Cultural Identity Development and Formation: A Critical Analysis

This essay delves into the multifaceted concept of cultural identity formation, exploring how individuals develop a sense of self within diverse cultural contexts. The essay begins with a personal reflection on the student's own cultural identity, highlighting the influence of family, community, and personal experiences. It then analyzes the film 'Bend it like Beckham' as a case study, examining how the film portrays the challenges and complexities of navigating cultural identity, gender roles, and racial discrimination. The analysis focuses on the protagonist's struggle to balance her heritage with her personal aspirations, and how the film addresses issues of tradition, assimilation, and the formation of hybrid identities. The essay also explores themes of racial discrimination, gender roles, and the impact of cultural fixations on individuals and communities. The essay uses academic references to support the arguments. Overall, the essay provides a critical analysis of cultural identity development and its portrayal in contemporary media.

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

3CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENYT
could have been an abstract, internalised dilemma and portrays it visually on to the screen in a
manner that prompts empathy.
In the portrayal of the family of Jes, the director has infused as a metaphor a various
Indian rules and beliefs that are typical in forming the Indian identity. Culture is shown to have
played a crucial role in Bhamra family. As defined by Conley, culture is “a way of life created by
human.” This allusion to human is definitely the idea of a collective mass that practice some set
traditions. The Bhamra family lived in a place, which is known for being a community having
high Indian population. These families though have migrated in Britain since a long time, India,
having a tradition of high context cultures, tried to retain their cultural identities (Thomas, &
Røthing, 2017). They could never integrate themselves whole-heartedly with the culture they are
inhabiting in. Jes is shown to have not many of friends outside their circles because the family
feared to have lost their sense of tradition coming in contact with the Western Culture which they
thought might have a negative influence on their daughter’s ways of life and possibly ruin their
chances of becoming a modest Indian Lady according to the parameter of Indian cultures (Bird,
2018). Her mother always nags her to marry quickly- “I was married at your age! You don’t even
want to learn how to cook dhal!” The tradition of Indian woman also forbids one to show more
of skin in public. Accordion to Mrs. Bhamra, Jes is bringing disrespect upon the family by
wearing shorts and showing her legs to a whole gallery of people. Her mother is also of the view
that playing any kind of sport is disrespectful for Indian woman. The cultural fixation is also
evident when Jes argues about the fact that it is unfair that a man will have full liberty of living
her desired life and coming back home any time he wishes to while a lady will have to leave
their dreams (Malhotra, 2013).

4CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENYT
The film also addresses the idea and taboo against homosexuality through the eyes of Jes.
When she came to know that Tony is a homosexual, she, the one who had been despising Indian
culture for long, seems to have retaining some basic taboos as she says- “but you are an Indian”.
The Indian Journal of Psychiatry views that “Prejudice against different lifestyles is a part of
many culture, incorporated into most religions and is a source of conflict in Indian society”
(Vanita, 2013). Sikh culture views homosexuality as a sign of lust which is according to them
one among the five vices of human life. (Chacko, & Menon, 2013). Jess, though has been
inhabiting for a long time in Britain could not get fully rid of the conventions and beliefs. Thus
she was shocked and amazed to learn Tony’s sexual orientation.
In the film, there is a detailed focus on the gender roles. Gender roles, in general is
defined, as “the culturally defined behaviours deemed appropriate for a man or a woman.”
(Larrain, 2013). Jess is shown to be defying the cultural boundaries of the gender roles, as she
shows no interest in cooking or doing household stuffs. Moreover, her obsession with soccer
seems to have been ruining her chances to get integrated within the cultural construct that has
been defined by the society.
Another major issue identified in the film is the portrayal of racial discrimination in the
context of culture. Mr Bhamra is fearful of letting her daughter play soccer in the field as he
thought others of different communities like the way he was hurt several years back would also
hurt her. Ethno centrism is one of the major cultural barriers that have been identified by the
critics. The idea of judging other cultural construct in a biased and often negative manner is an
essential obstacle for the proper cross-cultural communication and relation set up. Stereotyping a
particular culture enhances the tendency of ethno centrism, which has been identified in the film
as well. Mr Bhamra has evidently faced various racial discrimination in the British land, in his

5CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENYT
past days as he recalls how he was a deft fast bowler in Nairobi and how he had been
disrespected and bullied in England for his Turban. This has played a great role in influencing
his views against the politics in the land. As a result, Jess thought it to be wise to hide her love
for soccer in front of her father so that it does not hurt him. With the progress of the film, Jess is
showed to have genuinely encountered some racial discrimination in the field. She was given off
a red card while she fights back with one of her opponent who previously pushed her back and
hurled something abusive against her culture. This affected Jess to a large extent incurring anger
and distraught.
In the constant shuffle between her own culture and the culture where she is growing up,
Chadha has perhaps tried to show Jess as an individual who is trying to form her “own” culture
by means of inventing however little yet symbolic culture. In the film, the affection for a
particular culture and the setting up of a connection towards the same has not been always
reciprocated. She loved sports with all her heart; however, she could not fit herself with the pitch
of the ground. She had no fellow Indian teammate or a coach who could understand her
situations. The film has shown to have put Jess into various traditional situations where she is
making Indian foods or dancing in the occasion of her sister’s marriage or trying to drape a pink
sari. These scenes are juxtaposed with the scenes where she is trying to pursue her dreams for
football. The film has been able to make the viewers get better view about the invention of the
hybrid identity that Jess has been able to develop. She not is shown to project herself only as an
Indian girl who is not ignoring her rots but also as an individual who is reluctant to dedicate her
life in preparing foods or correcting her appearances. (Hall, 2014)
In the nomenclature of the film, there is also great depiction of metaphor for the fixation
of the gender roles as a cultural dogma that Jess has to follow. The director told that the

6CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENYT
metaphor is generated from the David Beckham’ s trademark kick that allowed the ball to curl so
that it looked like it was going in a particular way, but in midair it swayed around hitting the
back of the goal. Jess could see her goal but instead of going there straight, she has to twist her
path and bend the rules. (Bisin, Patacchini, Verdier, & Zenou, 2016)

7CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENYT
Reference List:
Bird, S. E. (2018). Dressing in feathers: The construction of the Indian in American popular
culture. Routledge.
Bisin, A., Patacchini, E., Verdier, T., & Zenou, Y. (2016). Bend it like Beckham: Ethnic identity
and integration. European Economic Review, 90, 146-164.
Bodkin-Andrews, G., & Carlson, B. (2016). The legacy of racism and Indigenous Australian
identity within education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(4), 784-807.
Camporesi, S. (2013). Bend it like Beckham! The ethics of genetically testing children for
athletic potential. Sport, ethics and philosophy, 7(2), 175-185.
Chacko, E., & Menon, R. (2013). Longings and belongings: Indian American youth identity, folk
dance competitions, and the construction of ‘tradition’. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36(1),
97-116.
Flavell, H., Thackrah, R., & Hoffman, J. (2013). Developing Indigenous Australian cultural
competence: a model for implementing Indigenous content into curricula. Journal of
Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 4(1), 39.
Hall, S. (2014). Cultural identity and diaspora. In Diaspora and visual culture (pp. 35-47).
Routledge.

8CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENYT
Larrain, J. (2013). Ideology and cultural identity: Modernity and the third world presence. John
Wiley & Sons.
Malhotra, R. (2013). Being different: An Indian challenge to western universalism. Harpercollins
India.
Mandair, A. P. S., Shackle, C., & Singh, G. (2013). Sikh religion, culture and ethnicity.
Routledge.
Thomas, P., & Røthing, Å. (2017). Exploring feminism in a multicultural classroom: using Bend
it Like Beckham as a tool in a high school class. Intercultural education, 28(3), 250-268.
Vanita, R. (2013). Queering India: Same-sex love and eroticism in Indian culture and society.
Routledge.