Cultural Awareness
To help you become more aware of how strange your own culture might seem to an outsider.
Re-read the Body Ritual Among the Nacirema(I will up it) and take a look at the movie about Africans making a documentary about European culture: Darkest Austria.mp4(https://archive.org/details/KayongaKagameShowsUsTheWorld.EpisodeDarkestAustria) Write about a particular set of rituals practiced in the culture in which you grew up. Focus on one set of ritualsg. eating, marriage rituals, dating rituals, childbirth rituals, death, a particular set or rituals at work, when traveling, in leisure activities (I encourage you to choose your own) in a similar style to the Body Ritual article or the African documentary.
1. What is the main belief that underlies the rituals that you are describing? (e.g. that the body is ugly (in the case of the Nacirema))
2. Why might outsiders to your culture think that these rituals and beliefs are strange/exotic? ie put yourself in the position of the outsider.
3. How would you help an outsider understand the rituals in a less ethnocentric way? (ie maybe you can find some way to make it seem less strange, as I did when explaining the similarities between the Nacirema with American/Western culture).
Sample Solution
The rituals practiced in the culture I grew up in revolve heavily around food. Food is seen as a way of bonding and connecting with others, whether it's family members, friends or acquaintances. It is also seen as a necessity to sustain life but at the same time,
an act of luxury when done right. The main belief that underlies these rituals is that sharing a meal with someone brings people closer together and allows for deeper connections to be made.
Outsiders might find this strange because it appears on the surface level to be something materialistic and superficial - if you're eating food with someone it means you must like them or have some kind of connection to them – however, that isn't always true. For example, one might go out for dinner with their boss or work colleagues even though they aren't particularly close; it simply provides an opportunity for people to come together and build relationships in a non-intimidating environment over something everyone needs in order to survive: food.
To help outsiders understand this ritual from a less ethnocentric perspective, I would explain why we believe food can bring us closer together by looking at both the physical act of eating and what happens during mealtimes. Eating provides nourishment but it also gives us pleasure due to its social nature – conversation flows more freely over meals as everyone gets comfortable being around each other while enjoying their food. This encourages relationships between strangers who eventually become familiar faces at meals which leads to further understanding between cultures (especially those who are different). Additionally, I'd add how some cuisines contain special ingredients which they believe provide health benefits such as Malaysian Nyonya cuisine which contains spices known for their medicinal properties so not only does eating together create stronger bonds within communities but it also has physical benefits too