ATA4:

After searching the internet for ads that feature woman and ads that feature men in the United States, I noticed that in most of them woman are featured trying to advertise makeup or beauty products, while the men are advertising sportswear, alcohol, or machinery. Another thing that I noticed in the ads for woman is that they were only advertising woman with certain body types, or certain colored hair. In today’s society woman are expected to be a certain size or have a certain look that is approved by men. The younger generation that is just trying to fit in are looking at these ads and trying to alter the way they look to be able to feel like they belong. In the ads for men, I noticed that there is also a certain body type that were in most of the ads and that was having a chiseled body, which also puts young boys in the same position as girls when it comes to the topic of trying to fit in. Although most of the ads featured a certain “beauty” to them I also found that there were more and more ads trying to create body positivity. There were ads that showed woman having jobs that would be labeled as a man’s job, as well as ads that showed men being makeup artist. With more ads like that I believe that I believe that it could help shape our culture into believing that everyone is beautiful not matter their size or appearance.

              The country I chose to compare the United States to was China. In the women ads that I researched for China I noticed that they still have some sexualization when comparing women to men. Although they showed the same thing as the United States ads, I did notice that in the advertisements from China the girls didn’t show of their bodies, and the men pretty much always had a shirt on. The China ads were more modest, and I believe this helps shape their culture as more conservative. I also found that the ads for China weren’t as “staged” as the ads in the United States. It seemed that China showed real emotion and most of the models didn’t overuse makeup to make them look more attractive. I believe that if the United States produced more ads like China, we wouldn’t have such a hard time trying to fit in with our society.

ATA3:

This is assignment was very interesting, I was really intrigued by reading all the blogs of students that had the opportunity to study abroad. After reading multiple blogs I decided on choosing Ivyanna Colon-Greider who traveled to Peru. She states in her entry post that she spent most of her time in Cusco but also got to visit the Amazon, Machu Picchu, and the Taquile Islands. She made a lot of different blog post on her time in Peru. The one that I enjoyed reading the most was the one about being quarantined because of COVID-19, which goes a long with the theme of health. In the first entry Ivyanna explains that she was very nervous and had many signs of anxiety because she didn’t know how long she was going to be stuck in Peru, due to the President shutting the whole city down. She also explains that she is the type of person that likes to be in control of every situation. Towards the end of her blog post entries, she seems to go in a different direction with how she was feeling. Ivyanna goes from being ridden with anxiety to enjoying more time with her host family. They enjoyed cooking and baking together, which really helped make the quarantine time go faster.

I chose this students blog because I really have never heard of Peru, or what it is like in Peru. All the other students that studied abroad studied in more common places that I have heard of before. I also chose this blog because we have all been suffering from different effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was really an eye opener to see how a different country handled the situation. I really would like to study abroad one day to be able to experience different cultures. If I had to pick a place to study abroad, I would want to go to Germany or England because they are really beautiful, and the culture is different.

ATA2:

After reading the article The Values Americans Live By written by Kohls L. R. I noticed that there are a lot of values that Americans have that may not be a part of the culture in other countries or that other countries view as something negative. The value that stuck out to me the most while reading the article was value number 13, Materialism/Acquisitions. Materialism for an American is the basis of a person’s life. In this day in time, I believe that a person is viewed or judged highly if they have the latest iPhone and judged poorly if they don’t. Materialism consists of having the best car, house, and electronics which most Americans focus on having.

As an American I don’t look at materialism as a negative value to have. In America I believe that we work fulltime jobs to be able to afford things like new phones, cars, homes or whatever our hearts desire. An example that I would give that portrays my life is that I like to shop. When I get paid, I put aside money for bills, but at the end of the month I always dedicate some of my money to shopping for myself, or my son.

In another culture where the pay isn’t as much as it is in America, they may not so much focus on materialistic things that they can have. In other cultures, they may view Americans in a negative way because of they things that we are privileged to have. In other countries they may be working just to be able to get by because they are taking care of more than just themselves. They may be taking care of their whole families. In America we are very privileged, but I believe that if an American went to another culture that wasn’t as advanced, we would notice that we are very lucky to be able to have the things that we have.

In this picture the little girl is portraying an American that has everything they could possibly want. The boy in the picture is representing a person from another culture that doesn’t have everything that the American does. I chose this picture because I feel like the girl in the picture perfectly portrays an American by wanting more even though they have everything.

    ATA1:

The stages of intercultural sensitivity may be something that someone goes through in their lifetime. Having a sense of learning each stage may be very important in classifying how a person may react to accepting different cultures around the world. After reading about each of the stages I would put myself in category IV. Acceptance of Difference. This stage talks about how a person may view a different culture besides their own as being positive, and how it is acceptable to learn about different cultures and their values and worldviews. I believe that I can relate with this stage the most because I am always open to learning different values of a culture that isn’t something that is common in my culture. For example, in England they designate a time for tea each day. In the United States we don’t necessarily set a time for tea. If I were to visit England I would happily go along with their culture, and I believe that would help for me to learn more about their values. This stage is also where I associate myself because I know that I wouldn’t judge someone for having a certain custom, or way of doing things that is different from what I have grown up to know. By accepting different cultures, a person can learn more about the world.

              After deciding what stage of the intercultural sensitivity, I fall in and reading each of the descriptions of each one I hope to be able to broaden my view on different cultures to go beyond just accepting the difference. I would like to be able to discuss or experience different cultures without feeling out of my comfort zone. Hopefully by taking this course I will be able to learn more about how to accept different cultures.

Here is picture of a High Teatime also known as afternoon tea in England. I chose this picture because it shows how differently the culture is in England than in the United States by how the woman are dressed.