8 Asians

Asians, Westerners, and Hand Gestures

By Guest Writer | Sunday, August 16, 2009 | Comments


By Maricris

Color and facial appearances are not the only defining factor to being Asian. Neither are our facial expressions as covered by Linda in her recent post, nor the fact that we are notorious for eating rice in all our meals. But our gestures and manners do play a vital role, one that makes us unique and is an unique marker of our distinct culture; some people call it the Asian trademark.

For those who have been born and raised in Asia to later live in the US like myself, identifying the huge differences in gestures and manners between these two cultures take effort. And just like facial expressions, the cultural difference between gestures can cause confusion, if not outright frustration.

Norine Dresser and Roger Axtell are both experts in the field of multicultural customs and has successfully chronicled the intriguing contrast. A few sample of their studies reveals that:

  • A thumbs up sign means nothing in Asia, but is considered obscene in many Middle Eastern countries, Nigeria, Australia and Afghanistan.
  • Pointing with index finger – not a big deal in the United States – is very rude in Asia.
  • The two-finger V sign means victory when palm facing out. When facing in, it means the number two.

During my early days of being in the US, I would wave my hands downward, palm facing out, to say “come here.” To an American recipient, my signal will come across as me, waving “Hi.” Needless to say, this has caused so much annoyance on my end, especially when I’m asking for help from a distance! Or when I’m asked a yes or no answer, I would always nod my head upwards repeatedly, which to me, means both a yes or a no. To an American, that nod only means yes!

Undoubtedly, our gestures and manners, like DNA, are our identifying markers; the unique factor that defines who we are, our race and culture as a whole. But on the flip side, I have to re-train my hands and head. Have you? What other experiences did you have that involved conflicting gestures? Funny or chaotic? I would love to hear them!

ABOUT MARICRIS: Maricris shares her journeys in life through her personal blog ZenVentures, her views on being Asian in Toasty Brown, her insight as a working mother in Working Mother Magazine, and who’s creative side can be found at Golden Flower Creations.

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  • Ahh... now I understand why some of my Chinese relatives use their middle finger to point.
  • My favorites conflicting signals are the ones that have no meaning in American culture. Showing a direction by pointing with one lips is understood in the Philippines, but just gets strange looks here. Another expression from the Philippines, the one where you make a box with your hands when you want to get the check in a restaurant, also gets blank stares!
  • csc3
    "Pointing with index finger – not a big deal in the United States – is very rude in Asia."

    this is news to me...
  • erika888
    LOL. I see an ad attached to this post that says "Real Chinese Women And You". As opposed to...fake Chinese women, I guess.
  • Wow..that was very inciteful! I live in Hawaii where many asians live and I never even realized there were these differences in hand gestures and body language. I did have one Japanese friend tell me a funny story. She said that there is no 'pink for girls and blue for boys" in Japan..only red is a color for 'babies' so when buying a gift for a new friend that had a baby boy she could not find any red..so the closest thing was pink. She was laughing when she told me she bought that baby boy a pink blanket and the look on the moms face hehe!

    Though I have not noticed a difference in body/hand language I have learned different 'terms' adopted here because of all the different cultures having such an influence ..example when we first moved here my son had to get a blood test at the doctors which he screamed about. The nurse kept saying "all pau" but Cameron did not understand..finally the nurse was practically yelling "ALL PAU!" we looked at her like "what are you talking about?" lol! Now 'all pau comes out so naturally when we speak to little ones it's as if we always said it!" One thing I love about this culture is the family feel to it and how all the young ones call any adult "auntie or uncle" ...even us parents respectfully call the older ones we know by those titles..it's awesome how it can make everyone feel like a family :)
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