A Group 1 (Corey, Craig, Kasandra, Milissa, & Teresa) presentation on Norway: 1) Non-Verbal Communication through clothing, 2) rituals, 3) gender roles.

1. Norway
Group 1: Corey Benson, Craig Brown,
Kasandra Baldwin, Milissa Bruton-
Morales, & Teresa Alderson
CMST 101 Intro to Communication

2. Norway
The following quote encompasses everything
we will cover in this slideshow from non-verbal
communication through clothing, rituals, and
gender roles:
“If one were to sum up the Norwegian
communication style it would be informal,
transactional and direct.”
(http://kwintessential.co.uk)

3. Responsibilities
Responsibilities were divided up by the amount of
slides each person would research. Doing less
research, M was responsible for more slides:
Corey Benson – Nonverbal use of clothing
Craig Brown – Gender Roles (male, other)
Kasandra Baldwin – Rituals
Milissa Bruton-Morales – Transition Slides, PPT, etc.
Teresa Alderson – Gender Roles (female, neutral)

4. Nonverbal Use of
Clothing
Yet in every culture, clothing is one of the most powerful and
ubiquitous forms of visual communication. By using visual clues
provided by clothing, people quickly 'place' each other, making
guesses about the gender, social status, occupation, ethnic or
national identity, and so on of those they encounter. By manipulating
the same sets of signals, people can declare their individuality,
indicate their beliefs, or signify their membership within various
groups through how they dress.
http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/clothing/clotweb.htm
Norwegians effectively use non-verbal communication (Tacoma
Community College, 2011. pp 20-21.) through the use of their formal
attire: a Bunad.

5. Nonverbal Use of Clothing
Formal
Most Norwegians, and those of Norwegian decent, wear a bunad with which they have a
geographical association. “It is part of Norway's culture to wear the Bunad as the Norwegian
folk dress for folk dancing, at official celebrations, weddings, and especially on May 17 which
is Constitution Day in Norway (Gourley, 2002).” Most cities and counties select and strictly
adhere to specific designs based on historical information from their area. Norwegians do not
wear outfits from areas other than where their families originate (a woman may adopt the
outfit of her husband's district or area). .
The type of material used in a Bunad depends on the period from which the Bunad dates and
on the particular fabrics that were used at the time. “Ancestral heritage can be identified by
the bunad worn. Costume differences are found mostly in the cut and ornamentation of the
clothes (Gourley, 2002).”
MATERIALS DEPENDS ON THE PERIOD FROM WHICH THE BUNAD DATES:

6. Nonverbal Use of Clothing
Formal
• The embroidery on Norwegian bunads reflects a strong tradition
of which the Norwegians can be proud. , the bunad is the official
formal dress of the Norwegian people. It's a complete attire from
head to toe, it includes a head-dress and shoes. “An authentic Vintage Silver
bunad is very expensive, ranges in price from about $1,500 to
Filigree
$5,000. In Norway, many teenagers start receiving their authentic
bunad at confirmation (Moore, 2004).”
Traditional
Brooch Pin
• Silver was very important to Norwegian culture. Considered
magical, silver was used to protect against the evil forces and also
used to show prosperity. It was aslo credited with healing both
the people and the animals. “In Norway, silver had its roots with
the farmers, as it was their only status symbol: (Moore, 2004).
• Everyone wore some amount of silver to be protected from the
huldrefolk. Mothers pinned silver on their newborn baby's clothes
to prevent the huldrefolk from swapping huldre babies for human
babies. Today, silver is worn as a symbol of ones ethnic ancestry.
Vintage Silver
Solje Necklace
and Earrings

7. Nonverbal Use of Clothing
Informal
• Norwegians generally don't dress very formal instead they prefer
casual and comfortable clothes. Blue denims are used everywhere.
If you somebody with a fashionable suit and tie (in the middle of
the day), it is probably a real estate or stock broker.
• Norwegians are notoriously informal, particularly in clothing.
Norwegians don't usually dress smart for work and rather casually
most of the time. Although some may dress up for a restaurant
visit, casual dress is fully acceptable virtually everywhere. On
Friday or Saturday people rarely dress up.
• Today Norwegians wear modern Western-style clothes for casual,
business, and formal wear.
• “When the Norwegian immigrants changed from their native dress
to American clothing, only the use of the jewelry was retained. The
silver brooches were turned into breastpins. . Today, silver is worn
as a symbol of ones ethnic ancestry (Moore, 2004).”

8. Nonverbal Use of Clothing
The Bunad represents the Norwegian
people – just as the Kimono represents
Japan, the Cheongsam represents China,
and the Salwar Kameez represents India.
Norwegians found a way to balance old
traditions and modern personal comfort
and style – not just in their clothes, but
their rituals as well.

9. Rituals
Various cultures live in Norway much like the US. Rituals in Norway vary based on
religious beliefs and cultural differences.
You will get to take a look at a native Norwegians ritual – both the verbal and
nonverbal aspects of it. Also you will get to take a look at a comparison of a
ritual based on old traditions and new traditions in their culture – “a learned
system of knowledge, behavior, attitudes, beliefs, values, rules, and norms that
is shared by a group of people and shaped from one generation to the next”.
(Tacoma Community College, 2011. pp. 65, 150.)

10. Rituals
• THE GROOM
• - The groom wears a hand-made, woolen suit known as a
"bunad." It has a white silk shirt, short pants, and stockings
that come up to their calves. Also included is a vest and
topcoat. Colorful designs are unique, based on where the
groom was born or where his family came from.
• THE BRIDE
• - Her dress is usually black, with rows of red (usually) braids
round the bottom, with a silver/silver and gold crown. Around
the crown, there are small, spoon-like bangles that produce a
soothing music when she moves. It is designed to ward off
evil spirits and insure that she will be happy through the whole
wedding.
• THE RINGS
• -The wedding bands promote the circle of everlasting love
throughout the relationship.

11. Rituals
The Reception
Toasting is a big part of the wedding reception. Toast may be given
by many of guest throughout the wedding meal. The traditional order
of these speeches are as follows:
1. Father of the bride
2. The Groom
3. The Bride
4. Maid of Honour
5. Best Man
6. Groom’s father
7. Bride’s mother
8. Groom’s mother
9. Grandparents/Godparents
10. Friends and Finally
11. “Takk for Maten-tale” (thank you for the meal). This speech
compliments the food thanks the chef and waiting staff.

12. Rituals
Old Norwegian Traditions New Norwegian Traditions
• The dead were laid out to be seen by friends • In 1960-1980 privatization of funerals was
and family before they left the house. popular, where only close family members
• A bed was made of straw or feathers and two participated in funeral rituals.
sawhorses by a couple of women from the • In recent years, the old ways are being brought
neighborhood. back. Where friends and distant family now join
• A psalms book was placed on the chest of the in the ritual. This comes from the need for new
corpse and then the body was covered with a expression and inspiration.
sheet. Then was moved to an appropriate room • A practice borrowed from the Catholics has
in one of the out buildings. become more common in Norway and that’s the
lighting of candles at the scene of an accident.

13. Rituals
• In older traditions, in the time of the Vikings, they would say a prayer for
their dead.
“Lo, there do I see my Father..
Lo, there do I see my Mother
And my Sisters and my Brothers..
Lo, there do I see the line
Of my people back to the beginning..
They do bid me to take my place among them..
In the Halls of Valhalla,
Where the Brave may live forever.”
• In later years along with other traditions the dead were “sung out of the
house”
A psalms was sung, a speech was given, and another psalms was sung before they put the
top of the casket on and had it nailed or screwed shut.

14. Rituals
There are many parts to play in a ritual. Some even by
certain genders. For the next few slides we will cover
some different types of gender roles.

15. Gender Roles
Norway supports equal rights.
Differences in gender does not make
anyone superior over another. (Tacoma
Community College, 2011. pp 78-79.)

16. Gender Roles: Men
• Social and health statistics show that life in Western society exacts
a high price from men. (Affairs)
• Males are overrepresented among drug abusers and prison inmates.
(Affairs)
• The life expectancy of men is shorter compared to women (Affairs)
• Boys exhibit more problematic behavior patterns
in school than girls, and constitute a larger
proportion of the pupils requiring compensatory
measures at the primary school level. (Affairs)
• The drop-out rate for boys is considerably higher
than for girls. (Affairs)
• One of the areas in which male gender roles have
changed the most in Norway involves men’s role
as fathers. (Affairs)

17. Gender Roles: Men
• Research indicates that fatherhood leads men make the most
explicit break with traditional forms of masculinity. (Affairs)
• The paternity leave quota for new fathers, introduced in 1993,
is designed to strengthen the father’s relationship with the
child, and signals the need for fathers to participate actively in
the care of their children. (Affairs)
• The changes in male gender roles not only involve men’s
relationships with women, but also the manner in which they
relate to other men, to new tasks and to important social
institutions run by men. In 2002, a government-funded
resource center for men, REFORM, was established to work
towards gender equality by helping to improve men’s living
conditions and by mobilizing men’s resources for development
in areas not traditionally associated with male gender roles.
(Affairs)

18. Family Life for Women in Norway
• Marriage is not a prerequisite to start a family.
• Norway has been voted as the best country to be a mother in
for the third consecutive year, according to an international
Save the Children report. (Gender in Norway, 2012)
• The average women has her first child at 26.
• If a working mother breast feeds her child she is entitled to
one hour leave per day for that purpose and 95% of Norway’s
babies are breast fed.
• Norway's female workforce are allowed to take
maternity leave at 100% pay for 46 weeks or 80%
pay for56 weeks.
• Single mothers are allowed 20 days of paid sick
leave for each child they raise and married
women 10 days paid leave per year.
(http://www.norway.org/ARCHIVE/News/archive/1996/199603c
hild)

19. Gender Roles
Second Best Country in the World!
According to the World Economic Forum, Norway is
ranked the second best country for women.
This report measures women and men in four Key areas:
• Economic participation and opportunity
• Educational attainment
• Health and survival
• Political empowerment
(http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2011.pdf )

20. Women In Norway
• 1854 Norwegian women acquired inheritance rights
• 1882 women were given access to higher education
• 1890 married women gained the right to control their
own wealth
• 1903 the first Norwegian woman received a doctorate
at the University of Oslo
• 1912 the first female professor came on the scene
• 1913 Norwegian women have the right to vote
• 1978 Norway was the first country in the world to
appoint a special Gender Equality Ombud
• 1993 Norway's first woman bishop was Installed:
Rosemarie Köhn.
(http://explorenorth.com/library/weekly/aa053101a.htm)

21. Gender Roles:
Neutral
• Norwegians view themselves as egalitarian people whose culture is based on
democratic principles of respect and interdependence
• Jante Law conveys an important element of Norwegian culture
. You shall not think you are special
. You shall not believe you are smarter than others
. You shall not believe you are wiser than others
. You shall not behave as if you are better than others
. You shall not believe that you know more than others
. You shall not believe that you can fix things better than others
. You shall not laugh at others
. You shall not believe that others care about you
. You shall not believe that you can teach others anything
• Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 86% (state church), other Protestant and
Roman Catholic 3%, other 1%, none and unknown 10%
(http://www.norway.org/ARCHIVE/policy/gender/womensrights)

22. Gender Roles
Though a country determined to have
equal rights for all, we could find no
published information about third gender
and only a couple blogs about the one
Gender Identity Disorder (GID) clinic in
Oslo. Equal rights are divided between
men and women – regardless of their
orientation.

23. Conclusion
Though Norwegians express a relaxed way of living,
dressing, and speaking, they do not lack in manners,
professionalism, or equal rights for genders (Craig,
Teresa). Whether it is jeans at a business meeting or
equality for all – Norwegians take pride in their
manner of communicating to the world – verbal and
non-verbal (Corey) and the rituals performed
(Kasandra). Pulling everything together and
completing this presentation together took the skill of
all parties involved (including Milissa).

24. Bibliography
Affairs, By the Norwegian Ministry of Children and Family. Norway the Official Site in South Africa. 09 03 2009. 21 05 2012
http://www.norway.org.za/aboutnorway/society/Equal-Opportunities/gender/male/.
Gender In Norway. (2012, 9 5). Retrieved May 9, 2012, from gender.no: http://www.gender.no/News/8918
Gourley, D. N. (2002, May 13). Fillmore County Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2012, from Norwegian National Costume: http://www.fillmorecountyjournal.com/main
Kari. (2011, December 21). Norwegian Language Blog. Retrieved May 15, 2012, from Norwegian Wedding Preparation: http://blogs.transparent.com/norwegian/how-
do-norwegians-tie-the-knot/
Mapes, T. (n.d.). Norway Culture 101 - The Culture of Norway Illustrated. Retrieved May 15, 2012, from The Traditional Dress of Norway: Bunad:
http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/scandinavianculture/ss/norwayculture_5.htm
Mørkhagen, P. L. (n.d.). ExploreNorth. Retrieved May 9, 2012, from Explorenorth.com: http://explorenorth.com/library/weekly/aa053101a.htm
Moore, P. (2004). Norwegian Bunads. Retrieved May 17, 2012, from Husfliden Web Site: http://www.patmoore.org/Bunads.htm
(n.d.). Retrieved from bryllupsdagen.no: http://www.bryllupsdagen.no/
(n.d.). Retrieved May 19, 2012, from Google: http://www.google.com/search?q=norse+funeral+prayers&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=4Vy&rls=org.mozilla:en-
US:official&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=U9m6T9yKEcqZiALS4JicDA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CEYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1440
&bih=754
Tacoma Community College. (2011). Present Yourself as Equal Rather Than Superior. In S. Beebe, S. Beebe, D. Ivy, S. Lane, & M. Redmond, The Blue Book of
Communication (pp. 78-79). Boston, MA, USA: Pearson Learning Solutions.
The Old Ways - Norse Prayer. (2004, May 26). Retrieved May 15, 2012, from The Old Ways: http://www.angelfire.com/folk/oldways/norseprayer.html
Norway – Norwegian Culture and Etiquette. (2012, May 22). Retrieved May 17, 2012, from kwintessential.co.uk: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-
etiquette/norway/norway-country-profile.html
Norway the Officail Site in the United States. (1993). Retrieved May 9, 2012, from Norway.org: http://www.norway.org/ARCHIVE/News/archive/1996/199603child
Norway the Official Site in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2012, from norway.org: http://www.norway.org/ARCHIVE/policy/gender/womensrights
Norwegian National Costume. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2012, from norway-hei.com: http://www.norway-hei.com/norwegian-national-costumes.html
Old Norwegian traditions: Farewell - Death and bereavement in multi-cultural Norway. (2000, November 14). Retrieved May 19, 2012, from
http://www.khm.uio.no/utstillinger/farvel/oldnorwegian.html
The Old Ways - Norse Prayer. (2004, May 26). Retrieved May 15, 2012, from The Old Ways: http://www.angelfire.com/folk/oldways/norseprayer.html
World Economic Forum. (2011). Retrieved May 9, 2012, from weforum.org: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2011.pdf

25. Questions to Ponder
1. How do you think the U.S workforce would be affected if we
had a supportive maternity and baby friendly work force as they
do in Norway?
2. As a child of a single mother in Norway, you were once very
sick and hospitalized. Looking back as an adult, reflect on how
mom’s work benefits benefited you.
3. Norway’s Bunad is a significant part of their past and present.
What similar traditional garments have been passed down in
your family? Why was this done?
4. What traditions and songs were passed on from one
generation to the next in your family?