CULTURAL RELATIVISM

During last months I have found out how the field of anthropology could be relate to my field- social psychology. This time I would like to explain and show the idea of cultural relativism and functionalism in anthropology – two similar concepts, complete each other in my opinion and which are necessary in our every day more and more multicultural reality and public debate.

I would like to also explain this two approaches by showing particular examples like monogamy versus polygamy, gay and lesbian, surrogate motherhood or circumcision. 

Chapter 1 - Introduction 

Cultural Relativism  – it is the view that all beliefs, customs and ethics are relative to the individual within his own (emic) social context. This approach refer that no culture is superior to anther or that all values are relative to cultural context. Also this concept say that no one mode of knowledge, even science is intrinsically superior to another mode of knowledge or understanding.  This concept is similar to the concept of philosophical relativism which claims that any point of view have absolute true or validity. Cultural relativism refers also more to methodological practice in which the researchers should avoid any biases through attempting to understanding others beliefs and behaviors in local contexts.

Practically saying this approach shows that what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another. As a conclusion we can also say that in this view morality and not only is culturally relative and each cultural can only be understood from its own perspective and also that different habits, customs have different explanation and different background.

Functionalism – it is one of the main anthropological theoretical approach says that every cultural issue (habits, customs, believes, tradition or rules) have some function and reason to exist and is important for the whole system of the society. 

Functionalism describe the different parts of a society and their relationship through the organic analogy, so that they compared the different parts of a society to the organs of a living organism. The society, similarly to the biological organism is able to maintain its processes through the way that different parts interacted together. Things such as economy, religion, kinship are the organs and individual are the cell in this social organism.

Functionalism formed in the early twentieth century and is consider as a reaction to the excesses of the evolutionary and diffusion theories of the nineteenth century and  historicist of the early twentieth. The great influence on the functionalism development had Bronisław Malinowski – Polish-British naturalized anthropologist and A.R. Raddiffe-Brown – British social anthropologist.  B. Malinowski for instance suggested at the beginning of twentieth century that individuals have physiological needs (like reproduction, food or the own place to stay) and that social institutions are formed to meet these needs. He also maintained that there are culturally secondary needs and four basic ,,instrumental needs’’ (economics, social control, education and political organization) that demand institutional devices.

It is also worth to mention that functionalism emphasize the important role of empirical research, especially participate observation; observing.

Arto Laitien – Finnish author of a book ,,Recognition and Social Ontology’’ has said that ,,Ech culture has a role to finding that what is good or right’’.

In order to show a cultural relative issue and functionalism in societies I would like to present some particular examples and show some different views and various on perspectives on them.

Chapter 2 - Abortion and contraception

The debate over abortion rights has long been the source of considerable debate and controversy. In different regions on the world the discourse is different having different cultural background and different law as a result. In this point, discussing about abortion and contraception I would like to reveal and emphasize the significant meaning of cultural background before examine and estimate this two issue in social everyday discourse.

The historical study shows that ancient and medieval civilizations are know for practice and elaborating post conception methods and control of fertility.

In Egypt for instance archeologists found some evident for removal of the ovaries.

Ancient Jewish were the first group to question if the fetus in woman body was considered as having the same right as a person. The Greeks and than Romans were famous from their pharmaceutical and contraceptive practices and have the codify beliefs ( in Gaius codex of law) that the child has all of a person’s rights after birth and no rights while inside the mother.

During medieval times Europe lost almost on third of its population through the plague and the church and landowners needed laborers to work on theirs lands. It’s likely that St. Augustine’s condemnation of contraception might have increase and has been propagated strongly by the Catholic Church at this time.

The argumentation of the church nowadays is based on belief that all life is sacred and abortion kill this life. Therefore the idea of adoption and contraception must be rejected.

Abortion and contraception is examined nowadays through the political views and discussion highlight this political roots. Liberals spread pro-choice ideology and they believe that freedom should be exercised by individuals. Conservatives are in favor of pro-life ideas and believe that freedom should be arrange by institution.

Liberals appealed to voters by calling abortion restrictions as an encroachment by big government on family, poverty and tradition. On the other hand conservatives appeal to religion and morality. Mostly they also differ to kind of women: those who prefer family values and those women who prefer to fulfill its sex needs.

Pro-choice and pro-life partisans offer opinions which are not often based on researches, rather based on emotions. They also don’t include any cultural perspectives. For instance: pro-life authors often compare the approach of its opposition as egoistic and individualistic, based on personal preferences, comparing the choice of having or not having an abortion with the choice of choosing vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream.

          Abortion and contraception could however have a different view and image.

Pregnancy has a different meaning and significance depending on age of woman, place where she lives, socioeconomic status or class, person in time and cultural background finally. Woman from Western cultures nowadays are more likely to  focused on careers first rather than planning a family. Woman from Eastern cultures are more focused on their families, generally saying.

The reasons why woman have abortions are nowadays vary and diverse across the world. In our west and individual cultural the most common reasons are the postpone childbearing to a more suitable time or to invest energies and resources on existing children. Oder reason is being unable to raise a child (lack of support from father for instance or financial circumstances) or being to young to have a child.

Pursue to the functionalism and cultural relativism I wanted to mention about the situation in China, mostly criticize in west culture and consider in my opinion only by our point of view, our cultural background (with Christianity, Greek philosophy and Roman law’s roots) and our socioeconomic position.

Abortion is legal in China and the service of abortion is available on request for woman. Abortion is also a way to contain its population, where the policy of one-child has be provided in 1979 make it official family planing policy.

As I have mentioned already the concept of legal abortion service organize by government and one-child policy mostly criticize in our west reality but the discussion doesn’t include such a  factors like the fact that our west population tend to grown old and that aging is serious problem in some western countries. This situation can in my point of view change the perspective through we see the situation of others.

Contrary, in China the serious problem is nowadays  rapidly growing population which can demage itself by narrowing. From that reason probably chineese government treat the abortion issue as a significant part of their secure policy.

In the discussion  about abortion in China for instance there is also missed the characteristic of the societies and cutlure. Chinese society and culture is based on collectivism and west culture is more individualistic emphasizing individual welfare rather than right of all society and ties between people.

Beata Pawlikowska – one famous Polish journalist and traveler has said during her radio broadcast about societies in Africa and her expedition:,, I strongly believe that each culture  has their own rules to keep the society survived’’.

Probably chinese government try to keep its society also survived....

Chapter 3 - How the tse tse fly could effect the polygamy in African societies ? 

Similarly as in previous case of adoption and contraception I would like to present a relative recognition of polygamy. This time I am going to enplane the issue of functionalism by showing an interesting example of how actually whole society and their culture could be affected by one, apparently small factor.

Polygamy is consider in social sciences as a marriage which include more than two partners. Polygamy can be also in social anthropology consider as a practice of a person’s making him/herself available for two or more spouses to mate with.

Contrary, monogamy is a marriage include only two parties.

Both terms often are used to locate human’s relationships in some recognition by the state and society.

Our west culture are mostly recognized as society dominated by practice of monogamy. That means that most of woman and men do not practice polygamy which is not allowed in the social discourse and in law.

It is common to hear some sort of argumentation in the west public speech and public debate that practice of polygamy is simply meaning and showing underdeveloped, backward, uncivilized and not being up to date for those kind of societies or countries where the polygamy is practice and allowed.

This kind of argumentation, which in my opinion shows ethnocentrism, suggest often also immorality and deprivation of those who have other rules and other habits.

Related to the cultural relativism this kind of reasoning in public debate avoid understanding for beliefs of others as well as avoid understanding of functionalism – the fact, that sometimes some element of natural environment can be a first factor of expanded casual and consecutive link.

 

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Tsetse fly and polygamy

1. The African region located underrate of 12-10 parallel  in equator direction is endemic for tsetse flies. This bug decimate any domestic animals (cows, horses) to such an extent than in time, when a military had used only horses to move from region of North Africa and Sahel, tsetse fly’s plague was the most effective barrier against the military, so that it was easy for locals warriors to defeat any military.
2. However the direct and main consequence for the local tribes was and still is the lack of milk, which induce - comparing to European standards – longer lactation for woman. Standard period of breast feed is approximately two years for woman in this region.  Also the lack of food in this region make the milk from a woman breast elementary for young child diet and its development.
3. In view of this circumstances cessation of mother lactation would provoke a big damage for the child, which could occur in case of procreation act and pregnancy. Simply saying, woman sex would mean discontinuance of providing nutrition for children. Physiological study shows that in time of breast- feed concentration of progesterone and protactinium is high in woman body so that protactinium can also effect lower sexual needs of her and protect more for getting pregnant in the same time. In case of pregnancy the concentration of this two hormones gets lower and as a result lactation stops.
4. To avoid unwanted and unwelcome pregnancy for youngest child, any sexual relation or act are suspended by parents.
5. This case of approximately two years sexual abstinence is one of the reason and factor to contribute polygamy in this societies.
6. Long- standing breast-feed and long- lasting contact with mother induce emotional and social bond and dependence child on mother. Later on it consider by society as a negative issue especially for young boys.
7. Therefore young boys go often through radically man’s initiation rite to become a real man and man’s capacity.
8. While many generations, long-standing breast feed, instead of milk diet (spread in Europe and our west civilization) induce intolerance of lactate enzyme which is response for metabolism of lactose – a sugar contain in a cow’s milk.

Conclusion: that example shows how collective and also individual life of millions people become specify and affected by interference of one kind of bug.

Another reason to enplane the polygamy is an interesting characteristic of African societies.  However famine and malnutrition are one of the mains problems for millions of Africans (for instance approximately half of inhabitants in Somalia are underfed) still number of children in typical African family is even bigger than in our average families where the frequent problem is overweight rather than malnutrition. It is possible because as a matter of fact children for Africans mean social protection (not provided by state in most of African countries) and having many children means a respect in the society. Malnutrition and lack of food also do not shocking as in Western societies. Famine, hunger are indispensable elements of their everyday life through ages which is quite hard to comprehend from our ethnocentric perspective. 

Starvation was always a natural factor limited the number of people in the society. This is natural element of their culture.

Chapter 4 – Male circumcision 

Circumcision is one of most common, oldest and controversial surgical procedure performed worldwide, for different reason. Technically it’s procedure of cutting off the foreskin of a young boy or man as a religious rite or as a medical treatment. Other definition also say that the circumcision is to cut off the clitoris and sometimes the labia of a girl or young woman.

Circumcision is practiced less frequently in western European countries compared to the USA. A new survey by the International Coalition for Genital Integrity found that over 60 percent of baby boys were still circumcised in U.S. and according to the National Center for Health Care Statistics, circumcision rates decreased rapidly during the 1980s from even 85 to 58 percents and from some reasons the procedure for newborns in the United Stated since the 1940s has gone out of favor.

However the practice of circumcision is clearly still common it also meets many discussion, controversy and criticism if someone mention religious or cultural reasons  to explain this procedure. Circumcision arouse contrary feelings and seems as a weird practice often associate with obscure ritual or derectly with Islamic and Jewish  culture and religion (however in U.S. also is and was common as many study shows). This issue again shows that  Euro-American values are different and  that public discussion doesn’t include anthropological or medical achievement.

My aim in this chapter is not trying to convence that circumcision is good or bad and force the argumentation for any of the side (still there is a lot of argumentation for both sides). I wish to only shows that again public discours should include also cultural functionalism and cultural relativism in order to avoid unnescessary critic of others habits or beliefs and be more open for a medical and athropological argumentation to reach more objectivity attitude in private and public debate.

However now the circumcision is consider mostly as a consequence of habits, beliefs and religion (currently about one-sixth of the world’s male population submits ritual circumcision for religious reason), there is like simple explanation and medical rationale for this age-old procedure.

Male circumcision surgery has been describe even in Egyptian paryri and many ancient mummies were found to be circumcised and is still beeing practiced in United Stated and by Jews and Muslims as a religious rite as I mentioned before. 

In the ancient societies of Middle East circumcision was likely to have started for preventing recurrent balanitis caused by accumalation of sand under the foreskin, which is a perfect example of functionalism. Another interesting fact is that this issue was comfirmed by Australian army medical corps during first and second world wars. Soldiers stationed in the sandy regions such a Middle East and North Africa needed and required circumcision for recurring epidemic balantis.

It is necessary to mention that the newest study shows - circumcision might decrease the risk of Hiv infection among a men (*comparison study between circumcised and not circumcised males).

I suggest that some habits and beliefs include always some functional reason, in this case they have included even in the ancient time medical explanation.

Chapter 5 - Spicy food in Mexico and sauna in Finland

Another suitable example for functionalism in culture might be mexican cuisine famed for spicy food like salsa dip or any kind of dishes with chili paprika. It is probably not accident that in a region endemic for some kind of bacteries prompting such a deases like salmonella for instance local cousine use such a plants like chili pepper. Most people livining in some hot regions eat spacy food which protect them for some infection from locals bacteries (which often prefer warmth environment).

There is no statistics about world cuisines but I suggest that every societies located in hot part of the earth include spicy food or some plants which also are able to incapacitate bacteries dengerous for human’s body.

Local custom such a spacy meals famous in Mexico have actually also a functionalistic background, as well as sauna – one of the most important custom in Finnish culture have its functionalistics explanation. Exept evident relaxing impact of warmth, which sauna might provide also in long run regular using of sauna have many advantages for humand organism: more balanced blood preasure (sauna baths may help with lower blood pressure), reducing rate of cholesterol, changing libid profile. Sauna baths may also relive pain in musculosketetal disorders and improve joint mobility in patients with rheumatic diseases as well as effectivness in therapy for patients with cardiovascular disease,

Chapter 6 – Adoption, kinship and surrogacy motherhood

In North America societies, as well as probably in Euorpe adoption seems to be a really complicated and risky process. Even American law make the difference between adoptive and biological families. Comparing to some regions on the earth adoption is west societies isn’t common. Adoption is giving the image that all parties in adoption (birth parents, adoptees and adoptive parents) must cooperate with kind of psychological pain and feeling of loss. Adoptees might loss the opportunity to have a normal, natural child, birth parents might lose a child and feel inefficiency and finally a child might feel a lose a part of its identity of biological relatives.

Anthropologist suggest that what migh be problematic or self-evident in one society may not be so in another. Oceanic societies are well-know in antropology for the frequency and apparent casualness of adoption.

In some triebes more than 25 percent of children is moving from household to hausehold and are adopted. Adoption for this societies seems perfectly natural because by adoption those societies make kind of alliances between each other to cemented the ties of frendship between chiefs and cemented a peace.

Morover interviewing of this adoptive children in this societies shows that they were  treated complitely like other children. How is possible?

The fact that people in this regions have other way of thinking about kinship, make it easier probably. Kinship and being related to someone means more than sharing biogenetic endowment like in West societies – approved in antropology as  sort of individualistic nowadays. Being related means sharing a food, work and other aspects of life and that’s the way to make a kinship in their understanding. The Kinship in Oceania, for instance is considered to be contingent rather than absolute. Kinship has to be validated by social action to be recognized on the other. Kinship status can be achieved through social action.

Similar concept of kinship is coopting nowadays by gay and lesbian families, where not always biological relatives accept their sexual orientation. In order to replace families roles and emtional needs gay and lesbian plump up to put friends, close people instead of biological relatives whose don’t fulfit famielies space anymore. This concept is called ,,family we choose’’.

Sorrogacy is kind of arrangement where a woman agrees to become pregnant and born a child for a ,,contracted’’ party. She may be the genetic mother for the child – than it is called traditional surrogacy or she may carry the pregnancy after having been implanted with donation egg by in-vitro, but this may be illegal in some countries or states. The latter for of surrogacy it’s becoming more common form of surrogacy in North American societies where techniques of artificial fertilization are advanced and avaible.

Observe that issues we can get impression that surrogate motherhood and infertility are problematic and controvercial in social debate. The statistic also shows that surrogacy is not common in west societies. However in other part of the world this issue could be more controvercial.

The scenario that sister of infertile woman gets pregnant by having sex with husband of this infertile woman and gives a birth in order to recognize a born baby as a child of infertile woman is common in African societies and shows how cultural collectivism may solve the problems with infertility, which seems more problematic in west societies.

.......w tym przykładzie widzimy, że kultura o charakterze kolektywistycznym może warunkować stosunki międzyludzkie, a te tak kontrowersyjną sprawę jak bycie matką surogatką. Warto jednak zauważyć, że to nie sam kolektywizm i charakter czy też rodzaj danej kultury jest tutaj jakaś bezpośrednią przyczyną takich relacji społecznych, a raczej bardziej sytuacja społeczno-ekonomiczna powoduje, że dana społeczność, aby przetrwać musi zacieśniać więzi. Nie bez znaczenia pozostaje również historia, czy też wiekowa praktyka danej społeczności, podparta jednak – zgodnie z zasada funkcjonalizmu praktycznym uzasadnieniem.

Coming back to the ideal of B. Malinowski individuals have physiological needs (in this case – reproduction and aspiration to become parents) and that social institutions – like surrogacy motherhood in our case - are formed to meet these needs but in two different way in African and West or rather North American societies.

It is my hope that this essay shows clearly the idea of cultural relativism and functionalism and  opens avenues for dialogue especially in social debate J

Resources:

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