Analysis Of Black White Woman Part 1: Lack Of Cultural Self-awareness, Intelligence And Capability

Summary of Black White Woman Part 1

Question:

Discuss about the Culture for Behaviours,Values and Norms.

Culture entails beliefs, behaviours, values and norms practiced by an individual, group, organization or community. Knowing our culture is key in shaping type and manner of communication. However, knowing other cultures is key in bringing understanding, harmony and peace during intercultural communication set up. In studying culture, one comes across particular concepts that will enable a deeper understanding of approaches to intercultural communication. For example, cultural self-awareness involves knowing own culture and using it during interactions. Similarly, cultural intelligence is a measure of an individual’s capability to effectively perform tasks in multicultural contexts.

The aim of this report is to show how lack of cultural self-awareness, intelligence and capability can create unsafe space. This will be achieved through an analysis of a video, Black white woman part 1. Safe spaces in multi-cultural set ups are created when everyone in the society is allowed to part of an activity or project. Unsafe spaces occur when people are unable to adapt to cultural diversities (Lierena-Quinn, 2013). Further, the report will recommend improvements to be made for sustaining safe work spaces.

This report will specifically focus on the hit series, black white woman part 1, episode 1, scene 1 and 2.. The story revolves around John and Tiffany. During the initial stages of their relationship, John is excited about how Tiffany is keen on learning his indigenous culture. However, he later realizes that she has taken this ambition too far. This clip has been used in this analysis because it depicts cultural self-awareness, intelligence and capability. Therefore, this report provides an analysis of black white woman and how it depicts unsafe space.

Summary and Observations

The television show I have watched: Black White Woman [Motion Picture] directed by Riley, S.

Cultural awareness and intelligence entails knowing critical aspects of a particular culture and using them to maintain a healthy work space. In a work set up, people have responsibilities and roles that make us engage with people from other cultures. The following is a description of a show I watched and my assessment based on cultural awareness, capability and intelligence.

I watched part 1 of the video. It starts with John telling his friend about his new woman, Tiffany. He tells him the way she is a keeper and loves his culture. Then, John calls Tiffany to come meet his friend. Tiffany comes in a jovial mood. John introduces her to Charlie. However, she does not greet Charlie to acknowledge the introduction made by her boyfriend (Riley, 2014). Instead she asks John why he has been calling her for long yet he knows that she is cooking. From Charlie’s facial expression, one can see that he is surprised by how Tiffany is acting.

Observations of the Video

It gets more surprising to Charlie when Tiffany tells John that the food is not going to cook itself. Then John tells her to go back and continue cooking (Riley, 2014). She holds his cheeks and shakes them while laughing then she goes back to the kitchen.

The next scene shows us when people are in a barbeque party.  John is enjoying drinks with two friends. Then Tiffany comes and hugs him from behind. From the look on John’s two friends, this is inappropriate. After, Tiffany notices a person sitting on a bench alone staring in their direction. She confronts him and asks him his names, where he is from and what he is doing in this party. The person tells her that he is John’s cousin (Riley, 2014). Before he could finish his statement, Tiffany offers him a ‘high five’ but he does not seem to understand. Then she hugs him. From his face, it is clear that he is uncomfortable with the hug.

Being unaware of cultural aspects heighten conflicts in multicultural discussions. For example, it can make members collide with each other frequently. Therefore, if one is aggressive, it can hurt members feelings through meaning words and a conflict will occur when this person reacts to the words. There are four main types of space in communication; intimate, personal, social and public (Collectve, 2014). The type of space defines relationship and attitude between parties in the communication. However, different cultures have different perception of what is allowed-or not allowed, in communication.

From the video, one can notice when something that is out of own culture has been done. For example, Charlie acts surprised when Tiffany does not greet him after being introduced to each other. Similarly, John’s cousin looks uncomfortable when hugging Tiffany. Also, John’s mother walks away when Tiffany keeps on referring to her in a loud voice. This means that there is a way their culture perceives interpersonal communication and space that Tiffany does not seem to understand.

This section provides an analysis of how unsafe space was created intercultural communication. Cultural capability and awareness measures how much one is aware of the aspects of another culture (Vertino, 2014). This way, it becomes easy for one to act and relate in multicultural communication contexts. Tiffany thinks that she knows how black women relate (Musaraj, 2013). Unfortunately, her actions end up offending people since she does not the black community culture. The following are aspects of unsafe space noted in the video.

Analysis of How Unsafe Space Was Created

Admittedly, empathy is acquired through personal development. It requires self-awareness, introspection and cultural intelligence (Collectve, 2014). Tiffany has misinformed knowledge on the culture of black people. This offends people around her. Since they do not want to be involved in quarrel with her, they walk away from her.

This type of communication involves exchange of information between people from different cultural background. For effective intercultural communication to occur there has to be a safe space (Musaraj, 2013). Evidently, from the video, Tiffany and John’s culture differ. For example, Charlie is surprised when Tiffany does not bother to talk to him after being introduced to each other by John. This shows that people from the black community value greetings and have expectations regarding the manner in which this should happen.

Every culture has unique set of facial expressions and gestures.  For example, in America, scratching of the head means confusion (Collectve, 2014). In Africa, it means that somebody is thinking hard. From the video, Tiffany offers John’s cousin a ‘high five’. From his body language, one can see that he does not understand the meaning of this type of greeting. Eventually, he becomes withdrawn from the conversation because there seems to be a misunderstanding.

Culture shock occur when there are feelings of distress, confusion or depression resulting from adjusting to a different culture (Hedges, 2015). When people are involved in a set up where they are forced to experience new and unfamiliar cultural practices and norms, they undergo a culture shock. Form the video reviewed, two of John’s friends act surprised when Tiffany openly hugs and teases him. This shows that the black community culture does not allow for such behavior in public places. Clearly, Tiffany does not understand how couples from the black community are supposed to behave in public.

Admittedly, creating safe spaces is a dialogic concept. Meaning, people feel included or excluded based on a range of communication activities within a particular space. Therefore, this section provides recommendations based on Tiffany’s behavior in the video.

• Intercultural communication should take place in a supportive climate. Being aware of other’s culture and using this knowledge to ensure that communication remains positive. However, lack of this can lead to a defensive climate in communication that is susceptible to conflicts.
• It is important to use descriptive speech during communication. This enables the listeners to view the information being provided as genuine and focused on solving problems.
• It is important to practice empathy during intercultural communication. Instead of spending efforts to make others change their beliefs, people should understand how to fit others’ values with others’. Apart from bringing spontaneous communication, this also brings respect and legitimacy of others’ opinions.

The above recommendations are not only limited to be applied in social intercultural communication contexts. Rather, they can be used in the workplace to help learn how to interact with colleagues from different cultures. If applied, they can increase one’s cultural self-awareness, capability, and intelligence. Consequently, one can achieve safe space and possibilities of conflicts.

In conclusion, this report provided an analysis of move, black white woman, part 1. The purpose for this was to establish how lack of cultural self-awareness, intelligence, and capability create unsafe space. This was depicted through examples from the video, scene 1 and 2. Tiffany thought that she was blending in with John’s friends and families through behaving like a black woman. However, it was noted that her wrong knowledge on black people’s culture offended people hence making them avoid interacting with her. Therefore, the report recommends that people should practice empathy during intercultural communication to enhance a supportive environment.

References

Collectve, R. (2014). A safe space: Towards a reconceptualization. Antipode, 1346-1365.

Hedges, K. (2015, June 5). How To Manage Conflict. Retrieved October 10, 2016, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com

Lierena-Quinn, R. (2013). A safe space to speak above the silence. Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry, 340-346.

Musaraj, A. (2013). Intercultural and Religious Communications in the Balkans. Academicus International Scientific Journal, 25-36.

Riley, S. (Director). (2014). Black White Woman [Motion Picture].

Vertino, K. (2014). Effective Interpersonal Communication. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , 5-10.