Cultural Relativism

    Earlier this year, I took an introductory anthropology course, and one of the main focuses of the course was learning how to treat other cultures with cultural relativism. That is to say, it was extremely important for us to leave behind our ideas of other cultures being different in relation to ours, and instead view them as their own extremely valuable and developed entities.
    This cultural relativism is completely lost when people like Mrs. Laura Bush, as the reading put it, "reduce the diverse situations and attitudes of millions of Muslim women to a single piece of clothing." It is so problematic for us as Americans to look at the veil and assign to it our own meaning and interpretation. It is not our place to say what the veil represents to these women, nor is it our place to suggest that they need to be "saved" from it. The word save creates a power dynamic in a similar fashion to the "white man's burden", implying that due to our "moral and civil superiority", it is our "duty" to aid the lives of the "others" who are not as superior as us. This is of course extremely offensive and inaccurate, yet this is exactly what is conveyed to the American people via post 9/11 rhetoric.
    In contrast to this loss of cultural relativism, a culturally relative statement was given when the author pointed out that women use the veil to give themselves power in certain situations. They talked about how women choose who they wish to be veiled in front of, and to choose to be veiled is to show respect for that person. Therefore, to some degree, women may hold the pride of certain men in their hands, choosing not to veil themselves and therefore declaring a lack of respect. It is extremely important to realize the cultural importance of such institutions as the veil without reducing them as drastically as the media did and continues to do.

    Another reason that cultural relativism is so important when dealing with foreign policy is the fact that, as the reading pointed out, not all people want what Americans have. Some Americans find it so confusing that other nations would choose to live in the particular ways that they do, without realizing that that is exactly the way they want to live. Again, by placing America on a pedestal, American media assumes that our country is the role model for all ways of living. 

    Lastly, I want to draw upon a book I read for my FSEM to demonstrate why the attempt to remove the veil from women is problematic. In the book, Women of Algiers in their Apartment, various women discussed how the choice to unveil oneself is essentially a choice to socially reject oneself. The veil is such a normalcy that it is very much abnormal to remove it, and to do so is to face rejection from both men and women around you. Therefore, by removing that which makes you invisible, you become to an extent, even more invisible. This is just one more point that emphasizes the importance of abstaining from interfering with other cultures. What may seem confusing and wrong to us could very well be perfectly right to them.