Verbal and Body Differences In the Middle Eastern and Western Cultures
A lot of people travel around the world. When they do, the first thing they notice is normally the politics and how much people are interested in it. Then, they focus on the things the populace eat or wear. Rarely do people concentrate on trying to figure out the difference in verbal and body languages in different cultures, which in turn puts them in a lot of embarrassing situations. I, on the other hand, think of myself as one of these rare people, because I look for these differences sharply. I came to figure out that there are some interesting differences between the Middle Eastern and Western Cultures, and that had I been given a choice, I would have chosen to be a citizen of the Western Culture. In this essay I will compare the verbal and body differences between this cultures and try to prove to you, why I think the Western Culture is better.
First
of all, these two Cultures differ in the way people enter a house. Now, in the
Middle Eastern Cultures, people do this by taking their shoes off, generally at
the steps, while in Western Cultures, they do this by simply tipping the hat, or
if they were not wearing hats, a gentle nod of the head will suffice.
Personally, I hate the site of filthy slippers and messy shoes at the front
door. The odor is disgusting as well as the sight. A nod, or a tip of the hat,
however, neither disturbs the eyes nor nose.
Furthermore,
there’s this dissimilarity in the way people from other cultures talk to
people. When the inhabitants of a Middle Eastern Culture try to prove a point,
explain something, or generally want to tell you a story, they look directly in
your eyes. The Western Culture natives, conversely, try to look anywhere but
directly in your eyes. In my humble opinion, I believe that staring at the eyes
is unbelievably ‘Scary’. Naturally, people stare at each other when they are
mad. So it is obviously more respectful to look away rather than pierce your
friend’s eyes with your own fixated eerie gaze. For instance, a woman
accepting a proposal would not look the man in the eye and say “Yes.”
Instead, she would answer while she is looking away.
Also,
when citizens of a Middle Eastern Culture are engaged in a conversation, they
wave their arms frantically around. They do this to stress how they felt during
a certain situation whereas the populace of a Western Culture tends to keep
their arms immobilized at their sides. Think about it for a second, would you
like to be occupied in a conversation with mad people waving their arms around
wildly instead of paying attention to what is being said? You would be praying
under your breath not to have your eyes gouged out, accidentally. I would not. I
would much rather be engaged in a conversation where I’d be able to
concentrate on the valuable information that is being emitted, instead of
fearing for my valuable life.
Moreover,
the same gesture can mean exactly the opposite thing when considering these two
cultures together. Tapping on the head twice, means “I am clever” or “I
have a brilliant idea” in a Middle Eastern Culture, yet it means, “You are
crazy,” “They are crazy” or “I am crazy” in a Western Culture. Now I
have to admit that since both actions point to the head it can mean either
‘Clever’ or ‘Crazy’, but I stick to the latter one because of the
following reasons. The first is that pointing to ones’ chest with their thumb
is an even bigger indication of ‘Praising,’ i.e. ‘Clever’ and that you
cannot call someone crazy by pointing at their chest. The other is that most
people around the world tap their head and mean ‘Crazy,’ therefore, you’re
going to be in trouble if you do it and mean ‘Clever.’