Every country and group of people has their own values, beliefs, and customs that make up their culture. Understanding the culture of people is very important in how we learn to interact with and work with people who come from different backgrounds. Pakistan is a good example of a country with a culture that is very different that the culture in the United States. The Hofstede dimensions give a good overview of Pakistan’s culture and what they value. The novel I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai also gives good insight into the culture of Pakistan and the life style within the country. Tools such as these are very helpful in learning about and understanding a culture so that interactions with people in these specific cultures are smooth and unproblematic.
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Pakistan is a country that ranks high in uncertainty avoidance. This means that they are not tolerant of change or behaviors they are not used to. They have a set of beliefs that they follow and tend to avoid innovation.(geert-hofstede.com) One of the biggest indicators of this are their beliefs about women and their place in society. Malala writes “I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children.” (I Am Malala 13) This shows how the men, and even women, in Pakistan feel about having a daughter and what it means to be a woman. They think that all women are meant for are to raise children and cook for their families, and that they should not be doing anything else because that is what the men do. “We want to be free to go to school or to go to work. Nowhere is it written in the Quran that a woman should be dependent on a man. The word has not come down from the heavens to tell us that every woman should listen to a man.” (I Am Malala 219) These are the things that women in Pakistan are fighting for because the rules and beliefs in their society are against women and are unwilling to chance and progress. The United States has a drastically different culture in this situation as the US is much lower in the uncertainty avoidance dimension. American’s are more accepting of new ideas and experiences. American’s have freedoms that have shaped this culture of progression and allow people to do new things without the fear of
Pakistan is a country that ranks high in uncertainty avoidance. This means that they are not tolerant of change or behaviors they are not used to. They have a set of beliefs that they follow and tend to avoid innovation.(geert-hofstede.com) One of the biggest indicators of this are their beliefs about women and their place in society. Malala writes “I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children.” (I Am Malala 13) This shows how the men, and even women, in Pakistan feel about having a daughter and what it means to be a woman. They think that all women are meant for are to raise children and cook for their families, and that they should not be doing anything else because that is what the men do. “We want to be free to go to school or to go to work. Nowhere is it written in the Quran that a woman should be dependent on a man. The word has not come down from the heavens to tell us that every woman should listen to a man.” (I Am Malala 219) These are the things that women in Pakistan are fighting for because the rules and beliefs in their society are against women and are unwilling to chance and progress. The United States has a drastically different culture in this situation as the US is much lower in the uncertainty avoidance dimension. American’s are more accepting of new ideas and experiences. American’s have freedoms that have shaped this culture of progression and allow people to do new things without the fear of