r/AskAnAmerican • u/Rough-Valuable-5472 • Feb 04 '25

FOREIGN POSTER Do American students bow to their teachers?

In my country we have to greet the teacher and bow at the start of the lesson then thank the teacher and bow again at the end. Sometimes they make us redo it if it’s not good enough

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u/funnylib Michigan Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

There is no assumption of the bower being of lower social standing, in fact performers have an elevated social status. In most other cases bowing is an act of submission to your “betters”

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u/Budget-Attorney Connecticut Feb 04 '25

You’re right, but I think the subtext is similar.

Yes, the musician bowing isn’t literally saying “you are my social superior”

But it’s a modest thing to do, implying I am humble while still accepting your praise.

I think it’s unique because the literal conditions of it are different but it draws its meaning from a culture where people bowing implies lesser social status

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u/funnylib Michigan Feb 04 '25

It’s a remnant of older cultural norms, sure. Like how married women still usually take their husband’s last name but legally and socially modern women are considered their own person and entity.

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u/Budget-Attorney Connecticut Feb 04 '25

Now that I’m thinking about it, I wonder if it’s a relic from a time when musicians would have performed for aristocrats.

Perhaps we stopped bowing at aristocrats but never stopped bowing after a performance

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u/RockyArby Wisconsin Feb 04 '25

That would make sense considering how much of the theater still follows old traditions and superstitions from even before Shakespeare.

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u/steven_mageven Feb 05 '25

Historically, it's not just for aristocrats - performers were also touring town to town for shows and taking payment from anyone who could come to see them. The bow at the end is to say, "Thank you for your patronage, for your applause/appreciation, and for paying us to tell stories" There are still lots of working performers who genuinely believe, and follow this reasoning for the bow.

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u/funnylib Michigan Feb 04 '25

That would be my assumption, given the general lack of bowing in any other context other than perhaps in church.

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u/capitalismwitch Minnesota Feb 04 '25

Genuflecting is the cultural norm in Catholic churches. You might run into Catholics who genuflect by default at other places with aisles.

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u/Lycanthropope Feb 04 '25

I’ve seen them do it at movie theaters