| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 78618 | 2007-04-22 09:43:00 | Eye Contact = Culturally-inappropriate for Māori males? | Renmoo (66) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 543214 | 2007-04-22 09:43:00 | Dear all, I would just like to confirm from someone what my lecturer has said. Is it really inappropriate for people to make direct eye-contact with Māoris, especially the male during a conversation? (No intention of being an Internet troll) Cheers and thanks! :) |
Renmoo (66) | ||
| 543215 | 2007-04-22 10:00:00 | Wasn't there an incident a couple of years ago where a tourist got his nose headbutted and broken by a Maori dude doing the Haka because the tourist made direct eye contact? Don't quote me on this though. |
qazwsxokmijn (102) | ||
| 543216 | 2007-04-22 10:07:00 | Dear all, I would just like to confirm from someone what my lecturer has said. Is it really inappropriate for people to make direct eye-contact with Māoris, especially the male during a conversation? (No intention of being an Internet troll) Cheers and thanks! :) Big load of rubbish. My entire work crew is Maori, as is my father-in-law, as was the best man at my wedding, Never heard such rot. Though there are plenty out there with a chip on their shoulder who will want a fight if they think you are lookin at em, Got nothing to do with being Maori though, Everything to do with being an ignorant *******. Your more likely to be though of as a bit strange for avoiding eye contact..... Just keep your backside off any surface that may come into contact with food and its all good (as far as I can tell its a throwback to before we gave em toilet paper, Seems getting dags on the kitchen table was a constant issue) |
Metla (12) | ||
| 543217 | 2007-04-22 10:07:00 | No, its incorrect. Your lecturer is wrong. |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 543218 | 2007-04-22 10:15:00 | Wasn't there an incident a couple of years ago where a tourist got his nose headbutted and broken by a Maori dude doing the Haka because the tourist made direct eye contact? Don't quote me on this though. From what I recall, the incident you refer to wasn't so much about direct eye contact - I seem to recall that the guy laying down the challenge considered that the tourist was being disrespectful and laughing at him or making fun of something serious. And I think he was laying down a challenge to visitors, rather than doing a haka. As I understand it James, Pakeha regard eye to eye contact as being a positive thing ("Look me in the eye boy" was a common thing barked at me at school). I think it is seen as a sign of being honest and straightforward, and of engaging with the other person. Conversely, Pakeha seem to regard someone who is not looking them in the eye as being shifty. Whereas I understand that in Maori society, (traditionally at least) looking someone directly in the eye in the Pakeha way is seen to be disrespectful and challenging. Especially if you do this to someone higher in the social hierarchy such as an older person or someone of rank. However, I am not an expert on things in Maori culture and someone else may be able to explain it better. I do know from experience that the difference in perception about direct eye contact has led to some bad encounters in young Maori dealing with people in authority such as teachers, Police, prison officers, and judges, who have often misinterpreted their body language as being disrespectful or "shifty", whereas they have actually been showing respect by avoiding direct and lasting eye contact. I think this form of body language is shared in some way across other Polynesian cultures. |
John H (8) | ||
| 543219 | 2007-04-22 10:32:00 | No, its incorrect. Your lecturer is wrong. Thanks for confirming my suspicion. I knew that can't really be true. :) </thread> |
Renmoo (66) | ||
| 543220 | 2007-04-22 10:43:00 | Eye to EYE contact is usually ok, most other eye contact is a bit of a starting signal ;) | R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 543221 | 2007-04-22 10:46:00 | I would just like to confirm from someone what my lecturer has said . I wonder if my "lecturer" moved up your way because that is exactly what we were taught when I did a business course a few years ago . :rolleyes: Personally I have experienced quite a few Maori and Samoan males that avoided eye contact as much as possible but could never figure out whether they were just shy or whether it was their culture . |
FoxyMX (5) | ||
| 543222 | 2007-04-22 11:00:00 | Eye to EYE contact is usually ok, most other eye contact is a bit of a starting signal ;) R2D2, R2D2, what are we going to do without your witty remarks? :D :D :D Cheers :) |
Renmoo (66) | ||
| 543223 | 2007-04-22 13:12:00 | One side of my family is Maori, I semi grew up around Maraes and I was taught, from a very young age, that it is absolutely disrespectful to look a male elder directly in the eyes especially in formal situations. | never-u-mind (6500) | ||
| 1 2 3 | |||||