Member of a Co-Culture

When we say culture, we basically are talking about an umbrella terms that encompasses the knowledge, beliefs, values, morals, customs and other habits acquired by members of a specific society such as Americans or Japanese. While there is the overall global culture and a number of national cultures, there are always co-cultures operating within them. Kearney and Plax (2001) define co-cultures as "culturally diverse groups distinguished by such factors as race or ethnicity, gender, and profession" (3). If a Japanese-American lives in the U.S., such an individual is a member of the American national culture and the Japanese-American co-culture. As a Puerto Rican-American, I am a member of the national American culture and my own co-culture.

While in the Navy I was stationed in Sasebo, Japan, and as a Puerto Rican-American was a member of a co-culture in Japanese society. One aspect of culture this taught me is that people belong to several co-cultures at the same time. The different manner of dress, the different manner of eating and different foods, the different methods of communication and other aspects of Japanese culture influenced me greatly. I discovered that Japanese culture has distinct methods of communicating in comparison to Puerto Rican or U.S. culture. Puerto Ricans are typically highly expressive and intense when speaking and responsive and agreeable as listeners. The Japanese are a highly collectivistic culture, one high in both power distance and con

ld about U.S. culture. My own vision of culture is dramatically different now than it was before I lived in the U.S. or entered the military. Being Puerto Rican and living in the U.S., I certainly have experienced cultural exclusion by mainstream American culture. Such exclusion has involved such things as prejudice, stereotyping, name calling, and inappropriate humor. I believe such views stem from ethnocentrism, the belief that one's own culture has inherent value above all others. My experiences in Japan and the U.S. taught me that we are all part of a co-culture and in order to communicate well we need to become more culturally inclusive. Tolerance, respect, adaptation, learning and understanding the value orientations of other cultures and a variety of other measures promote cultural inclusion. For example, when I was in Japan I was at first put off by some of the cuisine and manner of dress. Once home, I came to yearn for authentic Japanese cuisine in the U.S. I also found the loose clothing of the Japanese and their more meditative lifestyle refreshing in comparison to the more rigid and fast pace of U.S. culture. Falling back on assumptions or relying on stereotypes can prevent such learning and deeper understand

Category: Psychology - M