Assimilation is when a person moves to an other culture and loses their home culture identity and then gains their new home culture. Living and growing up in the United States although I didn't personally experience this I have met a lot of people who have done this with their culture. In elementary school I met lots of kids who came from other countries and had different cultures than me. As we grew up together I learned that those kids started saying I am an American and they associated their selves with the American culture.
I believe the photo above demonstrates assimilation because out of all the countries, The United States has a variety of people that come from different cultures who then because Americans. Tons of people from around the country want to come to America because they want to have their freedom and certain opportunities they don't have in their country. When these people come to The United States from their home country they lose their culture and then obtain the American culture. This does not just happen in The United States, but also in various countries all around the world. People also can be from America and leave to another country and gain a new culture and lose their own.
Culture Shock
Is when someone enters a different culture not prepared to discover that things are operated differently when it comes to technolgy, food, and many other things that causes that person to become stressed out. As for me I have never experienced this because I grew up in the United States my whole life, but I have met many people who have experienced culture shock. As a little girl I play with many little kids who came from different cultures and would share their culture shock experiences with me. One I remeber was when a girl I knew would dress differently than me and other kids because the clothes she owned was from her home which was Indonesia. I knew other kids would tease her and make fun of the type of clothes she wore, but she didnt know why because back where she was from the clothes she had were considered cool. When she found out the reason she became really embarresed and anxiety which caused her to buy new clothes.
I chose the photo above to demonstrate culture shock because when you come to America girls ware a lot of revealing clothing which can cause people to be really shocked, mad and stressed out because they may not know that this is the style American women use. I know that some women in the middle east show hardly any skin or the hair on their head and if they were to see women like this walking around on the beach they may be really angry, but this is how the American culture is.
Cant
Cant is a specialized vocabulary that is used by a nonprofessional subgroup, mainly truck drivers. As a little girl my father was a truck driver, but I don't remember my dad using a special type of language or sharing with me the trucker language. Once when I was off from school I had the opportunity to go with my dad to work early in the morning and I don't recall him speaking to his coworkers with the specialized vocabulary cant. I just recently learned from this class what a CB radio is which is a walkie talkie device that is used to communicate with other truck drivers. While using this special CB radio they use cant to speak to one another that helps them understand each other while outsiders cant.
In this video we can learn a few terms from their cant language that truck drivers use to communicate. This video was helpful to me because a lot of the terms they use to inform one another I didn't know before. In the video the main terms they use are to inform one another when a cop is near or where they are located. One term I liked the best was"evil knievel" which means a cop on a motorcycle which seems easy to remeber and also fun to remember.
Above is a picture of a CB radio, that is used by truckers while driving on the road to communicate with other truck drivers. I feel that the photo above is important because if you were to show me this picture before learning about the CB radio I could not tell you exactly what it is. CB radios are important part of the trucker culture so I feel like while learning about their culture it is also important to learn about the CB radio as well. Some truckers may use this to inform one another where cops are located, but most of the time they use it to talk to others when they are bored.
Homophobia
Homophobia is when a person has a fear of gay men and lesbians. This is when people believe that if you are not heterosexual then you are not normal and that heterosexual is male dominance. Growing up in high school I met different people who were not heterosexual, but it never really had any affect on me. They all seemed the same as me and I didn't feel like I needed to judge them based on their sexuality. Although I felt that way I know other classmates didn't feel the same. A friend of mine who I occasionally talked to seemed to be really against homosexuals. When he would see a couple or even someone he knew who was homosexual walking by he would criticize them with mean comments and jokes to belittle them. I usually would just ignore him, but never really stood up for the people he would make fun of I just thought maybe if I didn't say anything back he would stop.
The photo above I feel is a good example of what happens to people who are homosexuals by people who are homophobic. Some people feel that it is appropriate to beat a person based on their sexuality because they are not heterosexual. This is known as hate crimes which have happened many times in the past and are stilling happening in the present. I don't believe this happens as much as it use to because TV shows and movies have brought awareness to many people about these hate crimes occur when someone who is homosexual is attacked for a reason that is not valid.
Above is a rainbow colored flag which is known by most people as the symbol for homosexuals. I know from some homosexuals that they really enjoy this symbol because they can Identify with it as their culture and represent it by wearing bracelets, shirts, and many other ways. On the other side some homosexuals believe that this symbol is degrading and making fun of their culture. They might believe that people such as homosexuals use this rainbow symbol to identify them and uses it to joke about them and criticize.
Argot(Gay Speak)
The argot of the gay community is known as "gayspeak" which is obtained when someone becomes apart of the gay community. This argot is usually used in front of people who are not gay, in front of other gay people, and in the setting of radical gay activist. In high school I had various friends who were associated with the gay community, although I was their friends I wasn't apart of the gay speak so I never really knew anything about it. I just thought they used the same terms and argot as everyone else. I find it interesting that the gay community has their own culture and gay speak.
The above video is really interesting to me because although I do have friends who are in the gay community I don't hang out with them all the time so I don't notice certain terms they may use. Terms I learned in this video like "Coins" which means hundreds of dollars rather than quarters and dimes. I find this interesting to learn because I grew up learning that coin wasn't much money, but in gay speak they use it to mean a lot of money. Another term I found interesting is "kiki" which means funny or someone who looks funny. Growing up I always watched this movie called Kiki which I loved, but other than that I have never heard of that word and its surprising that in gay speak they use it associated with funny.
