Kwame Anthony Appiah argues in "The Case for Contamination" that advocating for the preservation of all cultural aspects can undermine progress on women's rights. While cultural diversity is important, some cultural traditions are harmful, such as those in Afghanistan that restrict women's freedoms. Appiah believes countries do not need to abandon their cultural identities to promote human rights like gender equality. As ideas spread globally through the internet, outdated cultural practices that limit women's rights will become obsolete. Progress on women's rights should not be seen as cultural imperialism imposed by Western nations.

1. Mario Fernando Miralles II
June 14th, 2015
Analysis on “The Case for Contamination”
Many people who advocate for the preservation of cultures are establishing a disservice
to the progress of women’s rights. Article Two of the UNESCO Convention (2005), for example,
talks about the “principle of equal dignity of and respect for all cultures.” While this may seem
like a humane position on the importance of cultural diversity it is, in fact, an endangering
viewpoint to the push for women’s rights. This is discussed widely in Kwame Anthony Appiah’s
(2006) “The Case for Contamination”. In it, the topic of women’s rights as a global
responsibility (which is also viewed as ‘cultural imperialism’ imposed by highly developed
countries) is questioned as to whether this perception is endangering the cultural norms and
traditions of countries around the world.
Appiah talks extensively on the subject of globalization on how many traditions and
customs are being threatened by the emergence of dominating cultures from more developed
countries. She uses the example of how baseball caps, radio programs that talk about western
figures and brands like Coca-Cola are entering foreign lands and are having an impact on
citizens. A main reason for this is that these products make economic sense for the impoverished.
"They have no real choice," the cultural preservationists say. "We've dumped cheap Western
clothes into their markets, and they can no longer afford the silk they used to wear
[traditionally]” (Appiah, 2006).
But the bigger issue remains on how these “Western values” are affecting key areas that
do not agree in the way in which men and women behave, such as in the US. Islamic culture in
Afghanistan, for example, restricts women from many things including going out in public

2. without their husbands or without wearing their burqas to cover their faces (Chiovenda, 2012).
These “culturally diverse” norms which cultural preservationists feel the need to defend are
damaging to the rights of Afghan women. The interventions by the US and NATO have assisted
in gradually transitioning the perception of equality among the region in order to empower
women within their country. Some would see this sort of intervention as invasive to state
sovereignty or aggressive in its demands for a country like Afghanistan to relinquish its identity.
Appiah would argue that this is not the case. She intelligently replies that countries do not
have to surrender their cultural diversity in order to do what is proper in the sense of human
rights for women. It may be considered for some to be ‘cultural imperialism’ simply based on the
notion that these campaigns for women’s rights are being championed by Western powers like
the US and Europe. However, we can support cultural changes in the benefit of progressive
human rights without the need to sacrifice cultural identity and diversity. With the ever
expanding spread of ideas and information with tools like the Internet, many cultural practices
that are harmful or prohibit freedoms and rights will eventually become obsolete. It is one thing
to preserve culture as in history, arts, and identity; it is another to preserve cultures as in
outdated, stagnant, and wrongful traditions, especially those that limit women’s rights.

3. References
Appiah, Kwame Anthony (2006). “The Case for Contaminations”. The New York Times.
Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/magazine/01cosmopolitan.html?pagewanted=all
Chiovenda, Melissa Kerr (2012). Afghan Women, Culture, and Development. The Huffington
Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/american-anthropological-
association/afghan-women_b_1409068.html
UNESCO Convention (2005). Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions. Retrieved from
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/cultural-diversity/cultural-expressions/the-
convention/convention-text/