Cultural Relativism from Etic and Emic Perspectives (Essay Sample)

Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism is a doctrine that what makes an action right is approved by one`s cultural background. An individual`s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that person`s own culture. Most cultures exhibit a particular style or configuration. A single pattern or value of perceiving the world often leaves a stamp on several institutions in a society. These cultures and norms are widely accepted by the individuals in that particular society and are passed from one generation to the other. This paper examines some cultures from etic and emic perspectives and also explores the cultural relativism from these perspectives.
Culture entails where we come from, who we are now and where we are going. Culture is what makes one society distinct and acts as a binding force between the individuals of a particular society (Abu‐Lughod, 2002). Each community portrays their own cultural aspects that are accepted among the people and are always deemed right and moral. In my culture for instance, there are bizarre cultural and traditional practices that are still practiced up to date. My ethic society Guam, replicates traditional Chamorro behaviors in a mixture of ethnic customs and American, Spanish and Mexican traditions. The Chamorro heritage has been on Micronesian island Ireland of Guam for over 4000 years and have dance, cooking, style, games and linguistic that never changes. One example of the cultural practice is the marriage festivals of the Guam. In this basic society, the clan leaders arrange marriages. Women do not entertain men in their fraternities because conjugal is a chance to increase power in gaining fishing, hunting and farming privileges and develop clan prestige. Marriages mean spreading of clan affairs to increase the clan position as well as to fix clans together. Clan leaders have the mandate to decide who will wed whom. Every girl of espousing age orders for a "bride price”. Girls from the high-ranking fraternities and those who are already mothers demand high-bride values. The wedding ceremonies are accompanied by several feasts and banquets. The first feast to the potential bride`s home are known as mamaiseni saina. Once a prospective groom has made a decision to marry, his parentages organize for mamaiseni saina.
The next feast according to our custom is the pre-nuptial celebration known as fananggon which is usually held in the sunset to allow the space for the customary groom komplimentu (the thankfulness journey to the spouse`s home). These festivals significance in our culture and considered moral in our society and may differ to another society`s tradition since there are no universal standards of morality and no one has the power to judge another society`s culture and cultural practices. In this light, the magical beliefs and practices of Nacirema culture are examples of the extremes to which human behavior can go. The ritual of Nacirema was brought to the attention of Anthropologists around twenty years ago, little is known about their origin. Their native mythology entails a vast number of characters such as war heroes, Naidni leaders and an honored speaker called Hsub.
The Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed economy that has produced a lot of wealth. The Nacirema are oddly possessed with a demon that is responsible for assisting them spend most of their time searching for material wealth. The Nacirema people spend a considerable amount of time performing rituals. One of these rituals includes the rituals of the mouth. The Nacirema have a pathological horror with the mouth as well as its condition. Without the mouth rituals, these people believe that some horrible physical conditions will erupt such that lovers will reject them and that friends will desert them. This ritual involves the insertion of small bundles of hair into the mouth. As part of the mouth rite, the Nacirema people place an alcoholic based liquid in their mouth and make a loud throught noise before blowing the liquid out of their mouth. As an outsider to the Nacirema culture, the mouth ritual was one of the most frightening and bizarre rituals I observed. This ritual is performed on daily basis.
Another popular ritual carried out by the Nacirema people is the talking box ritual that is constantly worshipped on daily basis. The practice is carried out by all people ranging from children to elders. Each household in this community possesses at least one talking box but some have several of them with varying sizes. Getting possessed with the ritual includes glazed-over eyes, a sedentary state of stiffness and loss of hearing of those around them.
Another widespread ritual among the Nacirema people is the food-eating ritual which is a disgusting body ritual. As part of the ritual, the people are prescribed to eat some specific times of the day and use oddly shaped metal instruments. The food is usually mounded on an item referred to as Setalp. Each eating time, an individual is required to eat food that is equivalent to what three people in other societies can eat. Due to these disturbing rituals, majority of the Nacirema people suffer from physical deformities and ailments. The Nacirema people are purely carnivorous and eat a huge variety of native animals. They also drink a vast range of magical portion known as Ados, which they believe provides super-natural energies.
Cultural relativists believe that all cultures are worthy in their own right and have equal values. For instance, the Nacirema bizarre customs cannot be opposed by any other ethnic tribe on viewed as good or bad however odd they seem. Diversity of cultures including those with conflicting beliefs cannot be considered in terms of right and wrong. All cultures are considered neutral and are equally legitimate expressions of human experience. Cultural relativism is the philosophical believe that all the cultural and traditional views are valid.
Nacirema also have unique marriage rites and coupling customs. Apparently the Nacirema women engage in all sorts of weird behaviors when it comes to the mating game. Firstly, during the courting phase, men send a message that they want to speak to a woman by blowing horns made from rhinoceros horns. Every woman is specifically assigned a unique tone. The women get quite obsessive upon hearing these horns and spend considerable time waiting for the sound of horns (Harris, 1992). The women also take on the personas of distinguished tribeswomen of yore which are stories passed down through the generations by the elders and literally pretend to be reincarnations of these legendary women. The women also believe that this temporary fakery of character will attract their potential suitors and also solidify their interest in marriage. The Nacirema have the tendency of making fast moves when they meet someone they are interested in (Spradley, 1975). During the courting phase, which consists of sitting around a wooden table at the heart of the village, the women sip a local drink known as lohocla using wooden cups that are whittled from the rednetrab tree. The women sit there discussing the color of their robes they will wear for their wedding ceremonies.
Common stories talk about the Nacirema women making poor decisions after consuming the lohocla drink (Harris, 1992). The women often abuse this drink and engage in elaborate chants in which they punish themselves mentally and emotionally by putting themselves down. This custom involves women repeatedly declaring their flaws and how unworthy they are to the tribesmen`s love. This cul