ENG317-Devnie Apodaca

     People recognize certain nationalities with cultural markers such as appearance, fashion, food and music. In my case, I am more familiar with what belongs as Mexican cultural markers where people assume Spanish speakers are Mexican, where tacos are considered Mexican food, or determining that any type of Spanish music belongs to the culture of Mexican American.  In reality not all of it does though, which is what this book states on how people change to fit in better with what is ‘American’. This relates to what Adiche states where majority of society would consider dark skin individuals to be African American even though there roots do not come from Africa, that is their classification. People classify certain aspects of different cultures to keep them categorized and informed on where they came from or belong. These cultural markers highlight a sense of identity that allows people to distinguish where the roots are coming from.      All these markers serve as identifiers to America; to start off appearance is a cultural marker that is always being altered in order to fit in, it is the first thing any person sees of a person. Infemelu tries to avoid this by trying to fit in and not feel like an outsider. She changes to an American accent and straightens her hair and then goes on to obtain a fake identity to find work. This allows a bit of the social judgments to decrease by categorizing where she belonged or where she came from. She discusses Michelle Obama and Beyoncé, two known African American women, and how their hair would affect the view of the public and the thought of them if they would allow it to be natural. “I have to take my braids out for my interviews and relax my hair… If you have braids, they will think you are unprofessional.” She states it would look unsophisticated and undone, but in reality this is their natural hair. People dye their hair different colors to fit in a different group, for instance, blonde is a popular hair color and it is mainly natural for Caucasians. That is where that color falls in category. The purpose of changing one’s hair is because they say they’re in a country that is not theirs and one has to do what you have to do if they want to succeed.      Additionally, hair is one of the biggest cultural markers used throughout the novel. It symbolizes how the American society created a new look they must achieve with their hair to fit in, where their natural hair is not as beautiful as the “American” women’s hair. Finally, deciding to stay true to her natural roots over the artificial hair the others would choose, Infemelu embraces her African American independence. She states, “You're always battling to make your hair do what it wasn't meant to do” because as stated before these women straighten their hair to make it fit in with society. In the Mexican culture I believe the most traditional hair style is in two braids. This hair style is done during festive days for Mexicans, so it is very common to see them on Mexicans. What also connects to this is how these braids are named after their roots, such as the French braid, the Dutch braid and the Mexican braid. They are all different except they are distinguished by how they’re made and can be classified at sight just as humans are classified at sight.      Not only the way people style their hair but also the way they dress has a lot to do as a cultural marker. Moreover, the way a person dresses is a way of expressing modesty to your culture, depending on moral values, religion, political views and the environment is how someone will dress. By clothing yourself according to the culture one wants to fit in satisfaction is felt and encouragement to be part of the social relationship groups without having a cultural tag.  What you wear influences thinking and the outlook towards your own life as well as identifying what culture you’re in. The clothes one wears also categorizes the different classes you’re in and where you are ranked in society. For example, people like to buy branded items to fit in the middle or higher classes. Another example is people wearing uniforms and the culture they are a part of such as doctors or policemen. The value of clothes shows the value the value you have in society. People dress up to fit the part in society, for example in America during your wedding as a bride you wear a white long dress but in other countries this is not the case. Clothing helps people believe they belong to a certain group and gives them distinction from other cultures.      Aside from clothing connecting as a cultural marker, food is another aspect of it. Adding to this, people also use food to connect to their cultural identity. People with different backgrounds are accustomed to their family tradition food and how they prepare it. The preparation, the ingredients and type of food all goes back to the culture one comes from. We associate many countries with food and categorize them after the country they supposedly come from. For example, we crave Italian food but what necessarily is that? We know it as pizza, pasta and wine but of course there is much more than what we consider that culture. When we crave Mexican food we think tacos, beans, rice and margaritas but in reality this is just a cultural marker we use for this nation. We now search what culture of food we feel like eating whether it’s Mediterranean, Thai, Chinese, French, American, etc. Then we also state we want ‘authentic’ but what is considered authentic? Authenticity, is the preparation and result of how it would be expected to be done in that country of the food you’re having.      Many characteristics come together to form a culture such as appearance, hair in specific, fashion and food/music. Individuals that migrate over are torn between two cultures and the expectations to fit in but also keep their roots. This is where most have cultural identification problems and decide to change. Like the Nigerians, once they change and follow the American culture they begin to call them Americanah. The same goes for Mexican culture, when you go and visit Mexico they just begin to tell you “Gringo/a” which means a native speaker of English but is unrelated to race or their original culture. Although there are many cultural markers these are the main ones that distinguish groups and how they are characterized.

Growing up stories were told to me by my grandmother of her experience coming to the US from Mexico. The process was long and hard as many have heard. Sacrifices were made whether it was leaving loved ones behind or living in a not so healthy environment. I can only imagine how it would be for any other individuals to migrate over from any other country. Focusing on the positive and the chance America seemed to have was what got them all here, including my grandmother. But was it really the American dream? Or was it more of a job to be free. Is it easier to come as an adult or a child? Being a Chinese immigrant, moving to the United States to live the American dream is a goal that many desire to gain a new life with opportunity. As an adult, you migrate over with the goal of working for the rest of our life and making money for you and your loved ones. As a child, you enter confused and not knowing what to expect, in Kwok’s book, Kim is known as the translator. As a child she has a lot of responsibility by making it in school, helping her mother and living her own personal life.  However, Kim’s community, the world she works in, and the culture she inherits shows the challenges her mother and herself have to face before they can get to the goal they both dreamed of. First off, the main challenge Kim and her mother face is the living conditions they are given. They live in the projects, in an empty apartment complex, with only a mattress on the floor, which was soon to be under foreclosure within a few years of living there. Kwok gives an accurate insight of how immigrants isolate themselves and try not to get to much attention from others since they are just trying to survive. Having come to America with nothing but debt, they owed Ma’s sister for bringing them over, in an unfamiliar new world really portrays the struggle of what immigrants face. This relates to what my grandmother experienced because she was with five other women in a one bedroom apartment sleeping on the floor with nothing. Since they also don’t have money to fix up the place they must live through winter in a heater less apartment with only toy wool that they found. This relates to my grandma’s experience as she first got here, it wasn’t as bad but they didn’t have a heater and they needed to pile about 3 blankets. Secondly, the world of work is much more difficult for immigrants. Usually they tend to obtain low income, life threatening, long hours and corrupt setting type of jobs.  Kim and her mother are basically working for free, working in an unhealthy environment a clothes factory where they are barely making approximately 10 cents per skirt and still getting stripped of those hard worked earnings from abusive, Ma’s sister. From the experience I’ve heard, immigrants always start at the minimal amount possible to give and they do have to pay the smuggler which in this case is the aunt. The working adults were required to have their children work since they were able to start doing so in order to make more money for the family and finish faster. Majority of the things in the factory were done illegally, the children, the payments, and the people working there. Not only is work at the factory, but is also work at school for Kim. Kim believes education is her only way out to have a better life and to save her mother from the life she is currently living. This is true because as I am an American citizen my grandma will always state to finish school, it is what is going to give me a better life than the one she gave my mom and my mother also took those words and actually moved my grandma out of that part of her life because of the education she received her in the united states. Most immigrants take education as an advantage they take to help and make their family proud; aside from family, education is very important. “Chinatown looked very much like Hong Kong, although the streets were less cramped.” (Kwok, 29) They both identified themselves in the community of that town due to the familiarity of the language and display of their culture surrounding them.  Being an immigrant it feels nice to feel like you belong somewhere. Even today we still have Chinatowns all over the US, including one here in Phoenix which I have visited and is very similar to what she described in the book. Many cultures have different beliefs and in Girl in translation, culture permeates their life, they go to weekly prayers in Chinatown and they follow their beliefs. This is seen when Kim says “According to Feng Shui principles, the door to the bathroom cast a ray of unclean energy into the kitchen.” (Kwok, 14) Here, although they don’t have much to work with they still try their best to please the gods. I know that even today my whole family and I still follow our cultural beliefs because it is an important detail of identity and where you come from. It allows you to still connect to your roots. Finally, analyzing how the book presents immigration is actually intriguing because it does accurately explain the struggles a mother and daughter alone would go through. Kwok explains how Kim and her mother go through an uprising world of decisions and encounters in order to achieve the life they wanted. In the real world, nothing is handed down and especially not to immigrants, instead it is much harder for them. Especially working without papers and being treated fairly. Not only that but attending school, being an immigrant it can be hard to fit in and learn new concepts in a different language. Not only that, but where one must live for the first few years shows they must work even harder to overcome the trials that comes with whether it be rodents, no heater, one room or no food. A lot of people don’t see these struggles because it has been so long that their ancestors have migrated over, but for those who do they know their parents or great grandparent’s stories.

Kwok, J. (2010) Girl in Translation. New York, NY: Penguin Group, Inc.