The following is written by students, Taylor Larkins and Brandi Simmons. This post
highlights their work that they completed as part of their requirements in SA 202: Introduction to Anthropology. Students were given the opportunity to explore a different culture through two lenses: cultural relativism and ethnocentrism, and through this exercise learn about themselves and the other culture. Taylor and Brandi were two of several students who were given the opportunity to have their exemplary work featured on the blog. Please show your
appreciation for their work through the comments.
By: Taylor Larkins
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| Vietnamese street food. Includes a variety of insects and fried rat. |
By: Taylor Larkins
Anthropology is the study of what
makes us human (“What Is Anthropology”). One important thing that contributes
to what makes us human is culture. Culture can be defined as, “the
taken-for-granted notions, rules, moralities, and behaviors within a social
group,” (Welsch et al. 10). There are many unique cultures throughout the
world, with some being bizarrely different from my American culture. Take Vietnam’s
culture for example, and specifically, their food. There are two points of view
in which people evaluate these different cultures: ethnocentrism and the
cultural relativism. The cultural relativistic view can open up a whole world
of appreciation and understanding of different cultures to a person, while the
ethnocentric view results in judgment of people who are different, and, in
extreme cases, can lead to the destruction of a culture itself.
The first view of the food that will
be discussed is the ethnocentric view, which was my initial reaction.
Ethnocentrism is “The assumption that one’s own way of doing things is correct,
while dismissing other people’s practices or views as wrong or ignorant,” (Welsch et al. 11). A Facebook post showed an Canadian
woman eating a Vietnamese meal of barbequed rat, crickets, and grubs. An
example of an ethnocentric interpretation of the cuisine would be my own initial
reaction to it. I thought, “Ew, that’s gross! Why would anyone want to eat a
rat?” Also, almost all the comments shown in the picture were ethnocentric as
well, from people saying they had no desire to visit that country to others
saying they would rather starve. One person even called it barbaric. These
people clearly thought their food choices were better, and they viewed this
unique cuisine as uncivil and disgusting. An ethnocentric Westerner would not
think about why these Vietnamese people choose to eat rats and bugs over other foods
or wonder what kind of foods were available to these people and what was not.
They would not try to understand this culture and would simply believe that
their way of life is superior and more civilized to that of the Vietnamese.
The second point of view people use
when experiencing different cultures is cultural relativism. Cultural
relativism is, “The moral and intellectual principle that one should withhold
judgment about seemingly strange or exotic beliefs and practices,” (Welsch et
al. 12). It is the point of view that anthropologists strive for, because it
allows a person to ask important questions about why a group of people do what
they do. For example, in the case of the Vietnamese eating rats and bugs, one
could ask, “Why do they choose to eat these things?” It turns out there are
multiple reasons why. One reason is because people in rural areas and farmers
have few other sources of protein, and bugs are full of it. Rats are also high
in protein and are regarded as tasting good. Also, these animals are pests to
farmers because they will eat their crops if not hunted down (“Rats Back on the
Menu in Vietnam”). Eating these things help poor farmers to combat
malnutrition, which is a problem in South Asian countries. Through cultural
relativism, people can learn to better understand practices that would
otherwise seem bizarre.
As to an analysis of my own
reactions to the food, I experienced both ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.
My initial reaction was ethnocentric, because all I could think about was how
disgusting that food must taste and how I could probably never get myself to
eat that, given the chance. But then I started thing about how there must be a
reason why they would eat such things. I started to have a more open and
cultural relativistic mindset about it and did some research and found out that
the Vietnamese have very valid reasons to eat what they do. If the only decent
sources of meat and protein I had available were bugs and rats, I would
eventually become accustomed to eating that too.
It is important for anthropologists to keep a
culturally relativistic mind because it helps them better understand the
different peoples that they work with and keeps them from being judgmental
toward customs and beliefs that are different from their own. An ethnocentric
mindset causes a person to cast judgment upon unique cultures, which can lead
to intolerance, and the belief that their culture is superior to all others,
and that people of other cultures should be converted to the ethnocentric
person’s culture. This was the case with some early anthropologists, who felt
they needed to “save” native peoples from their ways. This intolerance, in
extreme cases, has led countries to attempt to wipe out entire ethnicities and
cultures. An example of this would be Nazi Germany. Another example would be
how in the late 1800s, Americans drove Native Americans into small reservations
and forced their children to attend boarding schools in the cities to teach
them English and American customs and beliefs.
When
it comes to culture, there are two ways a person can evaluate one: the
ethnocentric view, and the cultural relativistic. The former is negative and
the latter is positive. Through ethnocentrism, a person will judge a culture as
inferior and barbaric and will never seek to understand it. Through cultural
relativism, we can appreciate and conserve cultures for generations to come.
Works Cited
“Rats
Back on the Menu in Vietnam.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 28
Mar. 2018, abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=81341&page=1.
Welsch,
Robert Louis, et al. Anthropology: Asking Questions about Human Origins,
Diversity, and Culture. Oxford University Press, 2017.
“What
Is Anthropology?”
What Is Anthropology? - Advance Your Career, www.americananthro.org/AdvanceYourCareer/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2150.
* * *
By: Brandi Simmons
There are several
thousands of different types of cultures all over the world. No two are the
same, and yet they are all so interesting to learn about. There are several
ways in which people can react to new cultures, but the two most common ways
are called ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. These are two main ways in
which people process seeing, hearing, and learning about cultures other than
their own. However, they are both very different. Ethnocentrism and cultural
relativism are very different from each other, and it is important to know
which is the proper way to react to new cultures and new people.
The
more appropriate way to react to different cultures is through cultural relativism.
Cultural relativism is act of being open to new or different things, like
different foods, languages, and much more. Cultural Relativism is all about
having an open mind and being willing to understand others cultures and
practices (Welsch et al. 11-12).
Unfortunately, this is not how everyone reacts to new things.
Ethnocentrism
is usually the first reaction of many people to something new. People do this
by assuming that their own practices are the only normal way of doing things,
and that anything different than their own is incorrect, weird, or wrong (Welsch et al. 11-12). This is done whenever
people say that another’s food is “gross” or that their clothes are “strange.”
Using
the cultural relativistic approach to interpret the Vietnamese food one would
be being open to the fact they do things differently than we do in America.
They may not have the types of animals that we have in America, so they have to
use what they do have, which in this case is crickets and rats. I presume that
eating rat would be similar to eating squirrel, which is very common at least
in Missouri, so I would try the rat. I also like trying different foods from
different places so I would definitely try the crickets, as well.
Using
the ethnocentric approach to interpret the Vietnamese food would lead to using
negative words about the food and saying things like “that’s gross” or “who
would want to eat that” and similar comments. The person would not be open to
this culture and would not be considerate of the people of this culture. Using
ethnocentrism in any situation is not ideal, but especially when talking about
other peoples and cultures.
There
are two different ways to respond to experiencing a new or different culture, ethnocentrically
and culturally relativistically. In looking at these pictures of Vietnamese
food, my first reaction is that I think about how common it is to eat insects
in several other countries, and it is even done in the US. If I were to be
somewhere where they had crickets, I would probably try them because I really
enjoy trying new things and experiencing other cultures and ways of life. As
for the rat, my family quite often eats squirrel for dinner, so I think that
the rat would be very comparable to a squirrel. So, in short, I would actually
be really excited to try this Vietnamese food in the picture.
Bibliography Page
Welsch,
Robert Louis et al. Anthropology. Oxford University Press, 2017, pp.11-12.
