CNN contributor Ruben Navarrette begins this article by defining a "new word: cultuphobia." He defines it as "the fear that another person's culture is taking over your own." He uses an example: the anchors of New York's "Good Morning America" and Miami's Spanish-language "Despierta America" traded places for one episode of the program. Navarette describes this as "a pretty good idea," and goes on to say that the hosts who switched places enjoyed it immensely. Both programs considered it a success; however, "Good Morning America" viewers met the switch with anger and disgruntlement. One woman on the Facebook page of the program stated that she expected the daily news to be presented "'in ENGLISH.'" Navarette states that many viewers may just've wanted to stick with what they like, but with others, it was a definite case of "cultuphobia." Such stuff is a reminder that "prejudice is alive and well."
Cultural diffusion is an important and meaningful part of human interaction. The fear behind pushing other cultures away is that one's culture will be absorbed into the mass of interaction, becoming nothing, blending into a banal, bland, monocultural world devoid of diversity. This seems very frightening, of course, but that is not what happens. Cultural diversity is valuable, and accepting it is far from detrimental to society. It is severely disappointing that what was meant to be a fun and interesting change of pace was met with such distaste and irateness.
Article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/01/opinion/navarrette-cultuphobia/index.html?hpt=us_mid
I enjoyed the diction in this analysis.
ReplyDeleteWELL thanks :)
ReplyDeleteI do agree, that while some people prefer their norm, understanding how our neighbors live is an important part of human interaction. America is the melting pot of culture, and embracing other cultures is as American as apple pie.
ReplyDeleteI agree with McKay on how we need to understand other peoples cultures: mainly so that we can start defusing some of the ignorance that surrounds other cultures. It's scary when other peoples traditions seem to take the place of our own but at the end of the day, America is America, we do things our own way and make things our own.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that as time goes on the world becomes more and more interconnected, so eventually cultures are going to merge whether a select group like it or not. It's okay to be proud of your culture, but to shut out everyone else's is just unnecessary stress for everyone, don't you think?
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