3). Pick one concept from the assigned reading, that has not already been discussed this week, that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.
Personal space is something that greatly differentiates and defines Americans from other cultures. I can say that in my lifetime I have seen clearly that Americans love their space. Arguments, quarrels, and fights have erupted due to the exhausted excuse, “They got all up in my face!” denoting a violation of someone’s space.
Take for example the line marker at your local Kaiser hospital. Instead of having a normal line running from the receptionist desk to the waiting area there is a marker on the floor about ten feet back telling you where to stand in order to give the present customer their privacy.
I have noticed that in other cultures, particularly the eastern cultures, people converse in closer proximity to one another. I wonder if one underlying factor could be that the American culture is more individualistic, leaving people to be more solitary-minded which spills over into their physical/ spatial comforts.
Since numerous studies have shown that personal contact and relationships are necessary for healthy living, it would be interesting to see what effect would take place if Americans downsized their circles of comfort by a few measurements.
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I found this concept also very interesting. I know that for me there are some people that I feel very comfortable invading my personal space, while there are others that I want to keep at distance. I have never been a big huger to people I dont know, but have recently been hanging out with a lot of Burners(Burning Man folk).. and a burning man greeting is a hug. It has really changed my perspective on the whole personal space thing, because I feel that you really should be open to people that you just meet, because they haven't given you any reason to be stand offish.
ReplyDeleteAmericans do love their personal space, and it's interesting that other cultures aren't that way. You're right that Americans are very individualistic. Americans wanting their personal space can be seen in may different instances, such as everyone having fences around their yards and like you mentioned having markers up in certain lines like at Kaiser and banks. Privacy goes hand-in-hand with personal space, too. We are often uncomfortable when our personal space is violated or we're in a crowded situation. For example, in grocery store lines there are no "markers," so when someone presses in their debit card codes they always cover the numbers with their hand... eventhough without your card the code is worthless. And regarding fences and yards, in the eastern and southern U.S., states like Pennsylvania, New York, South Carolina, etc, not many if any people have fences. Their yards are just connect together out in the open.
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