Written by Rutuja Dhore and edited by Mariel Bumanglag and Abigail Romero
Humans are social creatures. As the world becomes more connected through technology, humans have gained access to rapid transit and communication to see more foreign cultures. With the cascading advancement of communication and transportation technology, humanity has been in a cultural shock. Considering the range of values and perspectives of different social groups, the three ways towards the realisation and advancement of cultural diversity are as follows: cultural assimilation, transculturalism and pluralism.
Cultural assimilation is when an individual gives up their original cultural identity to participate fully in their new culture. Nowadays, assimilation can be explained as a “process in which people belonging to the same culture move into a foreign culture and gradually adopt the ways of life of a new culture without which a person is incapable of functioning with minimum effectiveness in the society.” Cultural assimilation is problematic; cultural assimilation encourages the idea that societies are reluctant to tolerate contrasting cultural traditions. This can be observed in politics, fashion, media, marketing, and so on.
Clothing is a direct representation of any particular culture, and how people will portray themselves. These traditional types of clothing represent the culture and symbolize things ranging from purity, fertility, and spirit. When immigrants come to different cities or countries and decide to reside there, they either decide to assimilate or more commonly, immigrants will preserve their traditional clothing between older generations and allow their children to assimilate into the new society more freely. Immigrating to a different country is extremely daunting, so many immigrants will preserve their native dress, food, and culture in general in order to feel more comfortable in a new setting. Usually,the older generations are not as keen to adopt the practices of the foreign country as the younger generation of immigrants probably due to the traditional ideology they have, because they were raised as a part of their home country, as opposed to how younger generations are raised as contributors to the new country that they have immigrated to.
The younger generation of immigrants deals with assimilation a bit differently than their elderly ones. The purpose of assimilation is more so to share a common interest with other people of the same age, where the immigrant, no matter the ethnic background, can feel more comfortable. It is easier for younger people to assimilate and change their perception of their own personal cultural background because they are less connected to the native culture than their parents or grandparents. Nowadays, marketers and researchers are applying cultural assimilation and materialism theories to a unique, growing population in order to gain insight into influences on consumption behaviors and acculturation processes. One such advantage of cultural assimilation could be creativity in the field of fashion which is known to draw inspiration from many cultures that strive to preserve the cultural heritage of an entire civilization. The styles might not only inspire simple motifs and silhouette types, but also weave a story that will eventually find its way into more intricate forms of human clothing. On the other hand, promoting cultural assimilation by outlawing certain parts of people’s cultures may force behavioral changes through legislation. It can create high levels of unlawful societal activities and promote segregation. Along with this, it promotes the marginalisation of the new members to the society due to their resilience to adopt the host culture. Cultural assimilation causes people to lose their family lineage and traditions. Forced assimilation on immigrants is equivalent to cultural genocide.
Sources
Cover Photo sourced from Google
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