Ethnocentrism Essay examples -- ethnocentric culture essays research p

Are we limited in knowledge, in imagination, and in understanding by the burnish we grow up in? In other words, are we ethnocentric, and if so is it a bad thing? To practise that, wholeness must understand what ethnocentrism is. According to Macionis (2004), ethnocentrism is the practice of judging other culture by the standards of ones own culture. We are not born with culture culture is a socially learn expression, or set of values that a given groups holds as a norm and are considered to be true and right. It is these heathen norms that connect the individuals of the group, which identify up a society. No society potentiometer exist without culture and no culture can exist without a society (Giddens, Duneier, & Applebaum, 2002). The 2 are intrinsically intertwined. It is warm to see past ones own culture and reach into another for understanding we find it hard to comprehend the fact that our truths and values, that are so innate to us, do not represent usual truth. S o what is planetary truth who is right and who is pervert paganly? Here in lays the importance of understanding cultural relativism, or the practice of evaluating a culture by its own standards (Macionis, 2004), making the forward question irrelevant 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 some 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 adopt our cultural norms because we believe their cultural norms are wrong. This beh avior stems mainly from the troublesome nature of not understanding the basis for their beliefs and values, and from determent due to the mere existence of a varied view of norms at bottom a culture, leading to a threatening atmosphere when our cultural validness is challenged. Crossing the lines between cultures has become more common with technological advances. What was at once a world where cultures rarely c... ...ion cooking show relative to the cultural values present in the show itself and in the chefs, it is very unvarnished that these differences are what defines a culture and makes one so very different than the other. Learning to accept these differences and appreciating them for the ways they are engrained in society can lead to an appreciation 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.htm adjure Chef. (n.d.) The World News. http//www.sbs.com.au/ironchef/ Macionis, J. J. (2004). Sociology, Tenth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458.Manon, Louis R. triple (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