Ethnocentrism - Samma Pilson

 My mother taught me from an early age to respect all cultures. "You're no better than anyone else, don't ever forget that," she would say, not unkindly. I always had access to the National Geographic as well as Smithsonian magazines and I would spend hours reading them two and three times. I always saw myself as objective to other cultures, bristling whenever someone would insult people different from our own society. Yet, after 9/11, I failed myself and my mother when I joined other Americans in disliking, even hating Arabs, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. I simply did not understand their culture or their reason for doing all the heinous acts I saw them carrying out. I had never taken the time to study their history or religion nor did I care to at that point. I simply grouped them all into one category and assumed that everyone in the middle east meant us ill will. Somewhere along the line I snapped out of my poisonous thinking. They're people, too, I thought. They have families, men dying in the war, just like Americans. After some research, I came away with a better understanding of the situation. 

In the article Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanomamo, Napoleon Chagnon assumed that the "primitive men" that he was going to live with were simple minded. He thought that he would be readily welcomed because of his sophisticated tools and fancy wardrobe. He assumed that he could just show up, talk to some people, get the information he was looking for, and come home with a complete understanding of the Yanomamo. When he got there, he slowly realized that life would be drastically different from living in the US. No doubt he assumed he would be going on a simple camping excursion for a few months. The Yanomamo took advantage of his ignorance, seeing how far they could push him. He was unprepared for their culture of brutal politics, and for their lifestyle, which did not accommodate his usual hygienic practices. Instead of being an honored guest, as he expected, he was seen as a subhuman outsider. It wasn't until he came to understand their culture and immerse himself in it that he was able to gain respect from the Yanomamo.

Eating Christmas in the Kalahari proved to be a somewhat different article. Unlike Chagnon, Richard Lee knew something about the culture that he placed himself above. He understood their customs and practices, however he failed to see how what he perceived as generosity would be seen as arrogance within their culture. When he bought the largest ox, he assumed that he would be to them as Santa Claus on Christmas. As he was derided for his choice of ox, he became disillusioned, and could not understand why these people he had thought were his friends would treat him so. At one point, he even vowed to spend Christmas away from them. During all of this, he did not realize that the bushmen were actually bringing him into their culture, and that he was being treated as they treat their own. The arrogance he had concerning his own culture caused him to oversee the valuable lesson the Kung were teaching him.

Ethnocentrism- Alexis Griffith

In Richard Lee's experience with the Kalahari is a prime example of how outsiders fall victim to another cultures ethnocentrism. In failing to understand how their culture functioned, Lee was made to be the butt of the tribal joke. Unknowingly, this had really nothing to do with singling him out for not being a tribe member. More accurately, this treatment was due to the way the culture treats all members of their society as a kind of "checks and balance"to keep any one person from thinking they are powerful enough to be advisories. This makes the members "gentle" according to Lee's conversation with one of the natives. The reason the tribe gave him such a difficult time about the ox was to teach him that he was not so grand. As the sole provider of tobacco in the area, this gave him a seat of power.

In Chagnon's article, both parties (the new comer and the natives) both felt some form of ethnocentrism that was blatantly apparent. Chagnon, upon walking into the camp felt that his welcome was inhospitable as the people he was meeting did nothing to clean themselves up or change their everyday happenings to accommodate him as a guest and someone looking to befriend them and the community. Conversely, the people found him stupid and easily manipulated. It was not until they began to understand how each other worked that they began to communicate and work well together, though Chagnon, in my opinion, never really seemed to appreciate the way their society functioned as deduced by his tone throughout the article.

Ethnocentrism is something we all partake in, weather we are mocking the cuisine of another country or are unable to comprehend the point in some other religious ceremony. We look at our own culture as "the in group" and compare all other groups to our own- How the other cultures measure up to our own. A good example is the difference between religions. All religions believe that theirs is the correct way of believing. Most people don't stop to think of all the similarities between holy books and ways of worship nor do they stop to consider the merit each different religion has to offer. We simply believe our way is best.

Blog 2, Taylor Britt

In the article about Richard Lee he gave into ethnocentric culture by believing that he was the top dog when it came to tobacco. He was no skeptic to his habit of his culture, but his bushmen were fair with their ways of the culture. Lee also showed his pride when he contributed to others in his community. But the others showed it in different ways than he did. During their Christmas ritual Lee wrote down how he felt about his bushmen. While he did this he had not realized that he was being ethnocentric. He had an ox that he picked out overall and did all of this by himself without telling his bushmen. He believed that the bushmen were not right or were picking with him. He felt tricked and this happens in all cultures rather than in this specific one. He stood his ground about his beliefs.

In the article about Yanomamo I thought it was critical that as a person in that society, everyone should be shown different cultures and come to an understanding. Everyone has their own morals. It can be overcome. These people work in the field and work hard for their survival. They do everything that they can to provide themselves and their own families with the next meal. After he drifted away from his ethnocentric lifestyle he began to get things done a lot quicker and more efficient by not thinking so highly of himself. He gathered up the names of the dead in his tribes and learned about what not to say before he said it. Obviously, it takes hard work and much effort to step down from an ethnocentric way of life.

I cannot think of an example of a certain group of people, or one person that lives an ethnocentric life. I can say that from reading these two articles it can be very difficult to breakaway from the chains. This way of living is not a very good choice in the way one should live their life. I personally would not want to surround myself with people or an individual that was ethnocentric. But these types of people are out there and could be deprived in a way. By sticking to themselves and being selfish or thinking too highly of themselves, someone can fall into a social hole. People way not want to associate themselves with this certain someone. This is all in my own opinion. An ethnocentric lifestyle is not one that I would want to live.

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.

Ethnocentrlism, Abbey Dahl

Articles Eating Christmas in Kalahari by Richard Lee and Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanamamo by Napoleon Chagnon are both fascinating stories of ethnocentrlism. Between the two articles, Eating Christmas in Kalahari by Richard Lee was the article with a lesson that should be adapted everywhere. Humility is almost a rare characteristic in current society. Most individuals grow up expecting some sort of reward for doing well on a test, cleaning one's room, or washing the dishes. Personally, I have never been belittled for doing my own laundry. Richard Lee had lived among the Bushman tribe for an allotted amount time before he learned one of the most significant beliefs of the tribe. He bought a huge ox, and just like most people he was expecting a compliment from the people of the tribe, but unfortunately was constantly criticized about the size of the ox. I felt so bad for him because all he was trying to do was give something back to a community which gave so much culture to him. Once he and the reader realized their outlook on arrogance, it was all clear that they were just treating him as an actual tribal member which was much appreciated. So both parties were simply expressing their own ways that they had been raised. Both enthocentrlisms were tested and Lee gained a lesson that he will hopefully remember for a long time.

Napoleon's article Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanomamo was far more intense than the other article. There is a certain saying in Buddhism that is something along the lines of, "to gain something, you must lose everything,". This is the process I felt that Napoleon had to go through to gain something from the Yanomamo people. Napoleon was introduced to this warlike culture of the Yanomamo, and was constantly picking out what he perceived as the negative qualities of the "foot people". He had only been in their community for a few hours when he described the men as, "burly, naked, sweaty," and hideous. When he would not share his food the Yanomamo were most likely insulted because sharing food is a prominent aspect in their culture. Over time he began to accept their regal culture for what it was and let go of all his prejudices. Once he let go of his high ego, he appreciated the culture of the Yanomamo so much more. So essentially, although letting go of one's belief system is difficult, it is that barrier an anthropologist must over come in order for them to gain something from the culture they are studying.

I have always respected other individual's cultures, but inevitably there have been times when I think that my beliefs are better. I have never looked down on the Islamic faith. Before this summer I knew nothing about it. Prior to be reading a book called Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, I just couldn't believe that Islamic woman had to be completely covered, and why they prayed so much. After reading the book, I realized the Islamic faith is one of the most beautiful religions and cultures I have ever read about, and there is so much more to why woman cover their bodies, and praying a lot. I felt terrible afterwards thinking that I had thought these silly things about a wonderful culture.

Week 2- Ethnocentric - Blaine Hooper

Understanding someones values and customs isn't always as easy as it seems. I remember living next door to a girl who was of the Muslim religion. My mother and her mother were apart of a neighborhood carpool. In the morning when we would ride into school all the carpool children went and ate breakfast together...she did not. Then lunch time would roll around and the same children would go and eat lunch...she did not. Finally I came home from school on day and asked my mother why this girl did not eat with the other children. I thought perhaps she was shy or maybe did not like me or the other kids. My mother explained to me that during a certain period of time, in the Muslim faith, they were not allowed to eat while the sun was up. I was so confused. Why would someone not eat all day? I remember thinking I wouldn't be able to live if I had to do something like that. The next day during carpool I told the girl what my mother had told me the previous night. I asked her why she was so crazy? The girl sat there for a minute and told me just like I do as a christian read the bible and follow and believe what it says, she as a Muslim does the same thing with her faith and that the period in which she was not allowed to eat or drink is called Ramadan. This girl and I are still very good friends today and now reading these articles and this chapter I now know I was acting very Ethnocentric that day. I think it is important for us as individuals to not forget our own personal beliefs and follow them and yet at the same time we can still appreciate others and their cultures, even if we do not always understand.

In the article that Richard Lee wrote he expressed his feelings and perceptions he had on the Bushmen durning their Christmas Rituals. By not realizing what lee was doing he in fact had a few moments of ethnocentric actions. Lee picked an ox which he thought would be the best! He did this by himself and did not consult with not one person of the actual culture. He was then determined that the bushmen either were wrong or just "pulling his leg" when telling him that he had choosen the worst possible ox for the Christmas occasion. After standing his ground on his decision he than began to fall victum to the constant tormenting of the bushmen on his poor poor choice. He then begain to feel defeat. When he discovered he had in fact made the right choice in the animal he felt like a champion and went to the Bushmen to ask why they had treated him so poorly. Lee then learns that this is the way of their people. Every man in the culture is treated the same way. One of the men tells him it is to ensure humility and "Cool his heart and make him gentile". In all cultures we have silly ways of tricking people into thinking things. For example my grandma used to tell me that if I stuck spoons under my pillow on Christmas Eve it would snow all Christmas day. Obviously my grandmother wasn't telling the truth but that didnt stop this 5 year old from putting spoons under her pillow for 5 years after that.

In the article about fieldwork in Yanomamo I kept thinking "How would I act if put in this situation". Culture shock was a big part of this article for me. I'm sure I would have acted the same way or even worse if I had been put into a violent situation like that. I think everyone is "programmed" to certain morals, values, and ways of living. Not only from culture to culture from house to house as well. Then when we have had our ways planted in us and have had to defend our culture all of our lives, we may be put into a similar situtaion and judge and give up. The fact that he did not give up and the more and more he learned the less and less his thoughts became judging and ethnocentric. He began to think as the people of the culture thought and did what was needed to survive just as the others do. He begain to understand, perhaps not aggree but he was more open to the understanding of the reasons they were doing what it is they were doing. I think it is important as a society for everyone to be exposed to different cultures and give understanding where it need be.

Ethnocentrism, Rebecca Libby

I loved the Christmas in the Kalahari article! Naturally, through out the beginning of the article, I felt bad for him. Poor thing had no idea what was going on, he was just trying to be generous. I think that it might actually be helpful to have something similar in our own culture. There are so many arrogant people out there that really need to be brought down a notch, however, they are the way they are because our culture allows it. In some cases we might even encourage it. I think everyone is a little ethnocentric all the time, even when they do not intend to be, we can't help it. It seems to me that both the Bushman and Richard Lee were both being unintentionally ethnocentric. It is only natural. We grow up one way, and that way gets so ingrained in our minds that it becomes our own personal truth. So when another culture's truth challenges our own, we don't always understand and we react by getting angry, or in Richards case having his feelings hurt. Ultimately though, after being explained their tradition, he felt good about what happened and hopefully took some of those lessons back with him to his own society.

Doing Field Work among the Yanomamo to me illustrated how ethnocentrism can be overcome by making an attempt to understand and respect another culture. Obviously at first the culture-shock that Napoleon suffered was inevitable. I'm sure if I was naive to a culture living in such violent and ruthless conditions I would have reacted much worse than he did. At first I thought it rude of him to deny the people begging him for food, but the more I read the more I put myself in his position. He is just trying to survive the same way they are. That is what makes their culture so different than his/ours. They have to fight for survival. They are constantly working for their next meal, or the next tool they can use to get what they need for themselves and their families. I was very impressed with the way he collected the names of the deceased tribes people, as soon as he figured out what not to say. The less ethnocentric he became, the more he got things done and was able to make friends, and get all the information he wanted from/about the people. Of course, not being ethnocentric takes a lot more work than being so, but it is clearly worth it to sacrifice your own traditions in order to embrace something far outside your comfort zone. It's good for the soul.

Ethnocentrism, Sam Stangl

I saw a lot of ethnocentrism in "Eating Christmas in the Kalahari" by Richard Lee. In the beginning of the article, Lee talks about wishing to learn the hunting and gathering ways of the !Kung, but explains how he has a 2-month supply of canned food that he must not share in order to get to see any hunting and gathering. He understands that they think of him as possibly stingy because of his unwillingness to share his food; however, it is still clear that he feels a sense of inequality between himself, his own culture, and the culture he is now living within. He calls it a "glaring disparity in wealth." Around the middle of the article, he buys an ox for the !Kung's Christmas feast, but the men constantly criticise his choice... Little did he know at first that this was only a joke. The "prank," if you will, continues to the point where Richard Lee is ready to leave the Kalahari for good, almost like he's ashamed. He decided to stick around and when the butchering went down, he saw that the beast was nothing but fatty, delicious meat. In confusion, he confronts one of the men only to learn that this entire thing about a boney, old ox that was unworthy of being eaten and would never fill the bellies of the tribe was only a joke. But more than a joke, it's a lesson and a practice within the tribe that teaches against arrogance. Lee uses ethnocentrism in his writing because he felt like they were all attacking him, though they were really just accepting them into their culture. Even by the end of the article, he still does not completely accept the fact that he thought he chose the biggest and best ox and wanted to be appreciated for it.

Napolean Chagnon used even more ethnocentrism in his article, especially in the beginning. He explains his first moments and the excitement building in him as he approached the village in which he would soon meet his first group of indigenous people. Then, when he sees them and is almost attacked by their bows and arrows, his opinion seems to altar. He sees how filthy they are, and when he says, "Your hands are dirty," they merely spit into their hands, fling some off, and whipe the rest through their hair. It can be implied from this that he finds the people of this culture possibly inferior to his own culture. Later, he would lie to them in order to keep them from stealing and/or eating his food. For example, he let them think that peanut butter was the feces of babies, which would even turn me away if I had never seen peanut butter. Chagnon told them that frankfurters were the penises of cattle, and cattle was an unfamiliar word to them as well. While reading this article, I found myself laughing at times because the author seemed to opinionated about the culture he was intent on taking on as his own and sometimes I could not tell if he was comparing his own culture to the Yanomamo or simply referring to them as less appropriate for his choice way of life. Like when he says, "The hardest thing to learn to live with was the incessant, passioned, and often aggresive demands they would make. It would become so unbearable at times that I would have to lock myself in my hut periodically just to escape from it. Privacy is one of our culture's most satisfying achievements, one you never think about until you have none," I see this as ethnocentrism because he finds privacy to be greater than the lack thereof, thus finding a reason to say his own culture is more desirable. But I also see this as his explanation of the appropriateness of a culture to its own people.

One example of a time that I have interpreted another culture in an ethnocentric way is when I watch a show called Bizzare Foods, as well as Man vs. Food (I like to watch all the crazy stuff they can eat!) and they go to all the mountain villages in remote parts of Asia, and people are living with nothing but their hut, their land, and their agriculture. They are dirty, missing teeth, cook meat in its own blood, and in some places they make an alcoholic beverage out of chewed up yuka root that is then spit into a bucket and left to ferment. Seafood is a major part of their diet in some places, and in other places it is mostly rice and vegetables, but either way I don't think that I could live among them for very long without missing Bojangles and Chilis. I couldn't live without running water, electricity, my toothbrush/hairbrush, and probably my laundry machine. It sounds vain of me but I think it is probably more ethnocentric. I just prefer the way of my own culture, I prefer to sit down to thanksgiving and appreciate a big turkey, that's been packaged and bought from the store, once a year, instead of snapping one's neck each day to sit down and have a meal on a bug-frenzied mountaintop. I will add, though, that I would love to live among primitive people at some point in my life, as I find them and their culture intriguing to an extent. I can't imagine they'd love me, because I couldn't eat meat boiled in blood, or bloody pig heart stuffed into the pig's intestine and then fried.. Anyone of you that would try this? I'm interested.

Week 2 Ethnocentrism - Stephanie Reynolds

These two articles were really interesting and painted a good picture of a completely different culture from my own. Anyways, if an inexperienced anthropology student, much like myself, wasn't really aware of ethnocentrism, then these articles could be see in the wrong context. Richard Lee's article was really interesting since he had been a part of the Bushman's culture for three years, but he still had ethnocentric tendencies. I don't think he saw his culture as better, but he assumed the Bushmen were attacking him at random because of the "skinny ox situation." He thought his choice in the Christmas ox was right, and he didn't really get to the bottom of the situation until the day of the Christmas feast when he found out the Bushmen were playing a joke on him the entire time. He even thought "the Christmas feast was evidently going to be a disaster, and the incessant complaints about the meagerness of the ox had already taken the fun out of it for me. Moreover, I was getting bored with the wisecracks, and after losing my temper a few times, I resolved to serve the beast anyway. If the meat fell short, the hell with it." In reality though, the Bushman were really accepting Lee into their culture and treating him the same as they would any other man in the tribe. They teased him and played down his efforts to keep him humble and not become a braggart. Lee didn't realize any of this though, and managed to get his feelings somewhat hurt because he saw his decision in the ox as right in his judgement, not in the eyes of the tribesmen.

Napoleon Chagnon also tended to have an ethnocentric view of the Yanomamo people. The entire article, in my opinion, made it seem these people lead violent lives since the men were always going off to war, and the women were used as currency. This isn't viewed as something positive in Western culture, but anthropologists aren't supposed to be critical of the people they study. Also, one line of Chagnon's article stood out to me: "life is relatively easy in the sense that they can 'earn a living' with about three hours' work per day." Now these people are considered lazy, a characteristic that is viewed negatively by our culture. I'm sure if Chagnon spoke to these people in their language, they would have a completely different opinion about their "laziness."

I know I not completely immune to ethnocentrism as well, there have been a few instances, which I went back and thought about, where I assumed my culture was right, or even better, than someone else. I can turn on the news right now and watch the war going on in the Middle East, and think to myself..."geez, who would want to live in those kinds of places? It's all desert and filled with terrorists."I know that seems silly saying that, but it does cross my mind sometimes watching too much media and television. I don't really understand the culture and their customs, so it is a bit arrogant and ethnocentric of me to have those views even before I have a real understanding of the Middle Eastern culture.

Conversational Moves for Questioning, Listening, and Responding

Here are some "conversational" moves to help you make the most of your discussion assignments.

1. Ask a question or make comment that shows you are interested in what another person has said.
2. Ask a question or make a comment that encourages someone else to elaborate on something that person has said.
3. Make a comment that underscores the link between two people’s contributions. Make this link explicit in your comment.
4. Make a comment indicating that you found another person’s ideas interesting or useful. Be specific as to why this was the case.
5. Contribute to something that builds on or springs from what someone else has said. Be explicit about the ways you are building on the other person’s thoughts.
6. Make a comment that at least partly paraphrases a point someone has already made.
7. Make a summary observation that takes into account several people’s contributions and that touches on a recurring theme in discussion.
8. Ask a cause-and-effect question – for example, “Can you explain why you think it’s true that if these things are in place, such and such a thing will occur?”
9. Find a way to express appreciation for the enlightenment you have gained from the discussion. Try to be specific about what it was that helped you understand something better.
10. Disagree with someone in a respectful and constructive way.

Week 2 Assignments: Ethnocentrism

Most of you should now be comfortable with this format.  However, we are going to change it at bit this week.  Instead of responding to this post, add a new post with your response to this question.  In the subject line include the term "Ethnocentrism" and your name.

If you have not yet posted an Introduction, please do that as soon as possible.

This week's assignment:

Read Chapter 2 and the following articles:

Eating Christmas in the Kalahari

Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanomamo

In Chapter 1 you learned that a major contribution of Anthropology is the concept of cultural relativism - understanding a people's values and customs in terms of the culture of which they are a part. This is important because people have a tendency to believe that their own culture is superior to any other. Even anthropologists can be ethnocentric.
In fact, "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" (page 2-4 of your text) was written to heighten anthropologists awareness of their tendency to describe cultures in an ethnocentric way.

How did Richard Lee (Eating Christmas in the Kalahari) and Napoleon Chagnon (Doing Fieldwork among the Yanomamo) fall victim to this tendency?

Can you think of an example of how you have interpreted an aspect of a different culture in an ethnocentric way?

Respond to at least two of your classmates.

Complete the Chapter 2 Quiz in Moodle by Sunday, August 28.