Questions on Feminism from an Anthropological View

[cosmictofu]

hello everyone. My friend is writing an article on feminism and asked me a few interview questions. after i answered i started thinking about the implications of my answers from an anthropological perspective

Comments

[whollybroken]

I think you'll find that many cultural practices are frowned upon by anthropologists because they have been deemed cruel to humanity. An essential belief in anthropology IS cultural relativity, but we can't deny that there is some sort of standard of respecting each other as humans. I realize that that standard is relative to each culture, but because there is an idea of respect and "rights" in each culture, we can't deny that they exist and are important to people. There is "right" and "wrong" in every culture, though what is "right" and what is "wrong" may vary. Anthropology, actually, respects people, and so something like female circumcision, which is quite cruel, is often frowned upon. Not that promiscuity is promoted, but methods that are more humane, that would avoid pain, disgrace, and disrespect, are favored.

[sollersuk]

Not to mention death. A woman doesn't have much right of choice if something is done to her when she is a child, and even less choice if the consequence is death in childbirth.

As to where I stand on ethics, my own part of the world saw a change from moral values that said helping the unfortunate is bad to valuse that say helping the unfortunate is good. My ancestors' values were certainly tampered with, and my own feeling is that I am extremely glad they were.

[twilightviolet]

Well said. I've had teachers say that in many more words and not nearly as well.

[melsmarsh]

The most important thing is to respect the culture. I keep my ethics out of it. My ethics are not to be placed on anyone else and certainly not other cultures. I do think that if they want to use different Western methods that should be their choice such as we can make things much easier particularly in the area of circumcision (of both men and women). I am sure that a lot of other countries think our practices are cruel and they would be right.

Thank you for at least considering your responses.

cultural choice

[strixx]

Hello - I am a friend of avenray's, and happened across your entry

she put hijab wearing on the level with CIRCUMCISION??

[metahara]

As an American woman entering a world of mysterious discipline and musical foundations, I brought along some of my invisible conditionings. I believed that it was my ability to speak my personal injustice out loud that was representational of my freedom. I believed that my use of my body and the expression that I could make without much limitation was a comment on my not being oppressed. All this in its superficial surroundings was put to the test as I began to study the veiled women of Morocco

Re: she put hijab wearing on the level with CIRCUMCISION??

[cosmictofu]

i didn't mean to say that wearing the hijab is in ways synonymous with FGM although it came off that way i think (oops). I was talking about the consequences one would face if she did not want to partake in a cultural practice such as FGM or wearing a hijab or burkah. I have total respect and admiration for women who wear the hijab and i almost feel as you do. Perhaps that I should clarify that some of the issues feminists had to deal with were the hijab and fgm, which is why i responded to both of those issues in a similar matter, not necessarily because i equivocate them (because i don't) but for the sake of her article and alloted time/space, i felt that it was appropriate to respond to both with the same train of thought, that we should butt out of their cultural practices (even though the degrees of them are different

clarification understood- thanx - and...

[metahara]

"if you were familiar with a culture that practiced FGM, and immersed yourself in that culture as you have in Morocco, you might find the ability to respect the practice, however strange that might sound

[kenosis]

I used to be much more of a cultural relativist than I am today. Then I read this statement by Teodoro Obiang, "president" of Guinea, a country whose GDP per capita is $4500 yet 60% of its people live on less than $1 a day (demonstrating an enormous disparity of income): (the statement itself is pretty widely quoted

[metahara]

but it seems to me like everyone around the world prefers more goods to less goods -

I think as Americans we lived thru an example of one culture beleiving it was better than the other based on goods, weapons, ideas of ownership, etc....when our "forefathers" slaughtered Natives on this soil.

imagine if cultural relativism had been an appreciated notion to the early settlers...

[kenosis]

I think that your example is an excellent posit as to why involuntary transactions are an absolutely necessary ingredient to the concoction. Otherwise - people just end up stealing from each other, and wealth is never generated, but reallocated.

[jette]

I believe that it's perfectly fine to judge other cultures by my own personal ethics.

I'm not an anthropologist, but in linguistics, we discern between describing and prescribing - studying culture doesn't necessarily mean valuing it.

[strixx]

Exactly, and well-said.