Personal Narrative Analysis
Gender roles are assumed happen from an early age, such as with the toys and colors we introduce children to. We use blue for a boy and pink for a girl, and we do this even though we know that blue is commonly associated with being masculine and pink is a soft and feminine color. Girls are not given action figures, tanks and guns, and boys are not given dream cars and cooking stations. These roles are embedded from a young age and are pushed on children so that they support it. Boys are encouraged to pick on other boys if they are playing with dolls in the same way that girls pick on other girls if they want to play football or have a toy gun.
As l grew up into a teenager l became more inquisitive, and rebellious towards a lot of things speaking from experience, I consider myself a rebel. This event that led to my empowerment was so meaningful that it will forever be engraved in my mind. It was the night before my 15th birthday, July 12th 2014, when l asked my mom if i could get my ears pierced and dye my hair. For most …show more content…
typical families this would be a common thing but in my house this was a big step taking a different path that nobody was bold to defy before. Even though l am an American citizen, I was born in Zimbabwe which is a country in southern Africa, known for its substantial landscape , diverse wildlife , and famous tourist attractions such as the Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba . Asking for something like this might be a small materialistic thing for most Americans but for Denzel Mwanangala, this was my first act towards hindering my African heritage and cultural and embracing American culture , but what makes it even more hard is the fact of being caught between different cultures, my father is from Zambia and my mother is partly from South Africa
“Are you crazy? Over my dead body would I ever let that happen.”
“ None of your uncles or cousins have their ears pierced so whose footsteps in our family are you following”.
“Don't even get me started dying your hair! Only girls dye their hair.”
I remember those exact words as if it was last night , even today they are still engraved in my memory. My family members started to think that l had now become to assimilated into the American culture and was just trying to fit into typical behavior and trends,but for me this was a way of expressing myself. I’m someone who expresses myself through fashion, and it represents me as a person and the image I’ve worked to build up for myself.
What does this say about me?
This shows that l’m someone who is willing to get out of my comfort zone and my cultural bubble. As l grow up society needs to understand that l will and generations are change and, find new ways and methods to express myself, which means that even though i'm proud of my peculiar African heritage and culture, l won't stand to be oppressed by cultural norms set forth back in the days by our ancestors. One of the things which makes African culture is what we call a Totem. A totem is a natural or mythical animal to whom you feel a close connection during your life or some particular period of your life. The energy of the totem animal speaks to you in some way that is relevant to your own personality or circumstance in life. As for my totem is an Elephant what makes this even better is that each and everyone has a different totem, but when l meet someone else who has the same totem as me we sort of connect as
one.
The reason that motivated me to go against the expectations set forward it the fact that as human beings we are not in touch with our feelings, we can not help we how we feel or what not to feel , we are not robots. For example my favorite colors are yellow, red blue and orange , which defies traditional male stereotypes beyond colors. In the end, it took several back and forth arguments but l eventually won the battle for my freedom of expression which led me to try other male gender defying things such as dying my hair auburn . If l could go back in time would l make the same decisions? Without a doubt l would because, gender roles exist, they are deeply ingrained, they are currently unfair, and they create idealistic expectations which prevent people expressing who they really are and moving forward into college l envision myself standing up against gender roles by peacefully protesting or be involved in gender equalities clubs.
As l grew up into a teenager l became more inquisitive, and rebellious towards a lot of things speaking from experience, I consider myself a rebel. This event that led to my empowerment was so meaningful that it will forever be engraved in my mind. It was the night before my 15th birthday, July 12th 2014, when l asked my mom if i could get my ears pierced and dye my hair. For most …show more content…
typical families this would be a common thing but in my house this was a big step taking a different path that nobody was bold to defy before. Even though l am an American citizen, I was born in Zimbabwe which is a country in southern Africa, known for its substantial landscape , diverse wildlife , and famous tourist attractions such as the Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba . Asking for something like this might be a small materialistic thing for most Americans but for Denzel Mwanangala, this was my first act towards hindering my African heritage and cultural and embracing American culture , but what makes it even more hard is the fact of being caught between different cultures, my father is from Zambia and my mother is partly from South Africa
“Are you crazy? Over my dead body would I ever let that happen.”
“ None of your uncles or cousins have their ears pierced so whose footsteps in our family are you following”.
“Don't even get me started dying your hair! Only girls dye their hair.”
I remember those exact words as if it was last night , even today they are still engraved in my memory. My family members started to think that l had now become to assimilated into the American culture and was just trying to fit into typical behavior and trends,but for me this was a way of expressing myself. I’m someone who expresses myself through fashion, and it represents me as a person and the image I’ve worked to build up for myself.
What does this say about me?
This shows that l’m someone who is willing to get out of my comfort zone and my cultural bubble. As l grow up society needs to understand that l will and generations are change and, find new ways and methods to express myself, which means that even though i'm proud of my peculiar African heritage and culture, l won't stand to be oppressed by cultural norms set forth back in the days by our ancestors. One of the things which makes African culture is what we call a Totem. A totem is a natural or mythical animal to whom you feel a close connection during your life or some particular period of your life. The energy of the totem animal speaks to you in some way that is relevant to your own personality or circumstance in life. As for my totem is an Elephant what makes this even better is that each and everyone has a different totem, but when l meet someone else who has the same totem as me we sort of connect as
one.
The reason that motivated me to go against the expectations set forward it the fact that as human beings we are not in touch with our feelings, we can not help we how we feel or what not to feel , we are not robots. For example my favorite colors are yellow, red blue and orange , which defies traditional male stereotypes beyond colors. In the end, it took several back and forth arguments but l eventually won the battle for my freedom of expression which led me to try other male gender defying things such as dying my hair auburn . If l could go back in time would l make the same decisions? Without a doubt l would because, gender roles exist, they are deeply ingrained, they are currently unfair, and they create idealistic expectations which prevent people expressing who they really are and moving forward into college l envision myself standing up against gender roles by peacefully protesting or be involved in gender equalities clubs.