs that are ingrained in those communities
that effect same sex couples in a negative way and are shunned from their society. People that
have certain values that shun different sexual identities are the voice behind the laws that pass in
that state. A person’s true cultural identity can be stopped by these laws that encourage
discrimination as well as a society that has prejudice. As a result people will not be able to live
out their full potential and analyze what makes their own personal cultural identities. Nonverbal
as well as verbal behaviors can seriously hurt a person’s psychological state. The behaviors are
carried out by society members and create a huge impact over time.
In many societies around the world today and even in certain areas of the U.S gender
identity is often discriminated against. Women are denied jobs because of job discrimination. In
many countries women attaining any form of education and job is looked down severely because
of the cultural values of the society that they live in. Women in these countries are generally
looked down as inferior beings. Living in a culture without much progress socially as well
educationally hinder the process of women getting the education they need to peruse careers later
in life. The values of a culture really shape how a country can progress and how the rest of the
world views them. A famous voice about women’s rights and education today in the world is

6. Raina 5
Malala. She talks about how important women’s education is and how many countries deny that
and treat women as an inferior gender. In the community that I grew up in that mentality was the
complete opposite. Women are pushed to enter fields that were normally dominated by males. In
many places in the U.S discrimination against women is still present but movements have started
to try to combat old society’s views such as fighting for equal wages. American history has also
showed us how women fought for their rights to vote and sparked a movement that effects
women’s ability to peruse any career and field that they want to go into without any
discrimination. There are many laws that are in place today to prevent any job discrimination and
because of that women are dominating every field.
In the U.S. ethnicities are still heavily discriminated against and there has recently been a
social unrest in how many African American civilians are responding to the discrimination by
law enforcement officers and unjustly using brutal force in situations that they never needed to
use. This social unrest has gotten bigger and bigger over the last few years as people want the
government as well as the law to give the community’s that they live in peace of mind of not
being harassed unlawfully and have justice for the people that were brutally treated. American
history has shown this unrest in the past and leading to African Americans being considered
actual citizens of the U.S and having all the civil rights. Recently with the election campaign
many stereotypes as well as racist remarks stated Trump has caused massive outrage within
communities all over the U.S. These remarks are also discussed overseas in other countries as the
U.S political system and government is looked to all over the world and have a significant
impact. Discrimination against ethnicities is still very alive and well in the U.S and is not openly
talked about as much as it has because of recent events. Many movements have formed such as

7. Raina 6
Black Lives Matter to protest the law enforcements using brutal force as well as try to stop any
discrimination that happens.
Socioeconomic Status is also discriminated against in this country. Wealth and power go
hand in hand and while it may have a negative connotation it can also be a good aspect of
changing things in the community for people. Poverty is very much looked down upon in this
country although there are some facilities to help community members in poverty socially it is
still heavily looked down upon. Homeless people have a variety of different stereotypes that can
refrain them from getting jobs and other care that they need to live normal lives. Socially
homeless people in the country are still looked down upon and can only be changed if people are
more aware of the reality of their lives as well as dispelling any negative stereotypes that can
stop them from getting the care and help they need to come out of homelessness.
There are factors that make up our cultural identity and everyone is unique because of
their environment, community and how they communicate with one another. The area that I grew
up in was more than supportive in many areas of my cultural identity to let me become the
person I am today. However not all places in the U.S as well as around the world have the same
benefits for people and discrimination is very heavily displayed in communities. There has be
movements throughout the U.S. of people voicing their opinions on discrimination and how
important it is for people to fight against it. Only by communicating with each other, voicing our
opinions, and getting law makers to make changes within our communities, can people grow
their cultural identity in a safe environment. There needs to be a lot of changes in the U.S
especially to stop discrimination of gender identity and people who come from different
ethnicities so that people can live out their dreams.

8. Raina 7
References
Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2013). Intercultural Communication: In Contexts (6th ed).
New York, New York: McGraw Hill.
"Culture Jamming." Culture Jamming. Center for Communication and Civic Engagment, n.d.
Web. 13 Aug. 2016
<https://depts.washington.edu/ccce/polcommcampaigns/CultureJamming.htm>.