Hiral Patel Essays (501 words) - Conformity, Consensus Reality, Norm

Hiral Patel Essays (501 words) - Conformity, Consensus Reality, Norm Hiral Patel October 13, 2014 ANT 104 ONLN Professor Lynn O'Brien Tiwi Covering Up Should an anthropologist let personal beliefs get in the way of studying a culture? The answer should be no. Almost all anthropologists come across a time where they have to ponder over going along with the culture norms or by putting forth their beliefs on how things should be. The Tiwi society of Northern Australia believes in "covering up" their mothers when the mothers become decrepit and the sons are unable to take care of their mothers. So should anthropologist Charles Hart be judged because he agreed to "cover up" his adoptive mother according to the culture and norms of the Tiwi society? Mothers are considered to be burdens in the Tiwi society. At least that is the case when they become old and crippled, unable to fend for themselves. Charles Hart was an anthropologist adopted by the Jabijabui clan. His adoptive mother became a "toothless, almost blind, withered" (Hart 1) woman and the senior members of the Jabijabui clan decided amongst themselves that the time had come to "cover up" the woman. In a way, she became useless for the clan. What is shocking to the readers of this incident is that Charles Hart, despite being adopted, agreed with his clan to end the life of his mother. Despite being adopted into the clan and only staying with the clan for the purpose to study the culture, Hart chose to abide his brothers' decisions to "cover up" their mother. Although Hart was a human, he was also a man on duty: an anthropologist. The main job of an anthropologist is to blend in with the culture and the society that they are studying. It is their job to win the trust of t he society members. This is exactly what Hart did. He never let his personal concerns and beliefs get out of hand. Although he may have felt at one point that his brothers of the Jabijabui clan were making a mistake by burying their own mother he had to "go along with the culture." This would not be considered unethical taking into consideration that Hart was an anthropologist and he was attempting to fit in with the society. Hart did what he felt was right back then keeping his occupation in mind. If Hart had refused to bury his adoptive mother, then his refusal would be considered unethical because although anthropologists try not to forget their identities when living with another culture, one mistake can cause them to pay a big price. They can lose their opportunity to study that culture and may be forced to leave or they may even unwillingly lose their lives. The whole point of being an anthropologist is to blend in with and study another culture and its people. That is why it is important for anthropologists to put aside personal preferences and beliefs and to abide cultural norms. Keeping this in mind, Charles Hart's decision on burying his adoptive mother is completely justifiable.