trying2learn
Junior Member
Ethnocentrism in a multicultural country spells disaster. What is ethnocentrism you may ask? Ethnocentrism refers to the practice of seeing others through one’s own cultural values and norms. The following is an excerpt from one of my college papers:
“Multiculturalism is a source of anger for many Americans. People get very defensive of their cultures and in certain situations people do not understand other cultures therefore they fear the unknown. Often times people fear that they will lose their own culture if they allow another culture to be present in their lives and/or community. Ethnocentrism is the root of the issue when it comes to multiculturalism in the U.S. Ethnocentrism is defined by our textbook as “the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture” (Macionis). For example, in America it has become common practice for women to dress provocatively or semi-provocatively so therefore when an American sees a Muslim a woman wearing a hijab (head covering) and her body is covered to where only her hands and face are visible it seems strange and unfamiliar.
American discomfort with other cultures is not a new concept. For example in 1940’s America there was great discomfort towards Japanese-Americans, “This reached a peak during WWII, when Japanese-Americans were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, supposedly because of doubts about their loyalty (although German and Italian immigrants did not suffer such treatment)”(Hulsether). This one example, but other examples include Native Americans being forced to walk the trail of tears, people refusing to give Scotch-Irish immigrants jobs, slavery, to the more recent telling Muslims where they can and cannot build their mosques. “When Muslims-as well as other Asian immigrants-seek to build mosques or temples, they often face protests, the use of zoning laws, and vandalism” (Hulsether).
American media is a huge part of American culture. Immigrants coming into the U.S are shocked to see the amount of violence and sex that is showed on television. Another thing having to do with American media that has an influence over society and people’s opinions is that the “bad guys” in movies always reflect current issues. For example, in the 1980’s the “bad guys” were depicted as Russians, due to the cold war. Currently the “bad guys” are depicted as Muslims and/or Arabs. It is common in America for the media to “demonize” people whose culture is different than America’s.”
First and foremost many people have an attitude in America. I equate it to the rich bully in high school. The kid who acted better than everyone else, made snide comments to make you feel ugly, or stupid, and made fun of everything about you from your hair down to your shoes. It is one thing to love your country, and another thing entirely to love your country to the point where you elevate it to status of supremacy, over everyone, everything, every country, every culture…..there is only one Supreme Being and its God. Pride goeth before the fall.
Another thing that is forgotten is that America was built by immigrants. The pilgrims, the puritans all came to America to escape religious persecution. The older I get, the more I am convinced they must no longer teach this in the classroom, and with the older generation, it must be something they have forgotten. I like to point out that there was an Ellis Island, it’s in New York. Ellis Island is where the immigrants came through to come into America. On my grandmother’s side her father was French. His family name, prior to going through Ellis Island was DelaFleur, the workers at Ellis Island changed to Flowers. The workers took it upon themselves to change the family names to more “American” last names, mostly out of laziness, or illiteracy. It can make a person wonder, if they had family members come through there, what their last names SHOULD be. We are ALL descendants of immigrants in America, all except for the Native Americans. Some of us come from ancestors who CHOSE to move here, others ancestors were FORCED immigrants, but still immigrants none the less.
As far as culture goes, many Americans no longer practice the cultures or languages that their ancestors practiced. People marry for love, and mix cultures, and their children’s children no longer have that culture. In America, we have no “cultural garments” we have no “cultural ceremonies” that are just American. We have grasped something called pop culture. Our music, fashion, and movies define us. We assimilate with one another, in an attempt to not stand out.
When I go to the mall it is not odd to see girls and women walking around in clothes that look as if they are painted on, their mid-drifts showing, their thong underwear sticking out inches above their pants. It is common to see a boy/man with their pants/shorts underneath their rear end, exposing the entirety of their underwear. No one stops to stare; there are no pointed fingers and hushed whispers. Yet people see a woman walking around in an abaya and hijab and there are not only hushed whispers and pointed fingers there are loud comments and laughing. Why do we applaud the sexualization of females but shun the women who are modest about their bodies?
On television, print adds, and movies it is common to see half naked women. In America there is a saying: “sex sells”, therefore women are objectified. In music it is common to hear lyrics that refer to women as sexual objects and bad names. The girls of the younger generation are more focused on dressing sexy, and think it’s okay to be called names such as b***h, w***e, s**t, and I have heard girls as young as 10 saying that when they are old enough they want breast augmentation. I have also seen girls as young as 9 who have babies of their own. We are teaching girls that they are only worth what their bodies look like. Girls strive to fit into the cookie-cutter image of very thin, large chests, flawless skin, and revealing clothes. This unrealistic body image that is worshiped in America is an unattainable reality. But yet there are girls, teens, and women who develop eating disorders to try desperately to reach this goal.
So are we as American’s truly free? The government may grant certain freedoms, but we are ‘culturally’ strangling ourselves. Our culture is taking our freedoms. Do girls have the freedom to dress how they want, to love their bodies as they are, to have respect from the opposite sex? No. Oh, not everyone is like that, but there are A LOT who are. I remember once in high school a teacher called my generation ‘the generation who doesn’t care about anything’, she dreaded the upcoming generations and said that in her 40 years of teaching the generations are getting steadily worse. Someday my generation will lead our country, make the laws, and set the cultural norm. We need to start now, making changes for the better, correcting the problems as they arise, and proving that we do care. There is a saying that ‘you can’t teach old dogs new tricks’, it’s true, but if we can make a change now, imagine how our great-grandchildren will benefit from an America that truly does accept people who are different. Imagine our great-granddaughters not having to worry about if they are sexy at 10 years old. It’s all about respect.
I think we should stop slapping labels on people. I remember a teacher saying to my class “Never assume, it makes an ass of u and me”.
“Multiculturalism is a source of anger for many Americans. People get very defensive of their cultures and in certain situations people do not understand other cultures therefore they fear the unknown. Often times people fear that they will lose their own culture if they allow another culture to be present in their lives and/or community. Ethnocentrism is the root of the issue when it comes to multiculturalism in the U.S. Ethnocentrism is defined by our textbook as “the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture” (Macionis). For example, in America it has become common practice for women to dress provocatively or semi-provocatively so therefore when an American sees a Muslim a woman wearing a hijab (head covering) and her body is covered to where only her hands and face are visible it seems strange and unfamiliar.
American discomfort with other cultures is not a new concept. For example in 1940’s America there was great discomfort towards Japanese-Americans, “This reached a peak during WWII, when Japanese-Americans were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, supposedly because of doubts about their loyalty (although German and Italian immigrants did not suffer such treatment)”(Hulsether). This one example, but other examples include Native Americans being forced to walk the trail of tears, people refusing to give Scotch-Irish immigrants jobs, slavery, to the more recent telling Muslims where they can and cannot build their mosques. “When Muslims-as well as other Asian immigrants-seek to build mosques or temples, they often face protests, the use of zoning laws, and vandalism” (Hulsether).
American media is a huge part of American culture. Immigrants coming into the U.S are shocked to see the amount of violence and sex that is showed on television. Another thing having to do with American media that has an influence over society and people’s opinions is that the “bad guys” in movies always reflect current issues. For example, in the 1980’s the “bad guys” were depicted as Russians, due to the cold war. Currently the “bad guys” are depicted as Muslims and/or Arabs. It is common in America for the media to “demonize” people whose culture is different than America’s.”
First and foremost many people have an attitude in America. I equate it to the rich bully in high school. The kid who acted better than everyone else, made snide comments to make you feel ugly, or stupid, and made fun of everything about you from your hair down to your shoes. It is one thing to love your country, and another thing entirely to love your country to the point where you elevate it to status of supremacy, over everyone, everything, every country, every culture…..there is only one Supreme Being and its God. Pride goeth before the fall.
Another thing that is forgotten is that America was built by immigrants. The pilgrims, the puritans all came to America to escape religious persecution. The older I get, the more I am convinced they must no longer teach this in the classroom, and with the older generation, it must be something they have forgotten. I like to point out that there was an Ellis Island, it’s in New York. Ellis Island is where the immigrants came through to come into America. On my grandmother’s side her father was French. His family name, prior to going through Ellis Island was DelaFleur, the workers at Ellis Island changed to Flowers. The workers took it upon themselves to change the family names to more “American” last names, mostly out of laziness, or illiteracy. It can make a person wonder, if they had family members come through there, what their last names SHOULD be. We are ALL descendants of immigrants in America, all except for the Native Americans. Some of us come from ancestors who CHOSE to move here, others ancestors were FORCED immigrants, but still immigrants none the less.
As far as culture goes, many Americans no longer practice the cultures or languages that their ancestors practiced. People marry for love, and mix cultures, and their children’s children no longer have that culture. In America, we have no “cultural garments” we have no “cultural ceremonies” that are just American. We have grasped something called pop culture. Our music, fashion, and movies define us. We assimilate with one another, in an attempt to not stand out.
When I go to the mall it is not odd to see girls and women walking around in clothes that look as if they are painted on, their mid-drifts showing, their thong underwear sticking out inches above their pants. It is common to see a boy/man with their pants/shorts underneath their rear end, exposing the entirety of their underwear. No one stops to stare; there are no pointed fingers and hushed whispers. Yet people see a woman walking around in an abaya and hijab and there are not only hushed whispers and pointed fingers there are loud comments and laughing. Why do we applaud the sexualization of females but shun the women who are modest about their bodies?
On television, print adds, and movies it is common to see half naked women. In America there is a saying: “sex sells”, therefore women are objectified. In music it is common to hear lyrics that refer to women as sexual objects and bad names. The girls of the younger generation are more focused on dressing sexy, and think it’s okay to be called names such as b***h, w***e, s**t, and I have heard girls as young as 10 saying that when they are old enough they want breast augmentation. I have also seen girls as young as 9 who have babies of their own. We are teaching girls that they are only worth what their bodies look like. Girls strive to fit into the cookie-cutter image of very thin, large chests, flawless skin, and revealing clothes. This unrealistic body image that is worshiped in America is an unattainable reality. But yet there are girls, teens, and women who develop eating disorders to try desperately to reach this goal.
So are we as American’s truly free? The government may grant certain freedoms, but we are ‘culturally’ strangling ourselves. Our culture is taking our freedoms. Do girls have the freedom to dress how they want, to love their bodies as they are, to have respect from the opposite sex? No. Oh, not everyone is like that, but there are A LOT who are. I remember once in high school a teacher called my generation ‘the generation who doesn’t care about anything’, she dreaded the upcoming generations and said that in her 40 years of teaching the generations are getting steadily worse. Someday my generation will lead our country, make the laws, and set the cultural norm. We need to start now, making changes for the better, correcting the problems as they arise, and proving that we do care. There is a saying that ‘you can’t teach old dogs new tricks’, it’s true, but if we can make a change now, imagine how our great-grandchildren will benefit from an America that truly does accept people who are different. Imagine our great-granddaughters not having to worry about if they are sexy at 10 years old. It’s all about respect.
I think we should stop slapping labels on people. I remember a teacher saying to my class “Never assume, it makes an ass of u and me”.