In Chapter 10, we learned about the importance of group communication. Groups are a collection of three or more people who link together to obtain or complete a collectivist goal. Each member works to accomplish the goal which will benefit the whole group. In Chapter 10, we also learned about collectivism and individualism. Collectivism is when everyone in the group is more focused on working to benefit the whole group equally, not one individual in particular. However, individualism on the other hand is the opposite of collectivism. Individualism is when one puts a high value on one person above the needs of the whole group. 

The cartoon shows the different ways in which cultures raise their children. Some cultures teach their people at young ages how to be individualist by telling them to first think about their benefits. Nevertheless, other cultures teach their people at very young ages to behave in a way so the whole group gets the same benefits. 

In my opinion, I am a mix of both, individualist and collectivist depending on the context. When it comes to school projects if everyone in the group is committed to the work, I activate my collectivist mindset and work for the well-being of everyone. But, if I see that some students in the group don’t want to work, I activate my individualist mindset and I do my best to shine by myself. 

Cultural gender dynamics change over time and across the different cultures. The process of cultural gender starts with dressing baby’s according to their sex, for example: blue for males and pink for females, or males play with cars while girls play with dolls. We learn cultural gender differences from our families. Cultural gender changes over time, we can think about the past how females were not allowed to vote, because their only responsibility was being a housewife, cook and maintain the stability of her house and family, while the male responsibility was to bring money to the house. Nowadays that perspective changed a little, now females are allowed to work, vote and do many more things rather than being a housewife. Cultural gender dynamics change through the differents counties, what is seem to be normal to Americans might not be seen good for people in the Vatican and viceversa. 

The cartoon shows how in some cultures females are represented with a cleaning brush. From my perspective that is very humiliating, women’s duties and importance goes beyond cleaning a house and maiming a house organized. On the other hand, males are represented by a hammer. From my perspective, the representation of a male is also humiliating because not all males have to work like machines all the time.

An example of how cultural gender communication that I’ve experienced and have seen happening a lot is that while driving is someone is making a lot of mistakes or cannot park a car people always say “that must be a women” or if a female drives fast people often say “She drives like a man.” No matter in what culture or country I am, I’ve heard this a lot, and in my opinion those type of comments are very out of place. 

Am I better than you?

Intercultural communication is the exchange of information between languages and cultures. Each cultural identity is shaped differently depending on their beliefs and cultural dynamics. Cultural identity is not only shaped by your race, nationality, and ethnicity. Your cultural identity is also shaped by your gender, social orientation, religion, social class, and ability. Your cultural identity is an intersectionality of all these categories, where all of them meet and interact creating who you are. 

Ethnocentrism is when an individual believes that his/her culture, beliefs, values, and behavior are the center or better than others’ culture, beliefs, etc. From my perspective, some people are raised with more privilege than others and that is the reason why some might feel superior to other people who might have a different culture or point of view. 

The editorial cartoon shows ethnocentrism in how people judge others without getting to know each other. People often criticize other people based on their own beliefs, and that is wrong. If we were raised in a certain way, that doesn’t mean that somebody who was raised differently is mistaken.

 From personal experience, there have been times that behave in an ethnocentric manner unconsciously. I work in a retail store where most of the customers are Caribbean restaurants. When I first started working at that job I saw males with long braids which was rare to me because I was never exposed to another culture different than mine. There were times that I believed that they were wrong or ugly, however, I never said that to anyone. Now that I am aware that just because someone has different values or a different culture than me, that does not mean they are wrong or that I am better than them. 

Self-disclosure is when one individual decides to tell others information that is not known to the public about his/her own life. There is information that others can perceive like your skin color, the color of your eyes, etc. that is information that can not be self-disclosed because people are already aware of it. Implications such as I am sad or I love pizza, are information that can be disclosed. There are levels of information that people can disclose, starting from simple things such as one’s favorite color to more personal implications such as “I am going through a very hard depression.” 

The cartoon represents how one person is saying “Why would I trust you.” Trust is crucial for people to express their feelings, emotions and/or personal life to others and that is something I struggle with. From personal experience, I don’t like to tell others my business. When it comes to my emotions or when I am feeling sad I don’t like to self-disclose that information to people I don’t trust. In my opinion, other people can use that information as a weapon to destroy my reputation or hurt my feelings even more in the future.