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Without tenses

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handwriter

handwriter

Norway

March 30, 2014

“Smiling”, in many parts of the world that I have travelled has various connotations and cultural ideas labelled to it—for some, the act of smiling can be an outward or physical display of internal feelings of which should be controlled: "you’re supposed to act according to your rank… and not necessarily by how you feel."

Demonstrating one's upper or lower row of teeth while smiling say, as (some cultures) do, in other cultures this could be considered unpleasant and vulgar – such a smile is called a grin, or a "horsey" smile.

In some cultures for communicative behavior, a smile is first and foremost a sign of respect, and thus it is a requisite part of a greeting or of conducting a respectful conversation. Other cultures have frequently characterized this type of smile as strange and false—who wants to see another’s teeth?  One wrote, “that (a particular culture--unnamed here) smile as if they were plugged into the wall.”

In the West, smiling during greeting signifies first and foremost respect for the greeting. The more a person smiles during the greeting, the more affable he is, the more respect he is demonstrating toward his interlocutor. A smile while chatting with someone signals respect to the other, that the participants are listening to one another.

Some people will normally be suspicious or even hostile toward a respectful smile, if it is perceived as such.

For some, a constant respectful smile a "duty smile" [дежурной улыбкой] is considered a bad character trait, an expression of insincerity, concealment, an unwillingness to express one's true feelings. "Wipe that duty smile off your face!"

It’s probably obvious, but Western cultures tend to emphasize the individual —people are defined more by what they’ve accomplished than by group membership. Individual expression is encouraged from an early age and culturally reinforced in Western cultures.

In contrast, collectivism is inherent in other society. For some, in order for a society to operate smoothly, it is necessary to subject one’s own desires to the greater good of the group. In other words, people don’t exist independently of one another. Instead, an individual is defined by his or her relationship to the group.

Many cultures have been culturally conditioned to suppress own personal needs and think in terms of collective responsibility—first, to their families, then community, clan, and nation at large.

 

More entries: Half-Wit (3), Come Home Son, Life Is A Risk, Words Are Not Action, JOY, Here's a shot of me doing my one--and only one--yearly exercise (1), Indeed A Higher Law of Justice, Gotcha! (1), A Belated "I'm Sorry", The Fruits of Our Labor?

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08:26 AM Mar 30 2014

handwriter

handwriter
Norway

Myself, I guess that I try to control my smiling.  Smiling for me, while it comes naturally, I try to "manage" its occurrences—its timing.