Mexican American Socialization Essay, Research Paper

ONES SOCIALIZATION

There are many factors that play a major role in our socialization; from military to media. Determining and regulating how much influence they have un us is something we have little control over.

My group and I had the opportunity to further expand our knowledge on three patterns; Time Orientation pattern, Social Relations Orientation pattern and Bond s Moral Discipline. Through this essay I intend to explain how the Social Relations and Time Orientation pattern among other related factors have greatly influenced who I am.

The Social Relations Orientation describes how the people in a culture organize themselves and relate to each other. The book asks to what extent are some people in the culture considered better or superior to others? (Lustig& Koester 90). Easy to say that Mexican American… celebrate status differences ( Lustig & Koester 91) based mostly one economic status.

It is so unfortunate that a society could stereotype a group of people without considering an important factor such as opportunity. In Mexico most people fall under two categories: fresas & nacos . Fresas can be translated into preppie, and the closest translation I could find for naco would be all those who lack education and class.

Growing up I attended mostly private schools, which were made up of all sorts of people, but mostly fresas because they were the ones who could afford it. I remember having a friend called Leyra, she had to be the most stuck up person I had ever met. She was the kind of girl who would always judge the book by its cover, she was the kind of girl who as soon as you walked in the room would check the tags of your clothes to see if they were designer made. Fortunately I had the opportunity to be with her all through highschool, and realize that that was one person I did not want to be like. I learned many things from Leyra, the most important being never to judge a book by its cover rather its content.

Education has next to my family been the most important factor in socialization, which was enforced by my family. My family and I strongly believe that as long as you live under their roof they have a say so in what you do or don t do. My family up until a few years back was responsible for the direction my life was headed. When I lived with my aunt I felt deprived of my freedom, she chose what school I went to and classes I took I am not saying that they were not beneficial, but they were not classes that I chose.

I enjoy relating to people as my equals, and address them based on the occasion not their economic status. I see myself as a member of many groups not just one. I have always had a problem belonging to just one group, I believe in having the best of all worlds. I also believe in being nurtured from the past, living in the present and looking forward to the future. Learning to let go is vital to move on, and this is something my culture is bad at.

It seems as though there is not enough time in ones day carry out all activities and enjoy life at the same time. One should value time in the past, present and future. In Mexican American cultures The day of the dead which is considered a national holiday is one of the biggest celebrations of the year. We take this time to remember all of the loved ones who cannot be with us. It lets us think about the things we do have in order to not take them for granted.

There is such a thing called Mexican time . Mexican time refers to arriving an hour later to what ever event you are going. We usually think well they say to be there at 7:00, but by the time everything is ready it will be 8:00, so if I arrive at 8:00 I ll e right on time, and I wont loose any time waiting. This has cause me problems. I am always late thinking it is ok. I have been late to important meetings at work, to important classes and to everything else I do. It is embarrassing and something very hard to change. There are always certain things in a culture such as being late that one could do without.

I was taught by my family that in life we do not always get our way or do what we want. I was also taught that education will provide one with the most powerful tool in life: Knowledge.