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Ethnocentrism examples in today's society
Example of ethnocentric orientation
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Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two contrasting terms that are displayed by different people all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as “judging other groups from the perspective of one’s own cultural point of view.” Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as “the view that all beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual.” Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The difficult part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years.
Ethnocentrism, as stated above, means the belief that one’s own culture is above and beyond all other cultures. Although this is somewhat of a shallow definition, it still provides an adequate explanation of a very complex issue. We see ethnocentrism every single day, in all aspects of life. The United States of America is a prime example of ethnocentrism is action. The people of this country have a tendency to disregard other cultures, instead believing that American culture is the only way to go. This is not to say that this is how everyone thinks, although most people, at one time or another, have had thoughts along these lines.
After the terrorist attack of 9/11, there was an immediate shift into almost hatred of any person of Arabic descent...
On 7 December 1941 the Japanese Military launched a destructive surprise attack on United States Military Forces in Pearl Harbor, HI. This forced the United States into the ongoing war that they had hoped to avoid. With a Naval Fleet that suffered significant losses in the attack at Pearl Harbor, the US began offensive and defensive campaigns throughout the Pacific region ranging from open water naval battles to close combat engagements in the Philippines. America was quickly losing ground and desperately needed positive news after suffering heavy loses early in the war. President Franklin Roosevelt turned to his senior military advisors in Washington, DC and asked what it would take to strike a blow the Japanese mainland as they had done to America. At the time, the US Army Air Corps had no bases in Asia within bomber range. The Navy had aircraft capable of accomplishing the mission but was reluctant to bring its ships within the bombers range for fear of losing what few ships still remained in the region. It was then that a Navy Captain named Francis Low, an Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer serving on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Ernest King, suggest...
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was intended to be a preventive act in order to keep the United States Navy from intruding on their military plans. Why Japan would try to take on a force they knew they could not overcome still stands in question. Japan was already engaged in a four-year war in China and debating an attack on the Soviet Union, so why engage in a war with a country with tremendous industrial advantage? The United States was not only on the opposite side of the world but had a much stronger military force. The United States had more military weapons, tactics, and forces than other countries. When attacking Pearl Harbor Japan opted to fight a war with an enemy that had the capability to wage an unstoppable war against them.
Each culture has a certain level of ethnocentrism which can have positive and negative consequences. Ethnocentrism provides a feeling of unwillingness to change one’s culture or specific institution by placing them in a box. They can only see things through their specific lens and when something differs from what they know, they believe that it is a violation of the ways things should be. They become ignorant of the cultures that they may be right in the middle of by comparing them to the culture that they are familiar with and grading it on a scale. This causes a level of unwillingness to change institutions within a society because they are the standard. This makes it exceedingly difficult to relate to other people and the world as a whole because when someone is always trying to look at something while envisioning it as something else; they will never fully see the beauty of what they are observing. They limit their own experience for the sake of comfort and security, for the safety found within the familiar. Ethnocentrism is the safety blanket for many people yet the enervation that prevents them from fully experiencing the world and all of its different
December 17th, 1941 was a day that will forever “live in infamy”, as it was the date of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a US naval base in Hawaii. After two waves of attacks on Pearl Harbor, more than two thousand American soldiers and sailors, and another one thousand were wounded. The Japanese destroyed about twenty American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. It has commonly been wondered whether this attack could’ve been prevented, and after much examination, it is clear that this attack could’ve never occurred. In his “Day of Infamy speech”, Roosevelt himself said, “It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago.” There were many causes for the attack on Pearl Harbor, stemming from bad relations between Japan and the United States. Prior to the attack, the United States treated Japan disrespectfully in many ways, creating tension and discomfort between the two countries. Countless warnings and clues were interpreted of an upcoming attack, but were not taken as serious of a threat as they were, and weren’t sent to any naval bases. On the day of the assault, no one was prepared to defend themselves or fight. There were many events that provoked Japan to attack Pearl Harbor, and the whole event could have been prevented, if it hadn’t been for many actions of the US.
A previous promise between British Prime Minister, Winstin Churchill and President Roosevelt was honored when Britain declared war upon Japan two hours after the US declaration. The events surrounding the bombing of Pearl Harbor prove the US handled the situation very poorly. Many opposing tactics were noted and ignored. Warnings were thought of as routine. Even survivors, who were fully aware of the Japanese tendencies of war on China, the government war warnings and their country's unprepared state, still describe the attack as a surprise. The Japanese military strategies were intelligent and well executed; although, the Japanese attack would not have been nearly as effective had the Americans not have been so blatantly ignorant.
Pearl Harbor was one of the most motivational events in American history. From the very beginning Japan and America had their own social views and stereotypes about each other that a feud was bound to occur. On December 7, 1941 the nation of Japan sent out a fleet of their Imperial navy to attack the American held base on the island of Oahu. Leading this attack was Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto who was a militarily strategic genius.” Yamamoto was planning on sinking the entire American Pacific fleet so the U.S navy could be put out of the war for the time being and the Japanese navy could continue their expansion in the Southwest Pacific.”(book)(Gordon Prange 136-138)
October 16th, 1941, Hawaii received a message from the Navy: Japan would possibly attack. Disagreeing with the warning, the Washington Army staff told Hawaii to disregard it. No one believed Japan was or could have been on the verge of attacking. Washington assumed that Japan had no seaborne aircraft that could contend with the Army’s B-24 bombers. Furthermore, they believed that Japan had spread their military too far throughout other countries, leaving not enough for a large scale attack in the Pacific. Even on the night before the attack, the Honolulu press voiced America’s belief that Japan was powerless as a threat. On top of it all, none of the U.S. authorities believed Pearl Harbor was in danger. No one saw any need for ...
Before the attack on Pearl Harbor the road to war with Japan started in the 1930s. The Empire of Japan was trying to expand its empire through the Pacific and China. In 1931 Japan conquered Manchuria, which was part of China and began an unsuccessful campaign to take over the rest of China. Japan allied themselves with Nazi Germany in 1940. At that time the U.S. had economic and political interests in East Asia. The U.S. added China with financial and military help along with strengthening its own military presence in the Pacific. They cut off shipments of raw materials and oil to Japan. Japan was very limited in their natural recourses and perceived the America’s embargo on oil and aid to China as a threat. Japans response was to conquer resourc...
The term “ethnocentrism,” meaning the sense of taken-for-granted superiority in the context of cultural practices and attitudes, described the way Europeans looked at their “culture” as though they were superior to all others. Westerns even stated that non-Westerns had no culture and that they were inferior to the culture that was building in Europe.
The closing lines of the poem, too, contain this inclusive language, warning the “ilk man and mother’s son” to “take heed / Whene’er to drink [they] are inclin’d / Or cutty-sarks run in [their] mind.” This suggests that the author believes all men to be similar to the titular Tam, making the story a microcosm of typical male-female relations. The end result, therefore, can be viewed as either a display of the strength of femininity or as a triumph of male debauchery. Tam successfully escapes the witches, but only thanks to the speed of his mare, Meg, who “left behind her ain gray tail,” now reduced to “scarce a stump.” It was a woman who saved Tam from other women, reducing the male lead to a pitiful figure in the eyes of Burns’s contemporary audience, as the hero has been saved by the passive, lesser female sex. In regards to Meg the mare, Burns also blurs the line between masculinity and femininity: While Meg is female, the removal of her tail could also represent the castration of Tam as the result of his emasculating experience with the witches. His horse is an extension of himself, rather than a completely separate entity, making Tam simultaneously masculine and feminine, which fits with his role as the atypical male “hero.”
According to the Oxford Dictionary, cultural relativism is ‘the theory in which beliefs, customs, and morality exist in relation to the particular culture from which they originate and are not absolute.’
Though Frankenstein may seem like just another horror story, a closer look at its message indicates a strong presence of feminist themes. Through Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and actions, one can easily see Shelley’s intention of revealing men’s fears toward strong women in society. While it may have not been able to change the place of women in society, Frankenstein is step toward unveiling the hidden strength of a woman’s voice.
Nearly all of mankind, at one point or another, spends a lot of time focusing on the question of how one can live a good human life. This question is approached in various ways and a variety of perspectives rise as a result. There are various ways to actually seek the necessary elements of a good human life. Some seek it through the reading of classic, contemporary, theological and philosophical texts while others seek it through experiences and lessons passed down from generations. As a result of this, beliefs on what is morally right and wrong, and if they have some impact on human flourishing, are quite debatable and subjective to ones own perspective. This makes determining morally significant practices or activities actually very difficult.
In explaining Cultural Relativism, it is useful to compare and contrast it with Ethical Relativism. Cultural Relativism is a theory about morality focused on the concept that matters of custom and ethics are not universal in nature but rather are culture specific. Each culture evolves its own unique moral code, separate and apart from any other. Ethical Relativism is also a theory of morality with a view of ethics similarly engaged in understanding how morality comes to be culturally defined. However, the formulation is quite different in that from a wide range of human habits, individual opinions drive the culture toward distinguishing normal “good” habits from abnormal “bad” habits.
... its proper expressions, structure and grammar. Moreover, each language is linked to a specific dialect which is associated with educational, economic, social and historical conditions. Moreover, cultural variations also exist in the rules for general discourse in oral communication. Similar to verbal communication, there are also variations in non-verbal communication between cultures. Gestures, facial expressions, sense of time and personal distance take different forms in different cultures. Furthermore, there is an infinite number of cultural diversities which are at the root of intercultural miscommunication. Variations in values , social relationships, religion, economy and politics consist of only a few of these diversities. These differences can be the source of ethnocentrism, if one becomes over patriotic in regards to one’s own culture. Ethnocentrism, is the concept which states that we tend to judge other cultures through our own. Ethnocentric behavior, can cause racism and chauvinism, as in the case of the Second World War. However, intercultural problems can be avoided if we all develop mindfulness, a sense of flexibility and seek information about the other culture.