Culture and Role Identity W6/D3

One idea/concept that I found interesting in chapter 12 was the idea of how culture can greatly affect our role identities. Culture tells us who to be and how to act and through we can be stratified by age, gender, and ethnicity among other things. Basically we are put into categories among other things and expectations/standards are placed on us. Each culture has there own sets up beliefs standards and identities. The book uses the example of age. In Ghana, age is equated with wisdom and is therefore respected, while in America youth is valued more than age. The book also explains that gender roles are also culturally derived. This idea of how we are affected by cultures standards and expectations led me to think about those who do not necessarily fit into those expectations. For instance, gender roles. In most places both boys and girls have expectations on how to act and look. But what if a boy finds themselves interested in playing with Barbies or girl finds herself more interested in wearing boy clothes? What happens then? The stratification of a person because they do not fit into a specific identity made by the culture could lead to subcultures, like the gay community, or mixed races.

Three Premises W6/D2

            I do agree with Larry Samovar, Richard Porter, and Nemi Jain’s ideas that most Americans are capable of having the three basic beliefs about human nature: rationality premis, perfectibility premise, and mutability premise. While I believe that humans are capable of such things as discovering the truth through logical analysis, achieving goodness through effort and control, and being able to improve their physical and psychological circumstances, I do not believe that all humans exercise these premises. For instance, in terms of the perfectibility premise not everyone has the control or wants to make the effort to improve or perfect such things as their grammar or their physical bodies. Some people are just too lazy, too unmotivated, or just uncaring of such things, but they are, however, still capable of achieving such goals. A few institutions that are based on these premises that the book listed are democracy, trial by jury and free enterprise. Other practices and institutions that I can think of that practice these premises are churches, schools, and exercise facilities. 

Creatures of Culture W6/D1

            After taking into consideration the information gathered from both this class and my ChAD 67 class and combining it with my own personal experiences with culture, I do agree with Ruth Benedict and her belief that we are “creatures of our culture”. From utero (our mother’s bellies) we become subject to the beliefs of our culture. We are exposed to I from the time of conception to the time of birth and even further exposed as we get older. Our families and society transfers cultural beliefs, morals, and practices, and we accept it as a child because that is all we know. But as adolescents and adults things change a bit. As we get older I believe this is when we start to modify the our identity that was placed onto us by our culture to suit our own needs and wants. As adults this is when we begin to explore new cultures and beliefs and this is how I believe we can break through the limits of our cultures. For example, say one grows up as a catholic, this is their religious cultures. But this person grows and experiences the world maybe they begin to practice Catholicism less and less. Maybe they mix their Christian beliefs with some elements of Buddhism. Or maybe they become a Buddhist all together. I believe that the limitations of culture can be broken through maturity and exploration as well as having openness to new things.

Paralinguistics W5/D3

The concept of paralinguistics, which is the study of sounds, really caught my attention as I was reading chapter 5. The sound of ones voice as they speak, despite what they are actually saying, can really give away a persons mood, emotion, or true intention. For example. a person can say “I’m okay”, but if their voice is a bit sad and monotone it could reveal that they may in fact not be okay. In addition, I also thought it was interesting how the book stated that some accents rank lower that others in terms of credibility and intelligence. Those accents that are more similar to that of standard English, or that of our own accent will come off as being more intelligible than others. For instance, I’ve witnessed people preferring European accents over Asian accents. As an asian American myself I know that people think that Asian accents are “fobby” while they categorize European accents as “attractive”. I could never figure out why people thought this way, but after reading this particular section in the reading I have a better understanding of their ignorance. 

Nonverbal Displays Across the World - W4 / D2

There are plenty of cultural, regional, and even societal nonverbal gestures that I know of. There are even some nonverbal displays that take on different meanings depending on age group that I know of as well. For instance, small children in American society may understand the peace sign hand gesture as a command for silence or as a reminder to be quite, while the rest of society may understand the gesture as “peace”. Another nonverbal display that I can name, is the head nod. While in American culture one would nod their head in agreement, in the Indian culture excessive nodding means that you come from a high or wealthy status. In India some even take etiquette classes and learn that by nodding your head excessively when in conversation you let others know that you are wealthy. This is head nod difference is one that I found to be most interesting. 

Misinterpretations - W5/D1

Yes, I have definitely misinterpreted nonverbal communication. In fact, because of nonverbal communication’s ambiguity I am pretty sure that people often misinterpret others. An example of one of my misinterpretations occurred through the nonverbal area of kinesics, paralanguage, and proxemics. When I first met a girl (who is now one of my very good friends) I read her stiff body language, soft and uninterested voice, and quite demeanor as being stuck up. I thought that this girl made herself very unapproachable. And while her body language did read as unapproachable, I later found out that it was not intentional. I also later came to find that she was far from stuck up. She was just a very shy girl. And they is how she unconsciously displayed her shyness. So I mistaken her shyness for being stuck up.

In terms of better reading others nonverbal behavior I think it would be helpful for people to read multiple forms of nonverbal behavior instead of just concentrating on one. For instance they can read both voice and body language.