Ethnocentrism Essay examples -- ethnocentric culture essays research p

Are we limited in knowledge, in imagination, and in understanding by the assimilation we grow up in? In other words, ar we ethnocentric, and if so is it a fearful thing? To answer that, one moldiness understand what ethnocentrism is. According to Macionis (2004), ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another subtlety by the standards of ones give birth coating. We are not born(p) with culture culture is a soci totallyy learned behavior, or mend of values that a given groups holds as a norm and are considered to be true and beneficial. It is these cultural norms that connect the individuals of the group, which make up a society. No society can exist without culture and no culture can exist without a society (Giddens, Duneier, & Applebaum, 2002). The two are per se intertwined. It is hard to see past ones own culture and reach into another for understanding we find it hard to comprehend the incident that our truths and values, that are so innate to us, do not re resign usual truth. So what is universal truth who is right and who is wrong culturally? present in lays the importance of understanding cultural relativism, or the practice of evaluating a culture by its own standards (Macionis, 2004), making the previous question inappropriate since culture itself is present in every society, it is therefore, universal having no right or wrong. Like culture, ethnocentrism is unavoidable and like culture, ethnocentrism is universal to all cultures to near degree. To claim no ethnocentricity would be to separate oneself from ones own culture. It is only human nature to be grounded in and reflective of the culture that you have been immersed in since birth, as it is your connection to your heritage. In this sense, ethnocentrism is not all bad, and can be beneficial in promoting cultural diversity (Rosaldo, 2000). It becomes bad when we do not acknowledge other cultures or we expect others to win our cultural norms because we believe their cultural norm s are wrong. This behavior stems mainly from the hard nature of not understanding the basis for their beliefs and values, and from intimidation due to the clear existence of a different view of norms within a culture, leading(a) to a threatening atmosphere when our cultural validity is challenged. Crossing the lines in the midst of cultures has become more common with technological advances. What was once a human beings where cultures rarely c... ...ion cooking show relative to the cultural values present in the show itself and in the chefs, it is very apparent that these differences are what defines a culture and makes one so very different than the other. Learning to accommodate these differences and appreciating them for the ways they are engrained in society can lead to an cargo deck for that culture. Works CitedGiddens, A., Duneier, M., & Appelbaum, R.P. (n.d.) Welcome to Sociology. Chapter 3 Culture & Society. http//www.wwnorton.com/giddens4/chapters/chapter3/welcome.h tm Iron Chef. (n.d.) The World News. http//www.sbs.com.au/ironchef/ Macionis, J. J. (2004). Sociology, tenth part Edition. Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458.Manon, Louis R. III (1999, November). Multiculturalism Walking the Walk. http//astro.ocis.temple.edu/wgreason/sampaadana8.htmlRosaldo, R. (2000, Winter). Issues in Ethics. Of headhunters and Soldiers Separating Cultural and Ethical Relativism. http//www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v11n1/relativism.htmlShotokai. (n.d.) http//www.shotokai.cl/filosofia/06_ee_.htmlWikipedia. (2004, March). Iron Chef. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Chef