Ethnocentrism

According to the dictionary ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture. (The merriam-webster dictionary, 1997) Ethnocentrism often involves the belief that one's own race or ethnic group is the most important and that some or all pieces of its culture are higher to those of other groups. Within this thought, individuals will judge other groups in relation to their own individual ethnic group or culture, especially with concern to language, behavior, customs, and religion. These ethnic differences and sub-divisions serve to define each ethnicity's unique cultural identity. Nearly every religion, race, or nation feels it has aspects which are individually respected. A person who is born into a certain culture and grows up gripping the values and behaviors of the culture will develop patterns of thoughts reflecting the culture as normal. (Boyes, 2008) If the person then experiences other cultures that have different values and normal behaviors, the person finds that the thought patterns appropriate to their birth culture and the meanings their birth culture attaches to behaviors are not appropriate for the new cultures. However, since a person is accustomed to their birth culture it can be difficult for the person to see the behaviors of people from a different culture from the viewpoint of that culture rather than from their own. “The ethnocentric person will see those cultures other than their birth culture as being not only different but also wrong to some degree. The ethnocentric person will resist or refuse the new meanings and new thought patterns since they are seen as being less desirable than those of the birth culture.” (Boyes, 2008) Any kind of judgment regardless will have negative and positive effects. For example, some people in certain cultures believe in no medicine to heal the sick. Well that’s their culture but if someone of another culture offers a new way that has been proven to work when other person won’t just try it instead of defending what they are accustomed too. Ethnocentrism is negative because it puts down someone else’s culture. It makes it seem like it is ok to be unfair to others because they do not think about you. I often wonder about issues that has come about in the USA in regards to ethnocentrism and I thought about 9-11. People of all cultures lost their lives trying to get away or help others. I look at this part as the positive. Even though it took another culture to try and destroy us we put all that aside to help one another. Some people feel like maybe white and black people are both suffering the consequences of the past ethnocentrism. But I think all backgrounds are feeling it in some way or another. I will not lie and say that I have never judged. I look at the Muslim woman and wonder why they wear all these clothes. Well after wondering I had to ask someone and when I did I found out that it is there culture. The woman are not allowed past a certain age to be uncovered. It is a sign of disrespect towards the god they serve. I researched the religion aspect of their culture and came to my own conclusion that woman do not have the same freedoms as men in that culture. I may not like it but that is too bad for me. They may not agree with us woman in the USA dressing half naked but it is our culture not there’s and the same rules should apply to not judge. I do not think that there is an effective way to permanently stop judging others. It is always going to be that person who is feel like there way of living is better than the next. We are humans and built that way.