Ethnocentrism within the United States - Essay Example

Ethnocentrism within the United s There world is full of diversity when it comes to culture, and this is sometimes undermined by ethnocentrism. Though it has its positive sides, ethnocentrism goes beyond just viewing one’s ethnic group as superior; it involves using this view to judge other cultures (Ankerl, 2000). The upside is that it helps those of the minority groups to have a sustained identity for an extended time span. Its downside is that other ethnic groups can view others from a dented perspective (Krayer, 2013).

The media is a great means to influence people towards buying commodities. One of the thriving industries is the weight lose industry. In other parts of the world, someone overweight is considered to be wealthy and prosperous, yet American media is filled with images and examples that show being over weight as a bad thing (Ankerl, 2000). American media is viewed as demonizing to other cultures that are not American, in American movies the bad guys always seem to be related to current issues. In 1980s the bad guy would be a Russian because of the cold war.

Presently the bad guy seems to be a Muslim due to terrorism. Immigrants get shocked at the amount of violence and sex exposed on television when they move to America. The dressing system in America is very different from other culture especially the Islamic culture. Muslim women dress in a fashion that would cover most parts of their bodies with just the eyes left visible at times. This diversity contrasts with the American way that allows women to dress as they like. While Americans feel the other way of dressing is strange, the other group feels the American way is provocative (turntoislam.com, 2010).

For a multicultural society in American, ethnocentrism is a great hindrance. It makes those feeling superior to think their way of things is always right and not giving other room to have their say. This makes the minority have a hard time trying to embrace a multicultural identity especially among immigrants. Work CitedAnkerl, G. (2000). Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. Geneva: INU PRESS. Krayer P. (2013). The problem of ethnocentrism. Retrieved April 25, 2014 from http://www.

interserveusa.org/the-problem-of-ethnocentrism/Turntoislam (2010). Ethnocentrism in America and random thoughts. Retrieved April 25, 2014 from http://turntoislam.com/community/threads/ethnocentrism-in-america-and-random-thoughts-its-a-long-one-but-i-make-points.72493/