Cultural Autobiography

Kyla Gomez
8/29/2022

Cultural Autobiography

Being able to learn about my background, I have discovered so much about who I am,

and what makes me the person I am today. As my ethnicity is half Filipino and half Mexican, I

integrate the two cultures and learn how similar they are. Being born and raised in Las Vegas, I

am the first generation of my family. I have never met my family in the Philippines, or even in

Mexico. I have never been out of the country, my mother tried to get me a passport when I was

15, but unfortunately needed my father’s permission (who isn’t present in my life). Ever since I

haven’t tried to get a passport, nor are we financially stable to afford a vacation. My mother is

fully Filipino and originates from Bacolod City, Philippines. My father originates from

Chihuahua, Mexico. As my father is no longer present in my life, I like to say I am more Filipino

than I am Mexican, although I am an equal mix of both. My last name is Gomez, different from

my mother’s name. My mother’s last name is Reeder, taken from her husband. My parents were

never married, but I took in my father’s last name. Before my mother came to the United States,

she was married to a caucasian man that was in the military. Unfortunately, he passed away in

1997. A couple of years later, she met my dad at work and they were together up until they had

me. My brother and my mother ended up raising me up until I was 3 years old when my stepdad

came into my life. He is still with me to this day, so I like to say he is my father (although I never

call him dad, I’ve always called him by his first name).

In Filipino culture, we practice cleanliness as we believe if anything is out of place, we

find it dirty. For example, my mother always cleans the house before we have guests because we

would get embarrassed or find it disrespectful to our guests. Due to being taught this at a young
age, I find myself having good hygiene. Whenever we enter the house, we always take off our

shoes. Although most Asian cultures do this, in the Philippines, we like to see it as a sign of

cleanliness. If you don’t take off your shoes before entering, we consider it rude. As I was

always accustomed to this growing up, I always took off my shoes in other people’s houses as a

sign of respect. In Filipino culture, we also consider it rude if we stand with our hands on our

hips, as it shows we are angry or giving an attitude. However, whenever Filipinos are confused,

we stare with our mouths open. Although in different cultures staring can be rude, we do it as a

sign of confusion.

Writing this cultural autobiography has helped me realize that ethnicity and race are two

completely different concepts. Race is the physical attributes you can see within a person.

Ethnicity is someone’s culture, whether it’s their religion, heritage, or even customs. Knowing

my family's background, makes me realize that I claim to be more Filipino than Mexican, but my

race shows I am both.