The topic of ethnocentrism and cultural defense
The topic of ethnocentrism is prominent in Richard Lacayo's article Cultural Defense. Ethnocentrism refers to the belief that one's own culture is superior and that other people's cultures are incorrect, and that one's own culture must be corrected in order to adhere to one's own cultural values.
Examples of cultural defense
Often people use cultural protection to defend their behavior in places where it is unlawful. In the article, district attorney Morgan, for example, sued a Somali woman for performing a clitoridectomy on her daughter (Lacayo 1). Clitoridectomy was incorrect, according to the US district attorney.
Cultural relativity also applies to the article. It refers to being able to understand and accept a culture without making judgments about whether it’s right or wrong. Cultural relativity is also known as cultural defense. For instance, the judge gave Pham and his five friend’s probation, for recording a suicide event (Lacayo 1). Furthermore, the Chinese man who beat his wife to death but was not sentenced because the Chinese culture punished adultery severely (Lacayo 1). Moreover, according to the article, the woman who sexually molested her male child was not prosecuted by cultural relativity (Lacayo 1).
The practice of genital mutilation and cultural relativism
In the article, A Rite of Torture for Girls by Nicholas Kristof examines genital mutilation. The practice of removing external parts of the female reproductive organs to control sexual libido is considered a human right abuse. The practice is a violation of human rights because it interferes with the freedom of a woman to make decisions related to her own body. However, from the article, it is evident that the women have embraced the act and argue that they are not mutilated as reported by western media and researchers. In fact, they defend themselves by cultural relativity.
For women in Somali women, female genital mutilation is a cultural right and therefore, takes precedence over human rights. For this reason of cultural relativism, efforts to challenge the practice have been unsuccessful. Westerners who condemn genital mutilation as a human rights abuse do so by ethnocentrism. Cultural ethnocentrism is a form of colonialism. Western nations have tried to change the Somali culture of female mutilation because they think it goes against their way of life. They have been attempting to the right this wrong through funding of community-based organizations to sensitize on the side effects of the practice in vain.
Virginity testing in Turkey and clashes with human rights
In the article Virginity Testing in Turkey, Lasco explores how the exposure of women to virginity tests clashes with human rights, cultural relativity, and ethnocentrism. According to the article, virginity is so vital to Turkish culture that women are forcefully checked if when applying for government jobs because sexual purity is crucial for marriage. However, the women argue that due to cultural relativity, it is not a crime. It is the general assumption in all cultures that women should abstain from sex until marriage. To the Turkish men, virginity testing is a cultural right that defines womanhood.
According to the article, virginity testing preserved sexual relations and understood metaphorically by Turks as seed and soil. This metaphor is culturally relative in many countries to explain reproductive organs and processes. However, those who condemn and rebuke it citing human rights, argue that the practice discriminates women and amounts to sexual harassment (Lasco 2). Ethnocentrically, virginity testing as a human right violation overlooks the cultural rights of Turkish people. Moreover, human rights groups use American and European customs and norms as a threshold to condemn virginity testing. The Islamic culture of which many Turks subscribe, allow for a woman to be married when she is pure and so does Christianity. The only difference is that the Islamic culture enforces virginity while Christianity does not.
Works Cited
Kristof, N. “A Rite of Torture for Girls.” New York Times, May 11, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/opinion/12kristof.html
Lacayo, R. “The Cultural Defense.” Time Magazine, 1993. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979741,00.html
Lasco, Chanté. “Virginity Testing in Turkey: A Violation of Women’s Human Rights.” Human Rights Brief 9, no. 3 (2002): 10-13. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1457&context=hrbrief
