Cultural and National Identity in the Midst

¶ … Cultural and National Identity

In the midst of globalization, cultures are coming together unlike ever before. As a result, refugees and immigrants are faced with challenging circumstances that threaten to weaken their national or cultural identity. This essay will explore two examples of how individuals strive to maintain their identity in this new and changing world.

In Cyberspace in Diaspora, we learn about the Eritrean Diaspora and how they are using the internet to maintain their cultural and national identity (Bernal, 2006). Through the internet the Eritreans debate issues concerning the history, culture, democracy, and identity of their country. This community has raised money for war, arranged demonstrations, created nation-building projects, and have influenced to Eritrean government, all while residing in various countries around the world. They also have a web board titled "Dehai: Eritrea OnLine" (www.dehai.org) which they use to maintain a sense of community and communicate about political and cultural matters.

Another example can be seen in Spirit Catches and You Fall Down, which tells the story of Foua and Nao Kao (Fadiman, 1998). They are part of a large, close-knit Hmong group living in Merced, California, and are all refugees from Laos. Unlike most refugees, The Hmong are quite resistant to assimilation, preferring to live by their strong beliefs and adhering to their valued rituals. Foua and Nao's daughter, Lia Lee, is three-month-old and has been experiencing seizures. They take her to the hospital where she is diagnosed with epilepsy and prescribed anticonvulsants. According to the doctors, her seizures are caused by her cerebral neurons misfiring. However, according to the Hmong, all illnesses and healing are linked to the spiritual world. They refer to her daughter's illness as qaug dab peg (i.e. The spirit catches you and you fall down) and say that it was caused by her soul wandering. Thus, they do not accept the medication from the doctor; rather, they attempt to heal her through animal sacrifices.

Ambiguity of People

Not everyone fits clearly into distinctive categories. Some individuals are born as male and female. Others look white but are in fact black. Others still may look like adults but feel like children. Thus, this essay will explore this concept further by discussing two examples of how people can experience ambiguity between groups or categories of people.

The first example comes from an article titled, Labour of Love (Beatie, 2008). It tells the story of a transgender who is legally male and legally married to his wife, Nancy. During his sex reassignment surgeries he decided to maintain his reproductive abilities. He states, "wanting to have a biological child is nether a male nor female desire, but a human desire" (Beatie, 2008, par 3). He and his wife always wanted to have a child; however, Nancy had to have a hysterectomy which resulted in the loss of her reproductive abilities. Thus, they decided that he would carry their child. He stopped taking his testosterone medication and after about four months his body regulated itself. In order to get pregnant he did not take any medication or fertility drugs; but rather, purchased anonymous donor vials from a sperm bank. Although he finally did become pregnant, he went through a total of nine doctors. Most refused to work with him or stopped working with him before the process was complete because they did not feel comfortable.