why are there so many photos of Putin smiling?
Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
41–50 of 62 posts
Re: Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
#42Knew this would be about Russia. I've often heard it said that the Slavic soul is one of constant malaise. Who knows if it's true, but living up in an inhospitable climate and 1000 years of war and strife can certainly shape a culture. My Ukrainian family also never smiles, even at the happiest of times it was barely more than a smirk, and laughter was never really a thing. No smiles in photos, ever. Yet all were sto…
Which part of Ukraine, if you don't mind sharing?
Ukrainian Canadian, so western Ukraine, was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Even though several generations grew up here, my family mostly lived in an ethnic enclave, I'm the first who doesn't speak Ukrainian.
Re: Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
#43> Why do some societies not encourage casual smiling? Because smiling is a thing you do (as opposed to something you actively avoid doing), and doing something with no reason is silly. > Russian women do not have to worry about being instructed by random men to “smile.” That’s also a very good reason.
Is the stranger men telling women to smile really the thing in America?
Re: Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
#44To me a much simpler explanation is that people in Russia are incredibly sad and life there is very sad and hard. However almost no one there realizes it until they get out for a prolonged period of time. Me and my wife were born and spent most of our life in Russia, we were pretty well of and yet since moving to US we realized how sad it actually was. The collective consciousness of Russia is still heavily polluted…
I think you’re on to something. A friend once described his reasons for moving from Manhattan. He said that he was depressed all the time and that he realized that everyone he knew was also depressed. Having grown up in a different part of the country, he saw that this was an environmental issue caused by his surroundings. He found that life was much more pleasant after relocating. Point being, tt often takes the abs…
I've never lived in NYC, but I did live in the Boston area for 10 years, then moved to Northern California. For a while I was flying back to Boston every couple of months. I definitely noticed the difference in mood in Boston Logan airport vs. San Jose. The grumpiness of Bostonians was particularly evident compared to the relaxed, upbeat mood of Californians. Maybe it's partly the weather, but I suspect it's also cultural; I didn't notice it being any better in spring and summer.
Re: Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
#45> Why do some societies not encourage casual smiling? Because smiling is a thing you do (as opposed to something you actively avoid doing), and doing something with no reason is silly. > Russian women do not have to worry about being instructed by random men to “smile.” That’s also a very good reason.
Is the stranger men telling women to smile really the thing in America?
Perhaps in the older generation it may have been tolerated, but in the current generation it would considered be very offensive.
It's a behavior outside of the norm and associated with men who don't respect social boundaries with women for whatever reason.
Re: Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
#46>Krys focused on a cultural phenomenon called “uncertainty avoidance.” Cultures that are low on this scale tend to have social systems—courts, health-care systems, safety nets, and so forth—that are unstable. Therefore, people there view the future as unpredictable and uncontrollable. Smiling is a sign of certainty and confidence, so when people in those countries smile, they might seem odd. Why would you smile when fate is an invisible wolf waiting to shred you? You might, in those “low-UA” countries, even be considered stupid for smiling. Krys also hypothesized that smiling in corrupt countries would be, um, frowned upon. When everyone’s trying to pull one over on each other, you don’t know if someone’s smiling with good intentions, or because they’re trying to trick you.
Sounds a little sketchy to me. For one, tons of e.g. African, Latin American, etc countries are way more unstable and/or corrupt than the Eastern Europe/Russia countries the author mentions and yet they smile all the time without an issue.
Heck, he has Japan, France and South Korea high in the "unsmiling" countries and Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Philippines, China etc high in the "smiling" ones -- I guess no corruption on the latter group.
All the data table shows it "fuck if we know the actual reason" and not "it's corruption and lack of trust".
Re: Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
#47This is fascinating stuff. Ta to whomever put it here for broadening my horizons a bit. I've been aware that my general cultural norms are not transferable worldwide but I'd always considered smiling a universal human thing that worked everywhere as a sign of friendliness. Many cultures nod their head for yes and shake for no. Some do the reverse. This I get (eventually) but smiling - really? Well, yes ... why not? I…
Smiling is fundamental. Fetuses have been observed smiling in the womb. In ethology, I think it's considered what's called a fixed action pattern, it is basically hard-wired in us. But of course, the environment and culture modifies this behavior and its meaning.
Angry face is fundamental too, babies look angry too, but we don't expect anyone to looks constantly angry.
Re: Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
#48Sensationalist oversimplification. For Russians, a smile serves a different function than for Americans. It's not used for communicating with others and does not serve as a social marker of openness or good mood. The social expectation is that a smile must always be prompted by something, whether it's someone's joke, or a humorous occurrence, or even own embarrassment. People don't smile in posed group photos for the…
> the social expectation is that a smile must always be prompted by something Well, that's exactly the point that's interesting to analyze. I.e. why there is such social expectation.
I think the inverse would be interesting to analyze as well. Why consider smiling to be the standard.
Re: Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
> why there is such social expectation. Do you consider laughing at people at random to be socially acceptable? Why would smiling be fine but laughing not be? Now the question becomes, _why_ do some cultures have the social expectation that an impromptu smile is acceptable?
See elsewhere in this thread. Cultures where smiles aren't common usually have something social attached to it. I.e. bloody historic past, constant instability and so on. So I don't see here anything out of the ordinary. It's quite an expected effect on human emotions.
>Cultures where smiles aren't common usually have something social attached to it. I.e. bloody historic past, constant instability and so on.
That's the premise of the article, but it's shody and hand wavy at best.
Re: Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling (2016)
#50To me a much simpler explanation is that people in Russia are incredibly sad and life there is very sad and hard. However almost no one there realizes it until they get out for a prolonged period of time. Me and my wife were born and spent most of our life in Russia, we were pretty well of and yet since moving to US we realized how sad it actually was. The collective consciousness of Russia is still heavily polluted…
Nonsense. Lots of people in Russia live perfectly happy lives. I agree that the pollution can be bad, but to make out that everyone in Russia has horrible lives is just hyperbole. I have in fact lived in Krasnoyarsk and actually prefer it to living in London, where I unfortunately live now.