Cultural Differences

Cultural Differences 

Some of the characteristics that influenced Smrithi Ram’s communication with others were her fear of being judged by others, and anxiety about what others thought. I did notice that she took those stereotypical questions such as “what is that red dot of your head,” and “when did you guys move here from India” as offensive, but if someone asked me about my cultural background, I would be thrilled to tell them about it, not ashamed or offended. I think one thing that impacted her ability to connect was that she took those questions offensively, therefore acting defensively, even though they may not be intended that way. “We are constantly evaluating the people whom we meet and deciding whether they would make good friends, romantic partners, roommates, or coworkers” (Bowman 2019). Very rarely does an entire class bully one child, so it is important to recognize that even though you may feel everyone is out to get you, they are not in reality. In contrast, the actual bullying and racism that occurred can be found in remarks like “curry girl” and “untouchable” (TEDx Talks). It sounds as though she was so insecure in her culture, that she allowed the bullying and questions to change who she was. This is not to say that the bullying, and racism was wrong, it is inherently evil as we are all created equally to love one another, but we should also not let others' opinions change us just to feel “popular” or “known” (TEDx Talks). We should not let us affect us so much that we physically change ourselves in ways we were not created to look. Ram was participating in acts like straightening her hair, lightning her skin, not taking traditional food to school, and forgetting her mother language to gain social validation. Another factor that could have played into this is that “similarity is a primary reason people start friendships with one another” (Bowman 2019). Ram’s peers were more attracted to what they knew. Rather than trying to learn of a new culture, people will usually become fearful leading to making fun of it and bullying those who are different. 

Many other barriers exist that stunt communication between cultures and sub-cultures. Getting to know others from diverse cultural backgrounds through social media has become the norm, but this is not an effective way to communicate with new people, because it can impact your face-to-face communication with them for the worse. Language and accent can be another communication barrier; different languages, accents, and even speech impediments may affect verbal communication. Physical expression may differ from culture to culture resulting in confusion between differently raised people; some cultures greet with a kiss on the cheek, some with a handshake, some sub-cultures are very huggable, while others avoid physical contact with those they are not related or married to.  

Judgment based on cultural differences is common among many separate groups of people. Everyone makes their own personal judgements based on their self-concept and worldview. Homophily, is a “bias that leads people to feel more comfortable around others who appear to share similar cultural experiences with themselves” (Bowman 2019). Homophily can be seen in religious groups, social groups, cultural groups, and political groups. I have witnessed judgement against myself for being a Christian, I have heard many rude and ridiculous comments saying Christians (as a whole) are mean, uppity, unloving, and hateful. None of these are true of me or the Christians I know, but because of peoples predetermined judgements they think those things are true. I see judgement of democrats by republicans and vice versa in the media, everyone seems to eat away at one another for one part of their self-perceived identity. I have seen racism go all ways, and each race be guilty of hating another, simply because of melanin level. I have seen every single person, at some point or another, pass judgement, and receive judgement. Let's be a generation that doesn't see through a lens of black and white, but through a lens of color.

 

 

Works Cited 

Bowman, Jonathan M. Interpersonal Communication: Interconnections Foundations and Contexts. MindTap - Cengage Learning, 2019. https://ng.cengage.com/static/nb/ui/evo/index.html?deploymentId=5799847154192693996956595&eISBN=9781337554121&id=1986405705&snapshotId=3798006. 

TEDx Talks. “Between Two Cultures | Smrithi Ram | TEDxUCincinnati.” YouTube, 11 Aug. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv_UfDBNWI8. Accessed 1 Feb. 2024.