Cultural Identity Development Story 2022

RUNNING HEAD: CULTURAL IDENTITY
Title: Cultural Identity Formation
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENYT
Part A- Reflection
An individual is introduced to the construct of culture in his or early childhood days even
before he has the proper understanding of what culture means. Culture is something that
involves the sharing of some common beliefs, ideas, norms, values, and even materialistic things
like attire or food habits among a group of people (Flavell, Thackrah, & Hoffman, 2013). In my
early childhood, I have seen there are various types of children coming to the school who are
accustomed with different types of behaviour and food habits or languages that did not matched
with mine. Later, my father told me that Australia is a country where there are accumulation of
various national cultures. Initially, as I was young the differences used to bother me as their
languages were different from mine and it was hard to communicate. However, because of the
diversity of cultures (Bodkin-Andrews, & Carlson, 2016) one plus point that enticed me in my
childhood was various types of fusion cuisine. I have grown up seeing my family to be an easy
going and friendly one. The level of intimacy within the community and cross community has
been high where people are addressed with first names. My idea of cultural identity grew up
seeing my community giving respect tom privacy and having a normal and tolerant attitudes
towards any kind of religion. I have even joined in my school days, various secular celebrations
that have been initiated and encouraged by our community. One of the primary identity mark that
makes people from any place understand my background is my food habit. My immense love for
burgers and fast food will definitely make any people understand my identity. Another
significant cultural identity that I posses is my habit of “bringing a plate” at any place where I am
invited as guest.

2CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENYT
Part B- Bend it like Beckham
The formation and the subversion of the cultural identities have been beautifully
portrayed by the director, Gurinder Chadha, who put a deliberate autobiographical connotation
which marks the authenticity of the film. The story line of the film follows the story of two
teenage girls of age eighteen, who dreamt of becoming professional soccer players. Though
soccer is a major symbol in the film, the actual theme that the story focuses on is the various
cultural identities and fixations. The film shows how these cultural identities, gender roles and
the cultural differences impact the lives of the characters. The director had deliberately set
England as the topographical base of the film as it is in England where she grew up. Chadha was
born in Africa to an Indian parent and migrated to Britain where she grew up. A severe cultural
identity crisis groped her. She was at a same time, an Indian, African and British again at the
same time were neither of these. The family traditions and the cultural fixations clashed with her
in a daily basis. The main character of the film, Jes Bhamra, is an inhabitant of the West London
who lives with her family that is a traditional Indian Punjabi Sikh background. She dreams of
becoming a soccer player which is highly opposed by her mother since Jes, is a girl (Camporesi,
2013). Here, the director puts in the dilemma in front of the main character to balance between
her heritage and her obsession with soccer playing. Jes is shown to have the part of Indian
Diaspora and resents the traditional agendas that are being imposed upon her by her family.
When Jes is forced to work in the kitchen she is shown to be practicing knee-ups with a cabbage,
or when she is asked to do the laundry, she is shown to play with the clothes rolling those like a
ball. In these frames, Chadha brilliantly shows how Jess is in a cultural fixation ground where
she is at a cultural dilemma where she is confronting her heritage culture and at the same time,
aligning herself with the “most British of British sport.” The director takes into everything that