Cultural relativism, put this in your pipe and smoke it!

[happydalek]

"This is what the LORD says: "A cry of anguish is heard in Ramah––mourning and weeping unrestrained. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted––for her children are dead."  --Jeremiah 31:15

How else to put into words something like this?  If you don't want to click the link, this AP article reports on a seven-year-old Afghan girl who was raped by a pair of young men.  Although the crime happened two months ago and everyone knows who the men are, they have not been brought to justice, due to contacts in the judicial department who got them out of jail, and the traditional Arabic honor / shame system that considers a woman who loses her virginity outside marriage to have ruined her whole family's honor.  

According to their culture, this girl is now technically considered a woman, and an unmarriageable one, at that.  The fact that her family is even trying to get her justice is rare, as rape--which is rather common  in the region, according to the article--is typically hushed up for the sake of the family's honor.   An official even warned the girl's uncle that if he tried to get justice for the girl, that he would personally come and kill him.  Kill him.   For trying to get help for a physically and emotionally traumatized seven year old girl.  This child is truly lucky to have such a brave, concerned family.  Often, these stories end with a male member of the girl's family killing her to restore the family honor.  (The whole practice of honor killings deserves its own rant.  I'll just provide a link to this site, which is devoted to ending this awful practice.) 

As an anthropology student, I've taken entire courses devoted to exploring traditional Arab cultures, and one thing I've never been able to drop my egocentrism about is this honor / shame system when it comes to women.  Undoubtedly, this bias most likely comes from the fact that I am a woman, and reeeeeally tired of my gender being the victim of violent and sexual crimes.  There's no culture out there that will condone this kind of child abuse (as far as I know).  But to blame a seven-year-old girl for the heinous violation subjected on her by a pair of depraved adult men is almost as equally cruel as the crime itself.

Pray for this girl, and pray for change. 

This link will take you to a really excellent article about honor killings in Palestinian culture.

This one to Gendercide Watch, which discusses it in context of several Arab cultures.

And finally, this article discusses shame, women and honor killings, which at least has the grace to point out that Islam is actually far more kind and liberating to Arab women than many of these older Arab traditions.

Comments

[tawabids.livejournal.com]

Shit, it frightens me that human society can grow into such a device that it can be shape human minds into that kind of mentality.

[happydalek.livejournal.com]

And it's a mentality that is VERY difficult to change. The honor / shame system is a powerful way of making the individuals in a culture behave properly, because in this setup it's more important what other people think of you than what you think about yourself. A "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" kind of thing.

Of course, in anthropology, the bigger question posed by your statement is, has culture shaped the mind, or has the mind shaped the culture??

[tawabids.livejournal.com]

Of course, in anthropology, the bigger question posed by your statement is, has culture shaped the mind, or has the mind shaped the culture??

Yeah, and that can became a philosophical question as well. In my own mind, I think I've stopped trying to see the question out in those particular words and instead tried to figure out whether it's plausible that ethics is biologically intrinsic in Home s. sapiens. I think the logical conclusion is that it is, but in that case, where do we look for the root of things like honour/shame systems of religion and society? Is it civilisation itself that sets up the tragedies of humanity?

[happydalek.livejournal.com]

"Is it civilisation itself that sets up the tragedies of humanity?"

Very interesting point. I like to think the answer is a qualified "yes." I think there is a basic set of universal rules that must be followed to have a functioning society. Factors like the surrounding environment also play a part in informing how those rules are followed. Western civilization has developed a guilt-based culture to keep things flowing smoothly, and Arab cultures have created a shame-based one. Both work to the reasonable satisfaction of those who live in them.

But evil (like sexually abusing children) is equally universal, and as much a product of human nature as civilization itself.

[tawabids.livejournal.com]

It's easier to think about how amazing it is to be me and be able to think and live freely, but then of course the guilt starts setting it... gah :/ I'm s'posed to be on midsemester break!