Culture Clash

Evidently, some Americans are upset that there was nudity during the opening ceremonies of the recent Olympic games. They complained to the FCC about allowing that to be broadcast. Now, the Greeks are upset that we're trying to control their culture.

My first reaction is that they're both wrong. I think the obsession with covering up nudity is silly, and I think the Olympics chief is even more silly for thinking that this constitutes a threat to Greek culture. To me, this breaks down into several components.

1. Is nudity a bad thing? I mean, come on, we're born nude. We can all look at our own nude forms. "If God had meant man to be naked, He would have made us that way!" I don't find nudity offensive in the least (even in unattractive specimens). I don't necessarily want it shoved in my face, or to have naked people running around when I'm trying to eat, but I don't think it's the end of the world. Personally, I find boxing more offensive. Or football. Telemarketing. Political mudslinging. But that's just me. Ultimately, though, I realize that what offends one person pleases another, and vice versa, and it's difficult to go around telling people what's good or bad when there's no overwhelming justification for it.

2. What about the children? I don't see anything wrong with nudity, nor do I think it's wrong for children to be exposed to it. Now, I'm talking about casual nudity, not about sexual, seductive or salacious forms of it. Kids can see themselves naked, and I don't see harm in them knowing what other people look like. But that's a personal opinion, and I recognize that other parents feel differently. As a parent, though, I feel strongly that I should be able to determine what my child is exposed to. If I objected to nudity, especially around children, then I would be mighty upset at people exposing my kid to it against my will. It's up to parents to determine what's good for their children, not the general public. Just because someone thinks it's okay to swear or smoke or whaterver in front of my kid doesn't mean that I should just sit back and allow it.

3. Imposing values on others. Which leads me to the issue here. People complain that America is imposing its values on others. That we're polluting their culture. For the most part, I think that's rubbish. We produce cultural works for our own benefit. Movies, books, music, restaurants, etc. We don't force them on other nations. If a country doesn't want a McDonald's there, then they should just pass a law against it. I'm not going to object to a country saying they don't want something we produced. If I did, then we couldn't tell someone else to keep their products out of our own country. Like food that's made from cats and dogs, or movies featuring child pornography. We can regulate what we find objectionable, and so can they. If certain elements of another country object to something that the country as a whole doesn't care about, then that's an internal matter. They shouldn't come crying to us. Or bomb our buildings. If they're upset that their country allows our products or values to come in, then they should complain to their own government.

4. If the Greeks want nudity in their public performances, that's fine by me. If Americans don't want it, they can just not watch. Or complain to our government. If our government prohibits the display of Greek performances in the United States, then that's our right. It's controlling the culture within our own borders. If the Greeks don't like that, then, it's the Greeks trying to impose their values on us!

So what's the right answer? Well, my first thought is that there is no right answer. Not every problem has a simple answer, or any answer at all. One method that has been tried is to regulate the culture. One standard for everybody. Like the Chinese have done. Enforced purity. I shudder at that approach. It's boring, it's intrusive, it's authoritarian. Another approach is to have no standards at all. Anything goes. I shudder at that, too.

What seems to work best is what we have. (Was Voltaire right?) People live in communities of various sizes, and each community has its own values of what is acceptable and what is not. If you don't like it, you try to change that community or you move elsewhere or you just live with it. You'll never find someplace where everybody has the same set of values, though. So another approach is to be tolerant. There again, you need to strike a balance. People talk about intolerance as if it was a bad thing, but is it bad to be intolerant of child abuse? Is it bad to be intolerant of slavery?

All we can do is muddle along from day to day, trying to decide what's best for ourselves and the good of the people, change what we can and accept what we can't, being sensitive to others. End of sermon.


Blog Tag: Opinion