CUC107 Cultural Capabilities: Analyzing Safe Spaces in Seinfeld

This report analyzes a video clip from Seinfeld (Season 10, Episode 5) to determine if it portrays a culturally safe or unsafe space, focusing on the character Winona, a Native American. The report defines cultural capability, cultural awareness, and cultural intelligence, then summarizes the episode and identifies instances where Jerry Seinfeld's behavior creates an unsafe environment for Winona. The analysis highlights Jerry's lack of cultural awareness and his use of stereotypes, leading to Winona's cultural exclusion. The report concludes with recommendations for improving cultural sensitivity and creating a more inclusive social setting, suggesting that Jerry should learn more about Native American history and culture and avoid using offensive terms and stereotypes. The report emphasizes the importance of cultural capabilities in fostering safe and respectful environments.

Running head: CULTURAL CAPABILITIES IN THE WORKPLACE
CULTURAL CAPABILITIES IN THE WORKPLACE
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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CULTURAL CAPABILITIES IN THE WORKPLACE
Executive summary
The chief purpose of the report was to analyze a chosen video clip and find whether it
demonstrated a culturally safe or unsafe space. The report further aimed to provide
recommendations to make the setting culturally safe. The video chosen for the analysis was
Episode 5, Season 10 of the popular American show Seinfeld aired on December 9, 1993. The
report first explained the terms like cultural capability and safe spaces and then summarized the
video clip to present certain observations. Then, the report analyzed the social setting depicted in
the video with help of the observations. It was found that the social setting was an unsafe space
for the Native American character, Winona because she was made to feel different by the lead
character, Jerry Seinfeld. The report concluded with some recommendations to improve the
social setting and make it safer in terms of cultural inclusion.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................3
1.2 Aim........................................................................................................................................3
1.3 Scope......................................................................................................................................3
2. Summary and observations..........................................................................................................3
2.1 Summary of the video clip.....................................................................................................3
2.2 Observations..........................................................................................................................4
3. Analysis.......................................................................................................................................5
3.1 Cultural safety........................................................................................................................5
3.1.1 Cultural capabilities........................................................................................................6
3.1.2 Cultural awareness..........................................................................................................6
3.1.3 Cultural intelligence........................................................................................................6
4. Recommendations........................................................................................................................6
5. Summary and conclusion.............................................................................................................7

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1. Introduction
The report aims to analyze a particular video clip to see whether it has demonstrated a
culturally safe or unsafe space.
1.1 Background
Cultural capability refers to the ability of an individual or group to identify the
differences in culture while interacting with people from various cultural backgrounds. It is the
skills, knowledge and behavior an individual possess that are required to respect other cultures
while delivering any service, planning for their improving or communicating with them. Those
with cultural capabilities are able to create a culturally ‘safe space’ at the workplace or any other
place for the people belonging to different cultures (Holley & Steiner, 2005). Cultural
awareness, cultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence or CQ, are all sets of cultural capabilities
that some people possess and some do not (Groen et al., 2015). These capabilities contribute
majorly towards creating a safe space for people of other cultures.
1.2 Aim
The report aims to describe, summarize and analyze an instance of an unsafe space,
which resulted from the lack of cultural capabilities. After analyzing, the report will provide
recommendations that could improve the situation and make it more welcoming and respectful
for everyone irrespective of culture.
1.3 Scope
The report will chiefly describe and analyze the situation shown in the video clip chosen,
which is Episode 5, Season 10 of Seinfeld, an American sitcom released in 1993 (YouTube.com,
2018). The report will discuss a few selected scenes from the video that depict culturally unsafe
practices or behaviors.
2. Summary and observations
2.1 Summary of the video clip

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As mentioned above, the video clip is from the 1993 American sitcom Seinfeld. The first
season of the show was aired in the year 1989 and it ran for nine years until 1998. Larry David
and Jerry Seinfeld (who also happens to be the lead character) are the creators of the show,
which portrays the daily lives of the people living in Manhattan. The scene in discussion, which
aired on December 9, 1993, involves Jerry Seinfeld, his ex-girlfriend Elaine (played by Julia
Louis-Dreyfus) and Winona (played by Kimberly Guerrero) (IMDb.com, 2018). Jerry is seen
entering Elaine’s apartment with a surprise gift for her to make up for a fault of his in the
previous scene. As he enters, he finds Winona and other of Elaine’s friends sitting there. They
also eagerly await the revelation of the gift brought by Jerry but the revelation turns out to be
shocking. Jerry brings the ‘Cigar Store Indian’, which literally upsets Winona, as she is a Native
American. When Winona leaves the room being disturbed by the incident, Elaine explains Jerry
about his mistake.
In another scene, when Winona asks for her ‘Al Roker TV Guide’ from Jerry, he says
that he has already given to someone else as he thought it was a gift from her. He indirectly calls
her an ‘Indian giver’, an offensive term used for Native Americans and annoys her further.
2.2 Observations
Table 1 Observations made from the scene
Run time of
the chosen
scenes
Communication
factors
Cultural
Inclusion/
exclusion
Gestures and
behaviours
Cultural
capabilities
0:00-1:34 - Jerry has no sense
about
communicating with
people from Native
American culture as
he demonstrates
extremely
insensitive
behaviour towards
the Native people
- Elaine
demonstrates bad
communication
skills as she is
- Winona is
made to feel
culturally
excluded as
Jerry makes
derogatory and
funny remarks
about the
Indians
- The behaviour
demonstrated by
Jerry was
extremely
insensitive
because it was an
insult to the
culture of the
Native
Americans
- Added to that,
while Winona
was leaving after
feeling bad, Jerry
- Jerry
demonstrated a
total absence of
cultural
capability that
includes cultural
awareness and
intelligence. He
makes says and
makes many
stereotypical
statements and
gestures
regarding Native

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CULTURAL CAPABILITIES IN THE WORKPLACE
unable to apologize
properly to Winona
after Jerry indirectly
insults are Native
American origin
made gestures
with the statue
that further
derogated
Winona’s culture
Americans that
clearly
demonstrates his
lack of cultural
awareness and
CQ.
3:58-4:45 - Jerry tries hard not
to hurt Winona
again but clearly
seems to lack
interpersonal skills
as he again upsets
her by almost using
inappropriate word
like the ‘Indian
giver’
- Here again
Winona is made
to feel excluded
as Jerry
stereotypes her
asking about the
TV Guide back
as something
that Indians
generally do
- It is implied
that Jerry likes
Winona and
wants her to like
him too but his
behaviour and
gestures when he
talks about her
act of asking
back the TV
Guide is
derogatory
- In this case
also, Jerry
demonstrates an
extreme lack of
cultural
awareness as he
stereotypes
Winona’s asking
him to give back
the TV Guide as
an Indian trait
- The scene
depicts the
problems that
arise when
people fail to
understand the
cultural nuances
and presume
things
beforehand.
3. Analysis
3.1 Cultural safety
Li, Mobley and Kelly (2013), state that cultural safety should be in the priority list of
every individual who come across situations where they have to interact or work with culturally
different people. Cultural safety can only be ensured when people have cultural capabilities that
could reflect in their behavior, communication and gesture. Cultural inability leads to culture
shock that people often face in a culturally different environment (Flanja, 2009). In the chosen
video, the lead character lacks cultural capability as could be seen from his interaction with
Winona, a Native American.

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3.1.1 Cultural capabilities
As discussed in the above sections, cultural capability means the ability to behave, act or
communicate in a way that respects another culture. In the video, Jerry initially had no idea that
Winona was a Native American and makes fun of her culture through the Cigar Store Indian by
using derogatory words like “let’s bury the hatchet” “ We smoke ‘um peace pipe”. He also
demonstrates total absence of cultural capability by showing gestures like moving the statue back
and forth and humming Indian chant such as hey-yah, ho-ah. This is a good instance of what
Spencer-Oatey and Franklin (2012) explain about cultural capability. According to the authors,
medical professionals are given training on handling people of different cultures to increase their
capability. However, cultural capability, they further add, is not attained only by training, self-
awareness is also important that Jerry lacks.
3.1.2 Cultural awareness
In the views of Quappe and Cantatore (2005), cultural awareness does not mean learning
about other cultures through media outlets or other invalid sources and creating a preconceived
notion. Cultural awareness, they state, involves critical research and examination about other
cultures. The knowledge demonstrated by Jerry about the Native Americans clearly comes from
the things he has heard from his adults and seen on TV. Therefore, he actually does not possess
any awareness about the Native American culture.
3.1.3 Cultural intelligence
Culture awareness increases cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence increases when
one has more exposure to other cultures. As Crowne (2013) notes, “Cultural exposure has an
impact on the cultural intelligence of the people because of the growing international
interactions”. Relating it to the situation of Jerry and to those who came out with this idea, they
seem to have no cultural exposure. In addition, back in the 1990s, there was least opportunity for
people to be exposed to other cultures because globalization was yet to spread (Forsyth, 2015). It
is but interesting to note that the makers of the show had least idea about the history and culture
of their own land, which led to such insensitive display of cultural diversity.
4. Recommendations

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After thoroughly examining the particular scenes in the video, it is clear that the cross-
cultural scenario depicted needs to be amended.
At first, it is recommended that Jerry should study more about the history of Native
Americans and their cultures so that he does not always upset his love interest who also happens
to be Indian. It was very amateur on part of the makers as well to show that Jerry did not know
about Winona’s cultural affinity since he is so much interested in her. They should make sure
that they do not portray the Indians as war tribes chanting hey-yah ho-ah.
Second, in the later scene when Jerry almost calls Winona an ‘Indian giver’, it is very
demeaning and hurting for the native people. Instead of showing this, they should demonstrate
the way Jerry turns into a culturally sensitive person from being acquainted with a Native
American.
Third, the phrase “Indian giver” had originated out of misunderstanding and hence, it
should not have been given such prominence. The scene could have been scripted in a way that
ultimately reveals the actual truth behind the misunderstood phrase.
5. Summary and conclusion
To conclude, it should be reiterated that the social setting depicted in the American
sitcom Seinfeld is a culturally unsafe space. It was found from the analysis that the characters in
the show had no cultural capability especially the lead character, Jerry Seinfeld. Further, the
analysis also revealed that due to lack of cultural awareness, the makers failed to incorporate
scenes or situations that could make the Native American character feel included culturally. The
report hence, suggested some recommendations that could help improve the situation and make
the social setting, a culturally safe space.

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References:
Crowne, K. A. (2013). Cultural exposure, emotional intelligence, and cultural intelligence: An
exploratory study. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 13(1), 5-22.
Flanja, D. (2009). Culture shock in intercultural communication. Studia Universitatis Babes-
Bolyai. Studia Europaea, 54(4), 107.
Forsyth, B. (2015). Cultural Intelligence and Global Leadership. Journal of Leadership,
Accountability & Ethics, 12(2).
Groen, Y., Fuermaier, A. B. M., Den Heijer, A. E., Tucha, O., & Althaus, M. (2015). The
empathy and systemizing quotient: The psychometric properties of the Dutch version and
a review of the cross-cultural stability. Journal of Autism and Developmental
Disorders, 45(9), 2848-2864.
Holley, L. C., & Steiner, S. (2005). Safe space: Student perspectives on classroom environment.
Journal of Social Work Education, 41(1), 49-64.
IMDb.com. (2018). "Seinfeld" The Cigar Store Indian (TV Episode 1993). Retrieved from
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0697677/
Li, M., Mobley, W. H., & Kelly, A. (2013). When do global leaders learn best to develop
cultural intelligence? An investigation of the moderating role of experiential learning
style. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12(1), 32-50.
Quappe, S., & Cantatore, G. (2005). What is Cultural Awareness, anyway? How do I build it.
Retrieved July, 17, 2008.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Franklin, P. (2012). What is culture. A compilation of quotations.
GlobalPAD Core Concepts, 1-22.
YouTube.com. (2018). Seinfeld — Native American (Full Scene). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpGfyp6MxkM