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saharzie
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 3:53 am Post subject: Cultural Relativity? |
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Writing a piece about Korea with regard to the cultural relativity argument..
Any thoughts on this argument and how it relates to Korea?
Personally find the whole thing hard to swallow...any thoughts??
If a taxi driver stops to let you in before realizing you are a waygook and speeds off, is he a jerk or merely a product of a culture he had no control over. Likewise if I throw a rock through his back window, am I a violent maniac or simply a product of a western culture which frowns upon blatant discrimination? |
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Kristsoy
Joined: 23 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 4:19 am Post subject: well |
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| taxi drivers can get fined 200,000 won for not picking up people |
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Arthur Fonzerelli
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Location: Suwon
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 4:51 am Post subject: Re: Cultural Relativity? |
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| saharzie wrote: |
Writing a piece about Korea with regard to the cultural relativity argument..
Any thoughts on this argument and how it relates to Korea?
Personally find the whole thing hard to swallow...any thoughts??
If a taxi driver stops to let you in before realizing you are a waygook and speeds off, is he a jerk or merely a product of a culture he had no control over. Likewise if I throw a rock through his back window, am I a violent maniac or simply a product of a western culture which frowns upon blatant discrimination? |
we are the sum of many parts...
culture is one part. |
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kiwiboy_nz_99
Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Location: ...Enlightenment...
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 6:24 am Post subject: |
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| If a taxi driver stops to let you in before realizing you are a waygook and speeds off, is he a jerk or merely a product of a culture he had no control over |
He's a jerk ... but you'll need more of an angle to make an article out of it ... |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 6:42 am Post subject: |
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I've never had it happen. Sometimes I think I live in a parallel universe. I never have had anyone spit on my feet, not pick me up in a cab because I am white, yell at me for speaking English, call me a Russian prostitute  , or most of the other hideous things Koreans seem to do to some people here. I guess I am just lucky, or maybe I look like I am Korean.  |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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To pick a nit: don't we use "relativism" when discussing subjects in the realm of the social sciences/humanities; and "relativity" when we are in the realm of the hard sciences?
Not trying to be an anal *beep*- I'm really asking! |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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| I've never ever had a taxi refuse to pick me up cos I'm white, I've had ones refuse to pick me up because it's 1am and I'm only going from Jong-no to Hongdae. But they were doing the same thing to countless koreans, just looking for big fares. |
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kangnamdragon
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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| A monk told me once that only culture is relative. |
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Derrek
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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| desultude wrote: |
| I've never had it happen. I never have had anyone spit on my feet, not pick me up in a cab because I am white, yell at me for speaking English, call me a Russian prostitute |
Answer:
1. They didn't spit at you, because you are female.
2. You weren't avoided by cab drivers because you are female.
3. You must not be young enough, blonde enough, or attractive enough to be considered a "Russian Prostitute".
As for someone yelling at you for speaking English... well, unless you're a gyopo, I think people expect you'll probably be speaking English. |
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crazylemongirl
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Derrek wrote: |
[
1. They didn't spit at you, because you are female.
2. You weren't avoided by cab drivers because you are female.
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I haven't had number 1 but number 2 happens occasionally. |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Derrek
1. They didn't spit at you, because you are female.
2. You weren't avoided by cab drivers because you are female.
3. You must not be young enough, blonde enough, or attractive enough to be considered a "Russian Prostitute". |
So I guess I should be grateful for being an ugly old woman?
Either that, or, even though merde does happen to me on occasion, I accept it as being part of the world, and move on without bitching to everyone about it. Attitude is everything, and then some. For every bad taxi story I have ( in Korea in my second year, I have exactly one) I have 100 good ones. I guess I choose where to focus my energy. |
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Psy
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Location: Hongdae
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:12 am Post subject: |
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| I have heard that taxi drivers in Korea would refuse a passenger for being a foreigner, being female, or even wearing glasses. Supposedly, if the first passenger of the day was one of "those" people, the rest of your day will suck like hell, (you'd make no money, get into a car accident, etc.) or something to that extent. All three would make it 3x worse. |
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Homer
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 1:58 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| If a taxi driver stops to let you in before realizing you are a waygook and speeds off, is he a jerk or merely a product of a culture he had no control over. Likewise if I throw a rock through his back window, am I a violent maniac or simply a product of a western culture which frowns upon blatant discrimination? |
To answer your question saharzie, your question seems to be too simple or to leave out possible choices.
Jerk or racist pig are your options here when really it could be many other things.
In this taxi example the driver could speed off because he speaks no English, hears your destination and is not interested (happens a lot after the bars close), ect...
As for tossing a brick that would make you as potentially low as a driver who would have passed you by because of racism....
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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| So the question now is, are you still going to mention this taxi driver business with no anecdotal evidence to back it up? |
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shawner88
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with Swiss James for the second time (see my signature for the first time).
I've never taken in personally if a taxi driver refuses to pick me up because I know he's not doing it because I'm a foreigner but because he knows his business and what's the best way for him to make money. He either doesn't want to go a short distance, or if I'm going far, he may be hoping to keep local. With so many taxis, I don't sweat it. I always get one sooner or later. |
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