American Culture

American Culture

Masryna Nainggolan

Universitas Pamulang

PERSONAL HYGIENE

Personal Hygiene

Americans consider the subjects of body and breath is too sensitive for discussion. They will avoid telling other people that they have an offensive breathe or body smells.

Americans will respond non verbally to what they perceive as unpleasant smells. If they do not like this situation, they will avert their faces, sit or stand further away from the person than they normally would, and draw the interaction to a close as quickly as possible so they can move away.

Personal Hygiene: The Basic

There are ideal hygiene habits or standard practices consider to Americans

People should bathe or shower at least once daily, using soap (contain deodorant). Brush their teeth with toothpaste at least twice a day and use arm deodorant to control perspiration odor. They should also wash their hair as often as necessary to keep it from becoming oily. In addition, using perfume, cologne, body splash or other scented products will give themselves and other presumably find pleasant.

Because of this needed, the industry of personal care products are grown up.

Personal Hygiene: The Basic The ideal person does not use too much of scented product. Too much

means that the scent is discernible more than three or four feet away from the person’s body.

Most American women shave their legs and under their arms. A small number of them choose not to shave at all. Many American women also wear some makeup on their faces. Too much makeup is considered to make a women look cheap (social acceptability).

According to the general American conception, clothing like bodies, should not emit unpleasant aromas. Clothing that has taken on a smell of the wearer’s perspiration should be washed before it is worn again.

Personal Hygiene: Variations There are some other variations that American do in the term of

personal hygiene. Some women do not use make up or perfume because they are not

required for social acceptability, as long as the person is clean and free of body odor.

People who do not use deodorant or other products intended to make them smell good.

Some people fail to keep their body clean because of poverty, a wish to show independence or to protest against the standard practices, and conviction that natural smells are better than artificial ones

Other Issues Concerning Hygiene

Many international visitors find the hygiene-related notions and practices of Americans unnatural. They may consider it unmanly for men to mask their natural odors and unfeminine for women not to use a consider able of makeup.

Other people’s hygiene habits are deeply ingrained in their own because what smells good or smells bad turn out to be matters of personal and cultural experiences.

Ideas and practicing related to the personal hygiene are complex and perplexing and can produce significant disharmony in intercultural relationship.

Suggestions for International Visitors Take a note to the aroma of individuals and compare them with those

who you would expect to find in your own country. Choose and look at the array of personal care products and compare

them with those that you would find at home. Pay attention and think about the assumptions that underlie in

personal care product and the message they use to persuade potential buyers.

Ask Americans you meet how they decide what personal care products to use.

Particularly if your stay in the United States will be long and you expect to be interacting with many Americans, ask yourself what changes in your hygiene practices you might be willing to make in order to fit in

GETTING THINGS DONE IN ORGANIZATION

Getting Things Done in Organization

Many international visitors bring misconceptions to U.S American: women cannot hold responsible positions in businesses and organization. Women are inferior or subordinate or they cannot properly be in positions of authority.

In other hand, women of Americans do hold responsible positions and they are increasing in many organizations such as manager, executive, adviser university, or professors, etc

Misconceptions

There are such invalid assumptions that international visitors give to U.S. organization:

Many visitors come to U.S America organization only to meet to the boss. They may resort to a wide array of tactics to bypass the receptionist, the secretary and other subordinate staff members in order to see the boss.

Actually, American organizations are normally based on the idea that people all levels are intelligent and can, in fact should, make decisions appropriate to their position.

Misconceptions Employees are typically bound by written rules limiting their discretion.

Faced with a person who refuses to take no for an answer, they must still persist in saying no. Meanwhile they become increasingly annoyed and decreasingly likely to give any for assistance.

In many countries, people get jobs by personal or political relationships and main interest is in drawing they periodic pay than working. But Americans are capable of carrying out their assigned responsibilities and feel at least some obligation to do so.

In many countries impersonal procedures in organizations do not work or work very slowly. Fairness is ensured by treating people differently, depending on the circumstance. But in America, they do procedural approach. It means that by adhering as much as possible to standard rules and procedures, so no one is discriminated against. Fairness is ensured by treating people similarly.

Characteristic of U.S. Organization

Competence: applicants must have completed certain educational or training program. Licensing some examination or other types of certification and have some kind of screening to obtain their jobs are also required.

Efficiency: a primary concern of most organizations. Organization typically develop performance management or scorecard systems in order to ensure that everyone is working efficiently and effectively.

Suggestions for dealing with U.S. organizations

Be courteous to all employees, even if they hold low-level positions.

Explain your request to the person who answers the telephone or greets you at office, let the person decide what procedure you must follow or what the person you need to see and being gracious.

Ask about something that you do not understand. Make a note and date and the names and telephone

numbers of people you deal with for further information

BEHAVIOR IN PUBLIC PLACES

Behavior in Public Places

People’s behavior in public places, like their behavior in anywhere else, is subject to cultural influence.

The American belief in equality and individuality is reflected in the informal rules Americans follow in public places. Aspect of their communicative style are also evident when they are out in public.

Rules For Behavior In Public Places

Keep to the right Line up, and wait your turn First come, first served Don’t block the traffic Don’t block the view Be cautious about where you smoke

Keep to the right

Americans always stay on the right side when they are walking on the sidewalks, in hallways, or on stairways, where ever groups of people are going in two opposite directions.

Line up, and wait your turn

Americans always line up to take service or attention in public places. Wherever they are, the latest person to arrive is expect to step to the end of the line and patiently wait their turn. Because of equality, in the sense of that no one has privilege of going to the front of the line.

It is also reflects their aversion to touching, which is much less likely to happen in line than in jostling crowd.

First come, first served

Who arrives first gets attention first. Giving priority to the elderly, the wealthy, or males do not normally occur to equality-minded Americans. They will give priority to people with an obvious physical disability, in example: people in wheelchairs or on crutches.

Don’t block the traffic

Americans give priority to people who are moving rather than to those who are stationary. A person in a moving crowd (on a sidewalk, or a moving walkway in airports) who wishes to stop or to go more slowly than others is expected to move to the side or otherwise to get out of the path of those who are continuing to move. It is considered inconsiderate to obstruct other people progress.

Don’t block the view

It is also inconsiderate to obstruct other person’s view when that person is watching public event, a parade, an athletic contest, etc. People toward the front of an audience or crowd are expected to remain seated so that people behind them can see.

Be cautious about where you smoke Generally, Americans do not smoke in public places.

They will look like unpleasantly if there is someone light a cigarette.

Nonsmokers who are bothered by cigarette smoke often ask or tell smokers to extinguish their cigarettes. People who do smoke are likely to postpone having a cigarette until they are in a situation where they can smoke without polluting the air around nonsmokers.

Smokers or visitors who want to smoke in particular room or building can ask others (whether they are smoker or not), if they can or can not smoke. It is polite to avoid offending Americans.

Communication behavior

Voice volume Touching

Communication behavior: Voice volume

Americans are generally louder than German or Malays but not as louder as Nigerians or Brazilians. The volume at which people speak when they are in public varies from the situation.

International visitors have to note how loudly others around them are talking and adjust accordingly. Talking more softly than the people nearby will cause no problems, but making more noise than they do will draw attention or adverse comment.

Communication behavior: Touching Americans general aversion to touching and being

touched. When in a crowd (bus, train or other public conveyance),

they will simply avoid situations where extensive and prolonged physical contact with strangers is inevitable. They will also stop talking or will talk in very low voices.

When in situation where physical contact is unavoidable, they will typically to draw in their shoulders or arms to minimize the amount of space they occupy. They will tolerate contact on the outsides of their arms when their arms are hanging straight down from their shoulders, but contact with others body part makes them extremely anxious.

Communication behavior: Touching

In case where they bump into anther person or otherwise to touch the person inadvertently, Americans will quickly draw away and usually apologize, and making clear that the touch was accidental.

Suggestions for International visitors

Aside from noting the points mentioned above, international visitors should spend time observing Americans going about their daily routines.

Movie’s explanation related to the presentation We take a sample movie “ The Rambo: First Blood” to view its related

appropriate to these discussion. How its related with behavior in public places depend on Americans.

We will give summary of the movie to preview the plot of the movie: John J. Rambo is a former United States Special Forces soldier who

fought in Vietnam and won the Congressional Medal of Honor, but his time in Vietnam still haunts him. As he came to Hope, Washington to visit a friend, he was guided out of town by the Sheriff William Teasel who insults Rambo, but what Teasel does not know that his insult angered Rambo to the point where Rambo became violent and was arrested, as he was at the country jail being cleaned, he escapes and goes on a rampage through the forest to try to escape from the sheriffs who want to kill him. Then, as Rambo’s commanding officer, Colonel Samuel Trautman tries to save both the Sheriff’s department and Rambo before the situation gets out of hand.

The Related with public behavior

If we pointing to the values of Americans, Equality is not contained in. Equal means every body is same. They have to be treated equally. John Rambo, a veteran is abolished to live like other people. He is protested to get a job, even a parking car. So it is break their values.

In addition, when Rambo escaped by the police, they serve him like an animal. They bullying and harassing him. Again, it is break the equality. On the other hand, Rambo destroys gas station with stolen truck. He also destroys a sporting goods shop and a few other businesses to protest or to show his individual freedom.

The related with Public Behavior

How to behave in public places is usually contain a lot of practices to do or to know. According to the movie “ The Rambo”, we found there are some behavior practices that it’s not appropriate to the standard practices in U.S.

Personal hygiene is the most important things when you want to out in public. As we know , John Rambo is a veteran. His way to clothing is not required to those standard practices. He is not take a bath, use dirty clothes and also have a long-haired. Those make other become offensive.