Ethnocentrism And Cultural Relativism By John Macionis
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Think Piece Two
In our assigned readings and study on ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, John Macionis discussed how mankind till this day still continually struggles to understand various differences from one culture to another culture. I’ve gained from my perspective that it can be quite challenging for one to even try to grasp the ideas of another’s culture without putting their own personal perspective and believes into their thought behind it. One might even feel as if their upbringing is “better” and anything else is inferior; which brings us to the idea of ethnocentrism.
Macionis explains to us a little deeper into what culture relativism; the practice of judging a culture by its own standards. While we are so quick to judge based…show more content… Miller as well as his native tribe did not believe they can or will live without it. The Nacirema people were also extremely big on their appearances as many culture are around the world; however, they go about them quite differently than we do. As Americans have done all they can into teaching us, the more we care about our on the inside we will be pleased with our appearances on the inside. On the other hand, Nacirema people the opposite, leading them into caring more on their outer appearance. A great example is pregnant woman. Miller explains a woman’s “belly bump” is frowned upon and must be hidden with a dress or some article of clothing; while in America, women are to embrace their “belly bumps”. The irony into this situation is with in the name of their people. If you were to closely looking to the name, Nacirema, it is American spelled backwards.
Miller also goes into explaining to how America is by far the worst when it comes to ethnocentric. America has started two major wars leading our country into thinking of ourselves to be the higher power and ability into thinking we can do as we please without respecting anyone neither around nor near us. Miller tries to get his readers to understand that if America were to just open their eyes to other cultures and not be frighten by the first “strange” thing they encounter, those wars may have never happened but because of our ethnocentric ways we are where we stand in