Explanation:
Being part of a Western culture I guess puts me in the category of a "WEIRD" (western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) society. Although my culture or WEIRD society only makes up 16% of the worlds population, I think we are probably the ones who engage the most in ethnocentric behaviours (i.e. judging other cultures based off of our own and thinking that our culture is the "best" one). We see ourselves as being better than those "below" us or from other cultures as doing things "the wrong way"(such as beliefs, traditions, preferences, etc.). I always notice myself thinking unintentionally that traditions such as polygamy or pre-arranged marriages are "not right" and "unfair" to those involved, but that obviously is not up to me, because to the people within those cultures and who have those traditions and beliefs, those are the "right" things to do.
My culture has influenced me into a fast independent type of lifestyle. I choose where I am going and who I want to be. I believe getting an education, a good paying job are top priorities in my day and age. Having a good time means being out with friends and probably even being drunk. Getting married and having kids comes second to education and work. I live to prove that I can be the best I can be and to get to the top. Technology is a large part of my lifestyle - computers, cellphones - are the ways in which I choose to communicate with others. If I can avoid other people all day and simply speak to them via technology, that is okay by me, because it's simpler, faster and easier. Getting fast food is better than a homemade meal because it is someone else making food for me and I don't have to "waste" time making something myself.
How am I product of my own culture? My culture has basically made me who I am, who I will be. I am an independent adult focused on her education and future career, with hopes of someday getting married and having children, as long as I am stable first. It has decided how I live. It tells me how I should act in public vs. in privacy. It tells me how I should dress - brand name clothing is ideal in our society and if you don't own any, or dress what we consider "inappropriate" then you're looked down on. Without culture I don't think I would know these things nor would I know really how to live. I am a product of my own culture in pretty much every aspect of my life and until you write about it, you don't exactly realize how influential culture can be and how oblivious you are to that. This brings me to the fish out of water metaphor. Which suggests that we wouldn't know what to do without culture such as a fish doesn't know how to act when it is taken out of water.
SOMEONE ELSES ANSWER NOT MINE
