We have throughout the semester and in the past few classes discussed the assimilation of immigrants into America. A common theme that was discussed was the theme of trying to change who you are to fit the group you are in. In my perspective, it is that many Americans expect perfection from others around them and in return immigrants that come to America try to fit into these norms. This is because of the growing culture of striving for perfection that grew in America. We refer this theme to people that have just immigrated but what about ourselves? For example, when we scroll through our Facebook feed, Instagram feed, or any other types of social media platforms we see pictures of friends who really don’t look the way that they appear. These pictures are of friends that have used filter after filter in this strive for perfection. I think when people think of assimilation they don’t think about this concept. Furthermore, transitioning from one area to the next we change ourselves and sometimes we don’t truly show who we are. When going from high school to college, there might be some things that we do, act, wear, or more to try our best to seem “perfect”. But, I’d argue that it is important for people especially immigrants to stick to their roots and to not be afraid to show the qualities in them that others may view as imperfect.
I’m not sure I understand what you are getting at. How do we filter ourselves on social media? What is the picture that you posted supposed to be illustrating?
On social media, the youth specifically use images of themselves and filter the pictures to make the pictures more appealing to the viewers . In this way we are fitting in with the rest of the social media posts. I was relating this online culture to immigrants fitting in. Also, the picture was just a reference to the cultural assimilation aspect of the post which took place between 1790-1920 where the United States attempted to culturally transform the Native Americans. Overall, I was trying to show how we too go through parts in our lives that we might not necessarily realize to be times where we too are trying to fit within a specific culture. The culture that I also gave an example about in the post was the school culture where at times we may try to fit in.
Understood. Fascinating.