Editing Cultural identity (section)

==Description==
[[File: Child With Flag.jpg|thumb|Child with flag and a firearm]]
Various modern [[cultural studies]] and [[social theories]] have investigated cultural identity and understanding. In recent decades, a new form of identification has emerged that breaks down the understanding of the individual as a coherent whole subject into a collection of various cultural identifiers. These cultural identifiers may be the result of various conditions including: [[Location (geography)|location]], [[Gender role|sex]], [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], [[history]], [[nationality]], [[language]], [[sexual orientation|sexuality]], [[religious beliefs]], [[ethnicity]], [[aesthetics]], and [[food]].<ref>Stefanie Siebenhütter: ''The multilingual profile and its impact on identity: Approaching the difference between multilingualism and multilingual identity or linguistic identity''. Ampersand. 10 (2023) 100123.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amper.2023.100123.</ref><ref>Stefanie Siebenhütter: ''Sociocultural Influences on Linguistic Geography: Religion and Language in Southeast Asia.'' In: Brunn, S., Kehrein, R. (eds) Handbook of the Changing World Language Map (pp. 1–19).  Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73400-2_84-1.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-9151 | doi=10.25358/openscience-9151 | date=2023 | last1=Siebenhütter | first1=Stefanie | title=Multiple identities of multilingual minorities? How religious values and other extralinguistic practices influence the social, national and personal identity formation }}</ref> As one author writes:<ref>{{Cite journal | year= 2015 | last1= James | first1= Paul | s2cid= 142378403 | author-link1= Paul James (academic) | title= Despite the Terrors of Typologies: The Importance of Understanding Categories of Difference and Identity | url=https://www.academia.edu/11768378 | journal= Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies | volume=  17 | issue=  2 | pages= 174–195 | doi=10.1080/1369801x.2014.993332}}</ref>

When talking about identity, we generally define this word as the series of physical features that differentiate a person. Thus at birth, our parents declare us and give us a name with which they will identify us based on whether we are a boy or a girl. Identity is not only a right that declares the name, sex, time, and place that one is born; the word identity goes beyond what we define it. Identity is a function of elements that portrays one in a dynamic way, in constant evolution, throughout the stages of life identity develops based on personal experiences, tastes, and choices of a sexual and religious nature, as well as the social environment, these being some of the main parameters that influence and transform the day to day and allow us to discover a new part of ourselves.

{{blockquote|Categorizations about identity, even when codified and hardened into clear typologies by processes of colonization, state formation, or general modernizing processes, are always full of tensions and contradictions. Sometimes these contradictions are destructive, but they can also be creative and positive}}

The divisions between cultures can be very fine in some parts of the world, especially in rapidly changing cities where the population is ethnically diverse and social unity is based primarily on locational contiguity.

As a "historical reservoir," culture is an important factor in shaping identity.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Nicola |last=Pratt |s2cid=55401396 |title=Identity, Culture and Democratization: The Case of Egypt |journal=New Political Science |volume=27 |issue=1 |year=2005 |pages=69–86 |doi=10.1080/07393140500030832 |url=http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1099/1/WRAP_Pratt_Pratt_revised.pdf }}</ref> Since one of the main characteristics of a culture is its "historical reservoir," many if not all groups entertain revisions, either consciously or unconsciously, in their historical record in order to either bolster the strength of their cultural identity or to forge one which gives them precedent for actual reform or change.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shindler|first1=Michael|title=A Discussion On The Purpose of Cultural Identity|url=http://theapollonianrevolt.com/structure-purpose-cultural-identity/|publisher=The Apollonian Revolt|access-date=10 April 2015|date=June 9, 2014 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419090905/http://theapollonianrevolt.com/structure-purpose-cultural-identity/|archive-date=19 April 2015}}</ref>
Some critics of cultural identity argue that the preservation of cultural identity, being based upon difference, is a divisive force in society and that [[cosmopolitanism]] gives individuals a greater sense of shared citizenship.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_A6qIkbYB_kC ''The Limits of Nationalism''] by Chaim Gans. {{ISBN|978-0-521-00467-1}}</ref> When considering practical association in international society, states may share an inherent part of their 'make up' that gives common ground and an alternative means of identifying with each other.<ref>C Brown (2001) ''Understanding International Relations''. Hampshire, Palgrave</ref> Nations provide the framework for cultural identities called external cultural reality, which influences the unique internal cultural realities of the individuals within the nation.<ref>Terrence N Tice. The Education Digest, vol. 64, issue 9, May 1999, p. 43.</ref>

There is a relationship between cultural identity and [[new media]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Singh | first1 = C. L. | year = 2010 | title = New media and cultural identity | url = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/New+media+and+cultural+identity.-a0219656567 | journal = China Media Research | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | page = 86 }}</ref>

Rather than necessarily representing an individual's interaction within a certain group, cultural identity may be defined by the social network of people imitating and following the [[agenda setting|social norms as presented by the media]]. Accordingly, instead of learning [[behavior]] and knowledge from cultural/religious groups, individuals may be learning these social norms from the media to build on their cultural identity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insanbilimleri.com/ojs/index.php/uib/article/view/406|title=Media and cultural identity – Mora – International Journal of Human Sciences|website=insanbilimleri.com|access-date=2012-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429191519/http://www.insanbilimleri.com/ojs/index.php/uib/article/view/406|archive-date=2014-04-29|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A range of cultural complexities structures the way individuals operate with the cultural realities in their lives. [[Nation]] is a large factor of the cultural complexity, as it constructs the foundation for an individual's identity, but it may contrast with one's cultural reality. Cultural identities are influenced by several different factors such as ones [[religion]], ancestry, skin color, language, [[Class (social)|class]], education, profession, skill, family and political  [[Propositional attitude|attitudes]]. These factors contribute to the development of one's [[Identity politics|identity]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Holliday|first=Adrian|s2cid=143655965|title=Complexity in cultural identity|journal=Language and Intercultural Communication|date=May 2010|volume=10|issue=2|page=177|doi=10.1080/14708470903267384}}</ref>