Robert Edgerton argues that cultures that practice exploitation should be judged morally inferior to those that improve people's lives. Exploitation is taking advantage of someone by treating them unfairly. Basically, what Edgerton is saying is that societies are sick and we, as model societies, should not even attempt to understand these sick societies, but simply condemn them. I will talk about cultures that exploit women and my focus will be on my mixed Ukrainian and American culture. From the Islamic and African cultures that practice female circumcision, to the Kazio culture that states that in order for girls to become women, a man must have anal sex with them, to the Ethiopian Hamer tribe that practices the suffering of women being whipped in order to be Why man can progress to adulthood, we see a model of male dominance, female availability and cultures that oppose these practices. Male dominance has been prevalent since the hunter/gatherer social transformation. This continues to be the case in almost all cultures, with the apparent exception of the Amazons. Even today, in our post-industrial era, males are still more dominant than females, especially in third world countries. It was the male gender that became leaders and determinants. They define what is acceptable for a woman across cultures. Whether it is how a woman should dress, be treated, or how she should behave, everything is decided by males in society. These decisions range from female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, to anal sex as an initiation into womanhood, to the flogging of women for a man to transition into adulthood. Female genital mutilation is mainly practiced in Islamic and African cultures, claiming girls as t...... middle of paper...... a man becoming an adult is too dependent on them. Their bodies should not be mutilated for the pleasure of a man who feels as if he can now be considered an adult. I agree with Edgerton's contention that cultures that practice exploitation should be judged morally inferior to those that improve people's lives. Islamic and African cultures, Kazio cultures and Hamer tribe do not improve women's lives. Using my cultural lens, I believe that women deserve to choose what they want to do with their bodies, and without being shunned by their own cultures, I believe that women should not feel so inferior to men simply because they were born that way, and Not I believe that rituals or practices that harm or exploit women in any way should be performed. Since these cultures do not improve women's lives, they should be considered inferior.