This discussion reminded me of when my Ethics class was doing a segment on cultural relativism.
Feel free to correct whatever error I may imply in regards to cultural relativism:
A cultural relativist would say that because this is a diverse world with various beliefs and cultural lifestyles, a person must respect the fact that what that person believes may not line up with the practices and views of others and to insist that that person's one view is right way of living is pretty much an invalid claim because of how many groups of people have their own set of lifestyles they believe to be correct.
That is not to say that a cultural relativist would, though some may try, say that something like the Civil Rights movement in America was in some ways subverting an established culture in America where it had been the norm to separate ethnic groups and that the creation of this country was in fact built on the subjugation of ethnic minorities. Not so, cried the CR, as the United States of America was established with a certain set of beliefs already in mind, for example the Bill of Rights and The Constitution, which proclaims all men created equal (with women sensibly included later) and that what Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. were doing was to enforce what the USA originally believed in. A CR would also state that if one were to be unhappy living in a society due to what that individual felt and privately believed in, that individual can move to another area where that one can express himself more clearly, e.g. if you are homosexual and you are in a community that refutes your existence and believe you to be "all wrong," by all means go somewhere where that society can say that what you are is normal and fine.
One of the arguments against cultural relativism, however, was that the sense of what could be considered right or wrong is hand-waved away by saying that what one group does is neither right nor wrong by other standards because it's practiced in a different culture with its own standards of right or wrong.
An anthropologist, Carlyn Fluehr-Lobban, wrote an article called "Cultural Relativism and Universal Rights" using examples of female circumcision in Sudan and "honor" killings of sisters and daughters accused of sexual misconduct in some Middle Eastern and Mediterranean societies as how although those would be approved within their own culture and region, they are still a pattern of cultural discrimination against women. She wrote, "Cases of genocide may allow the clearest insight into where the line between local culture and universal morality lies... Other practices that harm individuals or categories of people (such as the elderly, women, and enslaved or formerly enslaved people) may not represent genocide per se, and thus may present somewhat harder questions about the morality of traditional practices. We need to focus on the harm done, however, and not on the scale of the abuse. We need to be sensitive to cultural differences but not allow them to override widely recognized human rights."
From this argument, it can be seen that I support Fleuhr-Lobban's argument against what CR holds, and I wouldn't disagree on it. I suppose when one is bicycling down a lane that that person should wear whatever is most comfortable, whether it be jeans and a t-shirt or a bikini and a sarong. But I feel that the insistence of some individuals who chose to bike down a conservative community while wearing a skirt or whatever that is considered "scandalous" and that they know that this community would be offended by them doing so, is considered spiteful and mean-spirited. If there are members within the community who wish to change their views on decency, then it's a dispute that should be resolved in their own community. I don't think that parading down a street wearing whatever one feels like it because of "freedom of expression" would help the cause for change at all, as it would only reinforce the community's feeling of being defensive.
And honestly, why bike in swimwear and bikinis? How can that be comfortable? I can understand shorts, but see, those can bunch up, too. Skirts of any length are just as much trouble to worry over and the wind chill can go through a bikini.
To Refrain from Bull-shitting...
Feel free to correct whatever error I may imply in regards to cultural relativism:
A cultural relativist would say that because this is a diverse world with various beliefs and cultural lifestyles, a person must respect the fact that what that person believes may not line up with the practices and views of others and to insist that that person's one view is right way of living is pretty much an invalid claim because of how many groups of people have their own set of lifestyles they believe to be correct.
That is not to say that a cultural relativist would, though some may try, say that something like the Civil Rights movement in America was in some ways subverting an established culture in America where it had been the norm to separate ethnic groups and that the creation of this country was in fact built on the subjugation of ethnic minorities. Not so, cried the CR, as the United States of America was established with a certain set of beliefs already in mind, for example the Bill of Rights and The Constitution, which proclaims all men created equal (with women sensibly included later) and that what Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. were doing was to enforce what the USA originally believed in. A CR would also state that if one were to be unhappy living in a society due to what that individual felt and privately believed in, that individual can move to another area where that one can express himself more clearly, e.g. if you are homosexual and you are in a community that refutes your existence and believe you to be "all wrong," by all means go somewhere where that society can say that what you are is normal and fine.
One of the arguments against cultural relativism, however, was that the sense of what could be considered right or wrong is hand-waved away by saying that what one group does is neither right nor wrong by other standards because it's practiced in a different culture with its own standards of right or wrong.
An anthropologist, Carlyn Fluehr-Lobban, wrote an article called "Cultural Relativism and Universal Rights" using examples of female circumcision in Sudan and "honor" killings of sisters and daughters accused of sexual misconduct in some Middle Eastern and Mediterranean societies as how although those would be approved within their own culture and region, they are still a pattern of cultural discrimination against women. She wrote, "Cases of genocide may allow the clearest insight into where the line between local culture and universal morality lies... Other practices that harm individuals or categories of people (such as the elderly, women, and enslaved or formerly enslaved people) may not represent genocide per se, and thus may present somewhat harder questions about the morality of traditional practices. We need to focus on the harm done, however, and not on the scale of the abuse. We need to be sensitive to cultural differences but not allow them to override widely recognized human rights."
From this argument, it can be seen that I support Fleuhr-Lobban's argument against what CR holds, and I wouldn't disagree on it. I suppose when one is bicycling down a lane that that person should wear whatever is most comfortable, whether it be jeans and a t-shirt or a bikini and a sarong. But I feel that the insistence of some individuals who chose to bike down a conservative community while wearing a skirt or whatever that is considered "scandalous" and that they know that this community would be offended by them doing so, is considered spiteful and mean-spirited. If there are members within the community who wish to change their views on decency, then it's a dispute that should be resolved in their own community. I don't think that parading down a street wearing whatever one feels like it because of "freedom of expression" would help the cause for change at all, as it would only reinforce the community's feeling of being defensive.
And honestly, why bike in swimwear and bikinis? How can that be comfortable? I can understand shorts, but see, those can bunch up, too. Skirts of any length are just as much trouble to worry over and the wind chill can go through a bikini.