The Birds and the Bees

After being in Mexico for 5 weeks there are definitely a few things that are very different from in the United States.  Besides the obvious things like language and food there are still others, like the way men act towards women and also the way couples act in the city. 

            One of the first things that we noticed after arriving in Merida was the amount of honking and whistling that was done by men at the girls as they were walking down the sidewalk.  Now, people obviously do this in the United States too but not to this extent, not even close.  It is no exaggeration to say that there would be a honk or a whistle at least one every 5 minutes and that is being generous.  After a while the group just became accustomed to it and went about our business with no other thought to it just like many of the people here do.  However, when looking back on it, and also from the conversations we have had with our conversation class instructor, the honking and whistling is more of a way of saying “hey, what’s up?” instead of what we are used to and that it means that the men are trying to get the women’s attention because they think they are pretty.  Men would honk or whistle when they had women in the car already!  This was very strange to me because obviously in the United States if a guy is with a girl then it is not socially acceptable for him to be honking at other women, even if it is just to say hello.  I first came to realize that it was not just men honking at the women to get their attention after seeing women in the car too, but another thing was that the men were honking at many of the women not just the very pretty ones.  They would honk at older women and women of all different types leading me to think that there must have been some other explanation, so, what better person to ask then someone who lives here and is a woman, Svet, my culture teacher.  We began talking and I brought up the fact about honking and what not and she said that it is not really all that sexual.  It is a way for a guy to give the girl a compliment basically.  It is the man’s way of showing, in a completely friendly and non intentional way, that he thinks that she is a good looking person.  I thought that was a very good way to put it because it put some light on why men were honking all of the time and it is just because it has become part of their culture.

            So what does a guy do once he actually gets a girl and doesn’t have to go around honking all of the time?  Well first of all roses are absolutely huge here!  You can find people selling roses all over the place, they will even walk along the median in the road near traffic lights and as the cars are stopped the people will walk down the rows of cars selling them to people.  Apparently a way to win a girl here is to buy her and rose and give it to her, just a single rose, there is no need for an entire bouquet.  In the US it isn’t as common to give a girl a flower all of the time.  Most of the time you get a girl flowers for a special occasion, or when you do something wrong to make them not mad at you, and this is even seen because you aren’t able to get flowers at every corner there are normally florist shops or sometimes in the supermarket you are able to buy some. 

            One thing that is very obvious while in Mexico is the amount of affection that is displayed in public by couples.  Back home PDA is definitely looked down upon, even as far as kissing in public.  Holding hands is one thing and no one gives a second thought, but while walking around the plaza and seeing couples full out making out right in front of everyone was a little strange.  And it wasn’t like it was just a few people or even just one age group.  Many times it was all different people of different ages.  This is just another great example of how cultures are different and the ways that people view appropriate behavior.  Personally I find nothing wrong with displaying affection in public to a point.  If you are kissing your significant other in public that’s fine, but apparently that is not the case everywhere, ie the United States, and is just another idea for cultures to differ upon.