The American culture is very outspoken. If we disapprove of our government we can say so publicly without being thrown in jail. This is not the case in some other countries. In America we have freedom of speech so we can say just about anything we want to, excluding saying things like "fire" in a crowded theater. I think that because we can say what we want we are happy. It is reassuring to know that we are allowed to have opinions and state them freely. Also, since everyone is allowed to have a different opinion we are successful because we can explore all options of a problem. If we all just followed one person's vision and accepted their views, things would not be done as efficiently.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Social Constructionist Perspective
The social constructionist perspective is very interesting to look at. It views "communication as a process" (p. 24). It also emphasizes the relationship between communication and culture. This brings us to how we "build worlds" through communication. Since the social constructionist perspective links communication and culture, that basically means that communication develops who we are as people. A person's culture shapes who they are as a person. It determines how they dress, how they behave, and most every about them. The relationship goes both ways though. What we say may influence our culture but our culture definitely influences what we say. It is almost like what came first, the chicken or the egg :)
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Great post. I really liked your example of freedom of speech. This is something that did not pop into my head when thinking of things we enjoy in our American culture but it is so true. We have so much freedom when it comes to communicating our opinion. Another freedom that I believe I take for granted is the simple freedom of dress. We as women are allowed the freedom to express our culture and individual personality through our dress vs. other countries where women are not allowed to show certain parts of their bodies. It's amazing what kind of freedoms we do have as Americans and how we may not make the connection with how it constructs our world.
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