American or Pohnpeian?

During the Nest in the Wind presentations, it became apparent that many of the differences that students were trying to make between American and Pohnpeian culture were actually similarities that were slightly tweaked. The concepts that governed these cultural rules were the same even if some of the ways these rules were carried out were different. For example, when a woman in Pohnpei is pregnant, she is able to say anything she wants in whatever style of language she pleases. The regulations of language, which are extremely binding and a symbol of status, are brushed aside for a pregnant woman. Likewise, in American culture, when a woman is pregnant, she is justified in eating whatever she wants, no matter how absurd the craving. American women value being seen as thin as more important than many other things, but when they are pregnant, they consider it to be within their job as a pregnant woman to eat whatever they desire. For both cultures, what is seen as a major restriction to women in their respective societies is excusable for pregnant women to partake in during pregnancy. This is just one of many examples of how two cultures that appear to be extremely different are in reality rather similar, reinforcing the idea that Americans should not be so quick to judge cultures that we deem to be less civilized than our own.