what are some taboo topics in america?

jennlin · August 2011

i know i've mentioned h's cousin a lot...she's here visiting for an extended period of time from indonesia. obviously, cultures/customs are a bit different.... example: she's made WAY TOO MANY fat-comments about me, as well as our friends, to my/their faces. all of our friends understand the culture change....we've all laughed it off and made it a big joke...but i know personally i was a tad offended when she said it, even though i know she didn't mean it negatively. ...h and i told her privately that "in the muricas, we don't talk about people being fat".

now she's super conscious about it...and wants to know what else is off-limits. i couldn't really think of anything.......suggestions?

amandasw · August 2011

that's hysterical, but so true. I swear, in other 'traditional' countries (mostly I've experienced Asian and Middle Eastern) it's perfectly normal to tell someone they look over/underweight, why aren't you married, why don't you have kids etc. All things people are sensitive about and only discuss privately if they choose to bring it up. I can't think of any other topics though... hm.

jennlin · August 2011

amandasw:
why aren't you married,

ohh..this is a good one! one of our bff's is a single mom. we ran into dad the other day when we were out and cousin said "maybe you guys will get back together"........no. they won't. and they shouldn't.

Temp222512500003295 · August 2011

I think money/income is still fairly taboo in most circles.

amandasw · August 2011

jennlin:
amandasw:
why aren't you married,
ohh..this is a good one! one of our bff's is a single mom. we ran into dad the other day when we were out and cousin said "maybe you guys will get back together"........no. they won't. and they shouldn't.

Tongue Tied eek.

sarack · August 2011

i think as a general rule, you don't tell people things about themselves that they already know.. unless you tell them how beautiful they are, and do that only once. lol.

you also don't talk about people's kids to their faces.

mgoss228 · August 2011

I think pp's covered it pretty well: personal stuff (appearance, family) and money.

But also politics is something you shouldn't bring up with acquaintances. I don't know how much political stuff she knows, but she shouldn't make any blatant far-left/far-right comments to people she doesn't know well.

KST_ · August 2011

PPs have most of it: appearance (positive okay in small doses, but NEVER negative), family to a degree (where's the father/mother? why aren't you married? why don't you have children--never know if they can't, or recently miscarried, etc), and financial status (are you poor? are you rich?) and it's not appropriate to bring up someone's sexual orientation unless they bring it up first.

what are some taboo topics in america?

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