Cultural Straddle

In many families all around the United States, there is a young person that was raised in between two or more cultures and has to straddle through them. I also find myself in the same situation, so I can identify myself with many of those teenagers. Being caught in two different cultures can be a rollercoaster of emotions with family and the choices you make because at the end of it all someone will not be happy. Being multi-cultural can be difficult especially being a child of an immigrant family. Trying to be America but yet trying to be involved with your culture can be a pain in the behind. Knowing where you truly belong can be so confusing so frustrating. Like in the essay “The Good Daughter” by Carl Hwang, the author says, “My sense of identity was already disintegrating”. I believe many of the teenagers going through the same situation probably feel the same exact way. Imagine what it feels like not knowing who you are in reality as a person, in what world you belong to. Just believing your identity is going down the drain because you don’t know where to locate yourself as a human being. People want to fit in, in both their cultures, but people make it hard for them because let’s say you’re African-America and the person wants to be more America, people will question them and say “well you’re black, shouldn’t you hang out with you own kind?”, and that just puts the person in a position of confusion. Some teenagers know who they are, yes they may straddle too but, they know that they are able to be both their cultures. In the essay “Cultural Identity vs. Ethnic Fashions” the author Sunita Puri says, “… demonstrate my adherence to and respect for my culture and religion and the roles they occupy in my identity and everyday life-”. Most people should have that in mind too, that no matter what your culture will always be there with you because it makes the person you are. You can be both cultures it will just be that one culture may overcome the