Dorothy Lee Social Problem

Dorothy Lee is an anthropologist who compares other cultural practices to find different solutions to conflicts that we experience in Western society. Lee published this writing in the 1950s; in what it may seem to be outdated, there are concepts that Lee presents that can be used in today’s society. There are many social problems that Lee brings up in her writing, and one key social problem Lee addresses is respect of personal being. A cultural example that Lee demonstrates a solution to this problem is the Sikh household and the toy truck. Lee asserts the idea of child exploration and independence as a solution to this social problem. Lee has provided many examples of cultures that show respect of personal being, and the Sikh household is one of the key examples. A women named Marian Smith was visiting a Sikh household in British Columbia and she noticed a little boy giving a toy truck to his baby brother, and placed it in the play pen. What happened was “He did not show the baby how the truck worked,
“…he was furnishing the baby with the raw material for experience, and leaving him to explore and discover for himself” (pg. 26) In other words, the boy gave the toy truck for the baby to experience, he was leaving the baby to explore and be independent on his own. “He was expressing respect, not non-involvement.” (pg. 26) The little boy was giving the baby individual autonomy, and that is how he respected the baby’s personal being. This cultural example could change today’s society through the school system. Looking into the school system, instead of pouring the students with work and showing step-by-step rules of how to approach problems. If we allow students to explore and be independent towards their school work, we are not only promoting personal autonomy among the students, but we are encouraging creativity. That is how we could change today’s society using this cultural