Kultur 5- Shelby Avery

The Kultur articles never disappoint when it comes to teaching me new and even, abstract, facts about Germany and Germans.  The chapter was certainly no exception!

I found the articles "German Erotica: The Land of Beer, Sausage, and Sex Shops," "Scoring a German: Flirting with Fräuleins, Hunting for Herrens," and "Rules of the Street: No Blood, No Entschuldigung" to be particularly interesting and humorous.

"Rules of the Street: No Blood, No Entschuldigung" 
As Americans we are a very "PC" society, focused on manners and easily offended when people forget theirs.  However, in Germany it is the norm for someone to plow you over and not even pause, let alone apologize! This is crazy to me! If someone were to exhibit such behavior in America they'd be scolded and looked down on. It just goes to show that every society is different and has their own set of social norms and their own indicators of what is and is not acceptable behavior.

"German Erotica: The Land of Beer, Sausage, and Sex Shops"
I must admit that I find myself blushing every time I pass the "Safe Sex" store on South University, and I'm willing to bet that most students have a similar reaction to its neon sign and front window display.  In America we are taught that such places are "dirty".  There is a certain social stigma that causes us to lower our heads and keep our sunglasses on if we dare even peek through the window of such a place. However in Germany a visit to the local sex shop is all in a day's running around- bread, milk, grapes, vibrator.  What a bizarre concept to us Americans!

"Scoring a German: Flirting with Fräuleins, Hunting for Herrens"
I must say, I would be hard pressed to find a boyfriend in Germany, where the very art of flirting lies completely under the responsibility of the woman.  It's survival of the forward in German culture, well at least for the women that is.  A man glancing briefly at you from across the bar may be the only clue you get, and then it's all up to you. German men are not forward at all; we may even call them boring.  This is very different from the culture of America today, where it is very common for a woman to be walking down the street and be "hollered" at by men. Such an act in Germany would cause a woman to drop her things and run for the nearest police station.