Ethnocentrism Analysis

As human beings, were all born into certain societies which will raise us to have certain beliefs and views of the world. These beliefs and views of members of a particular society form a culture. Though each culture is very unique, all share basic life events such as death, birth, courtship, procedures for exchanging goods, and even views on what is to be considered “edible”. Personally, I find it bizarre that other countries eat insects because I was raised to believe that insects were made for squishing. The people of countries such as Brazil, Ghana, and Mexico find the consumption of bugs nothing out of the ordinary. Insects may serve as delicacy to people of China or as a means for survival for the people of Ghana. Either way, all cultures …show more content…
This is called ethnocentrism. Typically, we feel this way because we grew up with our own beliefs and rituals, while not even realizing the endless amount of different ways people go about doing those same things. The idea of ethnocentrism brings me back to an argument I had when I was in middle school. It was Christmas time and I asked a classmate what she was doing for Christmas. She then told me that she didn’t believe in God, therefore her family didn’t celebrate the holiday. I was absolutely stunned by the idea that someone didn’t celebrate Christmas and believe in Jesus, and I went on to judge her for not believing the same things that I did. As I got older I realized there are a vast amount of different religious practices, ideas, and cultures so it didn’t seem so strange. People shouldn’t be so quick to judge but, naturally, we’re so used to our surroundings and personal ways of life that anything out of an individual’s “ordinary” can lead us to a negative or positive …show more content…
They could understand why you do the things you do without question and you wouldn’t be judged for doing those things. So, its important we realize that everybody wants that acceptance. We can learn how other people live their lives in another culture by interacting with them directly, setting aside our personal beliefs and try to see through their eyes. Anthropologists conduct ethnographic fieldwork and learn through those direct experiences, while an ordinary person can try and learn any day. For example, last year in my nursing class a Native American came into our class to speak about his culture. He told us about how owls are a sign of danger, tobacco is used for prayer, and in traditional ceremonies such as the powwow, every stomp of the foot and beat of the drum is a prayer. None of my classmates had ever heard about any of this and we all found his beliefs to be intriguing. Relating back to seeing the world through another person’s eyes, as a classroom we set out tobacco for this speaker as a thank you and a prayer for good luck. We can learn so much by trying to set aside our personal beliefs to try and understand another