Just how comfortable am I?
Before we can have a productive dialogue about empathy, we have multiple barriers to overcome. We see things through certain lenses, some we choose and some we do not. If you have been raised a Christian, most likely you will have Christain values and viewpoints. If you are raised atheist, you may not understand why others hold religious beliefs. What we are exposed to becomes normalized. We don't typically embrace change or question our own convictions, but easily question those of others. We may not recognize the norms and social constructs upon which we have built our identities. When they are threatened, reactionary responses occur rather than questions. We all have biases and prejudices (which will be the topic of a future blog), but do we recognize them and from whence they came? The following questionnaire may help you recognize what cultural aspects make you uncomfortable. Then you may want to reflect what life experiences have led to this discomfort. A conversation with someone who feels differently than you may help you to discover new perspectives.
Just How Comfortable Am I?
Please take some time to rate the following statements on a scale of 1-4, with 1 being not comfortable at all, 2 being uneasy, 3 being fairly comfortable and 4 being completely comfortable.
1. You visit your grandparent at an assisted-living community. 1 2 3 4
2. A friend invites you to a gay bar. 1 2 3 4
3. You go to the gay bar and a person of the same sex asks you to dance. 1 2 3 4
4. A homeless man approaches you and asks for change. 1 2 3 4
5. Your child’s new teacher is a Palestinian Muslim. 1 2 3 4
6. A fellow home visitor is paraplegic. 1 2 3 4
7. A group of young Black men are walking toward you on the street. 1 2 3 4
8. Your doctor speaks with a pronounced Vietnamese accent. 1 2 3 4
9. Your landlord is a Fundamentalist Christian. 1 2 3 4
10. Your new program director is Jewish. 1 2 3 4
11. You arrive at church to discover your new pastor is a female. 1 2 3 4
12. Your dentist is HIV positive. 1 2 3 4
13. The young man sitting next to you on the plane is Arab. 1 2 3 4
14. Your new neighbors are Mexican. 1 2 3 4
15. Your assigned partner for a project has a learning disability. 1 2 3 4
16. Your white neighbor shows you his new gun. 1 2 3 4
17. Your sister begins practicing Buddhism. 1 2 3 4
18. Your reflective supervisor is a 70 year old woman. 1 2 3 4
19. The woman next to you on an airplane is 300 lbs. 1 2 3 4
20. Your women’s studies professor wears a headscarf. 1 2 3 4
21. Your mother “comes out” to you. 1 2 3 4
22. Your child's 3rd grade teacher is a recovering addict. 1 2 3 4
23. Your sister becomes a Buddhist. 1 2 3 4
24. You discover your teenage brother kissing a male friend. 1 2 3 4
25. A client discloses an abortion. 1 2 3 4
26. You witness a woman breastfeeding in public. 1 2 3 4
27. The president of your agency is putting herself through grad school by exotic dancing. 1 2 3 4
28. You discover the cute young man/woman you are attracted to is actually a woman/man. 1 2 3 4
29. One of your group presentation partners has a speech impediment. 1 2 3 4
30. Your child’s class is doing community service at a homeless shelter. 1 2 34
31. One of your coworkers gets called to active duty in the Middle East. 1 2 3 4
32. Your new coworker has been in prison and has the tattoos to show it. 1 2 3 4
33. Your coworker gets a full-tuition scholarship for having diabetes. 1 2 3 4
34. Your brother’s new girlfriend is a single mother on welfare. 1 2 3 4
35. Your family buys a home in a predominately Asian community. 1 2 3 4
36. Your sister invites her new boyfriend home for dinner. He is a female-to-male transsexual. 1 2 3 4
37. Your next door neighbors are lesbians. 1 2 3 4
38. A Native American student invites you to attend a Pow-wow with him. 1 2 3 4
39. You witness a child being spanked. 1 2 3 4
40. Your agency supervisor is visually impaired. 1 2 3 4
41. Multiple generations of one family live in the home next door. 1 2 3 4
42. You are asked to prepare a presentation on Diversity for your community.
1 2 3 4