CULTURAL RELATIVISM
There are numerous ways that I apply cultural relativism to my everyday life. I work in a public setting where I come across people from various cultures and have to communicate and work with them. I apply cultural relativism to understanding different cultural practices by opening my mind. If you are open to new and different people or things, you are more likely to understand their cultural viewpoints.
One might encounter unusual cultural practice when they go to a restaurant that caters to a culture that is different than their own. In this situation, I would go to that restaurant and instead of opposing trying something new and would embrace it. I would ask questions and take a positive approach to trying the foreign food. Another example of how I have applied cultural relativism instead of ethnocentrism when I visited Morocco. Initially I didn’t like how the women had to where scarves over their hair and that their body had to been totally covered. But since I was in their country, I wanted to assimilate as much as I could in order to get the full experience of being a woman in Morocco, not just another tourist with a camera, so I wore the scarf.
For the most part, I have an open mind and I am good at applying cultural relativism when encountering foreign cultural practices, but in some cases I cant. Where I draw the line is polygamy; regardless of cultural beliefs I can’t agree with one man marrying multiple women.