Blog 8

My major is World Languages and Cultures with a minor in World Cultural Studies. Thus, I often encounter people from other cultures as well as read and write about other cultures.  In my experiences, people from the United Arab Emirates and people from different parts of Africa have expressed themselves the most. The express themselves mostly through their appearance. The Muslim, Arab women that I have met dress very conservative. They usually have scarves wrapped over their heads and across their necks. They have rarely shown skin; usually if they wear skirts or dresses they have leggings under them, and skirts and dresses are usually long. The African people I have met usually have exquisite patterns and colors on their clothing. They also listen to African music, and have even shown me traditional African dances to the music they listen too. I have even modeled for a designer that designed clothing usuing only African prints.  When speaking with both Arab, Muslim women and African women, I noticed that their emotions were not displayed on their faces. While hearing about the personal experiences of Arab, Muslim women, I noticed that they did not cry or show emotion on their faces. They always held their composure even when they were speaking with me and my pears about getting away from the political turmoil in their countries. The African people I met usually spoke about their experiences very passionately, but they did not show emotions other than excitement and happiness. I believe that the concept of universality and display rules definitely played a key role in the explanation  of what emotions I saw or did not see in my experiences while speaking with the African people I met as well as the Arab, Muslim women I met.

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