Stewart

Chris Stewart4/28/14Cultures of the WorldReflection Paper

Culture forms identity. Without identity, people lose sight of who they are

and what they represent. In losing sight of what a person is, purpose in life becomes

non-existent. Therefore, having a sense of cultural relativism in mind is incredibly

important when learning and observing other cultures. For if we were to place

judgment on someone’s cultural beliefs, we would in essence make an attack on

someone else’s identity. In merely looking at three different articles, “Body Ritual

among the Nacirema”, “Shakespeare in the Bush”, and “Just Another Job?: The

Commodification of Domestic Labor”, we can see how easily it is to become

ethnocentric.

In “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, there is what seems to be a reporting

on some weird culture and what they do in their day-to-day life. What ends up being

the case is that the article really talks about American culture. What tricks people in

believing that it is another culture is the way that the culture is described. In saying

how we go to the hospital and describing it as “the medicine man” we are instantly

making judgments and thinking that this is a backwards culture. The point of this

article to make people realize that its not only important to learn about other

cultures, but learn about them in a bias free, or at least as bias free as possible,

manner that allows us to truly understand one another peacefully and appreciate

others for who they are. In making judgments such as these, we cut ourselves out of

learning and understanding others that we may end up actually truly liking. The

basis for cultural relativism is this openness and acceptance of the world.

1

Stewart

Working in virtually the opposite sense, the article, “Shakespeare in the

Bush” deals with the same issue but from the other side. An anthropologist goes

over seas to study other cultures and starts becoming friendly with the local tribe.

They ask the anthropologist to “tell a story of her people” and entertain them. So she

tries to seize the opportunity to explain Hamlet to them and settle a score with her

peers that other cultures can truly appreciate Shakespeare. What the anthropologist

has to deal with is the incessant ethnocentrism from the tribesmen saying how the

story is wrong based on their cultural beliefs. The frustration from such an

argument is shown quite clearly from the article. However, what the anthropologist

then tried to tell the story using their cultural beliefs in order for them to

understand it. This shows that it is not enough to go around and understand others,

but it also takes patience in explaining your own culture to others and it helps to

place it in a cultural context appropriate to them. In accomplishing both, it

establishes a respectful environment in which all parties feel welcomed and

understood.

The results of not establishing this respectful environment can be extremely

damaging as shown in the article, “Just Another Job?: The Commodification of

Domestic Labor”. This article explains in detail the exploitation of undocumented

workers in the maid industry. This abuse of cultural power causes the domestic

workers to feel less than human and they are downright degraded. Cultural

relativism can help here in opening up conversation and understanding what truly

is going on in the world. The employers, if were open to cultural relativism, would

2

Stewart

realize that they do not need to do half the things they make their employees do; no

matter how much they were being paid.

In essence, the word cultural relativism is more than just accepting other

people for their cultural beliefs. It is a sense of respect for one another that people

are afraid to have. Cultural relativism creates dialogue and opportunity for all

people to be heard. It is not about giving up power and your own identity for the

sake of another but merely allowing others the same opportunities that you do in

life.

3