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Gender across societies Let me start my speach from asking you all guys what is culture? And let me give my answer to this question. Well, the definition of culture can be the development by special training or care the skills, arts, Ect. of a given people in a given period. But what is ti indeed? I belive that though it is not a physical thing that you can touch, smell or feel, people do indeed adopt it from others through years, from generation to generation.
Due to huge technological progress nowadays people are able to change his / her appearance and even the color of skin. A person can learn how to speak perfectly this or that language and move to another country to live. But he / she would never get rid of the cultural heritage whether he / she likes it or not. It is something that every person has in his blood. There is no doubt that various languages and cultures play significant roles in human civilization. And what a pity people are still influenced by the cultural difference in their everyday life.
I am also eager to say that it is hard to understand other cultures when you misunderstand your own one. It is hard to say what you would do or feel if your belonged to this or that race and had this or that cultural background. But I can say that people should remember that God created us as equal beings and we have to respect all human beings no matter what color he / she is and what cultural heritage he / she possesses. If people had he desire for a cultural learn and would be curious to look at others cultures in order to try to understand them it would be much easier to accept differences in the cultures.
I want to say that it has been proven that language and culture are interlinked and play a significant role on a persons life. Both language and culture can be looked upon as a gene of a person, but in a different way, in that it is not unique to each individual. I believe that language shapes a persons culture. The way a person communicates by the usage of language determines peoples culture, or vice versa. Let me take as an example two very close and indeed very different cultures of the world: the Mexican and Afro-Americans Culture. These two cultures vary greatly in their way of life, people and their habits.
One of the main differences between the two cultures is the language. In Mexico the main language spoken is Spanish, while it is hard to say what main language exists for Afro-American people. Talking about the Mexican culture I want to say three words: family, family, family. The heart and soul of the Mexican culture centers around the family and loyalty. Topics that would probably be at the top of a family decision, would be; the weather, current surroundings, sports, and on occasion Mexican culture and history. In some Mexican homes talking about religion, politics and the Mexican-American War (for that matter any thing that tends to make the US seem better that Mexico is strictly forbidden), and illegal aliens.
Hand shaking is the standard male greeting for Mexicans while women, however, will often pat each other on the right forearm or shoulders. Women must initiate all handshakes with a man. By the second or third meeting hugs become a norm. Conversations occur at a much closer physical distance that in than in the United States, personal space is seldom acknowledged. Therefore, moving away to establish distance is considered unfriendly, Mexican men often touch shoulders or hold the arm of another. Withdrawing from these affectionate gestures will be perceived as an insult.
Warm hugs accompanied by a hearty backslap, followed by a handshake, called the ablaze is the most common greeting between male friends. It is considered a sign of good will. Eye contact should be limited; avoid looking at others too intently. Mexicans use the psst psst sound to get another's attention in public. In Mexicans business etiquette, this is not considered rude. Hands should be visible but not on your hips, this gesture is looked upon as a challenge.
The host arraigns business lunches, if it was not specifically said to be a working lunch, it is advisable to wait for the host to bring up the subject. Because lunch is the main meal of the day, expect to be there several hours. In Mexican business etiquette, one person usually the oldest in the group pays for the meal. It is also considered good manners to haggle over paying the bill. Offer to pick-up the tab for the next meal, in doing so you will be showing respect to all seated at the table. A Mexican women, should not invite a man out for a business dinner unless his wife or colleagues accompanies him, otherwise it may be seem as an opportunity for sex.
When paying for a meal at a Mexican restaurant, ensure that you place your cash or credit card directly into the waiters hand. Leaving your payment on the table is considered a sign if contempt. The perceived meaning of this gesture is that having direct contact with the waiter is beneath you. Again, shake hands upon and as you begin to leave the residence.
If you should decide o bring a gift to the home, try to bring something that represents your firm (with a logo or company name) or something that showcases your hometown such as a local sports team item. Candy and flowers are acceptable gifts as well. If flowers are your choice, remember, according to Mexican folklore the color of the flower may have a specific meaning: yellow symbolizes death, red cast spells, and white lift spells. Feminine items like perfume and scarves should be sent by the person wife.
Any items made of silver should be avoided because it may remind the locals of the trinkets that are generally sold to tourists. Knives should not be considered as a potential gift either because it is often interpreted as the severing of a friendship. Coming to the main cultural characteristics of Afro-American people I want to say first that as a rich source of cultural tradition, Africa has long inspired Black people in the United States. This is reflected in many ways. Historically, many names of early Black institutions (e. g. , the African Methodist Episcopal Church) symbolized the link with Africa.
Creative artists have often written about Africa. Music, literature, dance, and sculpture are concentrated expressions of a people's culture. Thus, they are usually prominent in most societies. As someone once said, "We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets. " Every great event was reflected and communicated in artistic performances, especially in dance and song. Musical instruments, such as drums, xylophones, and harps, were developed in Africa. In fact, artists have copied some African art such as Picasso in creating modern art like cubism.
The research of such scholars as linguist Lorenzo Turner and anthropologist Melville Herskovitz has demonstrated that Africans brought this rich cultural heritage to America. Once here, African culture interacted with the culture of other peoples. Under these conditions, a new cultural pattern emerged. It was a culture that contributed to Black people's struggle for survival under very challenging conditions. Afro-American people have a variety of nonverbal gestures that provide for coded communication that are used within the African American community, including but not limited to: historical gestures such as drumming and dancing, and present day gestures such as head nodding and coded hand shaking. On the other hand, head nodding and hand shaking are greetings, which is defined as an exchange of actions by two individuals acknowledging that they have seen each other and indicating how the other will be received.
The small ritual forms of nodding, smiling, and saying hello indicate to others in ones environment that they are not just objects but are recognized as members of an order of social relations; a pattern of mutual orientation has been established. For example, when young black men exchange a handshake, it is more than the simple extension of a hand it is a performance. The series of movements of the hands combined with the hugging or clutching of each other embodies a fraternal acknowledgement that is adopted by men as young as juvenile boys and is a gesture rarely expressed outside of the community of black men. Quilting is another tool employed to pass along communication between Afro-Americans. Quits where handed down orally, generation to generation since antebellum days, the Underground Railroad Quilt Code... is a mystery-laden, secret communication system of employing quilt making terminology as a message map for black slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad.
Today, that coded communication manifests itself in a variety of rich forms of tradition that exemplify the sense of belonging to a community with a historical connection to oral history and storytelling in Afro-African communities. Including the use of Ebonics, rap / hip hop, the dozens, mutual aid associations and secret societies. Just as the Mexican center themselves, heart and soul on their families; Afro-American people do the same thing. Some Afro-American families the black women, is the head of house-whole. Black women are the strongest in Afro-American families. Black women that are mother or grandmother are able to keep the family together and give love whenever it is need.
The Black family also developed a set of values and ideas to meet their new conditions. Ideas about sexual relations, illegitimacy, and marriage reflected the legacy of an oppressive slavery and the immediate social needs, which existed. As Charles S. Johnson reported in his 1934 study, many "marriages" were quite stable as economic and social units, but many Blacks saw no need to seek the legal sanctions, which had not been necessary under slavery. Neither was illegitimacy a recognized concept. All children "born out of wedlock" were accepted without stigma and treated on an equal basis by the family and community.
The last thing I would like to say is that understanding the importance of developing personal relationships helps in dealings with Mexican or Afro-American business people. In addition to the many cultural differences between countries, cultural differences exist within countries as well. Business behavior in Mexico differs between big city and small city, between northerners and southerners, and east coast and west coast people. The same is true for Afro-American people. Recognizing cultural differences is the first step toward understanding and then accommodating the differences. In conclusion, I believe that both Mexican and African America cultures are similar and at the same time they are different.
They are similar because every culture has a unique gender roles that men and women play in their society. And the differences are in the way these roles are placed and emphasized in Mexican and Afro-American cultures. Bibliography Myers, Michael D. Tan, Felix B. Beyond models of national culture. Journal of Global Information Management. 01. 01. 2002.
Base, Sara. What is culture? New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. , 1997. Turner Lorenzo and Herskovitz Melville.
Africans in America. New York. 1999 Johnson, Charles S. Study of marriages between Black people. New York. 1934.
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Research essay sample on Generation To Generation Heart And Soul
