I have categorized my identity using Hidalgo’s “Three Levels of Culture” (1993).
Concrete
Redhead
Casual style with hipster and grunge elements
Eclectic music tastes
My name
Behavioral
Languages: English, French, and German
Married, no children
Personal space, and privacy are very important
Symbolic
Strong work ethic
Pagan/Spiritual
Not particularly attached to holidays
Attached to specific seasonal activities such as: pumpkin patches, Christkindlesmarkt, and making bouche de Noël
Reflection
I think the most difficult part of this process was that I wasn’t completely sure where different aspects of my identity fit. I tried not to come into this project with any assumptions, and just started with a free write to generate my identity lists. One of the things I don’t necessarily think about on a daily basis is my multi-cultural background, but it surprised me a little how much it came up across my lists. It has shaped who I am pretty significantly.
My mother’s family moved to the US when they were pregnant with her. Her four siblings were all born on French soil. It’s not something I thought made me different from my peers, until I realized I didn’t have the English words for some of the common language that other English speakers use- like terms of endearment or words of comfort. Those things had always been expressed in French in my household. Even my name has been affected by my culture. My parents settled on the name Brittany, but my grandmother refused to let my mother name me after a province in France my mother had never set foot on. My other cultural identity is Scottish. Though my father’s father passed away when he was a child my heritage was stamped on my features and passed along in my surname. For that reason, I have always felt an even deeper pull to that part of my roots. Even when I didn’t make a big deal about it, everybody else did.
The US is a hodgepodge of different cultures all butting up against and mixing a little with those beside them. While mine may not have been the most common blending, I think it is fairly emblematic of the American experience.
My Communities
For four years, my husband and I lived abroad in Germany, when we returned to the States a couple of years ago, we did not return to our home state. I was heavily involved in the expat community during our time in Germany, and still feel a little like a fish out of water in our new state of California.
My Identity & Communities
I have categorized my identity using Hidalgo’s “Three Levels of Culture” (1993).
Concrete
Behavioral
Symbolic
Reflection
I think the most difficult part of this process was that I wasn’t completely sure where different aspects of my identity fit. I tried not to come into this project with any assumptions, and just started with a free write to generate my identity lists. One of the things I don’t necessarily think about on a daily basis is my multi-cultural background, but it surprised me a little how much it came up across my lists. It has shaped who I am pretty significantly.
My mother’s family moved to the US when they were pregnant with her. Her four siblings were all born on French soil. It’s not something I thought made me different from my peers, until I realized I didn’t have the English words for some of the common language that other English speakers use- like terms of endearment or words of comfort. Those things had always been expressed in French in my household. Even my name has been affected by my culture. My parents settled on the name Brittany, but my grandmother refused to let my mother name me after a province in France my mother had never set foot on. My other cultural identity is Scottish. Though my father’s father passed away when he was a child my heritage was stamped on my features and passed along in my surname. For that reason, I have always felt an even deeper pull to that part of my roots. Even when I didn’t make a big deal about it, everybody else did.
The US is a hodgepodge of different cultures all butting up against and mixing a little with those beside them. While mine may not have been the most common blending, I think it is fairly emblematic of the American experience.
My Communities
For four years, my husband and I lived abroad in Germany, when we returned to the States a couple of years ago, we did not return to our home state. I was heavily involved in the expat community during our time in Germany, and still feel a little like a fish out of water in our new state of California.
References
“CA By the Numbers” (PDF). U.S. Department of State. January 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-06-16.