Imagine that a female friend of yours teaches English as a second language to a group of Southeast Asian students. Over the months she has developed an excellent rapport with the students. When she became pregnant, they were all happy for her and even had a baby shower after class one night. She was delighted when she delivered a beautiful, healthy seven pound girl. She was shocked and puzzled when, several days after the students in her class had heard of the birth, she began receiving cards of condolence from them. The explanation soon became clear. In their culture, having a son as a first child is a matter of great joy, and they all sympathized with what they presumed was her sense of deep disappointment that she had given birth to a girl.
Discuss the issues that this example raises about moral relativism. If you were in your friend's position, how would you deal with that situation?