Many of ethnic cultures go the same way but on a different stage.

When I watched a French movie, Les Miserables, which is set in 18th century in France, I saw something similar to current Japanese society in the film – a woman is considered as a degenerate because she has a daughter outside of marriage.  She said something like “why should I be blamed because I slept with a man I loved and had a child while many other women sleep with their husband without love?”

On the other hand, when I was listening to what a Canadian Pakistani girl said about the relationships of women and men in Pakistani culture and in Muslim culture, I found there were some similarities in the Japanese society in the past. For example, if a Pakistani woman marries without her family’s agreement, she will not be supported when the marriage does not go well.  Individual choices based on love are limited.

Thinking of these things, I feel that many of ethnic cultures go the same way but on a different stage. Sure, all ethnic cultures have something good or better than other ethnic cultures. e.g. Chinese cuisine, Indian yoga, etc.  However, the way they treat their own people in most non-western countries is worse than in western cultures.  I think that how they treat their own people is related to their level of civilized development.  I think that ethnic culture means their lifestyle, food, dress, language, architectures, history and so on. However, the way in which they treat their own people is not something I can define as a culture. It is not a feature which makes a culture different and special from the others.  I think that it is what demonstrates the extent to which a culture has developed.