Cultural relativism is the idea that behavior, knowledge, and values of a group of people is based on their own culture rather than a judgment against other criteria or different culture. This practice provides a level ground for all aspects of different types of peoples based on a variety of classifications. Ethnocentrism is evaluating other people’s beliefs and cultures against another that is presumed to be superior to the rest, which tends to fuel inequality and superiority battles among communities. In this case, food is a perfect example. From the video, you can tell an individual’s reception to strange taste. All the tasters in this video portray relativism since they give an honest opinion of how they find the foods without comparing them to other foods. Do they provide an unbiased opinion or do they rate the meals based on that which they are accustomed? Dress codes also form another perfect example to distinguish between the two aspects discussed above.
Section2
In our culture some of the things that an outsider finds odd include: dress code and eating habits among others. Women wear clothing that completely covers them including the hair. Married women cover their faces completely exposing the eyes only. A person from another community finds this strange since one may not really understand how our beliefs dictate our dressing. We are a culture commonly known for eating from the same source, mostly a large platter, and without cutlery. Most people from other communities will find this strange. Someone may feel that eating together is gross or would want to insist on the use of cutlery
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Section 3
To get the actual view and value of something, we need to step aside from our zone of familiarity (Palmer 2015). Being relative is not as easy when compared to being ethnocentric in a discussion. Is a balance between ethnocentrism and relativism attainable? How so?
References
Cole, N. L. (February 2018)Cultural Relativism Explains Why Breakfast Differs Around the
World. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/cultural-relativism-definition- 3026122
Palmer, N. (2015, September 21). Don’t Yuck My Yum. Food & Ethnocentricity. Retrieved from
Sociology in Focus. http://sociologyinfocus.com/2015/09/dont-yuck-my-yum-food- ethnocentricity/
