Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism PDF

Cultural Relativism and ethnocentrism  In Bolivia, 14 years-old girls can legally get married. In China, men have to wiat until they’re 22.  In America, eye contact suggests that you are paying attention and interested in what a person has to say. et, in other c...

Cultural Relativism and ethnocentrism  In Bolivia, 14 years-old girls can legally get married. In China, men have to wiat until they’re 22.  In America, eye contact suggests that you are paying attention and interested in what a person has to say. et, in other cultures, eye contact can be considered rude and a challenge of authority.  What is cultural relativism?  It is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. In other words. "right” and “Different cultures have "wrong” are different moral codes” often culture specific. is used a key to understanding morality. It is the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to make judgements using the standards of one's own culture. The goals of this is "to promote understanding of cultural practices that are not typically part of one's own culture." CULTURAL RELATIVISM is important to anthropology and one of the things that makes anthropology unique because it is a tool, a method for attempting to see things from a multiplicity of viewpoints so as to better understand them. Cultural Relativism does not mean that anything a culture does is good or moral. This is one of the ones that confuses people. Cultural Relativism teaches us that marriage patterns are cultural options not objective truth. CULTURAL RELATIVISM doesn't mean that cultures can't be compared. There is sometimes a strange notion that there are no commonalities between cultures. The importance of understanding cultural relativism is to know one's own culture. Cultural Relativism leads to the view that no culture is superior than another culture and the ideas that culture can be compared in terms of laws, politics and systems that has no bases that all. The concept that a person's beliefs, values and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another. It cannot be used to evaluate other cultures based on the idea you believe in.  Example/s The racial slur against Bisaya Everybody is aware of the lousy prejudice and stereotypes that are being thrown to Bisaya people. The Bisaya language is often used when cracking a joke or when someone is trying to make a person laugh by mimicking the native accent. what's more saddening, is the fact that the Visayan people are being turned into a laughing stock just because some people think they are better than them.  What is Ethnocentrism? ETHNOCENTRISM is the view that one particular ethnic group is somehow superior to all others. ETHNOCENTRISM means judging another culture A common idiom is "tunnel solely by the values and vision". In this context, standards of one’s own culture. ethnocentrism is the view that a particular ethnic group's system of beliefs and values is morally superior to all others. It can lead to negative judgements of the behaviors of groups or societies. It can also lead to discrimination against people who are different. Is ethnocentrism It can lead to problems such bad or good? as racism, xenophobia (fear of foreigner/foreign things), cultural ignorance, and insensitivity. DISCRIMINATION plays a direct role in the ethnocentric belief.  Some people believed that During the exploration some races were not even period, the discrimination races, instead they were against blacks by whites was considered as an animals and a major controversial. not humans. In England, many believed that the darker a person is the "dirtier and impure” they are. Cultural Differences argument  Theory on the nature of morality Arguments from facts about differences between cultural outlooks to making conclusions about the status of morality. Example/s: Different cultures have different moral codes. Therefore, there are no objective truth in morality. Right and wrong are only matters of opinion and opinions vary from culture to culture.  Consequences of accepting cultural relativism We could no longer say that custom of other societies are morally inferior to others. We could decide whether actions are right or wrong just by consulting the standards of our society. The idea of moral progress is called into doubt.  In 1996, a 17 year old girl from Togo a West African country arrived in the US and asked for asylum to avoid excision, a practice referred to as "female circumcision" or "female genital mutilation". According to the WHO, the practice is widespread in 26 African countries and 2 million girls are excised each year. Young girls often look forward to this because it is an acceptance into adulthood. It is an accepted practice in many villages. Consequences Painful Permanent loss of sexual pleasure Tetanus Death Hinder walking Chronic pain and infections Any Question Thank You