Activity 1.8
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Apr 3, 2024
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The Concept of Culture Name Date Activity 1.8 CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND ETHNOCENTRISM Most researchers of culture have adopted a philosophy of cultural relativism to some extent. Cultural relativism refers to the idea that behavior in a particular culture should not be judged by the standards of another culture. The extreme opposite of cultural relativism is ethnocentrism. An ethnocentric perspective uses the standards of one's own culture to judge the practices of a different culture. This activity encourages you to explore the complexities of the concepts of cultural relativism and ethnocentrism. Directions: For each of the behaviors listed below, determine whether you would be likely to take the perspective of cultural relativism or ethnocentrism. 1. Although bullfighting is illegal in the United States, a bullfighting academy has been operating in Southern California since 1996. Students at this school do not train with real animals, yet the San Diego County Humane Society opposes the school, which it views as promoting animal cruelty. One of the founders of the academy, however, takes the position that bullfighting is an important cultural practice and should not be prohibited. Would you support cultural relativism or ethnocentrism in this case? Please explain. 2. In 2005, King Abdulaziz University of Saudi Arabia paid Virginia Tech University in the U. S. $246,000 to design and operate summer courses for 60 of their faculty. Following Saudi custom and the preferences of the King Abdulaziz University professors, the 30 female professors and 30 male professors were taught in separate classes. Several Virginia Tech faculty members objected, stating that this action violates federal anti-discrimination laws. Would you support cultural relativism or ethnocentrism in this case? Please explain. [ Lt
Chapter 1 3. |n some cultures eating dog meat is an acceptable practice. In fact, in response to a 1988 incident in which two Southeast Asian immigrants to the United States killed a German Shepard puppy for food, a state bill was passed prohibiting such behavior. Would you support cultural relativism or ethnocentrism in this case? Please explain. 4. A Quebec court has ruled that a 12-year old Sikh boy should be allowed to wear his ceremonial sword - known as a kirpan - while he is at school. For devout Sikh men, wearing the kirpan is an essential part of the religious faith. The decision overturned one made by his school which banned him from carrying the small blunt metal dagger because they regarded it as a weapon. Would you support cultural relativism or ethnocentrism in this case? Please explain. 24
The Concept of Culture 5. In many regions of India, sons are preferred to daughters for reasons related to kinship, inheritance, marriage, identity, status, economic security and lineage. Although laws have been passed to prohibit sex-selective abortion, this practice continues and may be increasing due to new reproductive technology. Campaigns by international health and human rights advocates have opposed sex selection, yet some people argue that within this cultural context, sex selection may be necessary to ensure the economic and social well being of the child and family. Would you support cultural relativism or ethnocentrism in this case? Please explain, 6. Upon learning that her husband had a mistress, a Japanese woman living in the United States attempted parent-child suicide by walking into the ocean with her two children. Her two children drowned in the attempt, but she survived and was charged with first-degree murder. Although it is illegal in Japan, this ancient Japanese custom, called oyako-shinju is sometimes viewed as a means by which a family can avoid an otherwise unacceptable social predicament and is treated rather leniently. Oyako-shinju is based on the cultural belief that it is crueler to leave the children behind with no one to look after them than it is for the mother to take them with her to the afterlife. Would you support cultural relativism or ethnocentrism in this case? Please explain.
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Chapter 1 Reactions: Based on your answers to the questions above, write a brief statement explaining the conditions under which you would take a culturally relativist or ethnocentric perspective when considering the practices of other cultures. o Ny