Mexican Influence in American Culture
The United States has
been around for over 300 years. But just
in that short span of time, they have become arguably the most influential
country in the world, influencing many other countries and cultures around
them. One of the countries that is most
influenced is certainly Mexico. It is
the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world, and it ranks high in
most populous country in general. Mexico
was once owned by Spain, but is now its own independent country with its own
constitution.
Interview
A fellow co-worker, Pedro Alvarez Puyol, was born and
raised in Mexico City, Mexico. He came
to the United States at the age of 10 when his parents collected enough money
to travel there. He attended a local
middle school and high school throughout his life and became very well
accustomed to the English language. As
he graduated from high school, he decided not to attend college and immediately
go to work. He found a job as a construction
worker for home building and has stuck with that ever since.
Pedro explained how his life was in Mexico. He was very happy and grateful to have
parents that worked hard every day and that he was treated with love and care
throughout his life. Although he is the
only child in his family, he had friends that he enjoyed being with throughout
his life. He mentioned that they would
play soccer almost every week, and that they would go to a nearby creek and do
different sorts of activities, whether they were skipping rocks, or doing magic
tricks.
When asked about his religion, Pedro considers himself a
religious man, even though he doesn’t practice it outwardly. He said he was born a Catholic and baptized
when he was a toddler, like many other children where he lived. Although he attended the church regularly as
a kid, when he got older, he stopped attending the Catholic church. He explained that he believes everything the
church teaches and that he will occasionally read the Bible throughout his
life.
Pedro loves to live in this country and he’s happy with
his current situation. He is happily
married, loves his work, and has two children.
When time and money allows it, he will occasionally return back to
Mexico City to visit his friends and relatives.
He misses Mexico dearly, but he is also grateful for everything that has
happened to him throughout his life. He
wonders what his life would have been like if he hadn’t move to the United
States, but he claims that he wouldn’t trade everything that has happened to
him in the world.
Country
Pedro concluded by saying that the biggest influence in
his life has been his parents and wife. “Mexico
has traditionally been home to a patriarchal family structure. There were clearly defined roles for mothers,
fathers, brothers, and sisters in Mexican families. The mother is the heart of the family: the
one who cooked, cleaned, and cared for the children on a full-time basis. Similar responsibilities were also expected
of daughters as it was their job to learn how to be a woman from their mother. The father generally took charge of family
decisions, and their authority was rarely challenged be either the mother or
children.” [1]
Religion plays a big role in the lives of Mexican
families. “Much of Mexican culture
revolves around religious values and the church, as well as the concept of
family and inclusiveness. Around 82
percent of Mexicans identify themselves as Catholic, although many have
incorporated pre-Hispanic Mayan elements such as part of their faith. Christian denominations represented include
Presbyterians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Mormons, Lutherans,
Methodists, Baptists, and Anglicans.” [2] There are also small communities of
Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists, but Christianity plays the biggest role in the
lives of families.
“Religious traditions are a staple in family life, many
of which involve rites of passage to adulthood.
Young, Mexican females are honored on their 15th birthday
with a celebration. The party is full of
emotion as the girl’s father ceremoniously exchanges her flat, childish style
shoes for a demure pair of modestly high-heeled shoes to denote her passage
into womanhood. The event is full of
sentiment as the young woman dances with her father and the guests look
on. Another touching Mexican cultural
tradition is the matrimonial golden coin ceremony. The groom bestows his betrothed with 13
golden coins as a gesture of his trust in her to treasure and care for him and
his possessions. Her acceptance of the
coins signifies her devotion to love, respect, and nurture him.” [1]
On topic of marriage, Mexicans are free to choose their
marriage partners. “People usually marry
after a period of formal engagement that can last several years. In 1995, the average age at marriage for a
male was almost twenty-four years. For a
woman, it was nearly twenty-two years.
Out of all Mexicans age twelve and older, just over half were married or
otherwise united. A marriage ceremony
consists of a civil registration and a religious wedding. Afterwards, the couple holds a huge and
costly party with family and friends. At
the beginning of the 1990s, the divorce rate was a relatively low 6.5
percent. It is legally easy to divorce
but the social pressure against it can be formidable.” [4]
The differences of family life between the United States
and Mexico is actually quite large. In
the United States, Americans place a lot of their self-worth on their
profession, so much so that in some cases, work is placed before family. Children are often raised in a more
independent manner, and are encouraged to be independent of their family. In Mexico, family is usually placed ahead of
profession. Most children are raised
with a lot of parental care, and are taught to put the family first. It is not uncommon to see large Mexican
families living in one location together for generations.
Music
The music of Mexico is very diverse and features a wide
range of musical genres and performance styles.
It has been influenced by a variety of cultures, the most influential
being Spain. There are many traditional
Mexican songs that are well-known worldwide.
The genres of music from the country expands from traditional folk music
to religious music. There are also many
instances of pop and rock music in Mexico that are the most popular. Religion, on the other hand, does not have a
rich history in music, but there are modern Christian artists that openly
express their faith through music.
Traditional folk music in Mexico spans through a couple
of titles, such as son, ranchera, and corrido.
“Son is based on the alternation of instrumental sections and the
singing of short poetic units called coplas.
Ranchera is a genre of the traditional Mexican music originally sung by
only one performer with a guitar. It
dates to the years of the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th
century.” [6] Corrido music is a popular narrative song of poetry form, a
ballad. These can vary from love stories
to made up stories.
The most famous form of traditional folk music in Mexico
is the mariachi. “It is an ensemble that
consists of guitarron, vihuela, guitar, violins, and trumpets. They can perform almost all of the other
musical styles of Mexico. They style is
popular throughout the country, as well as the southwestern United States, and
it best represents the culture of Mexico.” [6] An example of this is “La
Cucaracha,” a famous folk song with the same melody, but the lyrics can vary.
“During the 1960s and 1970s, most of the pop music
produced in Mexico consisted of Spanish-language versions of English-language
rock-and-roll hits. The Mexican music
market serves as a launching pad to stardom for many non-Mexican artists who
are interested in extending the market-range of their music. For the last thirty years, Mexican pop music
has been led by teen pop bands and their former members. Unlike teen pop bands elsewhere, the Mexica
audience tends to prefer mixed-gender combos over boys or girl bands. Famous Mexican pop singers include Lynda
Thomas, Thalia, Paulina Rubio, Luis Miguel, Belinda Peregrin, Alejandro
Fernandez, Natalia Lafourcade, Alejandra Guzman, Ana Gabriel, Gloria Trevi,
Fey, and Marco Antonio Solis.
The Mexican rock movement began in the late 1940s and
early 1960s, rapidly becoming popular, and peaking in the 1969 and 1990s with
real authentic sounds and styles. Most
rock bands were forced to appear underground, which was the time that Carlos
Santana, a worldwide famous guitarist, became well-known at Woodstock. During the 80s, Exanime formed in 1985 in
Monterrey N.L. and many 90s Mexican bands went to the surface and popular rock
bands like Santa Sabina, Café Tacuba, Caifanes, Control Machete, Fobia, Los de
Abajo, Molotov, Mana, Ely Guerra, Julieta Venegas, and Maldita Vecindad
achieved a large international following.” [6]
For example, Mana wrote the hit song “Oye Mi Amor.” The song is about the singer longing for love
with someone, but that someone is with another guy, and he explains that she
doesn’t deserve him, and that they belong together. Love songs are very common in Mexican
music. In this particular song, with its
upbeat rhythm and light usage of rock instruments, the singer is expressing his
feelings through this song in the hopes that she will listen one day.
Nowadays, United States music has provided a big
influence upon Mexican culture. Bands of
all genres are popular in Mexico, especially hard rock-and-roll bands like Led
Zeppelin, Metallica, and pop bands like Michael Jackson and One Direction. However, Latin music have also had a great
influence upon the United States. Music
artists like Santana or Tito Puente had received huge critical reception and
audience acclaim. When they started in
the 1960s, they helped add their flavor of music to that of the United States,
and helped shape rock and pop music to what they are today.
In conclusion, we have seen the United States being
influenced by other countries throughout the world. While the influence isn’t as big from Mexico,
there is enough to help make the United States into a better place. Vice-versa, Mexico has taken a great
influence from the United States, whether it’s in the form of music or from a
political standpoint, it’s become clear that the United States is the most
influential country today. Thanks to
that, Mexico is a free country with its own constitution, and it has become a
better place for millions of people to live in.
Bibliography
1.
“Mexican Family Culture.” By: Michele
Meleen
2.
“Mexican Culture: Customs &
Traditions.” By: Kim Ann Zimmermann. February 10, 2015
3.
“5 Mexican Traditions and Customs You
Should Adopt.” By: Acapulcos. October 8, 2014
4.
“Mexico.”
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