The Invisible Wall of America
TripAdvisor, a travel website, conducted a survey on travelers. According to the study, much more American travelers would prefer larger seats and more legroom than having the luxury of massages and premium food
Since we have such an individualist culture, America has perhaps the most closed off society, meaning we expect the most personal space. There is an unspoken law that creates a personal bubble around each of us, and when someone dares to break it, we will undoubtedly react.
This reaction is typically in a nonverbal and passive way, such as an avoidance of eye contact, or simply a step back, but still it doesn’t take long for foreigners to catch on to this unwritten rule.
For instance, Daily Life Science’s “Proxemics: the Study of Personal Space,” gives an example of a British man who recently moved to America. When he first got here, he used to casually touch the person he was talking to for emphasis. When he attempted to make friendships he was always rejected and didn’t understand why. Once he started to observe the way Americans interacted, the answer was clear: “Americans hate to be touched”.
Edward T. Hall, an anthropologist and “the father of proxemics” even offers a number for this unwritten law in American society. “He defined the invisible zones around us and attributed a range of distance to each one: intimate distance- 6 to 18 inches; personal distance- 18 inches to 4 feet; social distance- 4 to 12 feet; and public distance- about 12 feet or more” (Leisureguy.wordpress.com).
Isn’t it incredible that as a society, we expect at least 6 inches of space between us and our intimate-other? For some reason, I felt this fit:
“Boundaries don’t keep other people out, they fence you in. so you can live your life drawing lines, or you can live your life crossing them.” – Grey’s Anatomy
