Intercultural Relationships Addressed in an Abstract Manner

Intercultural relationships can be found in many contexts. Most people consider intercultural relationships to be between individuals of different races or ethnic backgrounds. However different cultures can be as simple as different ages, gender, social class and region, along with other diversities. This blog asks us to identify a relationship we have that pertains to someone of a different culture. My best choice for this was my dad. Although we are in the same family and are very much alike we are of different age, gender and background that make us very different people.

Age first off is a dynamic of our relationship that is very different. With this difference there are benefits and setbacks. It is known that with age comes wisdom and that is a definitive benefactor when considering difference. My dad has always been there for me to give me advice and understanding. I didn’t always take the advice as a young adult, but I can tell you who was right 99.9% of the time in the end. One aspect of age that we differ in is communication. My father is more than willing to answer the phone when someone calls but has very much trouble texting or understanding new technologies. It was funny at first because he didn’t understand what the envelope icon at the bottom of his screen meant. Don’t even think about getting him socially involved with Facebook. He couldn’t keep up even if he wanted to. Apparently 50 year old men aren’t super into Facebook.

Okay so he’s not that old, but I would bet money he’d love to have a simple cell phone like this.

Also another intercultural difference between us is gender. Because I have a brother I can get along with the opposite gender perfectly fine. However, like my brother my dad does not take mean things to heart. If anyone says anything bad about him (most people don’t cause he’s a pretty stand up guy) he’s got pretty tough skin about it and doesn’t care. However, being a girl I am a bit more sensitive. So when I come home from college and my brother and dad make jokes and tell me the freshman fifteen went straight to my butt, well I take it to heart more seriously than I should, even though I know they’re joking. They don’t realize the difference in gender and how we girls interpret jokes about physical appearance.

Researcher Leslie A. Baxter created a model to explain different dynamics that can make up a relationship (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p.398-400). Two of those dynamics that I think apply to this intercultural relationship are the differences-similarities dialectic and the static-dynamic dialectic. The differences-similarities dialectic in summary says that in an intercultural relationship people can get along because of their similarities and/ or because of their differences. I think this is a very correct application towards my relationship with my father because in many ways, such as our personality, we are very similar and get along well. Our differences are also a benefit. Because of the age difference I get very helpful advice. The static- dynamic dialectic approach discusses that relationships are constantly in flux because people and lifestyles are continuously changing. I find this relative because I lived in Arizona with my parents for 18 years and then moved away to Nebraska, where I currently live 8 months out of the year. This change was dynamic and of course required some getting used to for both my parents and me.

There are many aspects that can make up an intercultural relationship, even ones that normally wouldn’t be thought of as intercultural. With this assignment we can see that in every relationship there will be differences and similarities. You don’t notice the small ones between close friends and family because you are accustomed to it. I think this allowed us to realize that every person can have a different cultural background from our own, even if they are very similar in some aspects.  

References:

Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2012). Intercultural communication in contexts (6th ed). Boston,   MA: McGraw Hill.