Mentalization Musings
Committing Cultural Faux Pas
We all do it, even in the field of psychology
Republished from www.centerforappliedtheoryofmind.com
Committing a cultural faux pas — doing something that is unintentionally offensive to another person’s culture — is something we all try to avoid. My partner recently recounted the following incident:
I was living in the White Mountains of Arizona. It was late March, and that meant one thing … beautiful spring skiing. The snow conditions were perfect, especially for cross country skiing. On most days, the sun would shine through the thin mountain air, and by mid-afternoon, the top layer of snow covering the rolling meadows would become slightly more compacted. At night, the temperature would dip dramatically, stiffening the surface of the snow into a sturdy crust, and turning the terrain into an expansive cross country skating rink.
On this particular Sunday morning I woke up at the break of dawn, grabbed my skis, poles and boots, and headed out for a day of “crust cruising” among the Ponderosa pine-lined meadows of the Navajo Reservation. Since I had to make an appearance in the White Mountain Apache Tribal Court the next day, I decided to book a cabin near the Sunrise Ski Area and mix business with pleasure.
