Identity
Contents:
Introduction: How time changes.
• Historical Values: Does our past have a link to the present.
• Gender, generalising identity
• My decision
Conclusion:
How society culture differs from over a period, how we link the past to the present. How Samoan culture relates to Sociology of the Imagination.
As Samoan, midwife student.
Introduction: What was then is not now.
My parents had emigrated from Samoa to New Zealand to make a better life for them; settling into a foreign country, was a bit over whelming for my mother, learning a new language was frustrating, but in time, she managed, developing new skills that would help her to maintain a lifestyle here and also her obligations back home. My mother also found the culture particular difficult, trying hard to adapt in this new environment. My mum raised in a society where tradition and religion values were strong in her upbringing, there seemed to be none here in her newfound community. My mother had to learn to adapt to the change. My father on the other hand had no problems at all, leaving the values that he once lived by meant nothing to him now, as his newfound passion was working and spending his money on alcohol which lead to physically abusing my mother. “Fa’asamoa is the umbilical cord that attaches Samoans to their culture. Its meaning for Samoans in their native land will be somewhat different, or have different emphases, than for those in New Zealand” (Mulitalo, 1998),
Generalising Identity/Gender
My parents have five children, I am the third eldest but the eldest daughter, the pressure being a female in a Samoan family is enormous, having to deal with the strict rules and the implication of my actions. The amount of responsibility I had to deal with, taking care of my parents, making sure every day the house was clean, cooking, looking after my younger sibling. I would say it is like taking on a mother’s role at a young age, “A
Introduction: How time changes.
• Historical Values: Does our past have a link to the present.
• Gender, generalising identity
• My decision
Conclusion:
How society culture differs from over a period, how we link the past to the present. How Samoan culture relates to Sociology of the Imagination.
As Samoan, midwife student.
Introduction: What was then is not now.
My parents had emigrated from Samoa to New Zealand to make a better life for them; settling into a foreign country, was a bit over whelming for my mother, learning a new language was frustrating, but in time, she managed, developing new skills that would help her to maintain a lifestyle here and also her obligations back home. My mother also found the culture particular difficult, trying hard to adapt in this new environment. My mum raised in a society where tradition and religion values were strong in her upbringing, there seemed to be none here in her newfound community. My mother had to learn to adapt to the change. My father on the other hand had no problems at all, leaving the values that he once lived by meant nothing to him now, as his newfound passion was working and spending his money on alcohol which lead to physically abusing my mother. “Fa’asamoa is the umbilical cord that attaches Samoans to their culture. Its meaning for Samoans in their native land will be somewhat different, or have different emphases, than for those in New Zealand” (Mulitalo, 1998),
Generalising Identity/Gender
My parents have five children, I am the third eldest but the eldest daughter, the pressure being a female in a Samoan family is enormous, having to deal with the strict rules and the implication of my actions. The amount of responsibility I had to deal with, taking care of my parents, making sure every day the house was clean, cooking, looking after my younger sibling. I would say it is like taking on a mother’s role at a young age, “A
References: Cox, C. (1993). Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd, 1993 Keller, H, Lohanus.A, Kuensemueller Pairman, S. (2010). Midwifery Preparation for Practice 2nd ed Midwives Handbook for Practice (2008) New Zealand College of Midwives (2000) Dunmore Press Limited Weiss.H, Kreider.H.M, Lopez Withers-Stewart, R. (2011) Women’s Studies Journal, Volume 25, Number 1, 47-68