Culture in Ethics ‘APA format’, writing homework help

2. In each of the following cases, the behavior illustrated seems to suggest that the people’s values differ significantly from our own.  Consider the possibility that, beneath appearances, the values are similar.  Develop a plausible explanation for the difference in behavior.

a. In one culture, the elderly and those with severe handicaps are put to death.  It would appear that this culture does not recognize human dignity as a value.

3. When Hua, a Chinese woman, gave birth to a daughter rather than a son, her husband refused to look at the child.  Later he punished his wife for the “offense” by withholding money and hitting her without provocation.  When the child contracted pneumonia, he suggested she be left to die.  Eventually, he divorced his wife — the decree cited his disapproval of having a baby girl and specified that the wife would keep the child and he would get the apartment.

This story is not that uncommon in China,  where masculinity is defined as producing a son to maintain the family line.  This cultural value is so ancient and so strong that it is even reflected in the language  — the character for the word good is a combination of the sign for “woman” and the sign for “son”. Evaluate this cultural value.