In the DR Congo and Rwanda it is so common it seems to be part of the culture at least among males.

I know where you’re coming from with that, but I think the problem is to see behaviour from people who have lived in extremely brutal and catastrophic situations as part of their ‘culture’, when in fact it isn’t really. Rape is used as a form of exercising and expressing power and control (and has bin throughout history, see the recent Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, Vietnam, WW2, etc), but is not a fundamental aspect of any ‘culture’.

I think the underlying reasons for behaviour should be understood before and condemnation is made.

In the DR Congo and Rwanda it is so common it seems to be part of the culture

I think the underlying reasons for behaviour should be understood before and condemnation is made.

You’re probably right there. When it comes to rape culturally acceptable probably isn’t the phrase I’m looking for although I do think that there are certain cultures where the “she was asking for it” mentality is more common.

In this case I’d say that Norwegian culture is superior to the UK. I’ve never heard anyone here (in Norway) suggesting that women should dress more conservatively to reduce their chances of being raped. It’s something that I’ve heard to a greater or lesser extent many times in the UK.

I think there are many cases where culturally acceptable is exactly the phrase I’m looking for. The example I gave earlier about the Middle East stands. It is accepted that people from the subcontinent are second class citizens and their life is worth less than that of an Arab or a westerner.

In this case I’d say that Norwegian culture is superior to the UK

I know/have known Norwegians who would argue this, read up on the treatment of the Lappish people in Scandinavia. Although I will say that my experience of Norway suggested it is quite a liberal and open-minded society that seems quite progressive and perhaps not quite as parochial as certain aspects of British culture.

Norway benefits from having a relatively small population who enjoy a very high standard of living and crucially, education.

I’ve never heard anyone here (in Norway) suggesting that women should dress more conservatively to reduce their chances of being raped

was there a “slutwalk” in Oslo ? I think there was.

In the DR Congo and Rwanda it is so common it seems to be part of the culture at least among males.

What do you mean at least among males ?

You haven’t given your nasty little racist rant much thought have you ?

In this case I’d say that Norwegian culture is superior to the UK. I’ve never heard anyone here (in Norway) suggesting that women should dress more conservatively to reduce their chances of being raped. It’s something that I’ve heard to a greater or lesser extent many times in the UK.

This is an elaborate way of saying I endorse this culture and have taken on the norms and values of this culture and therefore think anyone who has different culture[views] is inferior to me. It is also clever to choose the highly emmotive issue of rape as your exemplar
Whilst, on this issue I would not disagree what you need to do is look at anthropology and the first rule of anthropology. I suggest you read up on cultural relativism
Comparing another culture to your uses yours as “best” will always result in the other looking inferior as it has different rules to your “better” ones.

There are some interesting studies/research on how Arab [ muslim communities and western ones view females as being mistreated by each community. Western communities view women as subordinate to males and repressed by conservative dress in arab/muslim communities. Arab communities view the overly sexualised dress and behaviour of women as women being forced to pander to male desires. Both cultures think they treat women better. Women in each community also agree.
I can see both views to be honest.
It is cultural arrogance to claim your culture is superior and is not really any different from claiming your race is in that it is generally bollocks.
Re Rape it is also possible that people traumatised by events are more likely to do horrible things. Oddly people abused are more likely to abuse be it those physically or sexually abused. It is not as simple as you have tried to make it to prove you are culturally superior.
I dont wish to discuss the rape issue and if you cant see the bigger picture and respond to culturla relativism there will be no debate from me.

My understanding of cultural relativism is to understand a culture within it’s own environment. As far as I can tell it doesn’t preclude there being moral absolutes.

Take a hypothetical society where slavery was common place. Looking at the history and culture of that society it is perfectly understandable why the majority of people would think that slavery is acceptable.

If there was another society that had abolished slavery then at least in that one aspect couldn’t you call that a superior cultural characteristic?

There are some interesting studies/research on how Arab [ muslim communities and western ones view females as being mistreated by each community. Western communities view women as subordinate to males and repressed by conservative dress in arab/muslim communities. Arab communities view the overly sexualised dress and behaviour of women as women being forced to pander to male desires. Both cultures think they treat women better. Women in each community also agree.

Going back a few years, if you compared the attitudes towards women in Oman with attitudes toward women in Afghanistan under the Taliban I would say that it is difficult to say that Oman is culturally superior. Women make up a large percentage of the workforce and can attend university, drive and enjoy far more freedom than most places in the Middle East.

I’m not sure how much the studies you mentioned take into account the massive cultural differences between Arab countries but the study does sound interesting.

at least in that one aspect couldn’t you call that a superior cultural characteristic?

of course you could if you judge them by your standard of slavery being bad [ which obviously I agree with] or your own ethnocentric view. Problem is “right” has varied over the centuries and human culture so finding an absolute is quite hard.
Over the millennia human cultures right and actions have varied. We have done human sacrifices, practised infanticide, taken young male lovers to remain faithful to their wives, married many wives, had harems etc. What is right will vary depending on who/when you ask/ed. Every side can tell you the reason why their view is right. You either agree or disagree with it.
I think the modern approach has been to see absolute truths and adopt universal human rights which we argue are inalienable rights all people have by virtue of being human. .
Ultimately I do tend to agree that some things are absolute truths[ rape and slavery are wrong for example] but we need to be very careful when we do it in general.
Ultimately it down to whether you view /believe there are actual truths via say the ten commandments or the declaration of human rights.
However the poster suggesting

I have no problem with decent people of any background, I have a problem with negative cultures that clash with mine.
Skin colour has nothing to do with it as far as im concerned.
Absolutely. I have no problem with anyone at all but it seems many of them either have a problem with me/us or they want to take advantage of our welfare system without contributing.

gives away a serious ethnocentric bias that would not be supported by detailed analysis of immigrants contribution to the uk. The rest is just pejorative tbh .
You put forward a far better argument [ damning with faint praise] that whilst I agree with the values put forward I am wary of more simplistic sweeping generalsiations based on comparing my “culture” with others as i we will always see it as better than others.
It may be or it may not but we will always think it is. On here we get it over big issues like road v mountain biking for example.
The study re Arab perceptions was done in the UK iirc but the reference is at work.
Sorry it is a long post.