ANTH 1120 Midterm Review Questions and Answers,100% CORRECT

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ANTH 1120 Midterm Review Questions and Answers Terms: Nature: Inspired by Charles Darwin (theory of evolution): – the belief that behaviors including intelligence are biologically based. Nurt... ure: • Margaret Mead’s research debunked that theory. • Identities are NOT biologically based but are learned and cultivated through socialization • Identity is always produced in the course of social interaction Anthropological Skills (toolkit) ; Our ability to conduct qualitative research -- including interviewing -- is an important part of the anthropologist's toolkit. So, it only makes sense that students use these skills in gathering information about potential future pursuits/careers. Culture; the system of meanings about the nature of experience that are shared by a people and passed on from one generation to another, including the meanings that people give to things, events, activities, and people. Ethnocentrism; the tendency to judge the beliefs and behaviours of other cultures from the perspective of one’s own culture. ethnocentric fallacy; the mistaken notion that the beliefs and behaviours of other cultures can be judged from the perspective of one’s own culture. cultural relativism; the effort to understand the beliefs and behaviours of other cultures in terms of the culture in which they are found relativistic fallacy; the idea that is impossible to make moral judgements about the beliefs and behaviours of members of other cultures armchair anthropology; refers to an approach to the study of various societies that dominated anthropology in the late 1800s. It involved the collection, study, and analysis of the writings of missionaries, explorers, and colonists who had sustained contact with non-Western peoples, comparisons, and generalizations about the ways of life of various groups participant observation; an element of fieldwork that can involve participating in daily tasks, and observing daily interactions among a particular group. ethnographic fieldwork; A research method in which sociocultural anthropologists have intensive, long-term engagements with a group of people. It may involve the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews, participant observation, and survey- based research ethnography; a written description and analysis of a particular group of people, usually based upon anthropological fieldwork socio-cultural anthropology; a comparative approach to the study of societies and cultures that focuses on differences and similarities in the ways that societies are structured and cultural meanings are created applied anthropology; anthropology refers to the application of the method and theory of anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems. ◆ Applied Anthropology refers to the application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve social problems. ◆ Applied anthropologists work for groups that promote, manage, and assess programs aimed at influencing human social conditions. social identity; the view that people have of their own and others’ positions in society. These learned personal and social affiliations may include gender, race, sexuality, nationalism, class, and ethnicity. Individuals seek confirmation from others that they occupy the positions on the social landscape that they claim to occupy. enculturation; the process through which individuals learn an identity. It can encompass parental socialization, the influence of peers, the mass media, government, and other forces. The process by which human beings living with one another learn to come to terms with the ways of thinking and feeing that are considered appropriate in their respective cultural contexts egocentric society egocentric; a view of the self that defines each person as a replica of all humanity, as the location of motivations and drives, and as capable of acting independently from others. Each person is seen to be a separate entity with characteristics that originate in the individual “Be true to yourself”, self reliance sociocentric society; sociocentric; a context-dependent view of self. The self exists as an entity only within the concrete situations or roles occupied by the person. identity is relational and depends on who one is with; This assumes that people are not autonomous but are part of a social context; Gender; culturally constructed ideals of behaviour, dress, occupations, roles, and comportment for particular sexes third gender; a gender role given to someone who does not fit within strictly masculine or feminine gender roles in a given society gender stratification; Gender stratification occurs when gender differences give men greater privilege and power over women, transgender, and gender-non-conforming people. - the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women hegemonic masculinity; refers to ideals and norms of masculinity in a society, which are often privileged over others rites of passage; the term coined in 1908 by Arnold van Gennep to refer to the category of rituals that accompany changes in status, such as the transition from boyhood to manhood, living to dead, or student to graduate. Three Stages: 1) Separation 2) Liminality 3) Reintegration Result => Communitas worldview; an encompassing picture of reality based on shared cultural assumptions about how the world works symbols; Symbolsarethebasisofculture.Asymbolisanobject,word,oractionthat standsforsomethingelsewithnonaturalrelationshipthatisculturalydefined. Everythingonedoesthroughoutheirlifeisbasedandorganizedthroughcultural symbolism.Symbolism iswhensomethingrepresentsabstractideasorconcepts.Some go dexamplesofsymbols/symbolism wouldbeobjects,figures,sounds,andcolors.For exampleintheHawaianculture,theperformanceofaLuaisasymboloftheirlandand heritagewhichisperformedthroughsonganddance metaphor; figures of speech in which linguistic expressions are taken from one area of experience and applied to another • Religious metaphor: “The Lord is my shepherd” • Spatial metaphors– feel up to it or feeling down/low, computer is down, crashed. • “You are my knight in shining armour”, “put your cards on the table”, “keeps the cards close to his chest” idiom; An idiom is a common word or phrase with a culturally understood meaning that differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest. For example, an English speaker would understand the phrase "kick the bucket" to mean "to die" – and also to actually kick a bucket. ritual; a dramatic rendering or social portrayal of meanings shared by a specific body of people in a way that makes them seem correct and proper (symbolic actions) myth; a story or narrative that portrays the meanings people give to their experience • A story that embodies a society’s assumptions and meanings as to the way society or the world in general must operate. • Origin myths – stories that tell about the beginnings of a people = Adam and Eve, Genesis, Aboriginal creation stories/myths revitalization movements; the term suggested by Anthony F.C. Wallace for attempts by a people to construct a more satisfying culture shaman; One who can interact and mediate with the spirit world on behalf of their community, usualy by exctatic trance techniques ( That is their spirit/soul leaves their physical body in order to travel to a world of pure spirit rather than physical matter) for the purposes of divination, information gathering, healing and to recieve wisdom. shamanism; refers to a spiritual belief system whereby spiritual practitioners, called “shamans,” enter into an altered state of consciousness to seek guidance from spiritual forces • Practitioners who claim to mediate between living human beings and the spirit world by drawing “on the powers in the natural world, including the powers of animals.” It’s important to understand the source of the powers of “shamans” which are this worldy. It could include altered states (“trance”) • There is no equivalent health professional in Western biomedicine, and the scope of the shaman as a healer extends beyond the capacities and expertise of physicians. syncretization; the term given to the combination of old beliefs or religions and new ones that are often introduced during colonization • The synthesis (blending) of old religious practices or an old way of life with new religious practices or a new way of life - Often instigated from outside, often by force Creole; a term used commonly to refer to the formation of slave societies in the Caribbean in which elements of African and European cultured were merged, blended, or combined into something uniquely Caribbean • Refers to the formation of slave societies in the Caribbean during which which elements of African and European cultures were merged, blended or combined into something uniquely Caribbean. (SA p. 120) • Heavily influenced by Yoruba West African traditions in Nigeria and Benin and can be found in Cuba, Haiti, Brazil and southern US – Louisiana. nation-state; a political community that has clearly defined territorial borders a centralized authority • Nation – comprised of cultural and political beliefs and values, norms, history and myths, language • State – a definable territory with infrastructural supports such as government (e.g. parliament), bureaucracy, military, police, judicial system nationalism ; the ‘world view’ of members of a nation-state 1) the process of forming and maintaining nations 2) a consciousness of belonging 3) language and symbolism of the nation 4) Ideology – a system of ideas and principles accepted by it’s followers (e.g. the nation) 5) A social and political movement to achieve the goals of the nation multiculturalism; a term that Eva Mackey defines as a Canadian policy in which all hyphenated cultures, such as African-Canadian and French-Canadian, are described and celebrated as part of a ‘cultural mosaic.’ Contrast with the ‘cultural melting pot’ image that is used in the U.S. • A system of beliefs and behaviours that recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in an organization or society, acknowledges and values their socio-cultural differences, and encourages and enables their continued contribution within an inclusive cultural context which empowers all within the organization or society. • “Melting Pot”; Metaphor for a society (e.g. The United States) where diversity of ethnic and other backgrounds, are supposed to blend together through assimilation to Anglo-European norm • Canadian –Canadian national identity needs Indigenous peoples to help provide the heritage and historical links to the land • Indigenous contributions to Canadian culture, identity and nation-building and Canadian “heritage” Sex = biological Gender = social/cultural Gender stratification (social/cultural) Heteronormativity = The ways in which the norms of masculinity in a society privilege one interpretation of gender identity over others. Reciprocity as a form of exchange • Generalized reciprocity – value of what is exchanged isn’t carefully calculated (friends, family) • Balanced reciprocity – norms about giving, accepting and reciprocating (receiving something in return) expectation - gift of equal value Invented Traditions; “a set of practices normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual or symbolic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behavior by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past” Three innovations; • Public primary education – school, colleges, universities • Public ceremonies (Bastille day, Independence Day, Canada Day) • Mass production of public monuments Ethnic cleansing ;is the forced removal or expulsion by all means possible of an ethnically or religiously different group from a territory, with the ultimate aim to expel or eliminate altogether. Ethnocide – the attempt to destroy the culture of another people Genocide - The “intent to destroy” – not “intent to remove” • Negative reciprocity – receive more than they exchange (hard bargaining, cleverness or cheating) Colonialism; Ecstatic religion ; States of spirit possession, in which believers feel themselves to be ‘possessed’ by the deity and raised to a new plane of existence Political authority became rooted in the concept of nations • Groups of people believed they shared the same history, culture and language and even physical substances like blood • Sovereignty/independence movements - the authority of a people to govern themselves Short Answer Questions 1. Identify and briefly define two sub-disciplines of anthropology. Archaeology; examines peoples and cultures of the past. It is the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains. Cultural anthropology; a major division of anthropology that deals with the study of culture in all of its aspects and that uses the methods, concepts, and data of archaeology, ethnography and ethnology, folklore, and linguistics in its descriptions and analyses of the diverse peoples of the world. 2. Identify and briefly define two branches of socio-cultural anthropology. 1. medical anthropology - subfield that draws upon social, cultural, biological, and linguistic anthropology to better understand those factors which influence health and well-being, the experience and distribution of illness, the prevention and treatment of sickness, healing processes, the social relations of therapy management, and the cultural importance and utilization of pluralistic medical systems. 2. law and society - subdivision that specializes in the cross-cultural study of social ordering - Legal anthropologists seek to answer concern how is law present in cultures? How does it manifest? - understand the relationship between legal processes and other aspects of social, cultural, economic, and political life as well as the meanings and implications of legal practices on their own terms. 3. political ecology - It tended toward overly structuralized explanations, focusing on the role of individual economic relationships in the maintenance of social order - Political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes - PE focuses on issues of power, recognizing the importance of explaining environmental impacts on cultural processes without separating out political and economic contexts. 4. applied anthropology - Applied anthropology uses the theories, methods, and ethnographic findings of anthropology to solve human problems. - application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve social problems. - Applied anthropologists work for groups that promote, manage, and assess programs aimed at influencing human social conditions. 3. Identify and briefly explain two challenges in doing fieldwork. Funding and permission, and the receptivity of the culture being studied, like Margaret mead when she initially arrived 4. Identify and briefly explain two steps in the fieldwork process. developing a research question by asking people what their problems are then developing your question around that and getting the funding and permissions, research equipment and research proposal approved. 5. Provide two examples of jobs that an applied anthropologist might hold and briefly explain how these demonstrate ‘applied anthropology’. government informant and marketer 6. What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research? Qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative research. Some common methods include focus groups (group discussions), individual interviews, and participation/observations. The sample size is typically small, and respondents are selected to fulfil a given quota. Quantitative Research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. It is used to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and other defined variables – and generalize results from a larger sample population. Quantitative Research uses measurable data to formulate facts and uncover patterns in research. Quantitative data collection methods are much more structured than Qualitative data collection methods. Quantitative data collection methods include various forms of surveys – online surveys, paper surveys, mobile surveys and kiosk surveys, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, longitudinal studies, website interceptors, online polls, and systematic observations. 7. What do naming practices in different societies reveal about their views of self? Naming practices in societies reveals how people perceive themselves as and their relations to others and their culture. The name an individual is given demonstrates the important aspects of themselves, defined by their culture. Some people are named after an event their culture may consider important, or after someone in the family. Some cultures like the one Rajputs follow a cultural tradition established by their ancestors where every first-born male of the family gets the name of their fathers passed down, and they take pride in that. Whereas, the western society is completely the opposite; North Americans include personal and last names, as well as business titles. Having “our” own name is very important to us in the West. The naming will tell you that social groups view as importance. And usually represent a sociocentric community. 8. What is the difference between an emic and etic perspective? Emic and etic are two different approaches when trying to explain social realities observed while conducting fieldwork in anthropology and other social sciences. Etic perspective is the perspective of the observer. The researcher. In this approach, the researcher is trying to explain the social realities they observe using the theoretical apparatus of social sciences. Emic perspective is the perspective of the studied social group. In this approach, the perspectives, explanations, logic, meanings, beliefs and worldview of the studied people are used to explain the particular values, beliefs or practices. This is the way the actual people understand what they do and think. These approaches may contradict each other in some conclusions but they are not mutually exclusive and good ethnography should include both. 9. What is the difference between a commodity and a gift? Commodity-exchange (or market exchange) are transactions with a low degree of sociability and a high degree of impersonality among exchange participants. In cases of commodity exchange, the economic value of items that are transacted is very important, while social relations are subordinated. Commodity-exchange is a transaction that usually takes place among strangers where the exchange transaction enforces no lasting social obligation or personal relationship. It is therefore assumed to be a commercial transaction devoid of almost all social considerations. After the exchange transaction is over, the transactors are not obliged to have any further mutual social relation or obligation. Gift exchange is transacted when exchange parties want to establish some kind of relationship. Gift creates reciprocal relationship between the giver and the receiver while economic value is subordinated: The exchange of presents did not serve the same purpose as trade or barter in more developed communities. The purpose that it did serve was a moral one. The object of the exchange was to produce a friendly feeling between the two persons concerned, and unless it did this, it failed its purpose (Mauss). By accepting a gift, the receiver becomes invariably indebted to the giver, and has social and moral obligation to return the gift. The purpose of giving and accepting gifts is therefore to create and to cement social relationships among members of society. 10. Provide 2 examples of how North Americans transform commodities into gifts. Through appropriation, commodities are turned into possessions and gifts. Thinking of two identical objects as unique and an expression of identity is another form of appropriation. Endorsements and stamping products with a distinct identity are ways that producers help aid in the process of converting a commodity and then preparing it. -buying food from the supermarket and then preparing it -taking impersonal space rented apartment and decorating and modifying it; meaning they have appropriated it and given it a meaning 11. Identify and briefly explain two key features or characteristics of rituals. A ritual is a dramatic rendering or social portrayal of meaning shared by a specific body of people in a way that makes them seem correct and proper. One key feature of ritual is that it contains a performance, presentation or dramatization aspect. From Vodou birthday rituals, to the Kwakwaka’wakw’s Hamatsa dance, to the rituals of contemporary magic covens, rituals act as symbolic actions, performed to depict key metaphors/beliefs within a culture and to teach participants how to experience he world as if their forces, gods, and spirits were real. The Hamatsa dance, for example, where a youth is initiated into the society by embodying Hamatsa, a ravenous cannibal spirit, dramatizes the key metaphor of hunger within the Kwakwaka’wakw society and helps them understand and overcome it. For the Kwkwaka’wakw, the Hamatsa is the ultimate projection of the power of hunger, and his desire for human flash is a manifestation of the forces that can destroy society. The participants in the ritual, by symbolically taming the hunger of the Hamatsa, are asserting their oral responsibility to control greed and conflict. Another feature of ritual is that it is communal, designed to unite a group that share the same worldview, and strengthen their belief. For example, in contemporary magic, where rituals focus on visualization and meditation, groups collectively focus on a single image/desire (e.g. curing someone) and are often overtaken with ‘mystical experiences’ such as experiencing physical sensations or a sense of overwhelming connectedness and love that make them believe in magic even more. These experiences are in reality a result of the collective participation in the ritual itself, and not a confirmation of their particular worldview. • Ritual - a repetitive social practice set apart from everyday routine that is composed of symbolic activities such as a dance, song, speech, the manipulation of objects (e.g. sacred texts, incense, etc. ) • Rituals are set off from the the social routines of everyday life • Members of a society can tell what a sequence of ritual activities means by watching/participating in them – they are performed • Rituals are closely connected to a set of ideas that are important for a society/culture: the nature of evil, how people should behave towards one another, etc. • They are not only religious or life events like weddings, religious ceremonies but can include graduation and birthdays. Identify and briefly explain two metaphors 12. Why is Evan’s Pritchard’s analysis of witchcraft (among the Azande) considered ground- breaking? Evans-Pritchard'sWitchcraft,OraclesandMagicAmongtheAzandeisthefirstmajoranthropological contributiontothesociologyofknowledgethroughitsneutral— somewouldsay"relativist"— stanceonthe"correctnes"ofZandebeliefsaboutcausation.Hisworkfocusedinonaknown psychologicaleffectknownaspsychologicalatributio .Evans-Pritchardrecordedthetendenciesof Azandestoblameoratributewitchcraftasthecauseofvariousmis-hap enings.Themostnotable oftheseisuesinvolvedthedeathsofeightAzandepeopleduetothecolapseofatermiteinfested dorframe. An individual’s behavior can be guided by the knowledge that wrongdoing might likely result in retaliatory witchcraft. Additionally, cognizance that jealous or hostile behavior might place one in a position of being suspect should misfor- tune occur might lead one to be quite circumspect. Wishing to be neither suspect nor victim, the Azande possess, in witchcraft, both an effective sanction against socially disruptive behavior and a vehicle for handling hostility. The Azande are perhaps better known for their pervasive belief in witchcraft than for any other aspect of their culture. Witchcraft is thought to be an actual physical property residing inside some individuals, who may themselves be unaware of their power. It is inherited, passed from father to son and mother to daughter. Azande believe that if the soul of the father is more powerful, the child conceived will be a boy; if the mother’s soul substance is greater, their child will be a girl. Thus, although every child is a product of both parents, each also has more of one particular parent’s soul. And if that parent is a witch, inheriting this inherent power to do harm is inevitable. Because this property is organic, it grows as a person grows. Therefore an older witch is a more dangerous witch. Children, whose witchcraft substance is small, are never accused of major acts of harm (such as murder). They can, how- ever, cause minor misfortunes for other children. 13. Identify and briefly explain two key symbolic actions of Rastafarianism. 1. Marijuana: The Weed of Wisdom Ganja is considered the “wisdom weed” by Rastafarians, as its use helps one to gain wisdom. Rastafarians use it as a part of a religious rite and as a means of getting closer to their inner spiritual self, Jah (God) and Creation. It was alleged that it was found growing on the grave of King Solomon and citing biblical passages, such as Psalms 104:14, to attest to its sacramental properties: "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth." True Rastafarians do not smoke cigarettes as it is seen as un-natural and dangerous to one’s health. Marijuana is not the only plant or herb used by Rastafarians. They use a wide variety of herbs, plants for medicinal and dietary purposes, however, ganja is the most popular. 2. "Ital" Diet and Dreadlocks A set of dietary and hygienic laws were formulated to accompany the religion's doctrine. They urged their flocks to shun the ingestion of alcohol, tobacco, all meat (especially pork), as well as shellfish, scaleless fish, snails, predatory and scavenger species of marine life, and many common seasonings like salt. In short, anything that was not "ital," a Rasta term meaning pure, natural or clean, was forbidden. They also outlawed was the combing or cutting of hair, citing the holy directive in Leviticus 21:5: "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh." Their nappy tresses were allowed to mat and twine themselves into ropy dreadlocks, so called to mock non- believers' aversion to their appearance. (The noun "dread" has also since evolved into a word of praise.) 14. How are Wovoka and the Ghost Dance an example of a revitalization movement? Yes because during a solar eclipse, Wovoka, a shaman of the Northern Paiute tribe, had a vision where he claimed that God had appeared to him in the guise of a Native American and had revealed to him a bountiful land of love and peace, Wovoka founded a spiritual movement called the Ghost Dance. He prophesied the reuniting of the remaining Indian tribes of the West and Southwest and the banishment of all evil from the world. By the end of the nineteenth century, due to a series of forced removals and brutal massacres at the hands of white settlers and the US Army, the native population of North America had dwindled to a mere fraction of what it had once been. Because forced assimilation had nearly destroyed Native American culture, some tribal leaders attempted to reassert their sovereignty and invent new spiritual traditions. The most significant of these was the Ghost Dance, pioneered by Wovoka, a shaman of the Northern Paiute tribe. The massacre at Wounded Knee, during which soldiers of the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment indiscriminately slaughtered hundreds of Sioux men, women, and children, marked the definitive end of Indian resistance to the encroachments of white settlers. War of 1812 exhibit at the War Museum“Experience the War of 1812 on-line from the perspective of each of its major participants—Americans, the British, Canadians (including Canadian First Peoples), and Native Americans. Using historic objects and images, this virtual exhibition allows you to draw your own conclusions and share your own perspective on a major historical event.” Revitalization movements are deliberate ritualized efforts to construct a more satisfying life based on an idealized past. 15. Identify and briefly explain two key features of Benedict Anderson’s definition of the nation. The nation is an imagined community, it is imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign. Even in not in face-to-face interaction, a sense of community and nationalism is culturally constructed by forces such as mass media. Nation is collection of people who share common language, worldview and ancestry Anderson defines the nation as, “an imagined political community – and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign…It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion” (Anderson, B., 1983, p.6). “The nation is imagined as limited because even the largest of them, encompassing perhaps a billion living human beings, has finite, if elastic, boundaries, beyond which lie other nations. No nation imagines itself coterminous with mankind…It is imagined as sovereign because the concept was born in an age in which the Enlightenment and Revolution were destroying the legitimacy of the divinely-ordained, hierarchical dynastic realm…Finally, it is imagined as a communitybecause, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may occur in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep horizontal comradeship” 16. Identify one category of ‘others’ in national identity narratives and briefly explain why they are important to these narratives. The category of ‘other’ in a national identity narrative plays a huge role in defining that national identity. As a nation, people not only identify themselves through common features, characteristics and beliefs, but also through what they are not. For example, one category of ‘others’ in Canadian national narratives are often the Indian settlers, who inhabited Canada long before the arrival of the European settlers. This identification of them as ‘others’ defines Indians as non-Canadian, creating a distinct separation between Indian-Canadian and ‘just’ Canadian. • Other – anyone who is separate from oneself (psychoanalytic definition) • Othering - (Gayatri Spivak, 1985) how imperial or colonial discourse creates its Others (anthropological definition) Longer Answer Questions: 1. 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 Guinea where 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 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. 2. 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, that 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 anthroplogist’s perspectives. Horace Miner uses a unique approach to help us (Americans) realize different things about our culture. This story is trying to get us to look at our own culture from the outside sine we are always thinking we are normal but other cultures are very strange. When in reality, we are just as strange as other cultures are to us. I feel that Miner wants us to realize that we should learn to respect other culture’s beliefs, lifestyles, and daily rituals even when they seem odd to us. Body Ritual Among the Nacirema can also be related to the article from the Inquiry reader Shakespeare in the Bush in the sense that people are the same everywhere because of our perceptions but most of all because of our inability to see our own short comings. Withtheuseofextreme,exotic,andstrangelanguage,hemadepeople believethathewellknown"american(Nacirema)"peoplewerenotnormal.He madeapointhatethnocentrism tarnishesafairviewbecauseyouareinclined tojudgeanotherculturethatisntlikeyours.It'smerelyimposivleto understandoreportonesculturewithanethnocentricfallacy 3. What is cultural relativism? What are its strengths and challenges for anthropologists? Cultural relativismis the idea that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another. Cultural relativism is widely accepted in modern anthropology. Cultural relativists believe that all cultures are worthy in their own right and are of equal value. Diversity of cultures, even those with conflicting moral beliefs, is not to be considered in terms of right and wrong or good and bad. Today’s anthropologist considers all cultures to be equally legitimate expressions of human existence, to be studied from a purely neutral perspective. Advantages Cultural relativism creates a society without judgment. We are so trained to judge others in today’s world that we don’t even give it a second thought. Looking at someone and saying, “Glad that isn’t me,” is a judgment. Under the theory of cultural relativism, judgment goes away. The only person that judges you is yourself. People who might disagree with you are able to set their own codes and standards for their own individualistic bubble. Instead of worrying about others, you only worry about yourself. It stops cultural conditioning. People tend to adapt their attitudes, thoughts, and beliefs to the people they are with on a regular basis. This is cultural conditioning and it prevents people from having an individualistic perspective. Cultural relativism stops this. It preserves human cultures. Humanity is a very diverse set of thoughts, traditions, ideas, and practices. Many times, the traditions of humanity are set aside so that a group set of standards can be appeased. Native and First Nations tribes in North America did this by signing treaties which would help them to preserve some lands, but limit their rights by being subject to a new governmental authority. They were forced to trade some of their culture. Under the theory of cultural relativism, such a trade would not be necessary. It wouldn’t even be a consideration. Disadvantages . It could promote a lack of diversity. Cultural relativism promotes an individualistic point of view, so although it seems to promote diversity, it actually removes it from a society. Cultural relativism would allow slavery to return to the US South. It would allow men to exclude women from voting once again. It would stop employers from paying someone a fair wage – or even paying them a wage at all. The only standards that are in place are those which are set by the individual involved, which means everyone is pursuing their own position of strength. We cannot create diversity when the emphasis of a society is individualistic gain that can come at the expense of others. It could limit humanity’s progress. We often think of the concept of cultural relativism as progression, but it isn’t necessarily that way. When you remove the ability to judge one standard from another, then the comparative process of placing a current society or culture against a past one is removed as well. No definition of success can be implemented because each is successful in its own way. We might consider the ability for women to vote as the “right” thing to do today, but in past societies, not allowing women to vote was also “right” from a cultural standpoint. Because both are “right,” there’s no way to judge progress. It creates a system that is fueled by personal bias. Every society has a certain natural bias to it because of how humanity operates. People tend to prefer to be with others who have similar thoughts and feelings, so they segregate themselves into neighborhoods, communities, and social groups that share specific perspectives. When people are given the power to define their own moral code, then they will do so based on their own personal bias. There is no longer a group perspective. People follow their own code at the expense of others. 4. How might we view Canadian hockey as a ‘cultural text’? Cultural texts are those objects, actions, and behaviors that reveal cultural meanings. Canadian hockey is a cultural text as it carries specific meaning about the Canadian 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 cultural 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 for the sport of hockey as it defines the beliefs and values of Canadian citizens and our love of the game and its cultural background. The sport of ice hockey became popular on the rivers, lakes, and ponds of Canada in the late 19th century. It likely evolved from field hockey, which has been played in Northern Europe for centuries. Although it would become a professional sport indoors, the outdoor game, known as pond hockey, became a winter tradition for Canadians across the country. According to Clifford Geertz, how might we think of the Balinese cockfight as a cultural text? "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight" is one of Clifford Geertz's most influential articles which illustrates not only the meaning of a given cultural phenomenon, the Balinese cockfight, but also Geertz's interpretative approach that sees a culture as a set of texts to be read by the anthropologist. Geertz shows how the Balinese cockfight serves as a cultural text which embodies, at least a portion of, what the real meaning of being Balinese is. 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. In Bali, cockfighting is considered very symbolic to the culture since the term ‘cock’ can be considered as a warrior /hero. It is more than just two men or animals fighting when Balinese men come together for a match. From Geertz observations, the cockfight matches represent a man’s ego. This concept may seem aggressive by outsiders, such as us readers, however it can be grasped that the Balinese society is a structure that involves many rules, gambling, and hierarchy’s. 5. What does the video “Margaret Mead and Samoa” tell us about fieldwork? The video shows us that fieldwork is subjected to interpretation and cannot be 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 their studies 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. 7. The film “We are all Neighbors” is a film about the impact of war on social relations in Bosnia. What does the film tell us about the relationship between violence and nationalism? • The formation of the nation-state is fundamentally tied to violence and conflict. • State-sponsored violence often includes actions other than killing: e.g. symbolic forms of violence, and (punishable) categories of people identified as “terrorists”, “insurgents”, “rebels”, “illegal migrants”, “refugees” • Theauthorchalengestheap roachesthatse nationalism asbeinginherently linkedwithviolenceanddemonstratesthatnationalistideologybyitselfisrarelya maincauseofhostileacts. • Nationalism provokes “national enemies” and their foreign allies, generates biased strategic assumptions, creates domestic interest groups that favor war, permits the suppression of opposition groups, and promotes “nationalist bidding wars.” When these processes exist, nationalism should increase the probability of war initiation. • The outbreak of war on the territory of the formerly socialist state of Yugoslavia at the beginning of the 1990s and even more so the subsequent appearance of violence on a mass scale surprised both the international public and most [1] The violence was legitimised and structured along the lines of Antagonistic interactions with large components of violence and other forms of coercion tend to produce identities incorporating toughness in resisting coercion and in imposing it on others. Members of the group who act tough are then celebrated by other members of their group and held up as models to be emulated as exemplars to people in their camp. At the same time, members of the opposing side are likely to be seen as cruel and vicious and bearing hatred. Such views hamper transformation of an intractable conflict, since people in the other camp will tend to reciprocate the hostile behavior and ways of characterizing people. 8. Is gender a biological fact? Why or why not? The politics of gender continues to facilitate complex discourse of why, when and how gender is constructed and has attracted a plethora of theories. ntheOxfordEnglishDictionary,gende isdefinedas,"[i]nmod[ern](esp[escialy]feminist)use,a euphemism forthesexofahumanbeing,oftenintendedtoemphasizethesocialandcultural,as oposedtothebiological,distinctionsbetwe nthesexes.",withtheearliestexamplecitedbeing from 1963 "Gender refers to the socially constructed characteristics of women and men, such as norms, roles, and relationships of and between groups of women and men. It varies from society to society and can be changed." Gender is not a biological fact, but a choice to be made once your sex has been 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. Gender is rather performative and is seen according to Butler, as attitudes and behaviors that change over time. "Gender reality is performative which means, quite simply, that it is real only to the extent that it is performed." Butler stresses on the view that "gender is not a fact" and our gendered attitudes are not something fixed and permanent, but rather something that is flexible and fluid, something that is not determined by traditionalists. "Gender is not a fact, the various acts of gender is, thus, a construction that regularly conceals its genesis." Therefore it is almost impossible for someone to display the mannerisms and behavior associated with masculinity, if they identify and express as feminine beings, even if they are biologically male. This can be seen in many documented cases of transgender children and adults, who perform a certain gender, one that was not assigned to them at birth. 9. 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 are males 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 The third gender of ‘Fa’afafine’ has always existed within Samoan society, and when translated literally means ‘in the manner of’ (fa’a) ‘woman’ (fafine). Fa’afafines have a very specific role in Samoan society, an interesting contrast to transgenderism in Western society, which is yet to be widely accepted. The recognition of this third gender is not a recent occurrence: Pre-Christian Samoans accepted and acknowledged that every individual, man or woman, had a separate role in society. Hence, it is still acceptable today for a male child to be feminine, for example. Boys who display marked effeminate behavior in childhood are recognized to be Fa’afafines and are fully accepted within their families and society. it is important to delineate the difference between the fa’afafine and the Western concept of homosexuals. In Samoa, the words “gay” or “homosexual” are inexistent. Oppressive cultures in other parts of the world consider homosexuality as unnatural and people who have identified themselves as homosexuals are often perceived with contempt and discrimination. But the Samoan culture is different. Instead, the fa’afafine is a true third gender with an established identity and role that first emerged at least during the early 20th century. Researchers often replace the word homosexuality with the word androphilia to describe a universal homosexual-like sexual orientation and behaviours. 10. Explain how a collective identity may be created through conflict and struggle. a successful collective identity, as a cultural artefact, is the outcome of a power struggle (not just an interactive negotiation process) among different groups and individuals that try to acquire the « monopoly to be able to make and make others believe, to publicize and make others recognize, to impose the legitimate definition of the divisions of the social world and, therefore, to be able to make and dissolve groups. They have the power to impose a vision of the social world […] and particularly of the identity and unity of the group » 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. 11. What must anthropologists focus on when examining the formation of social movements, according to Clark’s research on CONAIE in Ecuador? • Collective group actions in response to uneven development, inequality and injustice. 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 • The changing and shifting of classes over time. even if the social movement is not really associated with class Historical/economic context A wider view (you can't look at subaltern projects in isolation) relations between dominant and subordinate groups are identified/associated with contention and conflict 12. 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. 13. Why are zombie stories and 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. They convey how we see the world today. Why are zombies suddenly popular? Why, unlike vampires, are they barely recognizable as human? Metaphors for possible violence, jobs, and or consumerism. They illustrate and combine issues within society. By in large, zombie stories are good to think with because they are a metaphorical exploration of the fear and desires of individuals in the global, capitalist economy. 14. According to Comaroff and Comaroff, what do increased reports of witchcraft and magic tell us about the post-apartheid worldview of some South Africans? • Witchcraft: The practice of magic, whether intentional or not • Magic – a set practices designed to control the visible or invisible world for particular purposes These occult beliefs are a reflection of post-colonial Africa’s need to express their new-found ideas about power and economics. The use of witchcraft is allows the people of South Africa to assert control over their economic status without having the means to produce the economic stability they seek. “post-colonial Africa is replete with accounts of the way in which the rich and powerful use monstrous means and freaking familiars to appropriate the life force of their lesser compatriots in order to strengthen themselves or to satisfy consuming passions”(282) 15. How did the worldview of Rastafarianism evolve in relation to social, economic and political conditions? Rastafarianism is an afro-centric religious and social movement based in the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Stemming from the roots of Rastafari in rising against the post-colonial oppression of poor blacks, Rastas typically come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Rastafarianism developed in Jamaica in the 1930s among working-class black people. It began in part as a social stand against whites and the middle-classes, whom the Rastafarians saw as oppressors. Among their grievances, the Rastafarians believed that by being taken to the Caribbean by slave traders they had been robbed of their African heritage, which they sought to recapture and celebrate. The Rastafari movement, or Rasta, takes the Bible as its sacred text, but interprets it in an Afro-centric way in order to reverse what Rastas see as changes made to the text by white powers. Rastafaris,beforeitisanythingelse,awayoflife.Itoffersaproachesand answerstorealproblemsblackpeoplefaceindailyliving;itpromotespiritual resilienceinthefaceofopresivepovertyandunderdevelopment.Itproduces art,musicandculturalforms,whichcanbeuniversalyrecognizedand apreciated.Moreimportant,Rastafariprovidesapositiveself-image,an alternativetopeoplewhonedandcanotfindoraceptoneelsewhere.Even withitsblackfoundationandorientation,Rastafarianismisopentoanyone,of anyrace,whochosestodiscoverandisabletoaceptit. Sinceitsfoundinginthe1930s,theRastafarianmovementhasgrowntothe pointwhereithasbecomeamajorculturalandpoliticalforceinJamaica. Duringitsexistence,themovementhaschalengedJamaica'sneo-colonialist society'satemptstokepwhitesathetopandblacksathebotomofthe socio-economicstructure. Since its existence, this nation has seen a series of revolutions and riots in efforts to reverse the unjust social, economic, and political conditions. The most influential of these revolutionary efforts contributed to the formation of Jamaica’s very own religious movement, Rastafarianism. With oppression serving as one of the driving forces for the Rastafari Movement, it is understandable why its followers are so adamant about professing their ideologies, beliefs and practices. The central language used to express the grievances of Rastafarians is known globally as the music genre, Reggae. It is not merely coincidental that the country pregnant with such radical motives also gave birth to its own music brand. By examining the music of artists such as Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Luciano and more, we can deduce that Reggae music served and continues to serve as the most prominent vehicle for the spread of Rastafarianism. Rastafarians have no real place to go and worship because they believe God lives in them anyway. They do not believe in an afterlife but think they will eventually live in Africa. Few Rastas are believed to be immortal, a situation which they call everliving. Rastafarians believe in smoking cannabis, a sacrament that cleans the mind, brings them pleasure and closer to their god Jah. This has led to conflicts between Rastas and governments in many countries, where growing and smoking marijuana is illegal. Rastas, however, claim that it is part of the African culture. Most Rastas are vegetarians, or vegans. They eat raw food, mostly fruit and vegetables. They avoid eating meat and drinking alcohol, coffee and milk. Rastafarians consider their food as I-tal , which means pure and clean. Wearing dreadlocks is strongly associated with the Rastafarian way of life. They view it as something spiritual because the Bible forbids cutting your hair. Dreadlocks also symbolize a lion’s mane. The animal represents strength and power. Green, gold and red are important colors in the Rastafarian movement. They are the colors of the Ethiopian flag and show loyalty to King Haile Selassie. Red is a symbol of the blood of the blacks who were killed throughout history, green represents Ethiopia’s beauty and vegetation and gold symbolizes the richness of Ethiopia. 16. Identify and briefly explain three factors that have contributed to the formation of the nation-state and/or national consciousness. 17. What is print capitalism and what was its impact on nation building? • Began with the invention of Gutenberg printing press (1454) • Development of vernaculars and a common language (other than Latin/bible) • Dissemination of information, religious tracts (helped to inspire the Reformation) through newsprint and mass production of books • National consciousness transcended immediate boundaries of village, town and state • It is a theory that states that due to invention of printing and further modification in it it was possible to circulate books and articles in many vernacular languages which were earlier limited to certain major languages ( For ex - Latin in Europe, English in India), Capitalist entrepreneurs printed their books and media in the vernaculars in order to maximize circulation. • This led to the emergence of common discourse and common understanding in among people speaking various local dialects of the same vernacular language, which ultimately led the the formation of nation- state on the basis of that vernacular language. (for ex France , Germany etc.) • This term was coined by Benedict Anderson and he has explained it in his book ‘Imagined communities’ published in 1983. People are becoming more literate and reading newspapers on a daily basis in order to share information. Since they don't want to learn Latin, the printers acquiesce to the demands of the consumers and newspapers are printed in local languages. This unifies several dialects into one printing language read by everyone, who start to see themselves as connected. As people go through the same daily ritual of buying the same newspaper and reading the same information in the same language, they start to picture themselves as not disparate populations, but one unified whole. They start to imagine a community. This, according to Anderson, is the root of the nation-state. Print media (particularly newspapers) was the foundation that allowed people to start seeing themselves as a unified nation. Since printing languages were developed in response to the demands of consumers (who purchased so many Bibles in vernacular languages), Anderson calls this entire idea print capitalism. Print-capitalism aceleratesthedevelopmentofthestatelanguage.Thelanguageofstateleadsto theself-consciousexistence.Languageisthehometownofthehumanbeings.Thelanguageofstate isrelatedtotheofficialnationalism,officialnationalism isrelatedtothedevelopmentofmodern countries.Afterthelanguageofnationisadoptedbytheprint-capitalism,theprint-languagecomes trueanditinventsnationalism. Print-capitalism iscloselyrelatedtothefunctionofthepres.Newspapersplaycrucialrolein constructingtheimaginedcommunity,itcon ectdifferenthingstogether,andpeoplesimultaneously consumethenewspaperasfiction.Theprint-languagesestablishthebasesfornational consciousneses,thecombinationofprintechnologyandcapitalism makestheinfluenceof newspaperpowerful. 18. According to Mackey, what is the place of indigenous peoples in the national narrative of Canada? Biological anthropology focuses on human beings as one of the great multitude of organisms that inhabit the earth. Biological anthropologists can specialize into areas including primatology, paleontology, and forensic anthropology. Linguistic anthropology examines the relationship between language and culture. They are interested in how people use language, both in a physical sense with regard to how communication is structured, and in a historical sense with regard to how different languages have developed and spread throughout history. Biological anthropology focuses on human beings as one of the great multitude of organisms that inhabit the earth. Biological anthropologists can specialize into areas including primatology, paleontology, and forensic anthropology. Linguistic anthropology examines the relationship between language and culture. They are interested in how people use language, both in a physical sense with regard to how communication is structured, and in a historical sense with regard to how different languages have developed and spread throughout history. Biological anthropology focuses on human beings as one of the great multitude of organisms that inhabit the earth. Biological anthropologists can specialize into areas including primatology, paleontology, and forensic anthropology. Linguistic anthropology examines the relationship between language and culture. They are interested in how people use language, both in a physical sense with regard to how communication is structured, and in a historical sense with regard to how different languages have developed and spread throughout history. Biological anthropology focuses on human beings as one of the great multitude of organisms that inhabit the earth. Biological anthropologists can specialize into areas including primatology, paleontology, and forensic anthropology. Linguistic anthropology examines the relationship between language and culture. They are interested in how people use language, both in a physical sense with regard to how communication is structured, and in a historical sense with regard to how different languages have developed and spread throughout history. Biological anthropology focuses on human beings as one of the great multitude of organisms that inhabit the earth. Biological anthropologists can specialize into areas including primatology, paleontology, and forensic anthropology. Linguistic anthropology examines the relationship between language and culture. They are interested in how people use language, both in a physical sense with regard to how communication is structured, and in a historical sense with regard to how different languages have developed and spread throughout history. Linguistic anthropology examines the relationship between language and culture. They are interested in how people use language, both in a physical sense with regard to how communication is structured, and in a historical sense with regard to how different languages have developed and spread throughout history. Aboriginal people function as necessary players in the nationalist myths; they are the colorful recipients of benevolence, the necessary 'others' who reflect back white Canada's self-image of tolerance. Canada's mythologized kindness to the Aboriginal people was an important element in developing a national identity based on the notion of difference from the USA—a difference that was tied to the idea of Canadian tolerance. The presence of multiculturalism and First Nations people is necessary for the larger project of building Canadian identity as a whole, and for the strategic management of Canadian politics. Thus, Aboriginal people who had earlier disappeared from the development of the nation, re- appear to help create harmony with the land. The inclusion of Aboriginal people in the Canadian Museum of Civilization is to reaffirm the notion that Canada has a long history of benevolent forms of justice and tolerance Aboriginal people are still subordinate to and subsumed within the project of nation building. The film cannibal tours reflect ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. The Italian tourists were being ethnocentric by thinking abut how different other people are because they live in nature, their analysis is problematic because they don’t the others don’t have to worry about anything else since their life seems simpler. They do not practice cultural relativism by putting themselves in the Cannibal people’s shoes and taking into account the difficulties they face. The Italians privileged their own values and culture without trying to understand the others. The film cannibal tours reflect ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. The Italian tourists were being ethnocentric by thinking abut how different other people are because they live in nature, their analysis is problematic because they don’t the others don’t have to worry about anything else since their life seems simpler. They do not practice cultural relativism by putting themselves in the Cannibal people’s shoes and taking into account the difficulties they face. The Italians privileged their own values and culture without trying to understand the others. The film cannibal tours reflect ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. The Italian tourists were being ethnocentric by thinking abut how different other people are because they live in nature, their analysis is problematic because they don’t the others don’t have to worry about anything else since their life seems simpler. They do not practice cultural relativism by putting themselves in the Cannibal people’s shoes and taking into account the difficulties they face. The Italians privileged their own values and culture without trying to understand the others. The film cannibal tours reflect ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. The Italian tourists were being ethnocentric by thinking abut how different other people are because they live in nature, their analysis is problematic because they don’t the others don’t have to worry about anything else since their life seems simpler. They do not practice cultural relativism by putting themselves in the Cannibal people’s shoes and taking into account the difficulties they face. The Italians privileged their own values and culture without trying to understand the others. 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. 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