Discussion 2

Richard Lee, in "Eating Christmas in the Kalahari," fell victim to ethnocentric behavior in two distinct ways. First, Mr. Lee believed that he "held all the cards," when it came to rationing tobacco as he saw fit. His manipulative behavior no doubt was part of his cultural habits, whereas the Bushmen shared with each other equally and unselfishly. Secondly, Mr. Lee's culture encourages pride when contributing to the community and the Bushmen's concept of humility felt alien to him. The hunters try to encourage humility and a sense of duty, while eliminating pride and boastfulness. Mr. Lee failed to understand this even when many of the Kalahari Bushmen told him his offering of the ox for the Christmas Feast was meager. Mr. Lee was too ethnocentric to understand their way of life. Part of their culture is to discourage "arrogance," and to protect their society from a Man's possibly violent pride. The Kalahari "refuse one who boasts for someday his pride will make him kill somebody."

Napoleon Chagnon's study, "Doing Fieldwork among the Yanomamo," has many examples of ethnocentric behavior on the part of the author. Mr. Chagnon, in the beginning, stated that the Yanomamo's life was "easy" with them only working three hours a day. Later, he said the "bane of (his) existence" included eating, going to the bathroom, sleeping, and bathing. Tasks that seemed simple in his culture were suddenly very difficult and time consuming. For example, he didn't eat what the natives ate, most likely because he believed his food was better because of his cultural habits. He even told the Yanomamo that his Peanut Butter was cattle waste so they would not want it. He refered to this as a "defense mechanism," but I find it to be ethnocentric hoarding. Mr. Chagnon also sounded ethnocentric when he discussed the Yanomamo's constant "intervillage warfare," which he did not agree with, and their concept of privacy. He stated that they should at least have "sexual discreetness." His overall tone and word choices often demonstrated his lack of desire to assimilate into the culture and he even spoke of their behaviors bothering him and affecting his emotions. An example occured when he locked himself in his hut for privacy and to avoid their pleas for food and tools. The best example of Mr. Chagnon's ethnocentrism was found in the following statement, "I cannot say that I subscribe to or endorse some of their values."

An example of how I interpreted an aspect of a different culture in an ethnocentric way occured when I was living in South Korea. I was able to live there with my husband for about five months while he was stationed there. I found it very strange that people do not nod or smile or say hello to strangers. I thought of how in America, especially in the South, complete strangers might nod, tip their hat, wave, smile, and say "how ya doin?" I believed that America's friendly gestures were better than South Koreans' unfriendliness and lack of eye contact. Then again, when doing business with Americans, the people of Seoul could be very friendly.