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Babies: a Glimpse into The First Year of Life in Four Children

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Words: 790 |

Pages: 2|

4 min read

Published: May 7, 2019

Words: 790|Pages: 2|4 min read

Published: May 7, 2019

Balmès’s documentary, Babies, attempts to provide a glimpse into the first year of life in four children throughout the world. The experiences of Ponijao of Namibia, Bayar of Mongolia, Mari of Japan, and Hattie of California each served as a tool for the examination of cross-cultural similarities and differences in infants’ lives.

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One of the largest differences that I observed in the film was that of socio-economic status. Two of the babies, Ponijao and Bayar are from poor countries, especially when compared to Mari and Hattie who were born in financially richer countries. Although the difference in socio-economic statuses seem to be huge, when one looks beyond the “physical” characteristics of poverty, i.e., the home, the city, the toys, etcetera, one can realize that there are more similarities than differences. For instance, all the babies examined in this film had toys to play with. Although the children from Japan and the United States had better access to modern toys and modern privileges, they were not blatantly happier.

In terms of child rearing, it was evident that with all of the babies, their mothers did all or most of the work. The babies’ fathers were either nearly non-existent such as with the Namibian child or did less work than their partners. Mothers seemed to be more involved in the lives of their children. This subject is more complex however because it is important to note that the levels of paternal involvement varied from baby to baby on a spectrum. For instance, the father from San Francisco was the most emotionally available father in the movie. Although the Japanese father spent as much time with his baby as the San Franciscan father spent with his, he was preoccupied with the phone and with the television much of the time. The Mongolian father and Namibian father were rarely available.

Mothers showed cultural differences in the way they reared their babies. For instance, the Namibian mother felt very comfortable allowing her baby to interact with the entire village community. This openness with the community is understandable given the fact that Namibian culture is community and family oriented. Like the Mongolian mother and the Japanese mother, the Namibian mother breastfed her child. The American mother did not breastfeed her child, however, her child had two direct, fully attentive parents to compensate.

Although it was evident that adults reared children in most of the cultures examined, it is interesting to note that siblings, peers, community members, and even pets all took part in the children’s experiences as well as the entire rearing processes.

In regards to development, I did notice that some babies did certain things sooner than other babies. This can be shown by how the Mongolian child did not go out and explore as soon as the Namibian child. Culture can very well manipulate developmental stages. For instance, the Mongolian child was wrapped up very tightly and stowed away in the yurt, whereas the Namibian child was allowed to roam around within its community. Most development happened at around the same time. For instance, they all learned how to feed at the same time, all children cried in the movie, and they all learned to walk at about the same time. All the babies learned how to say basic words and learned to understand more complicated patterns. There were no huge innate developmental differences from one culture to the next; most of the difference is attributed to external cultural patterns.

In terms of attachment, I thought that all the babies examined had secure-attachments because of the fact that they had adequately responsive mothers. Although certain cultures attribute a safe and appropriate child-rearing environment to a certain way of life, that does not mean that another culture’s practices are invalid. I believe that the families in this movie show that successful/safe child rearing, secure attachments and secure development can all happen in a variety of cultural settings. Development and attachment seemed to be relatively stable from one culture to the next; however, child-rearing practices (many of which are culture-driven) greatly differed from one culture to the next.

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Although each baby comes from a very different culture, they all seem content and satisfied with life. The Namibian child does not seem upset or “harmed” because he does not have the same rearing environment as the American child. I believe that this universal satisfaction is attributed to the fact that one culture’s ritual or practice may compensate for the lack of what another culture has, and vice versa. For instance, although the American child lives a modern lifestyle that offers her certain privileges whereas the Namibian child lives in poverty, the Namibian child may reap the benefits of living, experiencing and participating in an active community/village.

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Dr. Charlotte Jacobson

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Babies: A Glimpse Into The First Year Of Life In Four Children. (2019, April 26). GradesFixer. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/babies-a-glimpse-into-the-first-year-of-life-in-four-children/
“Babies: A Glimpse Into The First Year Of Life In Four Children.” GradesFixer, 26 Apr. 2019, gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/babies-a-glimpse-into-the-first-year-of-life-in-four-children/
Babies: A Glimpse Into The First Year Of Life In Four Children. [online]. Available at: <https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/babies-a-glimpse-into-the-first-year-of-life-in-four-children/> [Accessed 29 Mar. 2024].
Babies: A Glimpse Into The First Year Of Life In Four Children [Internet]. GradesFixer. 2019 Apr 26 [cited 2024 Mar 29]. Available from: https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/babies-a-glimpse-into-the-first-year-of-life-in-four-children/
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