Cultural awareness changes in post WWII migrants, my critical reflection.
The advent of large-scale migration of people, after World War II, from Europe and the Middle East to Australia provides an opportunity to observe cultural changes.
This essay asserts that our cultural behaviours change, when living in another culture. This claim is discussed using historical experience and reference to authoritative sources. Firstly, I outline the historical example, subsequently state the stages of cultural awareness and change. Finally, I describe the new culture that has developed.
My English parents migrated to Australia from England in 1958, by ship, the RMS Orontes. They were in their 30s and had young children. They met other couples with their own young families during the six-week voyage and established what were to become lifelong friendships.
The other couples were young English and Scottish men who had met and married young Greek and Arab women while serving in the British Army in Greece and Egypt and in the Palestine Police in Palestine.
Over the years in Australia many social gatherings ensued in the homes of these migrant close friends. Food was always served and a large spread of dishes was prepared on the kitchen table. The women then first prepared a plate of the various foods to give to their husbands who were sitting in the lounge room, before bringing a meal into the lounge for themselves; all the women that is, except my English Mother.
She would challenge the other women not to be subservient to their men, with words like, “Let them get it themselves!”, “…are they so lazy they can’t get their own food?”
Over many years of friendship their cultural awareness increased, of their own, each other’s and of Australian culture which was heavily influenced by British culture, in which the women aren’t quite so subservient.
The awareness of what was the norm in Australian society gradually had an effect on all their behaviours and sometimes the men even serve themselves of the food!
Quappe and Cantatore (2005 p2) write about the degrees of cultural awareness, represented by first, the parochial stage, (my way or the highway). The Mediterranean women and my Anglo Mother had their own definite views on how to treat their men.
Note that the men were very quiet through the proceedings, maybe instinctively knowing the safety of silence, or possibly just being busy eating!
Next is the ethrocentric stage, (my way is best but I’m aware you have your own way). With time and experience with one another, the women grew to understand each other’s ways.
The synergistic stage, (you have your way and I have mine and maybe we could use either way). The women grew to the realization that they were both correct in what they did for their men.
The fourth stage is, our way stage, the creation of a participatory third culture, (we have merged our thinking, your way and my way and created our way). After many years of being friends and living in a new culture they developed their own culture, through a mix of their cultures, knowledge and experiences, and developed new behaviours and a new cultural awareness.
The participatory third culture is a name for the new culture which has developed over many years around my parents and friends, a combination of cultures, a tolerance of others beliefs and a preparedness to modify one’s own.
This is a demonstration that men and women are equal and should not be subservient to each other but that it is still permissible, if not desirable, to be attentive to each other’s needs. Treating each other with respect and courtesy can be done without seeming to be coming from a lower station.
The furthering of equality of the sexes transferred to the next generation with male and female children being given the same educational opportunities and this has applied to the following generation, the migrant’s Grandchildren.
De Long (1997, p. 19) writes about behaviours which encourage sharing of knowledge. Although he writes about building organisations his principles are still applicable here.
In my example, the migrant friends, unsure of themselves in a new country, support each other and the sharing of knowledge was foremost. The aggregate role experience (Matsumoto 2007, p 1301) reinforces my idea of the group of friends changing their cultural behaviours. The men could have easily served themselves of the food and the women could have let them but both were constrained by their cultures. This slowly changed over the years because of combined cultural experiences from each other and from the Australian culture, which is a mix of cultures itself.
This essay found that the cultural behaviours of post war migrants changed in a positive way after living in a new and different culture. The necessary equality of men and women was furthered just a little in the homes of my parents and friends.
References:
De Long, D. (1997). Building the knowledge-based organization: How culture drives knowledge behaviors. Centers for Business Innovation–Working Paper, 1–29.
Matsumoto, D. (2007). Culture, Context and Behaviour, Journal of Personality, San Francisco State University, pp. 1300–1303.
Quappe, S. & Cantatore, G. (2005). What is Cultural Awareness, anyway? How do I build it? http://www.insynctraining.eu/artikelen/what_is_cultural_awareness.pdf
