Cultural Misconceptions

Thomas Lane

English 1001

3/5/07

Cultural misconceptions

Many cultures are often misunderstood by the rest of society. This lack of understanding by society at large of specific cultures often leads to misconceptions about a given society. These generalizations apply to all types of cultures and they also apply to societies understanding of the Hyphy movement. The Hyphy movement is a culture with many aspects yet there are many misunderstandings regarding this culture that have been used to crack down on Hyphy behavior. Like generalizations and stereotypes of other cultures, the misunderstandings about Hyphy culture are not completely unfounded, but are exaggerated. As a person surrounded by and participating in the hyphy movement I submit that it is not many of the things that it is perceived to be and that it is in fact a culture and way of life.

The misgivings about the hyphy movement range from the vague, like "I don't understand what the point is", to the specific, it promotes a "culture of death" (Muhammad). While all these views present evidence to support their claims, these are to Hyphy what stereotypes are to other ethnicities. Although hyphy is not about the promotion of a specific ethnic identity, these misconceptions about those in the hyphy present the same forms of disrespect and discrimination stereotypes present to ethnic identity. One common misconception about the hyphy movement, even in its birthplace, the bay area, is what is it, what is its purpose? When speaking to classmates this was often what I heard from those who knew of the hyphy movement but not what it was. When I explored deeper by asking what was meant by the question what is its purpose, a common response was "I