When in Rome…
France’s burka ban
 Mosque near ground zero
 Arizona’s immigration law
 Honor killings
 Terry Jones Kuran burning
 Westboro Baptist Church
 Asian drivers
 Female circumcision


American culture is a leading export







Movies
Music
TV shows
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Fashion

“America is the
greatest country in
the world”




Freedom
Democracy
Free speech
Land of opportunity

But are we #1?





Infant mortality: 33rd
Life expectancy: 37th
(behind Cuba, Puerto
Rico, Chile, Costa Rica)
Education: The U.S.
ranked 14 out of 34
countries in reading,
and 25th in math
Health care quality:
37th
Gender gap/gender
equality: 27th

Culture bias:
interpreting and
judging another
culture based on
standards from one’s
own culture


Cultural imprinting
begins at an early age
 Culture bias may be
conscious or
unconscious

Example: hygiene
standards in the U.S.A.
Ethnocentrism: belief
in the inherent
superiority of one’s
own culture

Example: “capitalism is
good, socialism is evil”
Which fellow is
dressed “weird”?
 high
contact
cultures exhibit
greater immediacy

low contact cultures
exhibit lesser immediacy

Touch less

Touch more

Stand farther apart

Stand closer

More visual

More olfactory

examples

examples

South America

Germany

Great Britain

Norway

Southern France

Southern Italy

Southern Spain

Japan

Greece, Portugal

China

Latin America

The U.S.A. is a moderate
contact culture

When passing another
stranger on the
sidewalk:


1-2% of Japanese people
smiled, nodded, or
spoke to the passerby
9-25% of Americans
smiled, nodded, or
spoke

High context cultures





are more collectivistic;
concerned with group
harmony, getting along
cultural rules and social
norms are implicitly
understood
are more nonverbal
tend to read between
the lines
Examples: China, Japan,
Taiwan, Korea

Low context cultures





are more individualistic;
celebrate individuality
and personal autonomy
cultural rules and social
norms are discussed,
negotiated
are more verbal
tell to spell things out
Examples: Germany,
U.S. Switzerland,
Sweden

American college
roommates



Messy roommate: “It’s
your turn to clean the
kitchen.”
Noisy roommate: “Keep
it down, I’m trying to
study.”
Unpaid debt: “You owe
me 20 bucks. Pay up.”

Japanese college
roommates



Messy roommate: “If
someone visits, they will
think are messy.”
Noisy roommate: “The
neighbors may be
disturbed by all the
noise.”
Unpaid debt: “I wish I
could afford to buy a
subway pass for this
month.”


Japanese tea ceremony

Every behavior of the host and
guest is highly ritualized and
prescribed

all meaning is contextual

The tea ceremony reflects the
principles of: Wa - Harmony,
Kei - Respect, Sei - Purity,
and Jaku - Serenity
An American who said
“hey, great tea,” or “hurry
up and finish your tea”
would be committing a
cultural faux pas

Feminine cultures
have more flexible,
androgynous gender
roles

Examples: Sweden,
Norway, Denmark,
Germany , Chile,
Portugal

Masculine cultures
have more rigid,
clearly defined
gender roles


Examples: Japan, Italy,
Mexico, Venezuela
The U.S. is
moderately masculine




Nascar dads
Stay-at-home dads
Career women
Home-schoolers

A British schoolteacher,
Gene Gibbons, was
sentenced to 40 lashes for
allowing her students to
name a class teddy bear
Mohammad

Sharia law should not be
taken lightly

In Middle Eastern
countries it is considered
rude to point the bottom
of your foot at someone.

The sole of the foot is
considered unclean.

Shoes are removed before
entering a Mosque.

It is akin to “mooning”
someone in the U.S.A.

In Saudi Arabia it is illegal
for a man and woman to
hold hands in public

It is not illegal for two
males to hold hands in
public

An American who kissed a
woman in pubic was jailed
then deported

Richard Gere “greets”
Shilpa Shetty too
enthusiastically

Hindu followers consider
any public display of
affection (PDA) to be
taboo.

PDA is even more frowned
upon if the pair is
unmarried.

Gere was a non-Hindu
foreigner in a country that
endorses arranged
marriages

Low bow humor: Obama
was criticized for
bowing too low the the
Japanese emperor, and
for shaking hands at the
same time.

Hands off the crown
jewels: Michelle Obama
broke royal protocol
during a reception at
Buckingham Palace
when she placed her
arm around the Queen.

“Our North Korean
Ally”


While being interviewed
on Glenn Beck’s radio
show, Palin twice
referred to North Korea
as America’s ally.
"Obviously, we gotta
stand with our North
Korean allies“ she
remarked.



Cameron Diaz toured Mach
Picchu carrying a Chinese
handbag with the phrase
“Serve the People.”
The phrase, by Mao Zedong,
touched a nerve among
Peruvians
The Maoist Shining Path
insurgency in Peru killed
70,000 people

We are not amused:


Following a verbal
gaffe, (he suggested the
Queen had toured the
U.S. in 1776) George W.
Bush winked at the
queen.
She returned the wink
with a cold glare