Long Answers Flashcards
Is the film “Cannibal Tours” an example of cultural relativism, ethnocentrism or both? Why?
Cannibal Tours is a film about European and American tourists travel Papua New Guineawhere they are introduced to an indigenous tribe. There they are exposed to their primitive ways of living. The tourist continuously compared the native’s lifestyle to their own and saw their culture as “backwards”. They saw them as uncivilized and poor. The film itself is cultural relativism, representing different perspectives of different groups – Europeans and Americans. The original purpose of the was to be shown as cultural relativistic, in the hope of further understanding the people of Papua New Guinea and their cultural meaning. However, the travelers become ethnocentric as they judged the culture from their cultural standard, calling them primitive and unattractive form of living.
Why do you think Horace Miner chose to write about “the Nacirema”?
“Body Ritual among the Nacirema”, written by Horace Miner in 1956, is a satirical anthropological writing that draws attention to North American culture by looking at our health practices and body and the rituals and routines that we engage in to be healthy. Miner chose to write about “The Nacirema” in the helps to display how anthropology are writers with the ability to present a culture to be strange and different just by using reverse perspectives. It describes society we all live in and accept, but in a way, that we find strange and unusual. We as a culture are too quick to judge and become ethnocentric we do not recognize another cultures beliefs and rituals. Anthropologists can frame a culture as uncultured when they can be quite differently. Purpose was to ironically frame America into a culture that we too judge because of the way it is presented, without further studying it and questioning the anthropologist’s perspectives.
How might we view Canadian hockey as a ‘cultural text’?
Canadian hockey is a cultural text as it carries specific meaning about theCanadian culture. the sport of hockey emphasizes the activities that are shared by members of the Canadian society in our cold Canadian climate. By reading hockey as a culture text we can gather that Canadian are unified in a cold climate and participant in physical sports that result in a deep rooted togetherness as displayed in the game of hockey. Canada is known fort he sport of hockey as it defines the beliefs and values of Canadian citizens and our love of the game and its cultural background
According to Clifford Geertz, how might we think of the Balinese cockfight as a cultural text?
The cockfights are important, as it is a way for the men to be able to release aggression while participating in the observation of the cockfight, in a very emotionless society. The cockfight ritual and the cocks themselves are also representation of status for the Balinese as the roosters have become an extension of their owner as their reputations, masculinity, position and status are being threatened through battle of these cocks. The cock fights are also representation of conflict resolution as cocks battle against rival villages and provide a winning and loosing village. These battles are ways for the Balinese men to display their masculine nature and communicate in a peaceful way.
What does the video “Margaret Mead and Samoa” tell us about fieldwork?
The video shows us that fieldwork is subjected to interpretation and cannotbe seen as factual by all anthropologists. Derek freeman presents Margaret’s work as false when he presents his fieldwork showing contrary results. Fieldwork is subjected to the time of the study and the exact people being studied, and if they are opening truthfully participating in the study. The film showed us how both studied Samoan adolescence but came up with completely different thesis statements that can also both be true as theirstudies took place in different times in different parts of Samoa and with different people. Margret mead in Samoa could have founded that females adolescence were calm whereas Derek found them as violent, but no exact proof can be determined as all the fieldwork is presented in the biased anthropologies opinion.
Identify two criticisms of applied anthropology. How might an applied anthropologist respond to these criticisms?
A criticism of applied anthropology is that it is not public enough, like the rest of the anthropology. They’re hidden from society and do not take a prevalent role to present their findings and affect the culture and the people. Applied anthropological branches as they apply their findings in society through policies and report in the governments and corporations. Through their jobs are put directly in the public view, they play more of a behind the scenes roles in the judicial system and human sector applying their findings to specific cases that direct relate to their studies.
Is gender a biological fact?
Gender is not a biological fact, but a choice to be made once your sex hasbeen developed, “culturally constructed”. Sex leads to one sex category or the other, but gender is a culturally contracted normative influence. Gender are social attributes associated with certain sexes. Once given your sex, many people like the fa’afinine decide to portray a gender that defies their sex category but they feel more comfortable portraying. Though your biological sex may be girl or boy, the gender decided upon is the individuals decisions and can live their lives in a masculine or feminine way.
Are fa’afafine in Samoa an example of a society with a ‘third gender’ category? Why or why not?
The fa’afafine are an example of a society with a third gender as they aremales that don’t typically fit the man role. The fa’afafine, though male, dress and some times act feminine. The samoan culture accept the third gender and have large minority of fa’afafine that are just viewed to associate more to the female since they were born. They defy the normative gender roles by filling the gender associated with their sex, male and participate in presenting themselves as third gender (male body with female being) fa’afafine
Why are zombie films good to think with
From an anthropological perspective, zombie movies are great to think with because they are agreat platform for comparison. The Comaroffs believe that zombie movies tell us a lot about the implosion of neoliberal capitalism at the end of the 20thcentury. They even give us incite to millennial capitalism because zombies “work without ceasing”. In short, zombie movies are a metaphorical exploration of our fears and desires in our global, capitalist economy.
What is critical cultural relativism? What are its strengths and challenges for anthropologists?
The view that all cultures’ practices and ideas should be examined in terms of who accepts them and why, and whom they might be harming or helping. Some of what goes on in particular culture can be questioned or changed because of an idea of a set of universal human rights. It does not take a homogenized view of culture complexity, thus recognizing that there are many internal differences in cultures and that sometimes powerful groups exploit less powerful groups through use of cultural practices. Strengths include the requirement to understand a culture in its own terms and the need to understand behaviors and beliefs for the functions of meanings that they have. However, weaknesses include the difficulty of identifying the correct principle of morality, which must be connectively arrived to by all those agents likely to be affected
What do the Barbadian terms ‘queen’ and ‘gay’ tell us about gender and sexuality identities in Barbados?
The terms ‘gay’ and queen’ suggests the existence of slippage between ‘gay and ‘queen’ identities in conversations. In Barbados, it appears that transgendered individuals have achieved greater public acceptance, or at the very least are more publicly visible, and they are at the forefront of queer community organization and activism whereas lesbians and gays appear to be the problematic group who are less socially acceptable and visible and are not well-integrated into the queer community of Barbados
Is Canada a society that recognizes a Third Gender? Why or Why not?
Canada is a society that recognizes third gender as it has very large LGBT community and is accepting of the group. In Canada, third gender identity comes as part of the LGBT category. That is the transgendered individuals in Canada, who are males who dress up as females, or females who dress up as males. Though they may be segregated like much of society into their own separate group, they are generally accepted.
Explain how a collective identity may be created through conflict and struggle.
One case is the Indigenous peoples who have created a collective identity through conflict and struggle. Indigenous peoples have been exiled from their land and been integrated into societies that differ from their own. They are generations of those who share experiences and reinforce collective memory of land, original villages and shared experiences of exile. Their collective identity is also expressed by recreation of symbols of their identity as they continue to follow traditions of their nation. Their collective identity is expressed through storytelling from generation to generation, raising awareness about the struggles and triumphs of their people.
What must anthropologists focus on when examining the formation of social movements, according to Clark’s research on CONAIE in Ecuador?
According to Clark, as anthropologists, we must analyze the change in relations among classes (including political struggles) in order to understand current social movements even though these movements do not emphasize class. CONAIE is the dynamic process of bringing together social factors like economics, politics, and other class differences when analyzing social movements
Why is gift-giving an important part of communicating identity and/or identity changes?
Giving gifts is not about the items being exchanged. In fact material goods don’t even need to be exchanged. The purpose of the gift giving is to create an identity or maintain one. For instance, the kula ring, where a man receives a an armband or a necklace does not keep it, but passes it along to another trading partner. The principle of reciprocity applies to the kula ring because it is a system in which one receives a gift, but also has the obligation of passing it along to other trading partners. The system of the kula ring helps creates alliances and social ties among individuals living on different islands. Even in north America when we pass heirlooms down the blood line it is not about the item being passed down, the history of these items, especially when handed down as gifts are vital to the identity of the person who receives them. Gift-giving is a system that operates within many society because it is a method of establishing and strengthening social bonds within the community. Strong societal identities are an important aspect of a harmonious society.
