Week 6 Blog, 5/25/2021; Differences in Emotional Expressivity

 

 

(from my Familysearch.org family tree.)

Where are you from?  That is a question that is also difficult for me to answer. I live in Tarija Boliva. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. The skill of understanding other cultures may be easier for people like me who descend from many countries. I have also moved so much inside of the USA. Some people will not be able to realize a lot of things I can realize because of many backgrounds and experience. We can have a better understanding of the world for having all of this rich heritage and exposure during out life experience as well. 
So I ask again, where are YOU from? 

    When I came to Bolivia on my first trip as a 17-year-old, I remember going to very large markets with my brother and smiling so big at everyone I saw. My brother saw how I was smiling and he observed how some men were looking at me. Afterwards he told me, “Lenore! Stop smiling!” I think that this is a good example of how differences work for emotional expressivity between cultures. I was really confused, actually, when my brother told me that. I asked him why he had said that, and he told me that it was because the men would think that I like them if I smile at them. I am from Texas so I am “a star” as some people put it. I  am not afraid of expressing myself. This may also come as a downfall or disadvantage at the same time. 

    Moreover, motions are universal but the way that we show them differently is called emotional expressivity. Some cultures are more open with their emotions in public. Some cultures are more closed. Sometimes this causes misinterpretation between cultures. This cultural difference may be geographic, religious, ethnic or racial.  The differences between the expressivity has to do with tolerances, and it leaves a lot of room for misinterpretation. These engrained cultures are passed on through generations. Group orientation brings on lower expressivity at times and another reason may also be subconscious genetics from geographic areas our ancestors come from. Some cultures are more dynamic, powerful, and interesting.

    In conclusion, this will need to be noticed if you perhaps travel to other countries or geographic areas of your own country. These differences must be observed. Only the best of feelings and greatest respect should exist in the classroom in regards to cultural expressivity. People should be educated and exposed to new information on culture, especially if it will be beneficial to their careers of choice and/or actual communities.