Differences in Emotional Expressivity




Claudia Acosta
5/22/17

Emotional Expressivity

Emotions play a very important role in every day of our lives. All of us every day are witness a great variety of emotions, both ours and also of others.
All of us express our emotions in different ways, sometimes verbal, corporal, facial, written, etc.
Signs of body language and gestures sometimes have different meanings according to different cultures. In some cultures more than others, the emotional expressions of people from other countries and cultures are expressed in different ways and depending on the culture of the people. They are also interpreted differently.
In some cultures it is considered offensive to demonstrate negative emotions in the presence of a person of authority.
In others, couples can't be take the hand of his / her boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband and give a kiss or a hug in public because it is offensive.

My personal experience

In some countries like Uruguay, for example, breastfeeding a baby in public is something very normal and natural. No one is going to look at you weird and do not even pay attention to what you are doing because it is normal. Of course some women are more reserved than others, but it is not something that draws attention to the Uruguayans and also in other countries where this is just as normal and natural.
One Sunday morning I was in the church, this was a Hispanic branch with people from different cultures and also some Americans. I was sitting next to a sister from Uruguay, she had her baby in her arms and settled to breastfeed the baby.
I had very little time in this country and for me that was very normal, however, some people showed their not very pleasant emotions with expressions on their faces and other sisters said: "sister, you can’t do that here!"
Of course the sister felt very sorry, but another sister very kindly approached and explained briefly that in American culture that did not look good and helped the sister to reach the maternity room.

Conclusion

Education and knowledge go hand in hand. If we are going to visit or live in a country that is not our homeland it is important to know a little about the culture and its traditions.
It is important to be able to accept and adapt to certain cultures and traditions of the place where we are living out for respect to others and thus avoid embarrassing moments.
As a teacher, I would love to teach students the culture and traditions of the country where they are living and also give students the opportunity to teach the class about their own cultures and traditions.

As we get to know cultures and traditions, some things may be embarrassing, normal, funny or indifferent for some students, according to the country to which they correspond. We must always be open to learning, knowing and accepting each other's emotional and cultural differences.

Comments

  1. good that you think give the opportunity to teach their culture to others, I liked the experience that you related, and although in our countries it is normal for a mother to delact to her son, in the liberal countries this is something scandalous

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  2. I like how you've organized this post. It's easy to read and communicates your thoughts well.

    Breastfeeding in public is currently under debate right now, in the United States. It has been considered taboo to breastfeed in public for many years, but many are trying to create awareness and normalize this very normal interaction. There are actually laws in the U.S. that state breastfeeding in public is legal. But, it still shocks many.

    Great ideas for creating cultural awareness in the classroom.

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