Book Review 1 - Summary Guests of the Sheik PDF

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Book review for Guests of the Sheik by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea...

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Al e x u sCa r s o n 16 1 8 8 3 5 9 Wor dCo u ntw/ ot i t l e :7 1 7 Bo o kRe v i e w: Gu e s t so ft h eSh e i k An t h r o p o l o g i s t ss e e kt od e c on s t r u c t pr e c o n c e i v e dn o t i o n st h a tp e o p l ema yh a v et h r o u g h t h eu n bi a s e da n a l y s i so fc u l t u r e s . Do i n gt h i sr e q u i r e se x t r e mea mo u n t so fc u l t ur a lr e l a t i v i s ma s we l la st hel i mi t i n go fe t h no c e n t r i cv i e wsdu r i n gt h e i rfie l ds t u d i e s . Up ona n a l y z i n gt h eb o o k Gu e s t soft h eS h e i kb yEl i z a b e t hFe r n e a , hi s t o r i a n swe r ea b l et od r a wc o mp a r i s o nsb e t we e nt h e Ame r i c a ng e n de rn o r msoft h e19 5 0 ’ st ot h eg e n d e rnor mso ft heI r a q iVi l l a g ed u r i n gt h es a me t i me . Al t h o u g hFe r n e ae x pe r i e n c e dal o to fi n n e rc on fli c t st hr o u g ho u tt h ec o u r s eo ft h eb o o k b e c a u s eo fh e rAme r i c a nb a c kg r ou n d , s h eul t i ma t e l ys h o wst h a tt h eAme r i c a nc u l t u r eo ft h e 1 9 5 0 ’ ss h a r e dagr e a td e a lo fs i mi l a r i t i e swi t ht h epo p u l a t i o ni nt heI r a q iv i l l a g e . Du et ot hi s , i ti s mo s t l yi n a p p r o p r i a t et o“ f e e lba d ”f o rt h ewo me no ft h ev i l l a g ei nI r a q . Toe x p l o r et h ei mp o r t a n c eo fc u l t u r a lr e l a t i vi s mi nt h i ss c e n a r i o ,i ti sk e yt oa na l y z et h e c u l t u r a ln or mso fb o t hs o c i e t i e s . Cu l t u r a lr e l a t i v i s mi st hei d e at h a tap e r s on ’ sb e l i e f s , c u s t o ms a n dv a l u e ss h o ul dbej u d g e db a s e do nt h e i rc u l t ur ea n dn o tc o mp a r e dt oa n o t he rc u l t u r e .I nt h e 1 9 5 0 ’ s , Ame r i c a nwome no ft he1 9 5 0 ’ swe r er e s p o n s i bl ef o radi s t i n c ts e to fd u t i e sa n di twa s g e n e r a l l yf r o wn e du p o nt og oo ut s i deo ft h e s ed u t i e s . So meoft h e s ed ut i e si nc l u deb u ta r en o t l i mi t e dt oc hi l d r e a r i n g , c a r e g i v i n g ,a n dh o mema ki n g( Ho l t , n . d . ) . Th eg e n d e rr o l et ha twa s a s s i g n e dt oAme r i c a nwo me no ft h e1 9 5 0 ’ si ss o me t h i n gt h a ti sp r e s e n ti nn e a r l ye v e r yh o u s e h o l da ndh a sy e tt ob ec h a l l e n g e d .I ti ss e e na sn o r ma la n dwo me na r ee s s e n t i a l l yt r e a t e da s s e c o n dc l a s sc i t i z e n s . TheSh i i t ewo me no ft h eI r a qiv i l l a g ea r er e s po n s i bl ef o rma n yo ft h es a me d u t i e sdu r i n gt hi st i me .Th e ya r et oc o okr i c e ,t e ndt ot heh o mea n da l s ot e ndt ot hec hi l d r e n.

Th e ywe r ea l s oe x p e c t e dt oc o v e ru pu s i n gt h e i rh e a d d r e s s . Th eme no ft hi sc u l t u r ea r ea l s ot h e “ b r e a dwi n n e r s . ” Ma n yo ft h ewo me nwe r ei l l i t e r a t eo nAme r i c a nt e r msb u tt h e yha dt he i ro wns t a n d a r d so f wh a t i ss o c i a l l ya c c e p t a b l ea n dFe r n e af e l ls h o r tofq u i t eaf e wo ft he m. Th i sl e dt ot he Th ewo me ni nt h evi l l a g ea tt i me swo u l dd i s p l a ye t hn o c e nt r i s m, a to n ep oi n t , t h e ya c t u a l l y a t t e mp t e dt oc o n v i n c eFe r n e at h a tt h e i rwa yi s“ b e t t e r ”( p . 1 6 4 ) . The yr e f u s e dt od r i n kt het e at h a t Fe r n e ama d e , t h e yl a u g h e da th e rf orn o tb e i n ga b l et oc o oka n de v e ns p i the rf o o do u t .Sh ewa s r i di c u l e df o rh a v i n gn og o l do rn owe a l t h .I n i t i a l l y ,Fe r n e as t r u g g l e dwi t he t h n o c e nt r i s m.Sh e f o u ndi td i ffic u l tt ofiti nwi t ht hewome nt h a ts h ewa ss t a y i n gwi t h . Du et ot h ef a c tt h a ts hed i d n o tf o l l o wt he i rs a mec u l t u r a lp r a c t i c e s ,t h e ys a whe ra sl e s st h a nah u ma na n di tr e s u l t e di n Fe r n e af e e l i n gd e mor a l i z e d( p . 7 7) . Fe r n e ae v e n t ua l l yl e a r n e da b o u tma n yo ft h e i rc u s t o ms . On c eFe r n e ab e g a nt ot a k et h e i r c u l t u r ea si ti si n s t e a do fc o mp a r i n gi tt oAme r i c a nv a l u e s , s hewa sa b l et ob emo r ea c c e p t i n g . Sh efin d sh e r s e l ff u l l yi mme r s e di nt h e i rc u l t u r ea nds h ewa sa b l et ol e a r nt h i n g sv e r yq u i c kl y . Th el a d i e swe r emo r ewi l l i n gt ot e a c hhe ra b o utt h e i rc oo ki n g , f a mi l yl i v e sa n dma r i t a lno r ms . Sh ea l s ol e a r n e dt h a tt h e1 9 5 0’ sAme r i c a nv i e wso fma r r i a g edi ffe rf r o mt h eEl Na h r aa n d b e c a u s eo fh e rp r e v i o u se x p e r i e nc ewi t he t h n o c e nt r i s ma n dc ul t u r a lr e l a t i v i s ms h ewa sa bl et ot r y t ou n d e r s t a n dwh yp o l y g a myi st h en o r mi n s t e a dofc r i t i c i z i n gi tb a s e do nAme r i c a nv i e ws( p . 1 6 5 ) .Fe r n e ae v e n t u a l l ywo r et h e i rt r a di t i o n a lg a r me nt sa n ds hewa sa b l et or e a l i z et h a tt h e i rv e i l wa sf o rp r o t e c t i o nf r o mt he i rp e r s p e c t i v ea n di twa sn o tas o u r c eo fha n d i c a po rl i mi tmo b i l i t y t h a ts h ei n i t i a l l yb e l i e v e d . I ti st h i sr e a l i z a t i ont h a tl e a v e sr oo mf o rd i s c o u r s eo nwh e t h e ro rno ta n i n d i v i d u a ls h o u l d“ f e e lb a d ”f o ra n o t h e rc u l t u r ea ndt h en or mst h a tt he yh a v e .

Wo me ni nt h eUn i t e dSt a t e sa r ee x p e r i e n c i n gs i mi l a ro p pr e s s i v et h e me sa n dt h e yt o o mi g h tb el o o ke da ta s“ i nf e r i o r ”o r“ o p p r e s s e d ”t os o c i e t i e st h a ta r eno tf a mi l i a rwi t ht h e i r c u s t o ms .Wh e nl oo ki n ga tt heo t h e rs i d e , wo me no ft h eElNa h r as e eAme r i c a n sa sl e s s e r .By u s i n gt h ec o mpa r a t i v eme t h o d, i ti squ i t eu nf a i rt od e e mt h e i rp r a c t i c e sa swr o n gb a s e do nwh a t i s kn o wna b ou tt h e1 9 5 0’ sg e n de rno r msi nAme r i c ab e c a u s et h e ywe r eb o t hr e l a t i v e l ys i mi l a r .

Re f e r e n c e s Fernea, E. W. (1969). Guests of the Sheik. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books. Holt, J. (n.d.). The Ideal Woman. Retrieved March 4, 2019....