ATA5

For assignment five I analyzed a peer-reviewed article that discussed the health policies and inequalities in Spain and compare them to the United States. This assignment was personally relevant to me because my major is medically based, so reading about the inequalities that occur in another country informed me on the world’s medical reality. It also allowed me to compare social health policies and standards in order to make America’s relevant. I learned that medical standards seem generally universal, meaning the poorer health one has is a result of his or her poor socioeconomic status. This concept can be applied to other resource related topics because often times lower class members do not have the same access or privileges as the higher class.

I chose these pictures because often times lower class people have to go to the emergency room for more common medical incidents due to lack of insurance or money while higher class people can go to a personal physician that provides medicine and support.

ATA4

This assignment allowed me to compare advertising between cultures and how it perceives and displays gender and gender roles in that particular society. I already knew that the United States advertising focuses on physical appearance in order to be successful such as the use of well-endowed women and muscular men; so, I was not surprised when most of the ads I found used pictures of picture perfect men and women to promote a product. I compared the American advertisements with Japanese ones. As I suspected, the Japanese ads were much less reliant on the physical appearance, however I was surprised to see some similarities when comparing the bathing suit models between cultures. This assignment showed me how much of an effect media has on controlling men and women’s self-esteem, idea of how they should look or act, and use of products based on who promotes it.

I chose this picture because in my opinion in shows that society has a specific, ideal image of how a man or woman should look and represents this in media such as advertisements. People are let down constantly by the feeling that they are not good enough or are judged because they do not fit the part that media and ads use to stereotype men and women simply because they want to sell a product. 

ATA3

For assignment three, I chose to analyze a student blogger who wrote about her experiences studying abroad in New Zealand. I particularly looked at the presence of personality and emotion in her blog posts, meaning I had to jump ahead some in the text. This was a bit challenging; however, I feel I had a good understanding of the basic concepts that culture can place on these two subjects. From the assignment, I learned how to read a blog from a cultural perspective that allowed me to relate to the blogger in terms of things like homesickness and the busy American life. Overall, I really liked breaking down the blogger’s sentence structure and detailing in order to determine how she transformed emotionally and how her personality benefited her study abroad experience and the blogs progressed.

I chose this picture because to me, it represents a man who has started his journey as a child with difficult obstacles he must learn to overcome on the road ahead. In a way, the blogger began her study abroad as a young, immature mind who simply was traveling overseas. Throughout difficult times adjusting to foreign life, she grew emotionally and adopted her unique personality traits in order to grow and get the most out of her trip.

ATA2

This assignment required reading an article about the main values of the United States and reflecting on one that I felt was relevant in my life, as well as how it differs in other cultures. I chose the value of informality, discussing it’s friendly, socially equal benefits. I also mentioned how it may be seen as disrespectful in other cultures that value formality. Completing this assignment helped me to reflect on an American value that is not spoken of often, and opened my eyes to how this one thing makes America so different from other cultures. It also allowed me to see how each significant American value intertwines with the others to make them all function in society, most of the values centering around the idea of equality. Overall, I learned that the United States differs greatly from many other countries’ belief systems, and that our own unique values allow us to function in our independent society properly.

I chose this picture because I feel that it sums up the importance of informality in the United States. Without informality, our society would be unstable. America is so diverse and heavily reliant on the idea of equality, that formality would cause us to have instability in our workplaces, social functions, class system, and more.