Cultural Relativism & The Power Of A Culture
Cultural relativism
Cultural relativism is evident from the onset of the book which narrates the story of a Laos’s family that is residing in the USA with an epileptic infant daughter. The birthing traditions of the Hmong is different from that of the American. They also believe in evil spirits called dabs which can steal a baby’s soul.All the three parties (Hmong, doctors, US govt. agencies) apply the CR perspective. From the Hmong it is evident in the way Foua chooses to undergo the American birthing tradition despite giving birth to more than a dozen other children in the traditional Hmong style.
The doctors prove this whereby some of them are quite impressed at how the Hmong women don’t make any sound while giving birth. Also on page 86 where a father violates the sterile field, Dr. Kris Hartwig complies with his demands since they do not endanger the mother or baby and what he does is acceptable to Hmong culture. Raquel Arias, An obstetrician quite understands the Hmong’s perspective of life and does not force medical procedures on them unless it is something she really has to do. Dr. Roger Fife is also quite accommodative of the Hmong’s culture that his colleagues start doubting his credentials. He never did caesarean sections on the mothers and always handed them the placenta in plastic bags. Though he was not aware of the reasons as to why the Hmong did not want the caesarean sections done on them. His answer as to why he does not insist American medical practices to his patients shows some element of CR perspective.
Jeanine Hilt, Lia social is seen as the most compassionate of Lee’s family situation. She tries as much as she can to bridge the gap between the two cultures: Hmong and American. It is almost her efforts that result to Lia returning home.CR is reflected in Fadiman’s approach clearly from the fact that she is a member of American community she has gone out of her way to study the Hmong community and their anthropology. In chapter 10 she narrates about Hmong folktale on why the stayed in highlands. She introduces the Hmong together Lia’s and her predicaments which go a long way to show that cultural practices are interconnected wherever you are, regardless of age and stature. Despite the life threatening situation overlooking Lia both parties (family and doctors) are still in some cultural conflicts and that’s the part of anthropology that Fadiman is placing on the screen for the viewer to see.
CR is invaluable in critical thinking in that it opens our eyes to a worldview of the other person on what we would be blind to in case we chose to be less accommodative to the other person’s cultural practices. From the Motto of Anthropology “Do No Harm”. In order to stick to this mandate one has to view a culture positively we have to learn that there is no universally acceptable standard of behavior.CR enables us to be consciously objective of Lia’s situation by trying to be accommodative of the Hmong’s cultural practices and it is evident that the Lee’s family want all the best for their daughter but their practices are obviously not bearing any fruits.
The Hmong’s distrust the doctors who try their best to ensure better quality healthcare for them regardless of them sticking to their ancient ways. This makes the doctors feel disappointed since their efforts are often trashed.Religion and spirit traditionThe Hmong are deeply animistic and their medical practice is not really actual medicine. They utilize numerous herbs and plants that are simple to grow for their natively constructed cures, yet a great deal of illnesses are just not physical. That is the reason the tvix neeb, the Hmong adaptation of a shaman, is such an important individual to their culture. They play out the functions that will trap the dabs (savage spirits) into returning human spirits, discover spirits from where they have strayed to, or repair harmed spirits.
Due to these reasons even after the doctor’s cure them they still do not feel better because they believe in animal sacrifices but the American authorities usually have issues with this. On the other hand the American concept of religion is quite based on proven facts. The doctors utilize science and technology to try and cure Lia. Their technology has been evolved over the years and they believe they have the best cure for the epilepsy. They try several forms of medicine on Lia which seem to work on some several occasions.The role of culture from both parties is on the basis of how the view the epilepsy disease. To the Americans , the believe that it is just a neurological disorder that results to brain activity being abnormal and causing seizures diagnosed by Dr. Dan Murphy. It is caused by an electrochemical storm.
Contrary to Hmong’s approach they believe that epilepsy is a gift and it makes the patient a special person, partly because even the tvix neeb sometimes get seizures and that gives them the power to perceive things that many people cannot.Hmong have an animism system of beliefs whereby they believe many things have spirits. These spirits are responsible for occurrence of natural and physical phenomena. If the spirits are offended they may cause illness. They bury the newborn child’s placenta at the birthplace to assist the spirits to travel. The American culture on the other hand is predominantly Christian .From both its clear religion and spirit tradition play a vital role in their lives.
To the Americans whose main religion is Christianity their identity is somehow unrelated to the religion as seen from the doctors who have not talked about Christianity anywhere or basically their cultures anywhere but the canons that govern their practice which is medicine hence religion and identity to the American is a separate entity. Unlike the Americans, the Hmong identity seems to be intertwined to their animistic culture. Despite lacking proof they still believe in existence of spirits and the shamans.For the Hmong the gender roles are clearly defined. There seems to be some gender disparity against women. Also the decision making ladder of crucial factors such a surgery were so long. Women seem to not have a say where they need to consult clan leaders on matters affecting their own bodies. Also Sue Xiang was unpopular in the Hmong community for marrying and American and not behaving according to traditions. For the Americans gender roles are not so defined for example Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp are married to each other and are practicing medicine together.
The Hmong trusted that all illnesses have an otherworldly reason and that this ailments could be reduced by profound strategies, for example, rubbing the skin with coins, making a vacuum by touching off cotton absorbed liquor under a minor container, or coaxing malady out with an egg. A tvix neeb, or shaman, could direct more intense treatment; such a figure is believed to have the capacity to dispose of shrewdness spirits called dabs and recover lost spirits.
Ethnocentrism
The Hmong show ethnocentrism in the way they are so distrustful to western medicine. On the other hand the doctors show ethnocentrism by looking down on the Hmong’s way of life. They dismiss their beliefs that diseases are caused by spirits. Some of the doctors are so fed up that they suggest shooting the patient in the head as therapy. By taking Lia from her parents they also prove some level of ethnocentrism.
The basis of ethnocentrism on part of the Hmong’s can be viewed as unconscious while on the part of the Americans it was intentional because they were sure they were doing the legal thing and were following the laws of the land on putting the safety of the child first.Necessity of ethnocentrism in a culture has two sides , sometimes it is necessary sometimes it is not. To ensure continuity of a culture then it is necessary . If the Hmong were not ethnocentric their culture could have been assimilated a long time by the Chinese or other larger cultures.
On the other hand it is unnecessary in some aspects that undermine human life. It brought so much strife to the Hmong since they believed in the superiority of the culture. Also the American doctors are looking down on the Hmongs because they do not understand their culture.Hmong ethnocentrism led to them not being assimilated by the Chinese and other larger tribes hence their culture is still standing to date. They continue to stand out as a diverse culture hence the name Hmong which means “free men”. They have a rich culture which offers them pride.Hmongs ethnocentrism ruined their agenda as evidenced in chapter two: It is clear that they do not like taking orders and are not intimidated by huge numbers .They also believe their culture to be superior to others as shown by the fish soup presentation. This led to their massacre by the Chinese in 1730. Also Lee loses custody of Lia because he simply is not willing to adhere to the doctors prescriptions who have the backing of the superior government agencies.
Cultural adaptations and the power of a culture
Fadiman’s case study on the power of culture is illustrated from the onset of the book where she talks about the birthing rites of the Hmong. It is unbelievable that a woman would be able to go through the whole process of labor without making any sounds. The power of culture shows how the Hmongs stand out against the Chinese even on the threat of their lives. They refuse by all means even death to be assimilated into another culture. The cultural adaptation process seems to be ongoing but at a very slow rate whereby Foua eventually admits to administer to Lia western medicine but also combines it with traditional herbs.The intended goal of the resettlement program was to give the Hmong a new lease to life from their war ravaged country. They were targeted for supporting American forces in the war and their allies was returning the hand.
Unfortunately, due to the cultural conflicts the Hmongs did not get the life they were expecting. The power of culture demonstrates the Hmongs unwillingness to be assimilated into a new culture. This brought so much strife to them. The problems and successes of the Hmong resettlement program are more evident in the first generation, mostly because their lives have been saved by being delivered from a war torn country. The problem is the language barriers. In the second generation they will obviously learn from the first generation and some improvements in terms of expectations are evident. The third generation will be somehow assimilated since they will have to go to school in the American systems and their minds will be open to science and technology. Though the burden to the tax payers was high, the American government proved that a friend in need is a friend indeed by resettling their allies. The Hmong immigration groups is applicable to all immigration groups up to date. Since all the immigrants come from totally different cultural and religious setups.
Works cited:
Fadiman, Anne. The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. Macmillan, 2012.
