The first thing that comes to your mind is bilingual. But both ideas are different. Bicultural Hispanics surpass 60% but bilingual Hispanics (people that speaks indistinctively Spanish or English without preferring any of them) are barely a 20%.

The second thing that people believe is that to be bicultural is an ideal status, “the best of two worlds” or the perfect fusion of the cultures. However most of bicultural people struggle in some way between both cultures and perceive a tension or even conflict between the values of both cultures. 

Do you have a definition for Biculturalism? Which are your ideas about Bicultural? 

Are you one of them? If yes get out of the closet and tell us your experience as a Bicultural.  

It’s possible to be really Bicultural? Or it’s just a new stereotype?

Your thoughts, please. 

POST IT AND SHARE IT BELOW.

 

 

(words, images, video or any combination )

 

At first glance Bicultural is usually misidentified with Bilingual. You can be a Span Dom individual and be perfectly Bicultural. Let me take a stab at a definition (without stereotyping, OK?): Bicultural is having a foot on each side.

Taking the best of each side, rather. The convenience and comfort of the Anglo world, with the flavor of the Latino side. This goes beyond the obvious (music, food) but really affects everything in your life. The Family Dynamics, the way we spend money, how we relate to each other, etc. Let me show you some images of Bicultural individuals.

Can you notice how Bicultural they are?

Exactly.

 

AQ

 

Biculturalism - From a Half White, Half Hispanic ... Hispanic

I am bicultural. As far as defining what this means, I can’t really provide a simple definition because being of two cultures has always been difficult for me to understand. My dad is mostly white and my mom is Hispanic, but I consider myself to be Hispanic. Not “of two races” (a choice on surveys). Not white, though I look white. Just Hispanic.

My mom is of third generation and is the oldest of five siblings. Her parents spoke to each other in Spanish, consumed Hispanic media, shopped at Hispanic markets and cooked nothing but native dishes. She says to have learned Spanish during her early childhood but does not speak the language today. I don’t know whether she learned English or Spanish first. What I do know is that she attended public schools during a period in the U.S. when non-English speaking students faced difficulties. My mom and her siblings spoke English and did not care to learn or to speak Spanish. Other than Mexican food, I think they ignored their culture. I don’t know how they all didn’t at least learn the language considering that my grandparents spoke poor English. My aunts and uncles mostly married other third generation Hispanic like themselves. They all still live in Dallas, eat mostly native dishes, they may have a spouse that speaks Spanish . Oh! And they have a strong Texas accent!

As for me, my “biculturalness” is more mixed up than usual. I learned Spanish by staying with my grandparents during the summers and went to public schools when being Hispanic was cool. I look very white, but had Hispanic friends in school and collected ‘Homies’ toys. I embraced my Hispanic culture and thought it was cool to speak Spanish in a Hispanic family that didn't speak Spanish. 

For me, it has always been easy to fit in with either Hispanics or whites. I’m like a chameleon when it comes to features and fitting in. My Hispanic features are more noticeable when I’m with Hispanics or less noticeable when I’m with whites. I'm NOT like a chameleon when it comes to culture. My culture is distinct and mixed up. 

Today, my grandparents rarely speak to me in Spanish because I made the mistake of correcting them while in college and I’m a bit uncomfortable speaking with natives because I don’t want to make mistakes. I watch Spanish movies, consume some Spanish media, speak Spanish at work, eat Mexican food and go to a Mexican club from time to time. That’s bicultural to me.

As for bicultural marketing, I think we do like to choose when online. Furthermore, I think we like to switch our options up - choose English once, Spanish the next or maybe combine the two for a truly bicultural touch. 

Russell (ex-intern, friend) 

 

-----

 

WHY BICULTURAL INTERNET?

 

I just landed from a monoculture market with a great multicultural potential, to find myself in a very strongly bicultural business… In two months here I received a lot of surprises regarding my job, but there’s one specific situation that I wasn’t expecting at all.

I keep on finding the clients asking themselves the same question: If my target is bicultural, why would I need to develop Spanish language communication Online? Why would I make the effort to translate my website, to develop new Spanish ads, when I can reach them using “one of their cultures”.

So as we were trying to break the wall of “my target is uncultured and doesn’t use Interactive tools to communicate” we find our selves looking from the other side of the broken wall were “my target is so cultured, it’s bicultural, so they will be good with one of either languages”.

… but it’s not about the language, it’s about the content.

Bicultural users surf the net in a “Bilingual Mode” choosing what content they want to be served and provide without caring about the language.

They actually choose different languages for information, entertainment, to make transactions, to engage…

So when clients ask me: “Why should I translate?”

The answer is simple: “You shouldn’t”

You should ADAPT your content to communicate with your bicultural target.

Interactive is the tool brands use to speak with their customers, and the customers use it to speak back… it’s the place were conversations take place.

So in order to start the conversation, why don’t you let your customer CHOOSE the language.

Because bicultural is about having the FREEDOM TO CHOOSE how to interact with the world… brands that provide that freedom will surelly have the power to engage their customers all the way with them.

So lets go bicultural on the net!!!

 

Els

 

 

Biculturalism seems to me to be a dichotomy and a paradox; you are both cultures and at the same time, you are neither.—19-year-old first-generation Chinese American

 

My husband wants for our son to start spending vacations on Spain every year because he (a GRINGO) want his son to be not just bilingual but also bicultural. He is also writing BICULTURAL among his son;s strengths in the schools applications. Looks that BICULTURAL is the place to be. Everybody wants to be bicultural, even the WASP. It's because it's aspirational value that we are calling this group BIG: Bicultural Influence Group. LAMAJA

 

It's not easy being Bi!   My german side wants me to be on time.  My Mexican side demands tardiness.

 

 

Bicultural is a term that is no longer relevant.  To believe that our entire society is anything but multicultural is outdated and not true. 
In the new world with modern technology, we are not limited to two cultures.  What truly distinguishes people is their cultural identity and what they claim as their own. 
In the modern multicultural environment of today, people will become more accepting of cultural differences, identify with unexpected values / beliefs and inevitably become more unique individuals. 

Multiculturalism is complicated, but very interesting.

This doesn't mean that two cultures can't play a dominant role, but people will not be defined by two cultures alone.

joel

It's almost a joke that we are talking about biculturalism in the hispanic market and we are making this diestepedia just in English, deja que empecemos tambien a hablar espanol en este espacio bicultural porque aunque bicultural no sea lo mismo que bilingue, es dificil habalr de biculturalismo sin pejar que el lenguaje de tu otra culture aflore... 

Y ademas que pasa con las casas/familias donde estamos gente de dos culturas, latina  americana? Quizas nosotros no seamos biculturales tomados por separado pero nuestro hogar si lo es. Y en el caso de familias latinas donde los papas son foreign born y los hijos son nacidos y educados aqui? Son biculturales o co-culturales? Una nueva palabreja.

 

 

 

 

For a long time, ethnic diversity was not embraced, and immigrant populations coming to this country were required to assimilate into the greater American culture. In fact, the Immigration Act of 1924 was designed to maintain America’s greatly white, northern European ethnic makeup with a federal law that limited the number of immigrants from any country to 2% of the number from that country already in US in 1890. And while the quota concept was finally abolished in the mid 1960's, that had already become the basis of new laws and therefore the numbers admitted to America continued to favor white Europeans and their descendants.

 

Yet, despite those quotas, America as we know it today was deeply influenced by the cultures and ethnicities that crossed the borders in the past. Innumerable aspects of their cultures of origin permeated within US pop culture, and a process much more akin to acculturation occurred to our society.

 

Today America’s melting pot is even more promising in this sense. The spectacular changes in the ethnic composition, information technology and transportation  are impacting the way people perceive themselves and others, the way we coexist in American society, and even how we define “American.” 

 

In today’s increasingly diverse and mobile world, growing numbers of individuals have internalized more than one culture and can be described as bicultural or multicultural. In fact, one out of every four individuals residing in the United States has lived in another country before moving to the United States  (U.S. Census, 2002) and, I'd like to think, has internalized more than one culture. These impressive statistics do not include U.S.-born ethnic and cultural minorities (e.g., descendants of immigrants) for whom identification and involvement with their ethnic cultures in addition to mainstream culture is also the norm.

 

“The younger generations are embracing a much more diverse reality. Youth culture these days is a hyperactive mish-mash of culture, race, sexuality and gender roles all fueled by the steroids of music and technology.” Karl Carter, co-founder of Inner City Enterprises

 

The youth of today is growing up with a variety of influences, instead of adopting them later in life, as it happened in the past. They are not appropriating culture as though they were shaped by it, but rather they view it all as their own. They feel as culture creators and participate in the development and understanding of it.

 

When looking at these new multicultural society flourishing freely in multiethnic urban markets we see how their individuals behave inclusively proud of their own ethnicity. They are open to influences from all cultures and showing that their identity is originated in culture and not imposed at birth.

 

 “I’m a big mix of Puerto Rican, Irish, Haitian, Portuguese and African, but I consider myself Hispanic.” NY, blogger.

 

Yet the process of negotiating multiple cultural identities is complex and multifaceted.  The work on bicultural identity integration of Haritatos & Benet-Martinez quantifies how bicultural individuals often talk about their dual cultural heritage in complicated ways and in both positive and negative terms. As we know, biculturalism is associated with feelings of pride, uniqueness, and a rich sense of community and history, but also with identity confusion, dual expectations, and value clashes. Biculturals also  struggle with issues with multiple racial stereotypes and pressures from the different communities for loyalties and behaviors.

 

Half breed

 

According to Synovate, Bicultural Hispanics would represent a 68% of the total Hispanic population. They are a tremendously influential group, regarded as cultural embassadors for those wanting to learn more about Hispanic culture (retroacculturation) and also as bridge to ease the path within the American system for others. Experts in navigating between cultures, they are the aspirational center of the community.

 

Although many traits are shared within this ample group, it’s necessary to say that the individuals variations in sociodemographics (e.g., age, education), cognitive (e.g., personality, attitudes) and emotional factors (stress, discrimination) modify their behaviour accordingly.

 

Latino identity quest

Biculturalism es como ser anfibio... de un territorio a otro, una lengua a otra, una cultura a otra... de forma indistinta, sintiendote comodo no importa el ambiente cultural en el que te encuentres. No si si ser bicultural es aspiracional pero a mi me da mucha envidia.

La maja

 

Be bicultural is take the best of both words ! Im proud of being a Latina, Im proud of my culture and I dont want to loose it . On the other side, I like the US way and I enjoy life here. I feel that I influence my American colleagues (all of them like my "brigadeiros") as much as they influence me which I think is a great advantage to both of us. No pain. Its a symbiotic relationship, healthy and full of enjoyment. carla

 

Being bicultural is in a way being able to spend and awesome time with your anglo friends, as well as having a blast with your latino ones. Being able to switch from culture to culture and embrace both of them.

 

Bicultural means that you have a mix of two cultures, but that’s as far as we can go to define being bicultural. There are no guidelines as of how a bicultural person should act, behave, or believe in. If I choose to practice certain things, don’t follow certain holidays, or know nothing about a certain subject related to one of my cultures still makes me bicultural? What happens if I choose to ignore or accentuate one of my cultures? Do I have to inherit both cultures, or can I adopt/assimilate a third one? (If I live abroad or just enjoy learning more about a specific culture.) What are the limits and implications?

Whether a person perceives to be 2% gringo and 98% Hispanic or the other way around, the important thing to note is that BOTH cultures come into play and should not be ignored (specially by marketing.)

AMM

 

To be bicultural is to span two different cultures unapologetically.  Taking the good, the bad and the ugly.  Moving seamlessly between the two.  Embracing the duality and creating something new and self defining.  It is not limited to ethnic cultures but also geographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle cultures as well.  The possibilities are endless.  In today’s world if you are mono-cultural you are an anomaly.   

Special K