Essay Sample What is Ethnocentrism

Essay Sample What is Ethnocentrism “We learn something every day, and lots of times its that what we learned the day before was wrong.” William E. Vaughan. The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places youll go. Thus, learning how to understand peoples cultures, promote engagement with others, and build strong, diverse communities is very important part of our every day to day live. Nowadays, having variety of cultures and mix of customs and traditions, the question of understanding the differences between them, respecting people for what they are and treating them in regards of their ideals and beliefs becomes more and more important. Cultural relativism and social generalizations Cultural relativism explains the idea behind it: people’s esteem should be given in order to appreciate the differences in them as well as to act in accordence to their behaviour. This term suggests that a persons beliefs and activities should be understood based on that persons own culture. But our actions sometimes may lead to unexpected consequences that we can not predict and manage. Ethnocentric individuals believe that they are better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage. Clearly, this practice is related to problems of both racism and prejudice. What is ethnocentrism? Ethnocentrism, in contrast to cultural relativism, by definition is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of ones own culture. The word ethnocentrism derives from the Greek word ethnos, meaning “nation” or “people,” and the English word center. A common idiom for ethnocentrism is “tunnel vision.” In this context, the cultural traits which are similar to those of the observers, are evaluated as better than those which are quite different. The attitude where a person attributes ones own culture as superior to other lacks objectivity. Such an attitude makes difficult for us to realise what is right in our eyes can be quite wrong from others point of view. Social scientists strive to treat cultural differences as neither inferior nor superior. As it expresses an inability to appreciate the viewpoint of other cultures where languages, religions, morality and ethical standards are different, having the objective opinion on the matter is very important. Ethnocentrism in modern world Ethnocentrism cause an unconscious conflict of an individual or group against other individuals or groups. Such an attitude is responsible for creating many personal, group, racial, and cultural problems ranging from an individual to international level. It creates tight boundaries among various social groups. The inter-group relations are hampered due to prejudice against another. The process of social relations among various groups gets slower. The prejudice created by it creates conflict and tension among many groups. Examples of Ethnocentrism While many people may recognize the problems, they may not realize that ethnocentrism occurs everywhere and everyday at both the local and political levels. The example of ethnocentrism can be met in modern society: reluctance or aversion to trying another cultures cuisine is ethnocentric. To clearly define ethnocentrism, here are the following examples to be looked at. For example, when we in Pakistan say that Hindu culture or Western culture is not good, we pass such a judgement, keeping our own cultural and social standards in our minds. Such beliefs and value system stratified the populations into many different categories, where assimilation of different cultures becomes difficult resulting in different treatment for various sections of population. Another example of Ethnocentrism is as following. We, being a part of urban industrial society, are frequently tend to think of Cree Indians as being free of the stresses of modern society, but this view fails to recognize that there are many stresses in their way of life, including the threat of starvation if injured while checking a trap line a hundred miles from base camp or when game cycles hit low ebbs. False positive assumptions are just as misleading as false negative assumptions. The problem of ethnocentrism is often reflected in the movies. The film-makers are trying to cover the problem with humor. Thus, the issue of ethnocentrism occurs in the comedy American Wedding. Upon learning that her grandson is not marrying a Jewish girl, Jims grandmother becomes inconsolable. Furthermore, Michelles father makes the mistake of toasting to his soon-to-be in laws with hopes that they will sit many happy shivas together. He is painted as a fool for his statement, and the movie subtly indicates a Jewish ethnocentrism. Despite ethnocentrismhas its posititive impact on society (as it provides protection to group members who are weak, poor, hopeless by creating sense of belonging among them) we can not ignore its negative impact. The assumptions we make about others experience can involve false negative judgments, reflected in the common definition of ethnocentrism. Assumptions can also reflect false positive attitudes about others ways. There are plenty of examples abound in our local communities, as well as around the world. All in all, we can not justly prejudice ourselves against those who disagree with us because there is no given standard by which we are to judge who is right or wrong. Thus, we need to learn how to be tolerant towards those who hold contradictory views.