Cultural Relativism in the Face of the West: The Plight of Women and Female Children

While the merit of universalism and cultural relativism are perennially contested, this insightful analysis argues that the human rights of women and female children are best realized through the establishment of cross-cultural human rights universals. Western universalism has been quick to dismiss alien cultural practices as dysfunctional, while cultural relativists continue to bellow the ills of cultural imperialism. Case studies on circumcision, infanticide, prostitution, and labor provide substantive contexts in which to evaluate these arguments. Billet utilizes a six-fold analytical framework to detail particular aspects of each practice and to present potential resolutions for the disparity between the extremes of Western universalism and cultural relativism.