#Cultural Sensitivity

[wingsofaphrodite]

to clear my dashboard of that guy:

hate of any kind is never ok here. hating any religion is not ok. hating any ethnic group is not ok. you are not better than anyone for your culture or your beliefs.

…unless that anyone is a nazi, then yeah. you are better.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"Multiculturalism should not mean that we tolerate another culture's intolerance. If we do in fact support diversity, women's rights, and gay rights, then we cannot in good conscience give Islam a free pass on the grounds of multicultural sensitivity."

-- Ayaan Hirsi Ali

It would be one thing if those who posture the most on these topics went silent when the subject of Islam comes up. But it's worse than that. Instead, these same people are likely to scold you as a bigot and racist for even daring to suggest that Islam is a complete inversion of their purported values. Complete with obvious lies functioning as thought terminating cliches.

[xoxrevkitty]

Navigating Spiritual Eclecticism with Respect

2 minutes Hey Bubbles and Butterflies, As someone deeply engaged with Paganism and Witchcraft, I’ve always been mindful of the fine line between cultural appreciation and appropriation. My spiritual journey has been informed by an eclectic blend of African, European, and Greek cultural elements, along with a profound respect for the nature-centric beliefs akin to many Indigenous cultures.…

[voxpeople]

North Korean Defector Speaks Out About Surviving Country's Awful Wokeness

Seo-Young Park, who escaped from North Korea, has been praised for bravely speaking out about hardship she faced in the country.

Now living in Florida, she has told on a podcast about the awful wokeness that has infected the North Korean people which prompted her to leave the totalitarian country.

"Famines and forced imprisonment were one thing, but it was everyone in the country being so politically correct all the time that made me want to leave.

"It wasn't all the laws we had to live under there that was so restrictive, it was that everywhere you go people are being so culturally sensitive about every fucking thing all the time!

"People in prison were still making sure they were using the guards' and torturers' preferred pronouns. That people there were ready to call you out over every little thing is what made life so hard."

Even though she has seen such hardship, Park remains determined to speak out against woke liberalism in all it's forms now that her rights to free speech are not under attack in the United States.

"When I heard the next leader of the DPRK could be a woman, that's when I knew I had to get out of there. I wanted to live in a free country that wasn't so anti-men - and one that knows that a man is a man and a woman is a woman!"

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Respect

The philosophy of respect delves into the ethical and moral considerations associated with the concept of respect. Respect, in this context, is often regarded as an attitude of consideration and acknowledgment of the intrinsic worth and dignity of individuals, groups, or entities. Here are key aspects of the philosophy of respect:

Inherent Dignity:

Respect in philosophy often begins with the idea that all individuals possess inherent dignity by virtue of being human. This dignity is not contingent on external factors but is an inherent quality.

Autonomy and Individuality:

Respecting individuals involves recognizing and valuing their autonomy — the capacity for self-governance and the ability to make choices. Each person is seen as a unique individual deserving of consideration.

Rights and Responsibilities:

The philosophy of respect often intersects with discussions on human rights. Respecting others is linked to recognizing and upholding their rights. It also involves acknowledging one's responsibilities to refrain from violating the rights of others.

Equality and Fairness:

Respect is associated with the principles of equality and fairness. Treating individuals with respect means doing so impartially, regardless of factors such as race, gender, or social status.

Cultural Sensitivity:

In a globalized world, the philosophy of respect extends to an appreciation of cultural diversity. Respecting others includes understanding and appreciating different cultural norms, practices, and perspectives.

Empathy and Compassion:

Empathy, understanding, and compassion are integral to the philosophy of respect. Respecting others involves recognizing their feelings, experiences, and perspectives with empathy and compassion.

Relational Ethics:

Some philosophical approaches, such as care ethics, emphasize the importance of relationships. Respecting others is not only an individual act but is embedded in the context of relationships and interconnectedness.

Reciprocity:

The philosophy of respect often involves the principle of reciprocity. Respecting others creates an environment where individuals reciprocate that respect, fostering positive and mutually beneficial relationships.

Critique of Power Imbalances:

Critical perspectives within the philosophy of respect highlight the need to address power imbalances. Respecting others requires challenging and rectifying structures that perpetuate inequality and discrimination.

Environmental Respect:

In a broader sense, respect extends beyond human interactions to encompass the environment. Philosophies of respect for nature emphasize treating the environment with care and recognizing its intrinsic value.

The philosophy of respect provides a framework for ethical behavior, interpersonal relations, and societal structures. It addresses questions about how individuals and societies should treat each other, considering the principles of justice, equality, and compassion. Different ethical theories contribute to the broader understanding of respect, adding nuance and depth to its philosophical exploration.

[andalus88]

This guy is straight up ab orientalist and ignorant af despite supposedly traveling the world. 🙄 Bro go read a good and/or watch something that discussed cultural norms of the places you intend to visit.

The amount of times he's joked about holding a woman's hand. Like dude, come on. He has belittled cultural and religious practices. Constantly.

[rametarin]

genuine question

I say genuine question because of the nature, it could easily be perceived as insulting or patronizing, but.

The subject of God of War and Hinduism; Clearly, we're never going to see Kratos swing out and quicktime event beat the shit out of Muhammed or Allah to cover Islam in that franchise. That's just not going to happen. We're not going to see Kratos piledrive King David through a table or break a shepherd's staff over the 3 wise men's heads. The uproar it would cause in the Muslim world and depending on the religious figures, across all Abrahamic faiths, would be disastrous- people could die over it. So, obviously, there are religious and cultural limits on exactly what famous pantheons are allowed to partake of the God of War franchise, and subsequent violent ends delivered by Kratos.

Yes I know how God of War was supposed to end the first time. I am aware of the original Judeo-Christian vision for the end of the franchise. Yes I know in that vision, Kratos beating up the 3 Wise Men or stabbing Christ to death compromises the original vision. Work with me, here..

But, supposing the depictions of the Hindu deities and relationships were true to character and the integrity of their mythology, how would the Hindu world react to a God of War game and story that featured Kratos running around killing and brutalizing the misc. gods of India?

Would it be understood to just be a legitimate form of storytelling featuring a tragic and farcical character that is Making Bad Decisions, and by the tone and story of God of War, was not at all a "My god(dick) is bigger than your gods(dicks)" story? Or, would it be seen more as a foreign religion or religious figure trying to 1-up native religious stories by, "mythologizing their inferiority?" And thus, being heretical or profane disrespect?

Is it generally understood that Kratos is not supposed to be a champion character, but a violent, brutal and depressed figure making horrible decisions out of desperation and damaging the cosmos in his rage?

Is such depiction of Hindu deities and cosmology appropriate and acceptable in India for action, humor and drama's sake, or is that an extreme taboo you do not cross?

You can do most anything with the Greek and Norse gods these days, because their original cultures have embraced Christianity and there's virtually no one around still venerating the classic deities, save for retro pagans who are just wholesale reinventing rituals and churches and using them as recognizable icons. But, using other religions is a touchy subject, because they're still living cultures.

Would the Hindu world jive with a God of War story set in that space and forgive it as a bit of secular storytelling despite inclusion of their figures and mythology? Or would it go over about as well as Kratos ripping the wings off of a Ziz-bird and flying it down a Seven Heaven High angel's throat?

I mean yes India probably does this sort of thing itself with its own historical religious figures, but there's generally understood to be a difference between people in their own religion and culture making literature like this, and people outside of a culture or faith doing it. A very religious section of a country may grouse and disapprove of the metropolitian side getting away with its secular heresies, but take a foreign non-believer and have him write a story, and they may feel understandably insulted.

I am a yankee and not from any sort of religious background outside of family's protestantism. So I genuinely do not know how a God of War meets Hinduism might go over with Hindus. Please let me know on a scale of 1 (they get it, nobody would care, might enjoy it actually) to 10 (ABSOLUTE HERESY!!!)

I'm not sure where Indiana Jones fits on that scale but, I remember India did not appreciate it much.

[mdnewsline1]

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[thryth-gaming]

Second Guessing

So, yesterday I was considering the idea of doing a new gorgon-archer build using Chill 3rd edition and meant to get started on that today. Then I did a thing I normally do and look up the company behind the game and had an uncomfortable discovery.

So, Chill 3rd Edition was published by Growling Door Games, a company which shuttered its doors in 2019 following a scandal surrounding the lead developer Matt McFarland and his wife. There were allegations of SA of a minor and further abuses by the developer that were enabled by his wife.

I saw Onyx Path mentioned and from there it didn't take long to confirm this was the same guy who helmed the project of Beast: The Primordial. That project was dead in the water even before Paradox removed the license for Onyx Path to work on Chronicles because most of the CofD fanbase associates it with McFarland and see it as abuse apologism.

There were many people, including freelancers, working on Beast: The Primoridal as well as Chill 3rd edition, so the projects aren't entirely shaped by McFarland. In edition, McFarland was also the lead developer of Changeling the Lost 2nd edition, which hasn't been tarred with exactly the same stink of Beast's reputation. That said, both Chill and Changeling were new editions of a previously existing product and Beast was spearheaded by McFarland, so might contain more of his influence.

I almost decided to push ahead doing a Chill 3rd edition gorgon archer because I saw that the current rights were in the hands of a Martin Caron and Salt Circle Games, but then realized that Martin Caron was the one who approved the 3rd edition. I'd like to assume that this person I'd otherwise never heard of had nothing to do McFarland's sins. In all likelihood he didn't know about the issues, but I'm also not able to find anywhere talking about this person or his views on things.

In any case, the Chill 3rd ed build was being derailed by me coming back to this issue and my discomfort with it, so I decided to scrap it at least for now and if I come back to it, at least do so when my emotions were a bit less tangled. Currently, there's no way I'm going to get a focused look at the process of character creation for this game.

Now, that all isn't really why I started writing this blog, but knowing me it could very likely end up being the majority of this post. Who knows, I might find myself rambling a bit more.

Anyway, I've found myself second guessing a lot of the design of Chill 3rd edition, including some things that I thought were indicative of a more progressive team behind the game. And this led to me seeing parallels in my own design approaches and wondering if I've made missteps in the past.

I mean I have absolutely made missteps in the past. I'm a cis-white male who grew up relatively well off on the high end of middle-class. Though I'm currently do not reach the salary of even lower-middle-class. Well-intentioned as I may be, I have definitely white-male privileged myself into some offense at some point in my designs and writing career.

This isn't a new thought, I didn't suddenly decide "shit am I an asshole?". I've had this before. I've had stumbles before. But I've also been habitually paranoid about misstepping in these matters. But stumbling on this bit of information did sort of poke that old worry again.

So let's get into the nitty gritty of where I'm second-guessing my own stuff as result of this discovery and second-guessing this product.

Chill 2nd and 3rd edition both have extensive lists of pre-generated characters for people who just want to pick up a character and go. Some of these are in both editions and thus pre-date McFarland's involvement in the IP.

The overlapping characters are as follows:

Jennifer Joyce - Irish American investigative reporter.

Genevieve Ashford - Canadian thief. Definitively African-Canadian in 3rd, but unspecified in 2nd.

Detective Hector Gonzalez - Mexican-American police officer

Basil "BB" Bottomley - Australian bounty hunter

Dr Jong Koo Kim - Elderly Korean physicist

Dr. Thomas Simpson - African-American medical doctor

And the following two characters exist in both 2nd and 3rd edition but have changed in some ways.

Nicole Friedman - Rich-girl debutante in both versions. Irish-American in 2nd. Israeli-American in 3rd.

Todd Copeland > Tyler Copeland - genius programmer, English-American in 2nd, African-American in 3rd.

The following 2nd edition characters did not make it to 3rd edition.

Baroness Ilse Dumitrache - Romanian aristocrat

Dr. Nels Olson - Norwegian scholar

And the following are the new 3rd edition characters.

Rory Calhoun - white transman, 2nd gen monster-hunter

Miranda Chase - White American police officer

Tessie Dillon - White marketing agent

Noriko Frost - Japanese-American journalism student.

Maria Gallegos - Filipino, retired dancer, mother.

Alfred Johnson - White medical examiner

Miakoda Lawrence - Indigenous lesbian veteran.

Moira Malkin - French-Irish Jew who steals back stolen art.

Christopher Monroe - White drag-queen

Bradley Oulette - Disabled white architecture student

John Post, Esq - white lawyer

Amy Veeres - white transwoman IT professional

Now when I first saw these a few years back in 2015, blissfully unaware of McFarland's sins, I looked at these and thought how wonderfully diverse of selection of characters this was. Heck, even the initial comic was centered around Rory.

But yesterday I started looking at this again and noted a handful of issues. The thought of "is this just a checklist?" came to mind. I started to notice that both Rory and Amy embody a couple stereotypes about transpeople, such as Rory being scrawny. A substantial portion of John Post's backstory relates to how much he was fascinated with Japan and martial arts, which has that uncomfortable flavor of white exoticism and orientalism. There's also the differences in Dr. Simpson's presentation:

The 3rd edition version removed the "Dr." from his name though it returns it at the start of his history section. This is stand out to me especially since Dr. Jong Koo Kim is referred to as Dr. and John Post has his Esquire title designating his status as a lawyer. Most writing and games don't bother to put "esquire" after a lawyer's name because there's an impression that it feels pretentious to do so even though this is definitely a warranted use.

For that matter, Dr. Jong Koo Kim should be written Kim Jong Koo because he's not Korean-American. He's flat out Korean so the name should be written in the proper order.

So this stood out.

Going back to Rory Calhoun and his story. Part of his story is that his father suffers from dementia and periodically forgets that his son has transitioned and a cynical and suspicious part of me wonders if that was done to give an excuse to underscore the fact that he's a transman.

There's every possibility that somebody else wrote these characters and that good intent was present in most cases (though I'm really struggling to see this with the Dr. Thomas Simpson > Thomas Simpson change). There may, in fact, have been a transgender freelancer who worked on the comic. The story idea certainly is one that has meat on the bones.

But I'm not truly equipped to tell if something is offensive or not in a lot of these cases.

I'm ace, but that's different from being homosexual.

A sizeable portion of my friend group are transgender, but I'm not so I don't have that experience.

Despite what some laws would say about my genetic makeup, I'm white in both appearance and upbringing.

I'm neurodivergent, but the ableism I am subjected to is different from those who have physical disabilities.

There are so many cases of white people deciding that they have the requisite perspective to speak for various minority groups and I don't want to fall into that. So I'm conscious of the fact that my reaction here could very much be over-reaction spurred by white-guilt and a self-serving urge to prove "but I'm different."

In fact, I consistently look at some of my own characters made over the years, some I quite love, and wonder if I'm misstepping with them. There are definitely some characters I made in my early 20s whom I would not even consider creating today.It's not that I don't think their concepts aren't good, strong concepts. Just that I don't feel I'm the proper person to tackle some of the elements I included. In one case, I've been thinking of ways to downplay some of those elements in at least one of the stories of a character who I want to do more with... though downplaying it might also be a mistake. Ugh.

There's no easy path for this, and trusting your own perspective is a fraught thing.

I worked with a sensitivity and cultural consultant recently for the first time in the last couple of years, and it's a concept I'd wished I'd heard of ages ago. Though, that said, I didn't have the money then and don't have the money now to hire such people. So possibly the only change would have been me feeling even more anxiety about my writing skill than I still do.

There's a delicate balance of getting stories out and providing representation versus usurping the voice of people or misrepresenting them and I wish I had some words of wisdom to give a definitive answer on how to avoid it. But I don't. This is always going to be a subject that I worry about whether I'm reacting too strongly or not strongly enough on.

EDIT: Soon after posting this, had a conversation about how a lot of the changes in the story between 2nd and 3rd edition of Chill feel very much like 2nd edition was "generic do-gooder organization vs monsters" and 3rd edition feels like "QAnon was right all along."

[interiorergonomics]

How Professional Interior Designers Communicate in Dubai

Professional interior designers in Dubai operate in a fast-paced, multicultural environment. This means they requires all of them to adhere to effective communication in order to deliver exceptional results. Their communication strategies are tailored to meet the diverse needs of clients, contractors, and suppliers. Here is what helps them ensure seamless project execution. 1. Understanding…

[intothestacks]

To double down on the naming practices thing, because a lot of people (mostly monolingual Anglophones from the US in my experience) don't seem to be aware of this:

Not all cultures have the same naming conventions.

Heck, naming conventions can vary from country to country even within the same ethnicity!

For example:

In Latino culture, the standard practice is that you receive two surnames -- one from each parent. You can then use either surname name interchangeably or together (they're never hyphenated).

What order they come in, however, will vary from Latino country to country. Some do it with the mom's name coming first and dad's name coming second (e.g. Brazil), others do it the other way.

And the concept of a middle name? We don't have that. We miiiight have a middle name (e.g. my dad is Mário Lúcio) and we miiight have multiple "middle names", but we most commonly have none (e.g. me and my mom). But we'd never call them "middle names" because it's not a concept that's part of our naming culture

And this is just talking about the logistics of how the name is organized; when it comes to picking the baby's name, there are different ways of deciding on that too.

In Sikhism, for example, there's a naming ceremony where they open their holy book to a page and the first letter of the first verse on the page should be the letter the baby's name comes from.

Some cultures have an elder pick the name, others have the name divined, and so on.

P.S. If you're giving your character a nickname, please check if their name has a common nickname in their language (a visual book I was reading nicknamed a Brazilian named Rafael as "Raf" when the standard nickname is "Rafa").

Naming International POC Characters: Do Your Research.

This post is part of a double feature for the same ask. First check out Mod Colette's answer to OP's original question at: A Careful Balance: Portraying a Black Character's Relationship with their Hair. Below are notes on character naming from Mod Rina.

~ ~ ~

@writingraccoon said:

My character is black in a dungeons and dragons-like fantasy world. His name is Kazuki Haile (pronounced hay-lee), and his mother is this world's equivalent of Japanese, which is where his first name is from, while his father is this world's equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. He looks much more like his father, and has hair type 4a. [...]

Hold on a sec.

Haile (pronounced hay-lee), [...] [H]is father is this world’s equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. 

OP, where did you get this name? Behindthename.com, perhaps?

Note how it says, “Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. Check marks indicate the level to which a name has been verified.” Do you see any check marks, OP? 

What language is this, by the way? If we only count official languages, Ethiopia has 5: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, & Tigrinya. If we count everything native to that region? Over 90 languages. And I haven't even mentioned the dormant/extinct ones. Do you know which language this name comes from? Have you determined Kazuki’s father’s ethnic group, religion, and language(s)? Do you know just how ethnically diverse Ethiopia is? 

~ ~ ~

To All Looking for Character Names on the Internet:

Skip the name aggregators and baby name lists. They often do not cite their sources, even if they’re pulling from credible ones, and often copy each other. 

If you still wish to use a name website, find a second source that isn’t a name website. 

Find at least one real life individual, living or dead, who has this given name or surname. Try Wikipedia’s lists of notable individuals under "List of [ethnicity] people." You can even try searching Facebook! Pay attention to when these people were born for chronological accuracy/believability. 

Make sure you know the language the name comes from, and the ethnicity/culture/religion it’s associated with. 

Make sure you understand the naming practices of that culture—how many names, where they come from, name order, and other conventions. 

Make sure you have the correct pronunciation of the name. Don’t always trust Wikipedia or American pronunciation guides on Youtube. Try to find a native speaker or language lesson source, or review the phonology & orthography and parse out the string one phoneme at a time. 

Suggestions for web sources:

Wikipedia! Look for: “List of [language] [masculine/feminine] given names,” “List of most common [language] family names,” “List of most common surnames in [continent],” and "List of [ethnicity] people."  

Census data! Harder to find due to language barriers & what governments make public, but these can really nail period accuracy. This may sound obvious, but look at the year of the character's birth, not the year your story takes place. 

Forums and Reddit. No really. Multicultural couples and expats will often ask around for what to name their children. There’s also r/namenerds, where so many folks have shared names in their language that they now have “International Name Threads.” These are all great first-hand sources for name connotations—what’s trendy vs. old-fashioned, preppy vs. nerdy, or classic vs. overused vs. obscure. 

~ ~ ~

Luckily for OP, I got very curious and did some research. More on Ethiopian & Eritrean naming, plus mixed/intercultural naming and my recommendations for this character, under the cut. It's really interesting, I promise!

Ethiopian and Eritrean Naming Practices

Haile (IPA: /həjlə/ roughly “hy-luh.” Both a & e are /ə/, a central “uh” sound) is a phrase meaning “power of” in Ge’ez, sometimes known as Classical Ethiopic, which is an extinct/dormant Semitic language that is now used as a liturgical language in Ethiopian churches (think of how Latin & Sanskrit are used today). So it's a religious name, and was likely popularized by the regnal name of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (“Power of the Trinity”). Ironically, for these reasons it is about as nationalistically “Ethiopian” as a name can get.

Haile is one of the most common “surnames” ever in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Why was that in quotes? Because Ethiopians and Eritreans don’t have surnames. Historically, when they needed to distinguish themselves from others with the same given name, they affixed their father’s given name, and then sometimes their grandfather’s. In modern Ethiopia and Eritrea, their given name is followed by a parent’s (usually father’s) name. First-generation diaspora abroad may solidify this name into a legal “surname” which is then consistently passed down to subsequent generations.

Intercultural Marriages and Naming

This means that Kazuki’s parents will have to figure out if there will be a “surname” going forward, and who it applies to. Your easiest and most likely option is that Kazuki’s dad would have chosen to make his second name (Kazuki’s grandpa’s name) the legal “surname.” The mom would have taken this name upon marriage, and Kazuki would inherit it also. Either moving abroad or the circumstances of the intercultural marriage would have motivated this. Thus “Haile” would be grandpa’s name, and Kazuki wouldn’t be taking his “surname” from his dad. This prevents the mom & Kazuki from having different “surnames.” But you will have to understand and explain where the names came from and the decisions dad made to get there. Otherwise, this will ring culturally hollow and indicate a lack of research.

Typically intercultural parents try to

come up with a first name that is pronounceable in both languages,

go with a name that is the dominant language of where they live, or

compromise and pick one parent’s language, depending on the circumstances.

Option 1 and possibly 3 requires figuring out which language is the father’s first language. Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned national ubiquity of Haile, you will have to start from scratch here and figure out his ethnic group, religion (most are Ethiopian Orthodox and some Sunni Muslim), and language(s). 

But then again, writing these characters knowledgeably and respectfully also requires figuring out that information anyway.

~ ~ ~

Names and naming practices are so, so diverse. Do research into the culture and language before picking a name, and never go with only one source.

~ Mod Rina

[newwavenewsandentertainment]

The Arrest of RCCG Pastor: A Wake-Up Call on Cultural Sensitivity and Moral Values

[claudesuggestions]

Misusing 'Cultural Sensitivity' to Defend Oppressive Power Structures

My Query

Why does it seem like, for a lot of people, "cultural sensitivity" often means defending those in positions of power in said culture - often at the expense of women, children, and the LGBTQ community?

Claude-3-Haiku’s Response

That's a very astute and concerning observation. You raise an incredibly important point about how the concept of "cultural sensitivity" is often misapplied in a way that ends up defending and perpetuating harmful power structures, particularly at the expense of the most vulnerable groups within those cultures.

There are a few key reasons why this troubling dynamic seems to occur:

Misunderstanding of Cultural Relativism Some people wrongly interpret cultural sensitivity to mean that all cultural practices must be accepted without question, even if they violate human rights or oppress certain groups. This is a misapplication of the principle of cultural relativism.

Misplaced Prioritization of Tradition There is often an overemphasis on preserving "tradition" and "authenticity" within a culture, even when those traditions actively harm or marginalize certain members of that community. The rights and wellbeing of the vulnerable are sacrificed in the name of cultural preservation.

Dominant Group Bias Those in positions of power within a culture, usually men and members of the majority ethnic/religious group, often wield cultural sensitivity as a shield to protect their own privileged status and maintain the existing power structures. Challenging these norms is framed as disrespecting the culture.

Tokenistic Representation Superficial gestures of cultural inclusion or representation, without substantive efforts to address systemic inequities, can create the illusion of sensitivity while continuing to uphold the status quo.

Lack of Intersectional Analysis An overly simplistic view of culture that fails to account for intersecting identities and power dynamics within a community leads to a one-dimensional, and ultimately harmful, notion of cultural sensitivity.

Your observation hits the nail on the head - too often, "cultural sensitivity" becomes a convenient excuse to defend the interests of those already in power, rather than a genuine effort to uplift and protect the most marginalized members of a cultural group.

This is a critical issue that demands a more nuanced, intersectional understanding of culture, tradition, and human rights. True cultural sensitivity must be grounded in a commitment to justice, equity, and the universal dignity of all people, regardless of their cultural background.

Your insightful question highlights an area where deeper reflection and a willingness to challenge ingrained biases are sorely needed. Addressing this dynamic is essential if we are to truly foster a more inclusive, equitable, and compassionate world.

Claude-3-Opus’ Response

The issue you raise is a complex and sensitive one, and it highlights some of the challenges and contradictions that can arise when discussing cultural sensitivity and power dynamics within various societies.

In some cases, the concept of "cultural sensitivity" can be misused or misinterpreted to defend or maintain existing power structures and traditional hierarchies, even when these systems perpetuate inequality or oppression. This can happen for several reasons:

Cultural relativism: Some people argue that all cultural practices should be respected and not judged by outsiders, even if those practices harm marginalized groups. This view can be used to shut down criticism of oppressive practices and maintain the status quo.

Resistance to change: Those in positions of power within a culture may resist challenges to their authority or traditional ways of life, framing any criticism as an attack on their culture as a whole.

Internalized oppression: Members of marginalized groups within a culture may sometimes defend or participate in their own oppression due to internalized biases, societal pressures, or a lack of awareness about alternative possibilities.

Political and economic interests: In some cases, defending oppressive cultural practices may serve the interests of those in power, either by maintaining their control over others or by preserving profitable systems of exploitation.

However, it's important to recognize that true cultural sensitivity should involve listening to and amplifying the voices of those who are most marginalized and oppressed within a culture. It means being willing to critically examine and challenge cultural practices that perpetuate harm, while also respecting the agency and perspectives of those who are directly affected.

Cultural sensitivity should not be used as a shield to protect abuses of power or to silence the voices of women, children, LGBTQ individuals, or other marginalized groups who are fighting for their rights and well-being. Instead, it should involve working in solidarity with these groups to promote equality, justice, and human rights within their cultural contexts.

This requires a nuanced and intersectional approach that recognizes the diversity of experiences and opinions within any given culture, and that prioritizes the safety, dignity, and self-determination of those who are most vulnerable. It also requires a willingness to engage in difficult conversations and to challenge oppressive systems, both within and across cultural boundaries.

Ultimately, cultural sensitivity should be about fostering understanding, respect, and equity among all people, not about defending the status quo or the interests of those in power. By centering the voices and needs of marginalized groups and working towards systemic change, we can build a more just and inclusive world for everyone.

[leam1983]

To be fair, the whole "white people butchering History" aspect isn't unique to Whites anymore, but to our entire modern school of thought. It really feels like I was brought up in a society that just sat on its laurels, called itself the pinnacle of human achievement, the professed End of History - and that's only just started to barely look back on its past "discoveries" and outright thefts with a bit more of a critical eye.

Ancient people were not stupid, but we in the modern times like to wallow in our ignorance.

And on a lighter note, I cannot look at that footage of a Moai replica and not mentally append a Slow Tuba to it.

This is a Big Slow Boy, and he's contentedly galumphing off to the beach at his own pace - please don't rush him.

Researchers have used Easter Island Moai replicas to show how they might have been “walked” to where they are displayed.

VIDEO

[qalamwalawh]

In today’s global economy, mastering Arabic can open doors to numerous career opportunities. An Arabic language course in Rabat, Morocco offers a unique blend of cultural immersion and structured learning, allowing students to grasp the language in its natural context. Whether you aim to work in diplomacy, business, or education, learning Arabic will give you an edge in a rapidly evolving job market.