HOMEWORK FOR THU 9/11: Study of Humankind
In Chapters 1 and 2 of the Kottak we began to distinguish what is anthropology. The word is from the Greek anthropos ("human") and logia ("study") — the study of humankind.
[We watched this video WHAT WE ARE in class on 9-9-08 about who we are as humans.]
Nothing human is alien to anthropological study -- even elections. Though anthropology is easy to define, it is difficult to describe. Its subject matter is both exotic (e.g., star lore of the Australian aborigines) and commonplace (anatomy of the foot). And its focus is both sweeping (the evolution of language) and microscopic (the use-wear of obsidian tools). Anthropologists may study ancient Mayan hieroglyphics, the music of African Pygmies, and the corporate culture of a U.S. oil industry.
But always, the common goal links these vastly different projects: to advance knowledge of who we are, how we came to be that way — and where we may go in the future.
I am a human, and nothing human can be of indifference to me.
--Terence, The Self-Torturer
Someone passed me this video from Jon Stewart's The Daily Show exposing the gender double-standards during the Republican National Convention. It is decidedly democratic in perspective. While it will offend some, it is a great "text" in the discourse of exposing opponents. Why do we have this phenomenon of exposing double-standards? Why do we need it? What role does it play in the long run for groups?
A double-standard is a form of a discourse -- an institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic, "the limits of acceptable speech" (Butler) like a possible truth--and double-standards are not limited to elections in the US.
POST A COMMENT: Might double-standards be a cultural universal? Or is it a generality or particular to US elections? What do you think and why? [LIMIT 250 word count!]
Curiosity. In a sense, we all "do" anthropology because it is rooted in a universal human trait: curiosity. We are curious about ourselves and about other people, the living as well as the dead, here and around the globe. We ask anthropological questions:
- Do all societies have customs of exposing double-standards in elections or competitions?
- As a species, are human beings innately suspicious or desiring change?
- When did people first begin lying or being political?
Such questions are part of a folk anthropology practiced in school yards, office buildings, neighborhood cafes and comedy shows. But if we are all amateur anthropologists, what do the professionals ("ethnographers") study?
POST A COMMENT: How does the science of anthropology differ from ordinary opinion sharing and "common sense?" What methods distinguish this difference? Give an example from Chapters 1-3 of the Kottak , the essay "Eating Christmas in Kalahari," or of your own. [LIMIT 250 word count!]
Read at least 5 comments every week. Reply once a week. Use the suggested post ideas or post your own questions. A 2-3 lined post is sufficient but it must be more than "I like this post."
Posts
37 comments:
I enjoyed the video.
One witnesses double standards in the course of everyday life particularly in multicultural societies.
The type of double standards vary from society to society but they are observed everywhere.
Would a New York man be more likely to hold the door for a cute woman over a man (or an ugly woman). Of course. Would we be likely to punish a minority citizen more severely than we would a majority citizen. Of course.
In other societies the result is the same, but they have different issues.
For example that a man, in say, northern Iran would stone a woman to death for a crime of infidelity, while congratulating (or forgiving) men for the same offense, does not shock the senses there because cultural mores there are shared by most. In fact, neighbors not only might assist such an "honor killing", they would do it themselves if the immediate family was too slow to act.
In New York, of course, such sentiment would never fly. I do believe that double standards are less likely in free societies.... The reason is that it is a central purpose of free societies to eradicate double standards and to promote true equality. Unlike closed societies that accept the inherent inequalities between peoples of certain creed, or gender or socioeconomic status.
Whereas the video shows examples of double standards, there is something far more distressing about those examples. The video really showed examples of specious political cynicism. The interviewees likely did not believe their own rhetoric but understood that they were "spinning" the truth to a specific desired end. In other words, there was not a conflict of standards but an intentional twist of the truth. Their statements were, as Ken Starr would say, a "calumny!!"
A double standard on the other hand that is subjectively true but objectively contradictory.
I think double-standards is a cultural universal. It is not particular to only US elections. Moreover, it is used widely all over the world and even on daily basis. Sometimes, I tend to think that politicians (even from different countries) teach each other how to use double-standard technique on practice.
Recently, we just heard acceptance speeches of Barack Obama and John McCain. They have different kind of views and criticize each other from their perspectives. Some of their words could confuse attentive listeners. Barack Obama flayed John McCain's definions of “middle class” as someone who makes less than $5 mln a year, and based on that said that McCain was not going to help small businesses. Obama himself promised to cut taxes for 95% of small businesses. Just one week after that John McCain said he would help small business and cut taxes and stated that Obama would not do it. Who of them is telling the truth?
Politicians understand that TV is unique tool to control masses. And they are trying to control mass-media. In Russia, when Vladimir Putin became president, several TV channels were closed. In some dictatorship regimes there used to be only one official point of view. Whoever whatever says about Arabic- Israeli conflict, both parties will remains on their own opinions.
Even in America, double-standard are widely used in TV by political purpose. Fox channel were supporting the war in Iraq all the time. The war is always unpopular thing to do, and George Bush needed informational support to keep his popularity rating.
Now many Americans blamed Russia for invading Georgia. But American TV channels forget to tell people that Georgia started first this conflict by entering its troops in Osetia and killing a lot of Russian peacemakers and citizens. Russia had to respond against that aggression.
However, 10 years ago some Americans did not even know about the existence of Georgia as a country. During 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia, many Americans were supporting athletes from Georgia simply thinking that they were from their state of Georgia.
So, double-standards is a part of our life. Double-standard are telling truth partially, so if we want to see the whole picture of some event we should look at it from different perspectives.
I found the video humorously informative.
Though the video was humorous the reality that it addresses is not. There are double-standards, not just in American politics but in everyday life in this country and every other. Double-standards exist in all societies.
Double-standards don’t merely pertain to sexism, but takes many different forms. For example I saw a news report on the popular restaurant Cracker Barrel. The report stated that minorities, African-Americans and Hispanics especially, were forced to wait an average of twenty minutes longer to receive their meal then Caucasians. This is modern day racism.
Most people think of racism as slaves being brought to work on cotton fields or segregated schools. That was the extreme of the past. Racism still exists today, except in a different form. Racism is just one type of double-standard.
Double-standards can also be economical. This is displayed perfectly in the Denzel Washington movie John Q. Washington’s son was very sick, however, his insurance wouldn’t cover the unbelievably expensive procedure to save his young son’s life. What was he to do, sit back and watch his son die? On the contrary if someone wealthy had a sick child he could’ve easily gotten the surgery. Is it the child’s fault he cannot afford a two million dollar surgery? Is this not a double standard between the upper class and lower class.
The same problem exists all over the world, just with different faces. In some countries men are allowed to have multiple wives or even treat on their wife freely. If a woman were to commit an affair, however, she is considered to have done something horrible. How is it a woman is condemned for doing the same thing her husband is praised for.
The sad truth about double-standards is that they exist, always have, and may always will. From ancient Roman slavery to modern day racial profiling; double-standards is a part of life and possibly even human nature.
I found these posts very humorous and very true.
Are double standards a cultural universal? Well, I wouldn’t know the answer to that question because I’m not familiar with all the cultures in the world. However I do believe that double standards are just another way to refer to words like stereotyping. It’s used everyday all over the world by people, individual groups, and cultures all around the world. Double standards are used to make people inferior to others, causing them to feel lesser of themselves.
Double standards are commonly used in the United States and not only in Government elections as shown in the video by Jon Stewart's video. Double standards can come in many different forms like racism and sexism. People use double standards as a form of verbal attack to make others look ignorant or different from what is “normal”. In trying to make the other look ignorant, the person using the double standard ends up foolish, contradictory, and ignorant as shown by the politicians shown in the comedic video.
As humans, we have double standards about others all the time. Sure enough in writing this you might think I have double standards of the world; I probably do as we all might know they are used consciously and unconsciously by people. Americans have double standards for countries all over the world like China, Cuba, Africa, and etc. Ironically, the United States is supposedly the most diverse country and culturally diverse country in the world.
Humans have double standards for women, children, men, race, and sexuality. As stated by Ernest Cline in his video, “Aren’t we are all just Monkeys”. In the past all the continents were joined as one big continent known as Pangaea, which is a theory proved by science. The question that comes up is why do we have double standards? And I believe that if we don’t find the answer to this, we won’t truly understand the terms “People” or “Human being”.
I do not think that double standards are particular to the U.S elections, but I do not believe that double standards are culturally universal either. Being culturally universal means that throughout the world, all the different cultures and societies of close to 6 billion people, have to have some kind of inclination of double standards; however I do not presume to know all the practices and traditions of all the different cultures in the world, which is why I can’t agree to double standards being universal. From what I do know, double standards are used throughout everyday life, even if people are not consciously aware that they’re doing it. An example of this would be when girls playfully hit guys, they do not expect guys to hit them back, nor are guys taught to ever hit girls the way they would do to other males. Double standards exist in all aspects of our society and are not limited to U.S elections, but the use of double standards, even in elections and campaigns,only goes to show how much society creates and uses double standards.
The human conscious is incapable of delivering accurate judgment and decision making one hundred percent of the time. One example of this idea is the notion of double-standard. I believe that double-standard is a cultural universal because every human on the earth in one way or the other utilizes this idea without always being aware. One might realize that double-standards are used many times in politics.
The video that was shown highlighted the recent double-standards that exist in modern American politics. Karl Rove gave the audience a perfect example of how humans can contradict themselves and keep on like nothing happened. While one may have laughed about Rove’s interesting comment about governor Palin, this kind of incidence happens very often in the media. Politicians many times want to impress and impact their audience so much that by talking more than they have to, they are the ones that challenge their own opinions.
This is not particular to U.S. culture or limited to politics, in fact it is used among an elder in Africa or a teenager in Brazil. The example shown above is just one of the numerous cases that one can think of concerning double-standards. A very common and humorous scenario to which many people witness is when parents prohibit their kids to eat fatty foods; but yet the first thing they put in their mouth at lunch is a “Big Mac.” While reading this may sound foolish, the reality of the matter is that it is very true.
Double standards exist in every society. A double standard is definitely culturally universal, even though the same double standard does not exist in every culture. Double standards exists in the modern workplace, where men are given higher pay, and in tribal societies that are matriarchal.
Most people are not aware that they practice the double standard. For example, girls are allowed to hug and kiss each other on the cheek, while if guys do that it’s seen as gay. Double standards especially exist in U.S. politics. The fact that a woman is running for vice-president shouldn’t affect modern society as much as it has. Specialists are claiming that formed Hilary Clinton supporters now support Sarah Palin just because she is a woman, even though their policies and beliefs are completely different. As people, we should be over gender-related issues like this. Even though American society has grown a lot, it still has a long way to go.
In the video clip of the Daily Show, Karl Rove was impressed with the fact that Sarah Palin was mayor of the second largest city in Alaska, while he antagonized Tim Cain for being mayor of a city that is actually larger than the one Sarah Palin was. In this case, the double standard favored Sarah Palin, because she’s a woman. It’s wrong that Palin is commended for her work, while Cain is criticized for doing the same thing. Even though Jon Stewart made fun of the situation, it’s an issue that might affect the election, even thought it shouldn’t.
In the Daily Show Jon Stewart shows a video about gender cards in this year’s presidential elections concerning Sarah Palin. In the video Paul Rove contradicts himself when speaking about Sarah Palin and Time Cane. At first he praises Palin’s role of governor of a city in Alaska with a population of 9000 people mean while belittling Time Cane’s role as major of Richmond, Virginia with a population of 200,000 people and saying that it’s a “small, not a big town”. People in the media are making a big issue about Palin’s daughter being pregnant since she is a woman running for vice president. In a video clip Sean Hannity and Dick Morris speak about the issue and say that it is “sexist”.
In my opinion I think double standards are a particular when it comes to the United States presidential elections. Before 2008, there were no women running for the presidency like Hillary Clinton or women vice presidential candidates like Sarah Palin. In the history of the United States presidency all of the presidents were men in contrast to other countries like the Philippines where the current president is a woman. I think that since there has not been any woman in the past running for presidency or for vice president, Americans have this double standard towards women. I think that double standards are a social construct that is made up like the issue of race. Women are as capable of men in running a country; it is only during the past century that the gender roles of men and women are starting to change.
This video is so interesting. I learned a lot from this video. It indicates the politicians’ double-standards are very common in the US elections. When most of people think they are talking the right things, but the truth is always opposite. And I found that these people are talking things very fast. Maybe they try letting people ignore their double-standards view. Such as when Karl Rove is praising Palin, he is saying that her city is the second largest city. I didn’t find out any problems at the first time I listened. Then the host indicated that Palin’s city only has 9000 people. I think most people would think it is not a large city at all. However, when a Karl try to indicate Palin’s ability and advantage, the small population city would become a large city in his words. This shows Karl’s double-standards about large city when he is in different situation.
But I think the double-standards do not only exist in the US election, they exist everywhere in normal life. Most people held the double-standards to do everything. Human being always treat the other people with different attitudes on the base of appearance, wealth, and skin color and so on. If you dress a too casual and go to the LV store, I think nobody will take you serious. They will not welcome you as the other people who are wearing Parade or Channel dress. Even not all human groups are holding double-Standards, but most of them are.
I believe double-standards to be universal. Double-standards is very similar to lies. We can assume 99.9% of the world's population, if not 100%, to have lied before and we are probably right. Many cultures most likely discourage lying but as individuals, as humans, we are always at some point put into a situation where the truth just won't cut it. I see double-standards to be the same as human nature suggests that we will do things to no limit for our own interests. Even the most disciplined amongst us will fall to certain temptations. Double-standards is no exception. Ideal culture and real culture supports the truth of the above. Ideal culture being what should be done and how is it done properly, is only said in written religion. Saying what one does is also part of ideal culture. Now what one says they do may differ from what he or she actually does and that is real culture. For a person's own interest, they can interpret their religion differently from others of the same religion. Taking Frank Zhao's arguement into account, I hereby declare Double-standards as universal.
Anthropology is different from ordinary opinion, and common sense in many different ways. What might be right and logical in one society might not be the same in another. Take "Eating Christmas in Kalahari" for example, the anthropologist thought that everyone did not like him, that was why they were making fun of him. But in reality, the only reason they made fun of him was so that he would not thing too highly of himself.
A lot of people eat pork, but in some religions, pigs are considered a dirty animal, so they would not eat pork. Cows are considered gods in another religion, and so they would never eat beef. In New York, jay walking is a normal thing that everyone does, but in other parts of the United States, people would get tickets for it. These are just a few of the examples that separates religion, and locations, and that is what anthropology teaches us.
I believe that double- standard is a cultural universal, not just for political elections, although they might not be the same everywhere. I do agree that double-standards are used among people without them even noticing it. I know that in Serbia, there are some similar double-standards as ones that I have heard in America. For example, double standards pertaining to gender are common among some cultures that I know of. In the video, Sarah Palin is applauded for her work while Tim Cain is made fun of for being mayor to an even larger city. Palin was applauded because not much is expected of women while more is expected of men. Why is this? That is how many societies have taught their people to think, in these double standards.
Another double standard which is probably seen in many cultures is that of cheating. I think many people believe that when a woman cheats on her husband or boyfriend, she is looked down upon and maybe even called a whore. At the same time, it doesn’t seem so bad when a man cheats.
Danielle stated, “girls are allowed to hug and kiss each other on the cheek, while if guys do that it’s seen as gay.” Although this double standard can occasionally be seen in Serbia due to media influences and cultural diffusion, many men still usually use three kisses on the cheek to greet each other. This is just one example of how double standards can differ in other cultures.
Watching the clip from the Daily Show was entertaining!
I don’t look at what is said in politics to be a double-standard but more as a twist on reporting to make voters lean in a certain political direction.
Thinking of the different situations where double-standards can occur I believe them to be universal. Gabi had mentioned “double standards are less likely in free societies” which I’d disagree with. Think about if a bunch of guys are sitting around and talking about how many girls they “hooked” up with, the one with the most is THE MAN, whereas if you have the same situation with girls then the girl with the most is a SLUT. Though this double-standard may not be as serious as others it’s still present in many places.
Another double-standard which most women probably wouldn’t even realize is a double-standard would be, a woman fighting to have equal opportunity as a man but at times that same woman would use the excuse “but I’m a girl.” Speaking as someone who loves to be treated equally, that kind of thing annoys me like crazy. I actually play basketball in an adult league (but I’m one of only two girls who play) and I can hear men on the side saying, “you just got beat by a girl” or if they score in my face, “way to take advantage of the girl.” In my head, once I’m on the court whether with guys or girls, we’re all just ball players.
Nusrath Hussain
XZ24C 4:10
Double standards are apart of daily life and people make double standards everyday whether it is between specific cultures or in elections.
An example of a cultural double standard would be a parent putting down another person’s child as to what kind of behavior is right or wrong and slandering that child for wearing cloths that show to much skin, then turning around and not looking at their own child for showing too much skin or saying, “It’s too hot for her to cover up,” or “My child gets straight A’s and is an honor student so they can wear whatever they want.” My example may not be the best example, however in my culture this type of situation occurs and double standards are common.
The case of double standards with the elections is a perfect example, and I believe John Stewart is right to show it to his viewers, the idea of double standards is clearly shown when Bill O’ Reilly says we shouldn’t judge the teen pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s teen daughter just because she is running as a vice-presidential candidate, however he has another show ridiculing Jamie-Lynn Spears teen pregnancy and calling the parents “Pin Heads.”
Whether it is as little as a situation about clothing or as big as the elections, double standards occur and I don’t think they will ever become obsolete. As human beings, we have to deal with double standards whether it is in the political system or in cultures and societies.
~Nuzzy~
I think double standards are universal. Because if you look any were in the world people use dirty politics and can't stop lying about each other to make themselves look good. I also believe that this has been going on since the beginning of human time because there is always somebody that thinks their smarter than everybody else and can just lie people and get away with it. This happens very often in politics especially because if candidates just said the truth about themselves they wouldn't look as good and one of them would have a clear advantage over the other so to prevent that from happening they hype themselves up to get better shot. Double standard is greatly portrayed in "Eating Christmas in Kalahari" by the Anthropologist. Because at first he taught the people were stingy and greedy but later found it to be otherwise. The people actually didn't want anybody thinking to much of themselves and that was the main reason they didn't compliment each other on their achievements. So as you can see double standards are universal and what is regular in one part of the world could be very irregular in the other part of the world as an example use consideration to Holy water, and cows which in one place are considered to be holy and in another place just a regular cow or water. And this is just one of the many examples you can use which I think proves my point of view on double standards.
Jeffrey Lam
Sep, 11, 2008
ANT1001 TV24A/Gaunt
1st Year (CIS)
Ch. 3: The Culture of Double-Standards: Comedy Reveals Discourses
Double-standards in my opinion are culturally universal. I think people unconsciously contradict themselves because most humans are biased. Politicians can be more susceptible into double-standards because they usually choose sides. When politicians talk about the opposing side, they might be biased for they favor their own side. In the video from Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, they show the republicans favoring the sides of the republicans and they try to belittle the democrats. Double-standards can’t be put onto elections but they can be shown more during time of elections because people tend to choose side based on their beliefs and how they think. Double-standards exist in every society of the world because it is just a natural to humans. Like breathing, it’s just natural to the human brain. We don’t think about it, it is just a way we act. I think double-standards can be situation based as well. I myself can tend to contradict myself depending on the situation. Double-standards are shown all throughout the world even if we are able to see them or not.
Double standards are cultural generalities. They are certainly not universals because I believe double standards to be used by liars and hypocrites, and not everyone is a liar and hypocrite. There are many religions and cultures in this world that forbid lying and many people follow that. For example, Andy petite of the New York Yankees is a strict Christian and his religion forbids him to lie. So he admitted the truth to the MLB when he confessed Roger Clemens to be using steroids.
There are too many double standards in politics and I was reading Terry’s post and I liked the mention of @the Russians invading Georgia. It’s a double standard of the US going in because the US invaded Iraq and many other countries, but as soon as someone else invades a different country, it becomes a problem. Double standards are lies and used a lot in American politics.
The video entitled “what we are,” was finally able to humble the minds of all of us arrogant humans who consider ourselves too “civilized” to, in essence, “pop a squat” in the forest. While we boast about our ability to reason and to have feelings unique to any other species on the planet, we rage wars on one another and kill, without the purpose of food or defense. The amount of credit that we place on other “monkeys” is outstanding, considering that nothing on this planet is actually ours—we are sharing this Earth with thousands of other species.
It's ironic that this video initially had the viewer thinking that it was another poke at the presidential election and suddenly it spun off onto a whole other tangent. While Governor Sarah Palin’s experience obviously leaves much to be questioned, most critiques immediately give her “breaks” because she is a woman. It’s amusing, even more so, to watch the republican critics bash Hilary Clinton for backing down from the election, while Governor Palin gets sympathy. One of the commentators made an extremely offensive and sexist remark when he judged Clinton as “hiding behind the apron strings.”
The difference in the anthropology we “do” everyday, verses the anthropology of the chapters we have read or understood, is the risk that the ethnographer takes when diving directly into a civilization that he does not understand, while we sit comfortably and just wonder, instead of actually doing.
Claumery Cabrera
Double standard is universal. It’s used in many ways and since we’re used it, we don’t notice it as much, or we do but we disregard it and accept it as it is. It happens all around the world not just in America. This world if full of people that try to gain points by oppressing the offence side and we fall into their traps every time. In the Dominican Republic the political parties over there are composed of only double standards. The PLD and the PRD are the main contenders within every election. I was living over there for 2 years and I had a chance to experience an election year.
Every party was trashing the other and they would just look for ways to justify themselves and their actions by bringing up the others defects. They put it out there for you, now it’s your choice to pick whose actions are “acceptable”. It’s a very hypocritical system and their key card that is played is that since the majority of Dominicans didn’t go to school they are easily manipulated. One way in which they manipulate them is by giving out bags of food. So they focus on that act of “goodness” and disregard all the other issues that surround them and disregard the real issue because they are blinded. Dominicans just like Americans need to open up their eyes now and look at the issue the way it is, not the way that others portray it.
xiang.wang
class of 4:10
section:XZ24C
In every society there are doubled-standards practiced by people conscientiously or not. In Chinese culture, we persecute American food as fatty and unhealthy while we use a lot of vegetable oil in every single thing that we prepare. By doing so, isn’t it equivalent to the American food in matter of fat concentration? However in most of the time we don’t realize the doubled-standard that we are saying or doing.
Similarly in the video shown, the three pro-republican speakers might have consciously or unconsciously said the doubled-standard. In all three cases they have done it in order to attack the other political party and to self preserve. It is very commonly practiced in all major political issues all around the world. Sometimes it seems funny and laughable, while some other times the doubled-standard are being used to self-preserve. Though in the Paul Rove’s case, he have really said something very absurd. How could he compare a city of 9000 habitants to a city of over 200000 habitants? If I were him I would have presented the fact without giving out these numbers and have mainly focused on Ms. Palin instead of comparing her to Mr.Biden.
I will not persecute the use of the doubled-standard because I am also a user of doubled-standard. Sometimes I will I will look criticize the American food while eating the fatty Chinese food. Humans have always and will always practice the double standard. It is a universal truth. It is especially true in the American elections. In every political party there will always be one member who will criticize the other party while praising his/hers.
Double standards exists everywhere, they can be found in the most minimal of cases. They may not be visible or even hearable, but that does not mean that it is not there. It’s almost like the same concept of; “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” A more common example of double standards would be the gay community. Biologically they are men, however through people’s eyes they are considered less then “average” men. Here in the US another example of a double standard are minorities. It is ironic that the word minority means “less than”, yet the minority communities make up a huge portion of the US population.
After watching the YouTube videos on the blog I noticed clear cut double standards in US elections. The same criticisms that political speakers gave to one candidate of a party didn’t apply to other candidates of the opposite party. For example political speaker Sean Hannity was outraged claiming a biased and sexist media was giving Republican vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin very tough questions. However, when Senator Hillary Clinton was facing tough questions a few months ago he stated that Hillary Clinton had no right to complain about gender.
Double standards are evident in US politics. However I believe double standards are not exclusive to the subject of US politics. For example, Donovan McNaab
(An African American NFL Quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles) has taken a lot of heat in the media for getting injured and not performing to expectations. McNaab has taken his team to the Superbowl and 2 NFC titles games. Meanwhile, a white NFL Quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals known as Carson Palmer has had a season ending injury (just like McNaab) and hasn’t even taken his team past the 1st round in the playoffs. However, Palmer is not scrutinized by the media nearly as much as Donovan McNaab. This shows how double standards are not found in US politics alone.
Double standards exist in every nation regardless of being “free” or not. It is not exclusive to any single part of society. Racism is one example of double standards; one instance is mentioned by Edwin Torres taking place at Cracker Barrels across America that serves Caucasians twenty minutes faster than African -Americans and Hispanics. I agree; racism is a double standard, one that is a cultural universal. Another example is the incident with Don Imus’ racist and sexist comment about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, in which he called them “nappy headed whores”, shortly afterwards he was fired. Imus is not the only person to have made racially charged comments in recent times in America. Imus’ treatment was just, but it was the not same treatment given to Kamau Kambon a former college professor who said that white people have to be exterminated, all broadcasted on C-SPAN in 2005. Kamau Kambon was not fired from his job for this much lengthier racist talk. After having said this, very little coverage by the media was said about it and nothing as close to the level of which was given to Don Imus’ remark. Tolerance for racism is a double standard in American culture that also takes place in other cultures. It took place in South Africa with apartheid, Nazi forces in Europe, the Chinese and Tibetans, the Spainards and Portuguese in Latin America, etc… Instances like Don Imus’ comments and Kamau Kambon talks still go on today in probably every culture but is probably more acceptable within those cultures.
I think double-standards is a cultural universal. It is not particular to only US elections. There are double-standards, not just in American politics but in everyday life in this country and every other. Double-standards exist in all societies.
Crystal Peart
TV24A 2:30
In reference to a statement made by Edwin Torres, I agree that the video on this page was humorously informative. One part of me found it funny that the Republican Party exuded double standards. Another part of me was somewhat surprised to see that double standards existed almost everywhere.
That is why I believe double standards are a cultural universal. Although some cultures may differ in their approach, we all at some point show these characteristics.
For instance, while growing up every child is told not to lie by their parents. In one way or the other, they are told that it is immoral and any kind of sign of it usually ends with some kind of punishment. I myself experienced this. But there was a time when my own mother contradicted herself.
We were on our way to my grandmother's house and my mother forgot to buy something for her that she promised she would get. In return, she told me to tell my grandmother that the store was closed, even though we never went.
So that goes to show you, everyone contradicts themselves one way or the other. Whether it’s to get a point across or just to save themselves, double standards is practiced everywhere. It may remain as a tacit topic, but the signs are everywhere, making it a part of life, nature, and of course, culture.
Caroline Camilo
Ant 1001
Is double standards a cultural universal thing or is it a generality or particular to the United States elections? I believe that double standard is a particular aspect to people. Not everyone could be hypocrite and tell a person something they shouldn't do and then tell someone else that is okay to do it.
There are some cases where people in order to back up their idea or argument ends up talking nonsense about the opposite team or party, and that is what causes them to be double standards. For example, when it comes to politics, people from the Republican party might criticize issues that go on in the personal lives of the candidates of the Democratic party or even of issues that are happening all over the world, but then when it happens to one of their people from their side they make it seem like its all good and gravy and start saying that everyone makes mistakes and like it's okay.
Being double standards is an aspect people might have from what they see. I believe that it's in you to be double standards. From my perspective I can't be double standards, because I feel that I’ll always go with my word no matter what I see or to whom I'm speaking to.
In conclusion, I think that it’s what you believe. Even though people witness double standards in their daily life doesn’t mean that you have to stereotype the community and think that everyone is like that.
Double standards in my opinion are culturally universal. Even seen in politics, politicians always say one thing to the public eye to make themselves the better candidate. Seen in the comedy video of Sarah Palin, she makes a point that her teenage daughter is pregnant. Even though teenage pregnancy is a inevitable problem in the U.S, she as a potential vice president is not able to stop a on growing problem. Instead, Palin applauds herself as a mother who will support her teenage daughter. To a celeb, like Britney Spears, the media will always talk against her actions. Even though Sarah Palins daugthers and celeb Jamie Spears are in the same situation, parents of nickelonian are trying to take Jamie off children television. Double standards exist even in the media, not only in politics.
In my opinion double standards are cultural universal. Double standards exist everywhere. I think that some people don’t realize when they’re being double standards. I think they do it unconsciously. Though not every person is unconscious about being double standards. I don’t think double standards are particularity to U.S. elections. I don’t think societies make it a custom to expose double standards. It’s not something societies should be proud of. People don’t like to accept the reality so if you told them they would deny being double- standards. When it comes to elections citizens tend to get very enthusiastic and emotionally involved with their parties whether they are republicans or democratic; its their opinion on who should run the country or who’s the best party to run the country. I think double standards exist throughout the world. It happens on a daily basis it really doesn’t matter where in the world you are.
Many instances prove the difference between an anthropological perspective and the view from an ordinary person. Cultural anthropology is the study of human beings and their cultures. As a science, the observation of human behavior must come from an unbiased point of view, which most would agree is quite a difficult to accomplish. Nevertheless, the fact that it is a science, an ethnographer is more qualified to make proper observations. For example, Mirror for Humanity speaks of techniques that ethnographers use towards their studies. These techniques wouldn’t likely be used an ordinary person. Methods such as speaking to key cultural consultants and participant observation bring ethnographer to see culture through someone else’s eyes. They are open to this idea because of how they train, unlike an ordinary person that doesn’t see things the way they do. Humans often see only what they want to see and hear only what they want to hear. Someone studying anthropology will most likely have different observations compared to an ordinary person, because of the methods they use to draw their conclusions.
At first I didn’t really understand the meaning of the video because I was still confused about what double standard was but I began to understand and watched the video again. I found it very interesting that double standards are found often in politics. They say outrageous things to help them in their campaign but some may view the comments as too critical. I think that double standards exist universally, not only in politics. Double standard isn’t only limited to sexism but is also found through racism, sexuality, and children. Men and women talk to people of their same sex differently than they do towards the opposite sex. You would change your tone if you are talking to a child. Some people are different towards different races, whether or not in a racist way. I feel that the double standard may be the difference maker in this political campaign because of the candidates. We will either have our first African American president or our first female vice president.
The video were really interesting with a lot of humor. It was my first time to see with such as evidence the concept of double-standard. I think double-standards are not particular to US elections, just used a lot by American politicians. It is a cultural universal because; humans unconsciously or consciously practice the double-standard. Humans being always want to please and get appreciation. So, when they express their ideas and don’t have a positive feed back, they change their mind and contradict themselves. In all societies, people like to be considered as the one that everybody loves. It is amazing how Nancy Pfotenhauer was claiming in one hand that Hillary Clinton should stop playing the gender card and the other hand defending her female prospective. For example, how could you define somebody who was married for 20 years with kids and become a lesbian or gay. Supporting one side all your life and then argue that men or women are the worst specimen on earth .obviously, we are constantly using double-standard all other the world, maybe different in their nature but still the same principle.
I really liked the video watched in class. It permitted to kill the little bit of ethnocentrism in every one of us, stop thinking than our culture is better than others. We are all “monkeys” and should learn how to deal with that in every day life.
Dereck Persaud TV
The video was very funny! It shows one of many double standards we live with every day. I love seeing how easy it is to make things look one way when they are truly another. Double standards are a way of life. Double standards are universal but differ form culture to culture. Double standards are used on a daily basis. For example, in the video, the politician made Alaska seem so vast and full of people but in fact the part that was governed by the republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin only contained a population of nine thousand people. The same politician then made the democratic vice presidential candidates Time Cane's state seem tiny but in fact contained over two-hundred thousand people. Over all people are chock full of double standards. Double standards are learned at a very young age. When we all tell someone a story we all seem to do what this politician did. We first make something seem like a really big deal while making another thing seem to be not as important.
I believe that double standards are universal. I think that people that do a double standard have lost memory or they probably feel that the act is good for them and not for anyone else. In my opinion, most of contradiction usually happens to the smartest people. I think that is just life. Some people do not even realize they have contradicted themselves until someone has told them. For example in politics, arguments between each party continue back and forth because of the contradiction that happens when each speech is made.
Double standards are just of way saying that no one is perfect or a liar, which I think is the case. No one is above the line of truthfulness. People lie all the time. Sometimes people lie and they don’t even know about it. Politics I think do it the most. Everything they say is not always what happens when they get into office. If you told everyone 8 years ago that President Bush would run the country the way he has, I guarantee you that he would not have got into office.
It is impossible to expose a double standard because if it could be exposed then no one would actually do it. Its like saying that I am lying about what I am saying here but I am not. You can never know if someone is lying or being hypocritical because they could just be lying when they admit it.
ANT1001
4:10 P.M
Thanks for providing interesting video.
Double standard is not a generality or particular to US elections. It is usually using one of the strategies for cutting other candidates in US elections. We can see the double standards in everywhere not only in the US elections but also in the other cultures.
Double standard is referring to one class of entities being treated differently from another class of entities. Double standards based on race, minority, and gender. There are still racism and sexism in the world. In addition, majority doesn't focus on minorities. For example, news is not focused on the minorities life. and when the minorities say their rights and opinion, majority is indifferent to them. and they see minority with prejudice.
so, double standard is a cultural universal. so, we should see every part of life and respect other cultures.
Most of you are assuming you know what double standard really means. Here is what Wikipedia says:
A double standard refers to one class of entities being treated differently from another class of entities, and implies an unfair or unjustified differentiation. Double standards can be applied to many entities including people, groups, and concepts.
When judicial processes are applied more strictly to some people than others, such double standards are seen as unjust because they violate a basic maxim of modern legal jurisprudence: that all parties should stand equal before the law. Double standards also violate the principle of justice known as impartiality, which is based on the assumption that the same standards should be applied to all people, without regard to subjective bias or favoritism based on social class, rank, ethnicity, gender or other distinction. A double standard violates this principle by holding different people accountable according to different standards.
There is a distinction to be made between double standards and hypocrisy, which implies the stated or presumed acceptance of a single standard a person claims to hold himself or herself accountable to, but which in practice may be disregarded. For example: a man who believes it is his right to have extramarital affairs, but that his wife does not have such a right holds a double standard. A man who publicly condemns extramarital affairs while maintaining his mistress is a hypocrite.
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