Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism in your immediate environment

by | Mar 7, 2023 | Human Resource Management

 

 

Post  words providing examples of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism in your immediate environment and your experiences, addressing the following:

How does ethnocentrism lead to prejudice and discrimination?
Provide an example from your personal life or your observation of the world around you.
Identify the aspects of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism in your example.
How can ethnocentrism be avoided to create a culturally sensitive environment?
Sociology: Understanding and changing the social world. (2016). University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/
Chapter 11: Gender and Gender Inequality
11.2 Feminism and SexismLinks to an external site. (pp. 400–405) https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/11-2-feminism-and-sexism/
Chapter 11: Gender and Gender Inequality

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

Sample Solution

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to evaluate other cultures according to the standards of one’s own culture. This often leads to prejudice and discrimination against people from different backgrounds. In my immediate environment, I have seen examples of ethnocentrism related to gender roles, which has resulted in unequal treatment and even violence towards those who do not conform to traditional expectations. For example, I have encountered numerous instances where women are expected to take on certain roles within the home or workplace such as homemaking or childrearing regardless of their individual skills or interests. Similarly, men are sometimes held up as superior over women due to antiquated beliefs about gender roles which reinforces prejudicial ideas around power imbalance between genders; this can manifest itself in terms of wage gaps, access to job opportunities etc.

Sample Solution

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to evaluate other cultures according to the standards of one’s own culture. This often leads to prejudice and discrimination against people from different backgrounds. In my immediate environment, I have seen examples of ethnocentrism related to gender roles, which has resulted in unequal treatment and even violence towards those who do not conform to traditional expectations. For example, I have encountered numerous instances where women are expected to take on certain roles within the home or workplace such as homemaking or childrearing regardless of their individual skills or interests. Similarly, men are sometimes held up as superior over women due to antiquated beliefs about gender roles which reinforces prejudicial ideas around power imbalance between genders; this can manifest itself in terms of wage gaps, access to job opportunities etc.

In contrast, cultural relativism is an approach which recognizes that every culture has its own values and customs which should be respected. Instead of imposing our own worldview on others, we should strive for understanding by attempting to empathize with their unique perspectives and experiences before passing judgement on them. An example from my personal life would be when a colleague at work mentioned her religious practices during lunchtime conversation – instead of disregarding this out-of-hand due my own lack knowledge familiarity regarding topic instead engaged further inquiry order learn more about it respectful manner showing genuine interest doing so.

To create a culturally sensitive environment free from ethnocentrism we must all take responsibility educating ourselves better understandings different world views while also actively advocating respect diversity inclusion regardless what particular set circumstances might happen turn out being taking place currently present moment… We can accomplish goal instituting proactive measures like implementing policies prohibit any form discriminatory behavior organization’s code conduct making sure everyone treated equally given same opportunities development growth respectively speaking course action progress made accordingly accordingly moving forward successively leading positive results benefit us entire community area where operating

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