Ethnocentrism: Different Than Things People Do In Brazil

Throughout history people have been taught their own culture and way of life. Going into a new country or culture is different for everyone, no matter what age group or nationality. Growing up one way and them seeing something else can be hard for both cultures. Some may not be used to having a dog as a pet or some may not be used to seeing children act so rudely to their parents in public or in general. Many times we see strange behaviors from people and we either do one of two things: we make fun of them and laugh or we wonder if they know that what they are doing is not normal for this type of culture. Things people do in France may be done completely different than things people do in Brazil, it just depends on how they were raised and what they were taught growing up. Throughout this assignment I found three examples of ethnocentrism, a lady walking her dog in a doggy stroller, upperclassmen thinking they are more powerful, and americans getting upset with other cultured taxi drivers in busy cities.

When defining ethnocentrism, Schaefer describes it as “the tendency to assume that one’s culture and way of life represent a norm or are superior to all others.” This can be interpreted as how a person sees his/her group or culture and views all other cultures as not “normal”.

Our view in the world is dramatically influenced by the society in which we are raised (Schaefer, pg 58).

While completing this assignment, it took me some time to understand the concept. At first, I was not quite sure on what I was suppose to be looking for, but once I saw some examples it came to me pretty easily. Once I took a step back and realized that I was thinking about it way too hard. I realized that I should be looking for observations of other citizens. I enjoy people-watching when I'm in a big city or a large populated area. So, when I am people-watching the examples of ethnocentrism comes a little

easier.
My first example of ethnocentrism was observed when I was working at the Cedar Rapids Downtown Market. When I am working with my mom at my candle booth, we see just about everything. People do surprise me, I wonder if they ever look in a mirror or think before they leave the house. At the previous market, we saw a lady pushing her dog in a stroller. I wonder if she thinks that is normal. I noticed that a lot of people were taking pictures of her pushing her dog. I would understand if the dog was injured or was old and couldn’t walk very well, but it was a stroller made for an animal and had a cage around it. In the last few years I have seen people push their animals in strollers, but I could not imagine being from another country and seeing that happen out in public. Americans’ would place their animal in a wagon or another type of stroller, but now that I see people actually buying a stroller made especially for animals it is quite different for society as a whole. If people were giving me funny looks for something I was doing, I would wonder what I was doing to make people look or take pictures. Also, I feel like family members would say something especially if they were doing something as strange as walking a dog in a stroller.
Another example of ethnocentrism I observed the other day in Piazza, UNI’s dining center. I was patiently waiting in line for my food and an upperclassmen saw what was for lunch and budged right in front of me, it felt like they didn’t even see me. I rolled my eyes, but didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to start something that was not worth it. Most freshmen understand that we are at the bottom of the totem pole but that still doesn’t give upperclassmen the right to budge and make us freshmen feel invisible. I think it gets to their head when they get older after they are not longer being called the freshmen. As time goes on, being a freshmen is rough, especially in high school. I thought college would of been different, and wow I was wrong. It is not as bad as it was my freshmen year of high school. I guess being an upperclassmen gives them power to eat before me. During high school, I was not as nice to the incoming freshmen, I see how people are rude to them because everything is so new to them and they are not sure what to do at certain events or at lunch. It would be more helpful to the new freshmen to help them out rather than make fun of them. Being a freshmen is its own kind group, unlike a culture to dis on, freshmen are just their own specialized society.
The last example of ethnocentrism that I observed was in Chicago this past weekend. My fiance’s dad, Joel, was driving in downtown Chicago and was getting extremely upset with the taxi drivers, who were not American, most were from India and Africa. Sometimes people are just impatient when driving in a busy city, but in Chicago these taxi drivers did not have any clue how to drive. We almost got hit a handful of times. Joel kept yelling, “Go back to your country or learn how to drive.” Understanding that sometimes people make mistakes or get confused, but when it is the majority of the population of Indian and African taxi drivers people should be a little more worried and deal with this issue. I am not a racist person, but I agreed with Joel, if they do not know how to properly drive they should not be driving in a huge, busy city like Chicago. There are other things they can be doing besides driving people around town. It would not be so bad as long as they were patient. Almost every taxi driver would use their horn and yell at people driving. Joel’s advice to driving in the windy city was, “As long as you have a finger and a horn you will be just fine.” The taxi drivers would try to sneak into the smallest spots in between cars while driving. They would also just randomly stop on the road with no indication of stopping, like putting their blinker on. I don’t know what it is like to be a taxi driver, but I know that they should be considerate of the other pedestrians and other drivers, on the road. As time passes, I would hope that they understand that they are not the only ones on the road and that they need to share the road with other drivers and pedestrians trying to walk around the city.
In conclusion, it is hard for people to not be racist or rude to other cultures. When we see things that are not normal to us and either laugh or make jokes about them, when actually they are just doing what they are use to in their own culture. Whether it be a woman walking her dog in a stroller made for a dog, which is not in our normal culture as Americans. Also, being cut off in the food line, freshmen should have their own culture because how poorly they get treated, in high school and college. Lastly, Indians and Africans not knowing how to properly drive in busy cities. We should not have to tell them what is normal and what is not. We all know that it is not okay to make fun of people and know how much it hurts to know that once we find out what people say can be hurtful, but in some instances people need to understand that they are not acting normal.