Final answer:
Cultural relativism is the practice of understanding and evaluating cultures based on their own standards rather than from an outside perspective. It involves an anthropological approach of withholding judgment to genuinely appreciate other cultures, though it also acknowledges the ethical challenges in accepting practices that violate human rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cultural relativism is the idea that cultures should be understood and evaluated on their own terms, rather than judged according to the values of another culture. Assessing a culture by its own standards means recognizing the unique complexities and norms of that culture without imposing an outsider's perspective, which may lead to misunderstanding or misrepresentation. Adhering to cultural relativism requires an anthropological approach that suspends judgment and seeks to appreciate the rationale, customs, and beliefs within their native context.To engage in cultural relativism, one might have to reconcile aspects of their own culture with differing practices or values they encounter in other cultures. Certain practices, such as female genital mutilation, pose significant challenges to those attempting to maintain a culturally relativist stance. Thus, practitioners must balance openness and sensitivity with the recognition that some cultural practices may conflict with universal human rights or ethical considerations.Anthropologists, such as Michael Brown, propose a form of cultural relativism - described as cultural relativism 2.0, which advocates for listening, seeking to understand, and approaching other cultures with an open-hearted eagerness to learn, rather than an eagerness to judge. This balanced view allows anthropologists to work collaboratively across cultures in pursuit of common goals.