Each time the French people visit the United States of American, they are surprised by the status that is given to children. They are not pleased by the education system of the Americans, and it is that reason that they call it lax. As Americans have dinner as a family, the French learned that children have a right to talk, which is directly opposite to their culture. Children’s’ say is always taken with a lot of caution as children were equated to adults. The right of children to express themselves in any way they wish to does not only exercise at home by also in school. In contrary to French schools, American schools aim at enabling students to socialize with each other and learn how to practice democracy. The schools also allow the student to have the self-confidence that will enable them to manage their everyday activities. In France, things are different schools are meant to instill discipline to the student, and there is no one time that the children are allowed to express themselves.
The things related to children relations learnt by the French on arrival to the United States have made them need to be in hierarchical relationships. The desire of the French to be identified with connections came up after learning that in the US, all people, regardless of age, are treated equally and given the respect they deserve. The other issue for French desire is because the hierarchical relationship in France was characterized by wealth and ability of an individual to meet the required standard of a particular class of social stratification. On the contrary, links in the United States do not consider wealth status but look at the rights of the individual and ensure that they do not violate them. Besides, French is surprised by the fact that the American culture has remained the same for the longest time. The issue of master and servants is an important item to figure out the French and American culture. In this regard, the American culture believes that at any given time, a servant can become a master, which makes many individuals aspire to rise to that condition. The master and servants do not quarrel as neither the two people are inferior to the other. The culture of the French people is different from that of Americans, whereby there is no democracy among the French people. Masters and servants are two different people playing different roles. The master is perceived to be more superior to the servants, which makes them offer command and set rules to be followed by the servants.
Chapter 8
Concerning companies and how they operate, there is much difference in French and American cultures engage in. In French companies, a culture of complaints is developed as all the workers in the company from the CEO to the junior-most workers complain about their working conditions. Employees in French companies are unable to work in a clear framework over a period of time since time after time, some changes will be introduced, which will alter the previously stated structure. As a result, it is difficult for French companies to achieve their goals as there are many changes introduced as the companies go on with their operations. The issue is different in American as the American companies have adopted a culture that involves ensuring that the initial target is met before introducing others. This culture has enabled workers to operate with ease as they have no fears that some things will be added as they progress with the operations. The difference in how the American and French companies operate shows the difference in cultures and why the French were interested in Americas’ culture.
Chapter 9
French culture is also associated with a number of taboos that ensure that the people who follow the culture do not engage in some activities. The French people are intentional when it comes to mental health as they are concerned with some of the issues that are related to it. In this regard, there is awareness to improve mental illness among the French people to ensure that they do not get the schizophrenic condition. Schizophrenia is characterized by a lot of denial and rejection whereby an individual with the condition is unable to identify themselves and not willing to take up change. As a result, schizophrenia condition is recognized as one of the central taboo in the French culture. Other issues that are taboos in the culture of the French people are the issues that can result in violent. When others ignore an individual, treated in a wrong way, or never praised, these people can be identified to be a taboo in the community. These people with the mentioned characteristics are most seen as people who can cause violence, and as a result, they receive the punishment of perceived as a taboo. Violence in the French culture is not approved as it is linked to several vices that have the ability to destroy the unity of French. In French families, fathers were assigned the authority role, which dictated the other members of the family to pay attention to him. Fathers symbolized the law and were crucial to understand how different activities of the family are ran. The culture of French people focused on the authority given by men in the family. In this regard, it is a taboo in the French culture for women and children to take up the role of fathers.