What Does the “Native” Really Mean; The Manipulated Concept

When we talked about the SVS metaphor in class , the predominant opinion was that the concept of the human rights is highly biased by the westernized way of thinking, and ignores the countries’ indigenous cultures and values.

In my essay, I argued against this idea because I thought even when one believes that the way the country currently is “local culture,” that concept of “local” is not concrete, and can already be manipulated by governments and people in power. So, I would like to share some of my thoughts here.

In half the sky, Kristof and Wudunn argues that when the Prophet introduced Islam in the seventh century, it created some rules that expanded women’s rights. It banned female infanticide, which was common in the pre-Islamic world, and it also limited polygamy. It further allowed Muslim women to routinely own property.

However, today in many of the Middle Eastern countries, women’s rights are far more limited than that, and their lives are excessively controlled by men. I think that it is dangerous to easily conclude what local culture means since it possibly is already a product of manipulation from those in power.