See What I Mean Summary

“See what I mean?” There are many different aspects of culture. For instance; values, traditions, religion, art, food, and even types of clothing can all play a role in the different types of culture. These cultural behaviors and values are taught to us by our parents from the minute we are born. It’s only natural that deaf people would adapt their own culture that differs from hearing cultures. Not only do deaf people communicated in a completely different language, but they also have their own set of communication skills, values, and behaviors because of their culture.
In the video, “See What I Mean?”, the narrator talks about two different types of cultures: collectivists and individualists. Collectivists cultures have a larger emphasis on family and work together as a group, rather than focusing on individual wants or needs, for example, China and Japan. Individualists on the other hand, like the United States,
The deaf man notices his car is new, and asks him in sign language how much he paid for his new car. The hearing man can’t understand sign language so the deaf man proceeds to write down, “how much you pay?” on a piece of paper. After the hearing man reads the paper, he gives the deaf man a disapproving look and walks inside his home. The deaf man is left confused, wondering what it was he had done to make this neighbor walk away, considering he thought they were friends. This is one perfect example of the differences between deaf and hearing cultures. Deaf people tend to share more information with their friends than hearing people do. Since hearing americans have more of a competitive outlook on things, the hearing man felt as though it wasn’t polite to ask how much he paid for something whereas a deaf person would be happy to share this kind of information if it means it might help other deaf people to get good deals on