For the four assignments that you choose to complete throughout the semester, you will reflect on your takeaway from each. Do not copy and paste your assignments. Think of this space as a brief way to communicate how the assignment engaged you, how it was personally relevant, and reflect on how you learned more about yourself after completion. Each assignment recap will need to contain an illustrative picture. Examples will be provided.
Takeaway 4
Women and Men both have inequalities in the way they are represented in American culture. I would say that the inequalities are less in America than other cultures but still there is a stigma that men need to be strong and unemotional. For instance, the cologne advertisement where the man is holding the umbrella over the girl while he gets soaked. Women are often looked at just for their bodies and it is common to see a half naked girl for an advertisement but not common to see a man half naked. This tells objectifies women and sends a bad message of only being wanted by our bodies.
In hispanic cultures, the power distance is further away for men and women than in American cultures. The men have an even high expectation to provide and be the authoratative one and the women are expected to be the house care takers. In these culture there is a higher chance of alcohol and drug abuse due to the high expectations.
Takeaway 1
I believe I most identify with the acceptance of difference stage. This stage talks about people who know about different values and behaviors but only experience them in context. I grew up in a town with a lot of poverty but still was predominately white. I then moved to a very wealthy town but was still predominately white. The only culture differences I was exposed to were going on mission trips starting when I was very young going to Native American Reservations and then to Nicaragua and Chile when I was older. I believe my parents did a good job of helping me understand that even though I lived around people that looked and mostly acted like me that the world has many different people in it.
This assignment aligns with the course because it helps me understand where I am in my learning of cultural differences and how much I have to grow. I believe I have a long way to go before I can get to the integration of difference stage. For my career of working with many different people and possibly being a voice for them I would like to push myself out of my comfort zone and really start to integrate myself into other cultures.
Write a short reflective summary discussing one of the values described in the article. Think about how the value applies to your life. Provide an example as to how this value is reflected in your own life. Think about how an individual from another culture would view an American based on the value that you chose. Do you think they will think this is a good thing? Why or why not?
Takeaway 2
The value of Individualism and Privacy is a very important one for me right now in my life as I am on my own for the first time and going to college. It is most apparent at this point in my life, however, ever since I could remember I have always derived to be different than everyone else just enough to not stand out though because that was my worst nightmare in Middle school and high school. In middle school, I got to try Orchestra and while the majority of my friends wanted to play the violin, I chose the cello. I was the only cellist in my class and it turned out to be the best choice because I have been playing ever since. At this point in my life, I am living on my own, choosing my values separate from my parents telling me what I should and shouldn’t do. This has created a lot of individualism for me which is a scary but very freeing feeling. I have begun to need privacy from my old ways of life to be able to move on with the new.
I find it extremely interesting that some languages do not even have a word for privacy. this would mean that some other cultures do not value this and do not use it. I know that in other cultures they do not even get to choose what they want to do with their lives or even where to live. My mom has a friend from India and he has felt very stuck in his life because he does not like his father so he does not want to find a wife because she would have to come live with him and his family (including the father he does not like). He also had to find a job that would support his family because he would have to provide for his whole family. There would be no privacy living with your whole family and it would feel like you have no control over your life but that you are just living for other people. I think people from other cultures would have mixed views about Individualism because If they like their lives they would find it weird to have so much freedom but if they don’t like their lives they would like the idea of more freedom.
