The Importance Of Cultural Relativism In America

To have cultural relativism or not to have cultural relativism this is the question? Cultural relativism is the idea that the beliefs and practices of a culture should be understood within the context of that particulars culture 's background, history and current events surrounding it. In order to fully understand someone else 's culture you have to take yourself out of the picture, by taking an insider 's view toward a different culture that your unfamiliar with, while doing an outsiders view on your own culture. From an etic perspective, I will address some of America 's rite of passages, that people go through, while addressing a rite of passage that Americans have in common with other countries. In addition, I will describe the

According to Arnold Van Gennep " we move from one status to another within the lifecycle, the life events and status changes that are typically experienced by individuals are commonly proclaimed to other members of society by formal rituals known as life crisis rites of passages". The main question is understanding why rite of passages are so important to countries culture. Certain rites of passages helps us grow into the person we become in today 's world. The reason why we celebrate these rituals are because in the eyes of society status changes is very important. Some things that are considered a rite of passage are christenings, puberty rituals, marriages, and funerals. There are four public ceremonies: celebrations of puberty( which mark the beginning of adulthood). marriages( which legalizes new sexual, economic and child bearing obligations). funerals( which celebrate the lost of human status by the deceased and restructure the ongoing social order). All of these play a huge role in the American customs. Specifically child birth, marriages, puberty rituals, and funerals are just some of the rites of passages that people go through. Using an etic and emic mindset helps you to understand not only your rite of passages, but other cultures rite of passages

Based on a study of 186 "traditional" cultures, Schlegel and Barry found that most had puberty rituals for adolescents. (Schlegel, Barry, 1991)Few people in the United States actually go through a puberty ritual, but America does have transitions.(Crapo, 2013) A few examples are receiving a drivers license during teenage years, graduating from high school, gaining the right to vote at the age of 18, becoming old enough to drink alcohol legally. Most rituals for boys to manhood is severe and painful. For example circumcision, scarification of the body, (decorating the body with a pattern made of scars. Marriage is another rite of passage that many people will do. In America people are getting married at an older age, than before. The median age of males that are getting married for the first time is 26 years, while females are over 23 years. ( Crapo, 2013) Most people in the United States actually marry someone who lives a few miles to them.(Crapo, 2013) Although the internet is one of the most popular things in today 's world, there 's only 3% of married people who met on the