Cultural Identity Case Summary

In this case, a young Indian American woman named Asha tells her life story from childhood to college and follows up on the story ten years after its completion. Asha’s case focuses on her binary culture identity crisis, but it also includes details about her sexual identity crisis. During her childhood, Asha was considered the perfect daughter. She acknowledged and practiced her parent’s Indian values by showing them respect. All the while, she maintained excellent grades in school to live up to her parents’ American influenced expectations. Essentially, Asha managed to live with two distinct cultures all to please her parents. Asha’s cultural identity issues began when she started going to middle school. At that time, she entered the predictable American adolescent rebellious stage. Often, she did not agree with her parents’ values and behaved in a manner that her parents disagreed with. When her older sister left for college, Asha was the only child in the …show more content…
She had been in relationships with people who seemed to make all of her feel valuable which influenced her identity as well. By the time she entered her junior year, she began dating a woman while studying abroad in London. Asha thought it was normal to be attracted to the same sex; however, she knew that her Indian family would not accept her behavior, so she chose not to disclose her relationship details. Through the relationship, she grew more comfortable with her sexuality and decided not to restrict her identity by labeling her sexuality. Later in her life, she finally started dating an Indian man, who was somewhat similar to her due to their cultural identities. In that relationship, Asha received the support and interest from her parents that she longed for. In the end, Asha grew out of her identity forming stage knowing who she was and accepting that she and her parents could coexist with differing