Cross-Cultural Blog

I know I can speak on behalf of my group members and say that our group had an extremely insightful and informational meeting with our Swedish friends. We did go into the topics that were presented on the sheet, but expanded those topics outward--for instance, the Muslim barbie was extended into the stereotypes of Muslims in culture, and then minorities in general in culture. We discussed the difficulties facing these minorities with how they are perceived, and upon that, how Americans are perceived throughout the world (and even how the Swedish are perceived to be--all blonde models!) Our group was extremely friendly and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Being in Bart’s group, I second what he said – our group had a wonderful time speaking with our Swedish colleagues. We discussed each of the topics and used them to branch off into larger subjects such as immigration, education, and religion. It was really interesting to exchange our thoughts on each others’ stereotypes and learn just how much American culture has influenced their lives. From television shows (Jerry Springer, Dr. Phil, Oprah, and America’s Next Top Model) to children’s toys (My Little Pony, Bratz Dolls, and Barbie Dolls) I was surprised by how much the Swedish students had in common with us. They are thousands of miles away and are subject to nearly all of the same visual rhetoric as us! It would have been nice to have had time to watch/look at the advertisements prior to our video conference, but it was a really interesting and fun conversation. I look forward to the next video conference!

Working with Bart and Katherine, I can attest to the positive experience that our group had talking with the Swedish students. We were surprised to learn that the perception of Americans in Sweden was more positive than one would think! We touched on all three of the topics within the beauty cases study: We began by discussing the unrealistic portrayal of the female body by Barbie, then built upon our thoughts by expressing our joint approval of Dove’s campaign for real beauty and comparing cultural choices made by Muslims both in the United States and Sweden. Although our conversations sometimes drifted off topic to themes such as the differences in the educational system and in the toleration of immigrants, these insights provided us with an even deeper understanding of the Swedish culture. It is great that we have the technology to so easily communicate with others so far away from us! I was delighted to have this experience because I think that effective communication with people different from us is the first tiny step towards world cohesion. Perhaps our generation is the one that can help bridge cultural gaps…

Speaking with out Swedish peers was an amazing experience! Cata, Kanoa and I were all pleasantly surprised by how open and forward our Swedish friends were. After a few brief introductions, we jumped straight into discussing the Barbie doll body images and the standard of beauty in our respective countries. It turns out that the standard of beauty projected in both the US and Sweden are very similar, and that created a common foundation that the rest of our conversation stemmed out of. From there, we moved into the issues of tolerance within our own societies and the issues of multi-racial couples in both the US and Sweden. However, when speaking to our Swedish colleagues, we spent most of time discussing male body images. Cata, Kanoa, and I were all shocked to hear that men rarely go to the gym to ‘work-out’ in Sweden! When we explained that going to the gym is a culture in the US, our Swedish friends were equally surprised! In natural progression the topic switched to discussing eating disorders with respect to men. Once again, both parties were shocked to hear that in Sweden there are hardly any eating disorder cases in men, and in the US, Cata, Kanoa and I felt like they were very common. Along with these, we also discussed some lighter topics like school, the upcoming election, and sports! I really wish that we could continue speaking to the same students in our future video chats, but I am sure that out next video conference will be as exciting and enthralling as this one!

I will definitely agree that the conference with Sweden was very worthwhile. In our interaction with Sweden, we started by discussing perceptions of beauty and gender roles, Barbies and other kinds of dolls. Soon, however, we all got sucked into discussing all sorts of other things. The technology definitely helped the sidetracking along. The videoconference format made for a very relaxed, informal interaction. It was terrific being able to see the students on the other side of the world. We were all able to communicate a great deal more that way. With real-time audio and visual connection, the language barrier was nearly negligible. So, in the end, we had a very rich, interesting conversation, which hit on all sorts of topics ranging from education to acceptance of religious symbols in public to furniture.

Speaking with the Swedish students was an amazing experience that I look forward to repeating. Pallavi, Kanoa and I discussed body image standards for the two countries, finding most of the differences between male, as opposed to female, body image standards. We learned that in Sweden men do not work out as much; the ideal physique is not that of a body builder. They told us steroid use existed, but was not common, especially for use in school sports teams. What really shocked and surprised me was that the "jock" type in Sweden was not considered a popular or admirable person; rather, they were seen as a certain strain of dedicated, to the point of nerdy, character. This can perhaps be attributed to the fact that their school does not have school sports and thus athletes would not have the kind of status that their strength in numbers brings them in America. I found the videoconference particularly helpful because you could see their reactions plainly written on their faces, and you could hear them, both of which give meanings that text alone struggles to convey.

Speaking with the Swedish students was an amazing experience that I look forward to repeating. Pallavi, Kanoa and I discussed body image standards for the two countries, finding most of the differences between male, as opposed to female, body image standards. We learned that in Sweden men do not work out as much; the ideal physique is not that of a body builder. They told us steroid use existed, but was not common, especially for use in school sports teams. What really shocked and surprised me was that the "jock" type in Sweden was not considered a popular or admirable person; rather, they were seen as a certain strain of dedicated, to the point of nerdy, character. This can perhaps be attributed to the fact that their school does not have school sports and thus athletes would not have the kind of status that their strength in numbers brings them in America. I found the videoconference particularly helpful because you could see their reactions plainly written on their faces, and you could hear them, both of which give meanings that text alone struggles to convey.

Going into the conference, I had no idea what to expect. Our conversation over the next hour or so exceeded all my expectations. We chatted with our Swedish friends about numerous topics, from the movie trailer depicting the Japanese girl who had plastic surgery and then her life was perfect, to popular T.V. shows like Scrubs and Family Guy. We discussed stereotypes of Americans abroad, the way our school systems function in relation to "gap" years and "finding yourself," and race relations in the U.S. compared to Sweden. It was wonderful to be able to connect with people we never would have met in our lives to discuss contemporary issues in the media and advertising as well as in our own lives. I can't wait to do it again when we are further along in our studies.

It was a really nice experience to speak with the American students. To see things from different perspective, and I understood that we're actually having kind of the same sight on body images and so on. We also talked alot about the muslim barbie, that we all thought was kind of unusual in both Sweden and America. I'm looking forward to speak with you soon again.

Hi…
It was nice talking to you…
In our group (in case anyone would like to know), we talked some about the toys we had when we were little. And what kind of toys we liked. It seemed to be more ok in Sweden to have dolls of different kind and we also talk about My little pony. But then it got so interesting to talk that we compared other things to, and even talked some politics.
/Jenny

Hi…
It was nice talking to you…
In our group (in case anyone would like to know), we talked some about the toys we had when we were little. And what kind of toys we liked. It seemed to be more ok in Sweden to have dolls of different kind and we also talk about My little pony. But then it got so interesting to talk that we compared other things to, and even talked some politics.
/Jenny

That would be cool if we can design a comic book about it. Or more 80's American cartoons characters from that era. Especially like the ones from Japan. /Chris

http://cosmeticplasticsurgery123.com/

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