Culture Shock

I found Adriane Stoner’s lecture relatable to my own interests, because I would like to study abroad in Spain and her research pertained to studying abroad and the use of new media. I agree with what Adriane said in regards to the impact that she sees new media consumption having on the study abroad experience. Culture shock may not always be the most pleasurable experience, but I agree with the value that can be obtained by learning to maneuver through the obstacles that arise as a result of culture shock.

As was brought up in class, even moving to a new city or starting a new job can illicit some of the same physical and mental states that occur due to culture shock. The apartment that I moved into six months ago is only an hour away from where I grew up, but this was my first time living on my own. Before Adriane’s lecture I had never really considered the role that new media had played in my transition to living in a new place. Even though I don’t see my friends and family nearly as much as I used to, they are still accessible to me in many ways. I use my phone and computer on a daily basis in able to stay in contact with my friends and family. In many ways I take this for granted and after listening to Adriane speak it made me consider just how different my experience would have been if I didn’t have such easy access to these means of communication with my friends and family back home. I wouldn’t say that I want to disconnect with my friends and family back home, but at the same time I think there is something to be gained in personal development by not being so reliant on these technologies.

Last year I went on a camping trip to Michigan as part of my speech class. This was after having only had two class sessions with the people I was going on a trip with. There was no access to phones or Internet while on this trip either. Even though this wasn’t a long trip I learned something about myself when I was cut off from new technology and staying in a new environment with near strangers. There was plenty of anxiety and frustration that I encountered by stepping out of my comfort zone, but looking back this was one of my favorite classes that I have taken in college.

Objectified & Sexualized

In her lecture, Diem-my Bui discussed the objectification of Vietnamese women and their bodies. While Diem-my Bui focused her research on the Vietnamese woman, many of the concepts that she addressed in her lecture were applicable to many types of women. The experience of Vietnamese women is unique, but the objectified and sexualized perception of women is a prevailing issue.

            When I was in community college I took a course on human sexuality, which I related to this lecture. After taking the course I was interested in studying the sex trade and how the sex trade continues to function in our society. Just as females in the sex trade face objectification, Diem-my Bui addressed how Vietnamese women are often depicted and perceived in this objectified way. The perception of all Vietnamese women as prostitutes is a gross dramatization. When thinking about the objectification of women, whether the sex trade or sexualized/objectified perceptions of Vietnamese women, I am reminded just how often the issue is ignored.

            Many aspects of the lecture were also relatable to an assortment of topics that were covered in class. In particular this lecture reminded me of our class discussion about perception and framing. When Diem-my Bui talked about how the depiction of Vietnamese women in films created a perception of Vietnamese women that objectifies and sexualizes them, framing could be said to be taking place. In this instance, the Vietnamese woman as a prostitute is the image that is being made more salient through films.

Diem-my Bui’s lecture further tied in with the topic of physical appearance and communication. How individuals perceive or are socialized to understand physical appearance can have a significant impact on communication. Diem-my Bui talked about how she was perceived as being a prostitute for the sole factor of being Vietnamese.

Physical appearance and communication were also discussed in the article that we read, Denying Diversity. This article reinforces some of the points that were made by Diem-my Bui, although Vietnamese women were not addressed in the article read in class. For instance, the perceptions that are created about different groups of people through media outlets can have a significant impact on individuals in that group. This again ties in to the perceptions that stem from the movies with Vietnamese women that Diem-my Bui discussed.

Objectified and sexualized perceptions of women are problematic in many instances. I don’t condone this, but at the same time I have considered working in the business side of the fashion industry for a while. My interest in the fashion industry came to mind for me when watching the lecture, because in many ways the fashion industry is criticized for sexualizing and objectifying women. I do believe that there are many flaws in the industry, but at the same time there is also a lot that I respect about the fashion business. Diem-my Bui’s lecture focused on Vietnamese women, but in many ways it made me consider the abundance of sexualized and objectified perceptions of women that are present in many cultures and how this even intertwines with my own interests.

Rhetoric

What initially caught my attention with Deirdre McCloskey’s lecture was when she made the statement of how rhetoric is bullshit.  While it became evident through her lecture that this wasn’t actually her belief, I connected to this blunt statement. When I transferred to UIC and switched my major from Psychology to Communications I felt that I received a fair amount of flak from people who considered communications a “bullshit” major. Even my doctor jokingly made a comment about communications being a useless major. However, after watching Deirdre McCloskey’s lecture, I felt a sense a reaffirmation in choosing to pursue this area of study.

            When McCloskey began speaking of economics, history, and rhetoric I was skeptical that this lecture would significantly relate to my academic interests. Economics is possibly one of my least favorite subjects and the connectivity between economics and rhetoric was something that I had never even begun to consider before.  After watching this lecture I felt that my perception of economics was reshaped. Just as McCloskey accuses economists of disassociating themselves from the communications field, I feel I was close-minded to the connection between economics and communications. I’m not going to lie and say I’m completely fascinated with economics now, but I appreciate the ways in which communication and economics can be viewed as intertwining.  Rather than adhering to the rigid dichotomy between these studies that McCloskey addressed I now see what McCloskey means when she talks about how not just economics, but traditionally quantitative areas of study in general, relate to communications.

            Persuasion was the key word that I drew from this lecture. In class we discussed the distinction between power and dominance. This reminded me of when McCloskey was talking about persuasion as sweet-talking. Rather than forcing someone to agree, which I associate more with the idea of dominance, individuals are in agreement with the persuasion, which I associate with the idea of power. This also made me think about the term hegemony, which was discussed in a media class that I took. Hegemony is essentially the idea that individuals are willingly being controlled in some sense by another group. In this way I see sweet-talking as persuasion as being comparable to this concept of hegemony.

            McCloskey further addressed in her lecture how she doesn’t believe entrepreneurship can be taught. In many ways I agree with this statement. I know a couple of people who were successful in starting their own businesses. The ability to persuade is an essential component when considering the success of businesses. When speaking of persuasion, Malcolm X also comes to mind for me. I’ve watched a number of his speeches and read about him and am reminded of the importance of rhetoric and the power of persuasion. McCloskey stated that, “the mastery of communication makes us rich, wise, and educated.” I completely agree and believe this statement articulates the value of continuously seeking to improve communication.

Gendered Communication

            Sharon Meraz presented the lecture that I watched, titled Gendering the Internet. What I connected to automatically is having a brother who was a computer science minor in college and my dad who has worked in IT for pretty much his whole career. That’s why I found it funny when Professor Meraz mentioned that when a woman does go into a computer science field, it is most often the result of having male family in the field. While I’m sure this is the case in many instances, this was not my experience. I didn’t find or face discrimination in the limited experiences I have had personally with computer science, but then again I have never had a particular interest in pursuing this field.

            This lecture connected to what we read about in chapter two of Human Communication about person perception. When addressing women bloggers, Meraz discussed how women often have to use their sexuality to gain any sort of real recognition. This related to the section in chapter two about the significance of physical attractiveness in communication. While the computer world doesn’t actually involve physical interaction with others, attractiveness, or perceived attractiveness, is still a central component of online interactions.  Chapter two also discussed gender-linked roles. The placement of men and women into specific roles often fuels perceptions, such as the idea that men are better suited for the computer science field.

            I also found Meraz’s lecture relatable to chapter three of the text and the discussion about male and female language use. Human Communication touches on the concepts of report and rapport talk and how men are more prone to report, and women rapport. I found this to be comparable to how Meraz mentioned that there is a notion that women write too emotionally. Emotional writing would connect more so to rapport than report talk. Rapport talk and emotional writing are also more readily associated with women and presented in a negative context. However, I don’t believe that this always has to necessarily be viewed as a bad characteristic.

            In some ways I feel ill equipped to fully address the discrimination concerns that women face in fields such as computer science. I do believe the topic is relevant and there is factual information supporting the claims. At the same time, I was brought up with the mentality that I can pursue any field I so choose, whether male dominated or not. This isn’t meant to trivialize the challenges of others or say that I never have or never will face discrimination because of my gender. I believe it is important to be aware of gendered communication so that the issues pertaining to this topic can be addressed further.