Question

Write a short story where an anthropologist displayed cultural relativism. Feel free to be creative. Your post must be at least 3 sentences. and also Write a short story where an anthropologist displayed ethnocentrism. Feel free to be creative

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) An anthropologist named John Doe recently visited a Buddhist monastery in the north of India. This monastery is secluded as it is situated on a hill. One of the traditions of these monasteries is to hang out coloured flags on trees or rooftops. Their belief is that these flags are able to harness evil thoughts. The religious connotations to this ritual were deeper and more meaningful than John had expected. In order to not hurt their sentiments and understand this tradition better, John also hung up a few colourful flags on his visit there. This is where John practiced cultural relativism by trying to understand the traditions from the point of view of the culture.

John recently visited an oriental country and attempted to immerse himself in the culture of the place. He enjoyed the song and dance and other traditions. However, when it was lunch time, John felt a little uncomfortable. This is because John was offered crickets and a few unusual insects to eat. This made John feel odd as in his own culture; this would be considered odd and even off-putting to have insects at the dinner table. John did not eat the insects and stuck to eating the boiled chicken egg which was normal for him to eat. This would be a perfect example of ethnocentrism where John evaluated another culture based on his own.