Cultural Background Essay Example

Introduction: Cultural Background Essay This paper compares the Philippines and the United States in multiple areas such as norms, values, beliefs, religion, economics, etc. The United States and the Philippines, compared from a sociological perspective, reveal fascinating similarities and differences. While English and Spanish are the most common languages in the U.S., Filipino and English are spoken in the Philippines along with eight major dialects. Filipino was declared the official language in a “compromise” in 1973, but English is still widely used for business and politics in the Philippines (Culture 1). It would seem that the presence of dialects would inject an element of diversity in the culture, slightly mitigating the influence of the mass media. It is a “mixed culture from the blending of foreign influences with native elements….some of the isolated tribes are the only people whose culture remains unadulterated by …influences” (Culture par. 1). They caution that although you can find traditional theatre, literature and love songs in the national language, visitors are more likely to witness “beauty contests, lurid soap operas, violent and sentimental Filipino movies, and local bands perfectly imitating Western pop tunes” (Culture par. 2). Balancing between two different cultures is very challenging. I was born and raised in the Philippines. I came in the United States with my parents when I was 16 yrs old. We decided to migrate here because of the higher standard of living. The rest of the family was also raised for the majority of their lives in the Philippines. In the Philippines, it is a strict custom to always show respect to your elders, never talk back, and take care of your elders. However, here in the United States, it generally isn’t so with the new modern culture emerging. The American culture emphasizes equality, and the product of this is that sometimes power-conflicts may come up from time to time. Equally