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Culture Definitions

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Ethnocentric and Communication Breakdown In Our Culture

By
Cherie Anderson

Intercultural Communication
23 October 2011

Ethnocentric and Communication Breakdown

Well ethnocentric is viewing your own culture as more superior than any other culture. Ethnocentric refers to judging other cultures or political systems based on one's own. I really don’t feel that I am about this being that I am very open to other cultures. Though some cultures I do not believe in certain practices that they may do, but I don’t feel my culture is any more superior then another.

What I mean by practices there are certain cultures where the women are to serve the man or pretty much have no voice in the household only the man. I am a very independent woman and believe that if I contribute to the table of the household just the same as the man I should get the same respect and treated equal. Also in some Asian cultures they believe it’s ok to eat puppies and use them for medicine. This I find to be horrifying being that in America we treat them as our pets.

But then when it comes to the Eastern Indians we have in the country with Muslims I believe that they shouldn’t be fully covered in their head veils as France as banned such practices as well. In my view since the whole terrorist attack 9/11 I believe that it could be anyone under the veil not just a woman, possibly a male terrorist. So maybe I could be viewed a bit ethnocentric, but them probably is a majority of America when it comes to the Eastern Indians better known as Arabs in our country.

I would say that I have experienced communication breakdown due to misread non-verbal communication myself at work. What happened was I was trying to send a co-worker an email trying to find out about a sales order that a customer called me inquiring on. Well the response I got back in email was in all

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