Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

blog.properrussian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 235 posts

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#151

Post by eshvk »

I see a lot of comments about Russians being inherently miserable creatures, the climate not being conducive to smiling and even bad dental work as reasons. Let me give an example from another culture where smiling is risky: India. When I first moved there, I quickly realized that people smile only at those they know. Strange women don't smile at you for fear of inviting harassment. Soon as a guy, you don't smile at anyone so as to not invade their space.

When I first came to America, I realized that a lot of Americans had this unique and amazing ability to blast you with a radiant smile and cheerily ask after you. It is a meaningless social convention that can get annoying at times. It is always intriguing to me when I travel abroad, how my cheery attitude slowly dissipates and then how the readjustment happens when I come back to America.

tl;dr: people are different.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#152

Post by mrjj »

da02 wrote: post #144
mrjj wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry no, i leave sociology long ago and making software as most of HN visitors. Very few of humanitarian science publications is translating from Russian, on the other hand things that opinion journalism is revealing often weird and politicized. If you want some kind of overview of Russian specific, writers done this work better than scientists through generalized characters and situations. Reading cultural research…

Thank you very much for the links and the information. I've already started reading it and it is very enlightening and enjoyable.

You're welcome!

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#153

Post by mephux »

blah32497 wrote: post #13

As a Russian-American this comes off as complete BS. I've seen this written before and it's always in the form of "It's not us that smile too little, it's you Americans that are fake and smile too much!". For one, Americans don't just smile to be polite. For the most part it's genuinely conveying positive emotions. Now I know this is going to be unpopular, but I think the real reason Russians don't smile is cultural.…

As an American that lived in Russia most of my life. It's not total BS but some of the points you mentioned contribute.

1. No one will help you - true. My group of friends would alway be targeted by skinheads and when we had to fight no one would ever help us. Not even the police.

2. People make eye contact a lot, it's a respect and dominance thing. Walking down the streets of Moscow with your head down is a good way to end up dead (seriously, be aware. My sister was picked up physically once and shoved into the trunk of a car - fast action saved her life).

3. Not all Russians are miserable but I agree on the cynical part. They don't trust anyone. (would you if you were lied too for that long.)

4."people are asshole to each other in public" its not so much about being assholes - people just have shit to do. I can't count how many times i was pushed by a sweet old babushka in the metro. They just assume you have no respect but they also realize you get nowhere by being passive.

Anyway, Russia is a very amazing place and it can be scary. Moscow is very racist and the youth is a big problem (violence).

Would I live there again? In a heartbeat. Never felt more alive.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#154

Post by zzzcpan »

Russians do not teach their children to smile at people to be polite or for any other reason, so smile only comes as a genuine emotion. But Americans do, and not just smile, but also show teeth. I'm not sure why though, probably has something to do with dental advertisements.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#155

Post by speeder »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #128
legohead wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American who married a Russian and lived in Russia for a while, I find this article to be quite accurate. When visiting for the first time, I asked my (then-acquaintance) why women never smile at me. She said "if they smile at you, that means they are easy." Basically, they are saying they like me and I should introduce myself. Or, like the article mentioned, maybe I look funny. You are right in that it is cult…

Russians are racist? Care to explain further. That's like saying Italians are racist. What caused you to reach that conclusion?

That is a terrible analogy, Italians are one of the most xenophobic and racist people out there.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#156

Post by dualogy »

zerr wrote: post #30
softbuilder wrote: post #5

I worked with some Russians a few years ago. Great guys. One wasn't very well adapted to American culture. He came to my cube one day. He's like "Let's go get a smoke", but his face and tone was flat, so it came across as "You've pissed me off in some way and I'm probably going to kick your ass now". I demurred. A couple more offers over the next few days and I finally relented (I don't smoke, but went to hang out).…

I'm not Russian, but when somebody's smile is too artificial/fake - I call it American smile. I think it is quite a common term [in Europe] ;)

Nah it's not.. never heard of it =)

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#157

Post by this_user »

seszett wrote: post #72
this_user wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a European I find it interesting how Americans have started to completely misusing the term 'socialism' especially over the last couple of years. Even those who don't fit the die-hard right-wing profile seem to have started calling any kind of social welfare 'socialsm' without realising what actual socialism looks like.

To me, what's surprising is the contrary: that people call communism "socialism". While here in France, our Socialist Party (in power right now) has always been far from communism. It feels strange to me to call social welfare anything other than socialism. Maybe it's just a case of French socialisme and English socialism being false friends.

That's a good point and there seem to exist different understandings of the term in different countries. I do wonder where this comes from. In Germany Sozialismus is always understood in the marxist sense and it is furthermore inseperable from the political system of the German Democratic Republic. I am not privy to the finer points of the French Socialist's political agenda, but from my understanding they roughly resemble our Social Democrats.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#158

Post by cageface »

blah32497 wrote: post #13

As a Russian-American this comes off as complete BS. I've seen this written before and it's always in the form of "It's not us that smile too little, it's you Americans that are fake and smile too much!". For one, Americans don't just smile to be polite. For the most part it's genuinely conveying positive emotions. Now I know this is going to be unpopular, but I think the real reason Russians don't smile is cultural.…

For the last three years I've been living in a very pretty seaside resort town in Vietnam called Nha Trang. In just the last year it's seen a massive influx of Russian tourists and it's completely changed the vibe of the place. They're everywhere now, usually with a scowl on their face and usually dealing with people in a manner that would be considered very brusque and impolite anywhere in the West. Nobody seems to like the Russian tourists, including the Vietnamese, but they bring a lot of money into the local economy so they get the red carpet treatment all the same. But Western tourists are becoming increasingly scarce as word gets out that Nha Trang is not the easygoing friendly place it used to be.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#159

Post by aestra »

Theodores wrote: post #14
elsurudo wrote: post #3

I'd generalize this to (continental) Europeans, and it becomes more true the further East you go. Being in Poland, I notice the same thing. However, I did notice that New Yorkers are also closer to the "Russian" camp. Not totally (especially when it comes to retail), but closer...

Some years ago, whilst on holiday in the U.S.A., a smiling American summarized my experience for me: In San Francisco they ask you 'how's it going, man!', in Chicago they shout 'WHAT?' and in New York they don't even talk to you. So it is a sliding scale of friendliness, from West to East.

Nah. I think it is because New York is our biggest city with 8 million people. There are just too many people to sort through so nobody talks. You can't make a generalization about the entire east coast based on NYC. In smaller places if you are walking down the street and you pass a stranger most of the time you smile at them and say hello.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#160

Post by shitgoose »

blah32497 wrote: post #13

As a Russian-American this comes off as complete BS. I've seen this written before and it's always in the form of "It's not us that smile too little, it's you Americans that are fake and smile too much!". For one, Americans don't just smile to be polite. For the most part it's genuinely conveying positive emotions. Now I know this is going to be unpopular, but I think the real reason Russians don't smile is cultural.…

I guess you are not from New York...
Post reply on HN