I Am Pakistan

Cultural representations are a very important part of a person’s life because they attempt to render your racial identity formation. Racial Formation Theory is used to look at race as a socially constructed identity, where the content and importance of racial categories is determined by cultural representations and/or productions. I racially identify myself as a Pakistani. I am from a country called Pakistan and moved to the United States at the age of nine. I was very young when I moved here, but I still knew that my racial identity representation was of a Pakistani girl. Clothes, food, dramas, and holidays are all influential cultural representations that have rendered my racial identity formation.
Clothes are a big part of any culture, and especially a big part of my Pakistani culture. Both men and women in the Pakistani culture wear clothing that is called salwar-kameez. Any memory I have of my childhood I only remember my parents, aunts, and uncles wearing salwar-kameez. As a young child I also used to wear salwar-kameez around the house and also when I used to go out, but that has changed ever since I moved to the United States. The culture of the United States has influenced me a lot in positive ways but also negative. The culture here is very motivating and has lead me to the remarkable university I am at today. Though over the years I have slowly started to lose the cultural sense of clothing in me. It was hard for me to admit this, but I am embarrassed to wear salwar-kameez in public because I hate having people stare at me. When I moved here and wore salwar-kameez to public places, people would stare at me. Many times they would give me a weird “you don’t belong here look” because I would not always wear jeans and a t-shirt. I felt different, out of place, and that was not a good feeling. I though that conforming to the “American” way of dressing would also make me an American, but it doesn’t. I didn’t want people pointing fingers at me and...