You May Ask Yourself Summary

Culture is the manner in which society interacts. Every society does specific things that might seem strange to other societies. As individuals of a society we don’t analyze the “normal” tasks of our daily routines. Everyone believes their culture has the best values and norms. As stated in chapter three of You May Ask Yourself, ethnocentrism occurs when individuals view all other cultures from the perspective of their own. Taking a moment to observe our customs can be interesting as we realize some of our customs are actually strange if we think about it. Developed countries, specifically the United States, tend to give dogs special treatment. Our culture treats dogs as human beings. Dogs are lavished with the best dog food and the best care. Some people even dress their dogs and sleep with them. Furthermore, when dogs gets sick we take it to the insanely expensive veterinarian. Some people don’t even go to the doctor themselves because they cannot afford it. Yet, some individuals choose to take their dogs to the veterinarian. When did this all begin?
We can trace it back to the monarchs in …show more content…
People are taken to jail for mistreating a dog. Is it insane that we convict humans for hurting a child in the same way we convict them for hurting a dog? Having a dog started as a luxury and demonstrated your social class. Today almost everyone owns a dog or some sort of pet. Even homeless people own dogs. We realized that dogs weren’t just a labor resource; they gave us a companion. Dogs are now trained to help humans with disabilities and to help firefighters and police officers. We don’t think of dogs as luxuries; we see them as part of our families. However, in less developed countries where people can barely provide food for themselves, they might consider dogs as luxuries. Having an extra mouth to feed might not be financially achievable. They probably think we are crazy for treating our dogs like