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  • Essay / Understanding Other Cultures Through the Perspective of Critical Cultural Relativism

    I have always felt that because I was born and raised in a Vietnamese household, I already have a good understanding of the concept of overcome ethnocentric biases and I am unprejudiced and/or more understanding when it comes to other religious and cultural practices. However, this is not always true. There are certain practices that I have encountered throughout my life that I find morally unacceptable because they do not correspond to the way I was taught and raised. After reflecting on the section of the textbook titled Objectivity and Morality and the statements of anthropologist Nancy Sheper-Hughes, I can now see that my view of other cultures is wrong. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The particular section of the chapter presents Nancy Shepherd-Hughes' perspective on her work in anthropology with an emphasis on others addressing the critical perspective of cultural relativism. – raising questions about cultural practices and beliefs, who accepts them and why, and who they might harm or benefit – rather than interfering in the cultural beliefs and behaviors of others. Alternatively, this method can help improve understanding of another person's cultural practices without ignoring power dynamics. It is not easy for everyone to ignore after witnessing behavior from others that we ourselves find unacceptable and/or uncomfortable, including myself, for the sake of respect. its culture. I have often found it difficult to accept something that I find questionable in my daily life. For example, I learned about cannibalism within the Wari community while reading the manual, and was quite disturbed when I discovered that they eat their deceased loved ones to erase painful memories and avoid them. bury in the ground. Usually when we learn that our loved ones have passed away, we normally don't think about eating them first because it's illegal where we are and it brings about a very negative perception from Western culture as well as my own . Practices such as cannibalism among the Wari personally push the boundaries of cultural relativism for me. While I know that making moral judgments about another culture is wrong, there are times when it is difficult to be impartial when you witness or hear about a particular topic. a custom you are not familiar with or accustomed to, especially judging by my Asian-Canadian standards. However, thanks to the Shepherd-Hughes method of critical cultural relativism, the way I evaluate the culture of others has changed. I shouldn't think about whether I think a custom is good or bad, I should think about those who are involved in a particular culture and see if what they believe actually harms them or not. Ultimately, after thinking about textbook readings, I think we should all agree that no culture in the world should be divided into a good or bad category, based on value that we have or want to have. And no culture should be considered superior to others simply because we think it is more “correct” and “acceptable” in comparison. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a custom paper essayBased on this reflection and the textbook section, I learned the importance of understanding another culture by.