Inter工cultural Communication.12.ppt

Intercultural Communication Lecture 12 Reading IIGender and Nonverbal Communication Question 1What may happen to those who do not conform to their culture’s accepted gender “script”? There are often severe social penalties for those who act in violation of their culture’s accepted gender “script”. Question 2 Does touch have any connotation in different situations? Can you give some examples? Touch, like physical closeness, may be considered an expression of affection, support or sexual attraction. For instance, in some cultures, it may be all right for women friends and relatives to walk arm-in-arm, dance together and hug one another, but if men do so, they may be frowned upon for they would be considered homosexual. Question 3 What will possibly happen to a woman who is appreciably (obviously shown to be) taller than the man? Taller women may attempt to diminish themselves to slouch and round their shoulders so as to retreat or to occupy as little space as possible. Question 4 Are men and women required to have the same facial expressions? Does smile mean the same things to both men and women? Men and women are not usually required to have the same facial expressions. Smile may mean different things to men and women. For females smile functions as an expression of pleasure, pleasantness or a desire for approval, while males may resist any nonverbal display of expression to others in order to appear more masculine because being facially expressive is often seen as a marker of “femininity”. Question 5 African-American women are found to be less deferential than white women and, therefore, less inclined to smile simply because it is expected of them to be so in their culture. Question 6 In what ways may direct eye contact between individuals be interpreted? Looking directly into another person’s eyes can connote an aggressive threat, a sexual invitation or a desire for honest and open communication. Question 7 What was found in a study of nonverbal communica