Deafness, and Whiteness Cultures in China - Essay Example

The rules of interaction among the deaf include maintaining eye contact for effective communication. The deaf usually uses attention-getting mechanisms such as turning the lights on and off, stamping on the floor, tapping on the shoulder, or waving. It is important to hug when greeting or leaving. Pointing to give directions is polite among the deaf. It is important to touch during communication. It is also not important to say “excuse me” when passing between people using sign language (Lane, 2005).

The deaf usually communicates using sign language. This is a visual-gesture language. It encompasses movement, placement, and expression of body and language. Sign language represents the language among the deaf community. This is a complete language that can express humor, emotion, and abstract thoughts. The language has its own language principles and grammatical structure.

Whiteness culture treats those of the white color as superior to others. Racism lies at the heart of that culture. Segregation and discrimination are common among the people of this culture (Warren, 1999). This is normally towards the people who are not of white origin. Those who ascribe to the whiteness culture do not freely intermingle with those of other races. They greatly value their race and language. They have racial pride and see others as underdogs. They are conservative and do not freely interact with people of other races. They believe that they should not attend similar institutions as other races. This has led many people, especially in America to be discriminated against. However, with the advancement of human rights, all races are seen to be equal. Therefore, they are entitled to similar rights and privileges. This culture is slowly fading in America and all citizens are seen as Americans and not as white, Mexican, or black. They attend similar institutions where it is free interracial interaction.

Most of the people who subscribe to this culture use a variety of languages in communication; the main ones include English, Germany, Spanish, and French.

While there are differences in terms of economic, social, and political dimensions between different people of Chinese origin, there are certain core cultural values that are common to all Chinese people. These values are unique and consistently held together by several years and similar language. There is only a single set of core values in China that distinguish their culture from western cultures and Eastern cultures. The Chinese culture has three major elements; communist ideology, western values, and traditional culture. The traditional culture is diverse and includes several schools of thought such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and religious cultures (Fan, 2000).

Confucianism forms the foundation of the Chinese tradition. In this case, rules are outlined for the social behavior of each individual, governing all the interactions in society.  There are five virtues outlined here faithfulness, propriety, righteousness, humanity, and wisdom.

There are several values and rules of interaction in Chinese culture. Some of them include bearing hardship, governing should be done by leaders rather than the law, egalitarianism /equality, people being naturally good, veneration for the old in the society, kinship, striving to reach a consensus or compromise, a sense of belonging, being gentle, avoiding confrontation and not being guided by profit. The Chinese trust each other and share secrets freely especially in the business world. The Chinese also communicate indirectly, especially in complex situations. Those are some of the values in Chinese culture.

It is important to know all the aspects of the culture such as values, norms, language, and rules. For example, you have to know sign language to communicate well with deaf people. It is not only sufficient to know the language but one also needs to know the value this person put on eye contact in terms of communication. When dealing with people of Chinese culture one should communicate indirectly especially in complex situations in order not to hurt the listener.