Proxemics in Starbucks
There is a lot you may notice in an hour of people watching. Watching people stay three to six feet away from a stranger, when in line, or the one foot intimate space the couple on the date had. But, the distance and lack of interaction made the place sociofugal. The proxemics of a place will depend on the culture and society that it is placed in.
Fixed features are certain objects or characteristics of a place that determine where a human should move. These features are not necessarily physical manifestations (Hall103). The fixed features that were witnessed at Starbucks were both physical attributes and invisible. The most important feature of the Starbucks is the counter that separates the Barista from the customer. The space of the room is small relative to other coffee shops, and the ceiling is not so high. An American would not be as aware of the small spaces, as other ethnicities such as Arabs would. The menu that lists all the overpriced coffee is hanging on the wall, behind the barista’s counter, that too is a fixed feature. During my observation, I noticed when people moved by other peoples tables, they would walk four to seven feet away from the table keeping a close phase social distance (Hall 123). This created an invisible pathway people followed to enter and leave Starbucks.
As you walk in the Starbucks you can feel a semi fixed feature, the temperature. The coffee shop is an even seventy-one degrees, however the temperature can easily be changed. A semi-fixed feature is a characteristic in the room that makes up the room but can easily be changed. One example of this is the display of coffee mugs and thermos, coffee grinds, and more. This display is utilized to catch the customer’s eye t...
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...identified by their social class system, not by their materials: “The Englishmen is, however, is born and brought up in a social system. He is still Lord --- no matter where you find him, even if it is behind the counter in a fishmonger’s stall,” (Hall 138).
The French are known as the material self. They value quanitiy over quality. Identifying themselves through material objects such as cars and clothes. Paris, the capital of France, is known for its fashion. “ The automobile is just as much an expression of the cultre as is the language and theredeor, has its characteristic niche in cultural biotope,” (Hall 145).
The German is the social self. They depend highly on keeping a strict schedule. Being on time and respecting other peoples time, therefor they care about their appearance in accordance to others
Arab Self is the spiritual self
Utilizing my information
In this section, the readers are introduced to the idea that rich American tourists influences Parisian shop owners and city officials to Americanize to attract customers. Consequently, creating a hub for Americans that influences Parisian and can be influenced by Parisians. She focuses on how this hub changed views on both sides. Americans seeing it as an exclusive club, Parisians understanding it as a betrayal of the ‘true’ Paris. Tensions from the preferential treatment of Americans become the basis for many of Blowers subsequent chapters.
Many Americans can link their heritage to German origins. However, the German’s values, norms and beliefs have shifted when combined with American culture. Within Germany’s culture, there are common themes of organization, compartmentalization, and formality. The interaction between these themes of values, norms and beliefs influences the German culture, structured society, and worldview. While there are similarities between German and American culture, these two countries have difference views on human psychie.
The Germans were idle when not in war-time. The German people never lived in cities but rather in open spaces, not buildings like the Romans. The Romans are very hospitable to their guests and treat them very well. Germans usually wear a cloak and a brooch, not togas. They also wear animal skins. Germans like to have feasts for various occasions, including marriage, and decisions concerning war. They drink liquor and eat wild fruit, fresh game, and curdled milk. The German method of slavery and funerals are also different from Romans.
Europeans and Americans have much more in common than most people think, making adjustments to life in a new country easier. Many customs are similar to practices in the United States. Germans have their own way of being German. Germany is a relatively small and densely populated country. Unlike the United States, which is a large, densely populated country.
Every French citizen is falling into the clutches of consumerism and conformity. We are turning into a trinket society, worshipping of a mammon, and witnessing to the death of our beloved culture. I shed a tear to think we are turning into a materialistic society like that of America where as whose society is dynamic and derived from consumer-driven economic growth. In falling into consumerism we are generating an endless increase of desires that can not b satisfied by the means that which we live in France. This lifestyle alienates the consumer to form bondage around them; it does not free them. The society in America is of destruction, not to b...
Torkildsen (2011) stated that the nature and definition of 'social class' is generally regarded as being problematic, as class not only relates to income or occupation but also upbringing and family background. "social class is often regarded as grouping on the basis of occupation, which is 'socioeconomic class' rather than social class" (Torkildsen, 2011 p.49). divine
Virtually all of these writers share a common feeling that mainstream American society has lost its roots. With our extreme mobility we have lost connectedness with the land. We tend to avoid what is unique and defining of landscapes and to look for what is common or universal. When we drive through small communities, we stop to eat at the Burger King or McDonalds instead of investigating Aunt Sue's Loggers' Cafe. In a way, we have invented "everyplace" by universalizing the common things that we expect and seem to need --- familiar motel facades, common fast food menus, universal cable TV access, etc. But what these authors question is whether "everyplace" is really a "place" at all, hence, whether it serves the needs of being grounded in a place, knowing a landscape, feeling the history of habitation, belonging.
Social class was the foundation of everyday life during the Middle Ages. Social class played a significant role in the lives of medieval people. The aristocracy class and the immoral lower class were often viewed by society as practically different races. In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer shows the wide variance among the classes in every aspect of their daily lives. The zeitgeist of the Middle Ages can be seen through his illustration of differences between classes in moral behavior, economic power, the autonomy and education of women during the Middle Ages.
The highest social class in Victorian England was the Nobility or Gentry class. The members of this class were those who inherited their land, titles, and wealth . Popular opinion at the time asserted that the noble class women led lives of lavish luxury and wedded bliss. "Ladies were ladies in those days; they did not do things themselves, they told others what to do and how to do it."
The French culture is known worldwide by its arts and lifestyle. There are many countries in Europe, South America and African are influence by the French culture not just the US. First we have artists like Nicolas Poussin and Louise Moillon who develop a more advance art style. Next is Michel de Montaigne a French philosopher that made essays and writes about the brain advances literature worldwide. They have beautiful architecture and garden, for example The Palace of Versailles and Hall of Mirrors. Third haute couture talk about the high fashion of France spread through Europe and change fashion. Finally, cuisine the evolutionary of food in France and food we still eat today. These are the people and art we owe the French from its culture
2014). Places organize our experience of the world and manage our relationship with other people.
Fashion plays an important role in the lives of billions all over the world; people, as part of a status craving society, turn to “fashion capitals” of the world for ways in which to dress and carry themselves. New York, Milan, and Paris are leaders among this fierce industry that the world lusts after. Fashion can speak volumes about ones personality, or also about the condition the world is in at the time. In France, fashion changed rapidly and feverously as the times changed.
French culture and society has evolved from many different aspects of French life. From the mastery of French cuisine to the meaning of French art, the French have changed and evolved in many ways to produce a specific modern culture, the dignified culture of the French. One thing that parallels the progress and continuation of French culture is the role of women throughout France. Compared to other nations, the role and rights of women in France were confronted earlier and Women’s suffrage was enacted earlier. The role of women in France, because of the early change in perception of women, enabled France to develop faster and with less conflict than other competing nations.
Gofen, Ethel and Reymann, Blandine. Cultures of the World: France. New York: Times Media Private Limited, © 2003.
Through literature and art, romantics expressed the idea of Germany as “an organic folk community wrapped in a cloak of tradition”. They strived to create a homogenous identity for all Germans.... ... middle of paper ... ...180-213.