ATA4

The difference between the representation of men and the representation of women is, in my opinion, a fascinating topic worth it to discuss for hours. In the American culture and many others, women are represented in a sexual way most of the time. When we see advertisements about any type of product, women are always looking “attractive,” showing a lot of skin if possible, being happy with basic stuff, always acting sweet and soft, having a great body (which most of the time comes with big breasts), having amazing hair (but only in the head because the hair in other parts of the body is not socially accepted). The consequences of this repeated message that society sees daily are, in my opinion, very negative. As a female, after being exposed to all of this since I was born, I can guarantee you that I do not feel comfortable when I do not fit all these stereotypes. A basic example I can think of is shaving. If I am not shaved, I will not wear shorts to see my guy friends because I would not feel comfortable. However, if I am going to see my girlfriends, the story is different. I know they would understand me, and no one would make a comment about it because they basically do not care. Another example I can think of is related to female behavior. We do not often see females mad or annoyed or arguing in TV advertisements. Instead, they are most of the time smiling and happy. This causes males to think that every time a female is upset and decides to express it, “she is crazy,” “she is overreacting,” or “she is dramatic.” All these stereotypes that we see every day without even realizing them translate into a culture of repressed females. We do not feel like we can be ourselves because society, especially men, will judge our behaviors and decisions because they have never seen anything different.  

On the other hand, there is way more variety when it comes to men’s advertisements. It is true that there are certain publicities that sexualize men as well, but in comparison, those are the minority. It never really matters how much skin a man is showing or what he is wearing. Everything that matters revolves around his job, his masculinity, whether he is a good provider for his family or not. Males’ bodies are not even close to being sexualized as females’ bodies are. However, these stereotypes also have negative consequences for them as well. I have often heard that men do not cry because “that is for females,” which is obviously completely untrue and unhealthy. Many of them also feel obligated to act strong and tough when they are not even feeling like that because they are men, and that is how it is supposed to be. All of these often translate to men faking how they feel or act a different way to what they wanted to just for society’s acceptance.   

To conclude, I want to address that even though it is true that all these stereotypes and scenarios that I stated before are still present in our society, it is also true that most of them are changing. I see more advertisements for females working, for example. Not everything is about them looking attractive and beautiful. Some of them even show females as powerful and independent women, which is something that 20 years ago we would not have seen. On the other hand, I do not see much change for males, but people are starting to realize that most of those stereotypes make no sense.   

I chose this picture because I think it represents stereotypes for both genders, which is not very common.

Link: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthescentedhound.com%2Ftag%2Fperfume-ads%2F&psig=AOvVaw0fKNwKnL24L8jbd4HxVDhD&ust=1647912478565000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCLCG08KG1vYCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

ATA3

Ritapa Neogi visited Barcelona throughout the Fall of 2019. I decided to focus on Neogi’s emotions since the title of her blog, “Kindness and the Politics of Belonging,” made me curious in that sense. I enjoyed her blog a lot, and as an international student here in the United States, they were many aspects I could relate to. It is clear that when you decide to travel to a different country, you will consequently learn a lot about the place. But something that many people do not realize (including me) is that when you travel, you also learn a lot about your own culture. For example, Neogi talked a lot about the kindness in the Catalonians and how this made her feel. She was used to something else in America, basically because she did not know there was another way to serve your customers, for example. In order to show this, I would like to quote Neogi’s words to show how this made her feel: “But it’s different here. I don’t need to thank kindness because it’s not required. It’s out of a genuine desire to be kind. And I’m not used to it.” I really like her reflection and her realization. Her thoughts on the feeling of belonging were very interesting too. It is so real that a whole different country and culture could make you feel better than your own one. 

I chose this blog because I visited Barcelona in 2019 too, and even though I did not study there, I learned a lot about their culture. I also thought it would be very interesting to read about her perspective since I have a good knowledge of American culture but also of the Catalonian one, which is not very different from the Argentinian one. Studying abroad is a fantastic opportunity that everyone that has the chance should take.   

I chose this picture that I took because I think it represents very well what Barcelona’s streets look like, and I believe their architecture is something that no one who traveled there will forget.

ATA2

After reading and analyzing “The Values Americans Live” by L. Robert Kohls, I concluded that the value that surprised me the most is number 13: Materialism/Acquisitions. Since I moved to the United States two years ago, American materialism has been something that never stopped surprising me. For example, one of the first objects that I remember caught my attention was the dishwasher. Every single house I have been in since I moved here has one. Back home in Argentina, only people with a lot of money and big houses own those. Another example is the clothes dryer. I never saw one of those in a home in Argentina. I have only seen those in places that do laundry.   

This is a very interesting topic to me, and I deeply agree with Kohls’ words when he states: “foreigners generally consider Americans much more materialistic than Americans are likely to consider themselves.” I realized that Americans do not consider themselves materialistic very often because they grew up surrounded by all these objects, so they think that it is normal. But when you come from a different reality, it is very easy to see all these differences.   

Another example I would like to add to conclude my analysis is the number of cars that families own. Back home, I would say that the average number of vehicles in a 5/6-person family is 1 or 2. It is obviously related to the family’s income, but it is also true that families that have the possibility to own 3 cars do not do it. In most cases, only the parents own a car, and they expect their children to buy their own when they are old enough. On the other hand, what I have seen here in America is different. Most of the families I have met so far own at least 3 cars, but I have seen many cases that each family member has their own. 

I chose this picture for my representative visual image because this is our type of “clothes dryer” in Argentina. It is called “secarropas,” Basically, its function is to drain the water out of the clothes, but it does not dry them. After using this machine, you need to hang your clothes and wait until they are dry.

Picture from: https://fava.com.ar/secarropas-5-5-kg-37360

ATA1

After reading the article “A Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity,” I came to the conclusion that I feel more identified with the “adaptation to difference” stage of intercultural sensitivity. As an international student who has been living in the United States for the past two years, I can say that I have reached the point where I feel adapted to the American culture. However, as the text explains, I am “consciously shifting my perspectives and intentionally altering my behaviors.”   

One of the first differences I noticed when I came to America was the difference between how Argentinian people greet people, a friend for example, and how Americans do it. An Argentinian person would give a kiss on their friend’s cheek, while an American person would just give a hug most of the time. I believe that Americans are more distant when it comes to physical touch.  

Another difference I found pretty interesting was the differences between the bathing suits we have in Argentina and the way American people behave in relation to this. According to the American people, Argentinian females wear more “scandalous” swimsuits. But that is not what caught my attention. What I found very interesting and a little disappointing, if I have to be honest, is that you could get in trouble for wearing these types of bathing suits on certain beaches. That is something unimaginable in Argentina. However, when I learned about this, I had to adapt because I did not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable on the beach, even though it does not really make much sense to me.  

This assignment was very interesting, and it aligned with my expectations from this course because it made me realize how lucky I am to be aware of these cultural differences. But unfortunately, not everyone has the perspective to be able to see these, in my opinion, very important differences between cultures, and reading this text confirmed it.   

Ways of greeting in different countries

I found this representative visual image while looking for a picture that could show different ways to greet people depending on their culture. Even though they were probably not greeting each other since they are in the middle of a soccer game, I believe that this picture represents the physical touch we have in Argentina. And also, there is no better representation for my country than Messi, so I thought it would be a good choice,   

The picture was found in a blog called “WORLDWITHTJ” that was written by Tochie and Julie