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Contributions will be added to the
top of this collection as I receive them. .
Date: Thu, 24 Mar From: Rachelle G Dr Phil, Thank you for responding
to my comment. I understand you're saying when you mention Hitler
and the Nazis. I was in no way defending their actions, as I'm sure
you already know. I was simply pondering on the importance of defining
one's own personal beliefs/values (I'm not sure which is correct here)
and being open minded enough to potentially re-evaluate those beliefs/values.
I think it is important to know where one stands in regards to many issues
but it's also important to be willing to look at other people's views. Thanks! Rachelle I mentioned in class that I am not
an absolutist. I am a cultural relativist. but not an absolute cultural
relativist. Phil Date: Tue, 22 Mar From: Ryan H Hello, It is interesting to read
the different perspectives, Rachel from anthropology and Dr. Phil from
sociology. I would like to add a further perspective to this discussion:
philosophy. Relativism is the philosophical view that truth is relative
and not absolute. It varies from people to people, time to time, and place
to place. Relativism has been discounted for the reasons Dr. Phil
has cited; if we believe truth is relative to one's surroundings, then
all actions no matter how horrific are acceptable, as long as the majority
of that culture believes it to be morally acceptable. If we believe that, then
the persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi's was morally acceptable,
as well, if another culture declares war on us, we can't condone
their behavior because their action are morally acceptable based on their
relative culture. Another philosophical argument in favour of horrific
acts is Utilitarianism. A Utilitarianist would argue that in some
cases FGM is acceptable because, in the example that Rachel gave about
girls who look forward to the circumcision, the greatest good is being
maximized for the greatest number of people. If we believe in an
ethical system (Utilitarianism) by which one acts according to that which
will result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people, then
Dr. Phil's example of a gang rape is morally acceptable because, although
the female was harmed, it brought good (physical pleasure and emotional
power) to a greater number of people: the gang doing the raping.
There are other philosophical perspectives that would try to argue that
FGM and other horrific act are morally acceptable, but I personally believe
there are universal moral truths, like do not harm or kill other people;
therefore FGM is not an acceptable practice. Ryan Date: Mon, 21 Mar From: Bartle Dear Rachel, If we want to avoid ethnocentrism
and be culturally relative, then we would refer to the values of the culture
where an activity is practiced, and their terminology, and not use our
ethnocentric values and terminology. But where do we draw the
line? Should we therefore not judge
Hitler and Nazi ethics, the genocide of Jews, Poles, Gays and Communists?
They thought they were bringing "Good" to the world with their "Final Solution." As an aid worker who has
worked in that part of the world, and as a former UN officer, I fear that
I cannot maintain strict cultural relativity about acts which are condemned
by our UN human rights deliberations and which are so demeaning and painful
to innocent girls. For any activist, who is
working to change unfair practices anywhere in the world, their desire
to remove those unfair practices must necessarily be non culturally relative.
If they were culturally relative, therefore, feminists would have to accept
being domestic servants, homosexuals would have to practice heterosexual
life styles, and we would still have laws and values that forbade inter
cultural marriage in Canada. The municipal elders who gang raped
a woman in Pakistan would be seen as merely practicing their cultural values,
punishing her because her brother had a sexual affair with another man's
wife. Anthropologists and sociologists
are human; therefore they have values. To pretend otherwise is to
pretend that scientists are not human, perhaps inhuman. My personal view, Phil Bartle Date: Mon, 21 Mar From: Rachelle G Hi Dr. Phil! This is
Rachelle from Soc 160. I've been thinking a lot about the exam question
about FGM. I know the exams are not the place to discuss opinions
or feelings which is why I just wanted to share a different perspective
that I learned in an anthropology class. In this anthopology class
we were warned against judging the practice of FGM by using the term mutilation.
The word circumcision was prefered. I read a book called Aman: The
Story of a Somali Girl, and in this book the practice was hardly considered
mutilation but rather a right of passage if you will. The young girls
looked forward to their circumcision ceremony. This is not to say
that the actual description of the circumcision was not extremely graphic
and
very painful for the individuals involved. In our society many people
do not give male circumcision a second thought, and in other parts of the
world female circumcision is the norm. I do understand that female
circumcision literlly eliminates any female pleasure during sexual activity
but I do not know how people involved in this act feel about that.
Do you have any thoughts on this 'anthropoligical perspective'? I
guess it's a good idea to take many different perspectives into account
when forming an opinion on a matter such as this. I really enjoy
hearing a sociological twist on things! Thanks for taking the time
to read what I wanted to share! Rachelle Subject:
Soc 100: FGM Date: Mon,
09 Feb Hi Dr. Phil, Hope you
had a nice weekend and have made a full recovery by now. I just have
a quick question for you with regards to the 8 of hearts question: "Why
is female circumcision a special form of violence towards women?" I am a little
unclear as to what you are looking for when you say "special". Are you wanting
us to refer to the severity of the physical act itself (the removal of
the clitoral skin and the suceptability to std's) or to to talk about it
comparativley with refrences to the other forms violence against women
such as rape and violence in the home. Sorry for
the trouble, Malcolm
