Cultural relativism is the assertion that human values, far from being universal, vary a great deal according to different cultural perspectives. Some would apply this relativism to the promotion, protection, interpretation and application of human rights which could be interpreted differently within different cultural, ethnic and religious traditions. In other words, according to this view, human rights are culturally relative rather than universal.
With this in mind, can there be any universal human rights? Does the UDHR succeed in establishing human rights that are acceptable to all humans? Or discuss the issue of cultural relativism as it deals with controversial cultural practices. For example, you could discuss the issue of whether female genital circumcision is an issue of cultural relativism or a issue of human rights.
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"The child, completely naked, is made to sit on a low stool....With her kitchen knife, the operator first pierces and slices open the hood of the clitoris. Then she begins to cut it out....the operator digs with her sharp fingernail a hole the length of the clitoris to detach and pull out the organ. The little girl, held down by the women helpers, screams in extreme pain; but no one pays the slightest attention....cutting it to the bone with her knife....he neighbor women are then invited to plunge their fingers into the bloody hole to verify that every piece of the clitoris is removed."
That was a women who wittnesed the horrible act of female genital mutilation. I know that in some cultures this what this is "socially acceptable" and we as Americans believe to some extant it is ok for this to happen, because it is part of a culture we are not familiar with. Personally, it sickened me when I read this article. There is NO point, at least for medical or hygienic reasons, for this procedure to be done. I believe a universal law should be put in order to stop such actions from happening. We as Americans are lucky enough to not have to go thru ancient rituals in order to be socially accepted. But in-turn we have been numbed to knowing such pain and hardships that some 3rd world young adults go thru. The fact is, no matter how much we try to understand such pain we will never be able to measure it to anything. In all, yes there should be laws to stop these kinds of barbaric rituals, this is the 21 century, you no longer need to sew your vaginal region shut to not have baby's. No one, no matter where you come from, should ever have to suffer thru so much pain and mutilation, for the sake of culture. There should be laws to stop such things from happening, unless there is a mutual consent from both party's.
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