Feminism, Multiculturalism, and the Law: Panel III--Women: An Uncertain Fit for the Multicultural Movement
![handle is hein.journals/hjlpp19 and id is 749 raw text is: PANEL M: FEMINISM, MULTICULTURALISM,
AND THE LAW
WOMEN: AN UNCERTAIN FIT FOR THE
MULTICULTURAL MOVEMENT?
WALTER BERNS*
Initially, consider the meaning of the word culture. That
word derives from two Latin words-cultura, meaning cultiva-
tion, and cultus, meaning worship. People often speak of cultiva-
tion of the soil or animals, and even of microscopic organisms.
Sometimes, however, people refer to cultivation of the mind,
taste, and manners. The word is employed in the latter sense to
speak of a cultured or civilized person. By making adjectives of
the two nouns, the implication arises that the nouns are used
properly only in the singular form-culture rather than cultures,
and civilization rather than civilizations. This, interestingly
enough, was the practice until the middle of the Nineteenth
Century.
The plural form derives from cultus, meaning worship, from
which comes the word cult, meaning [a] particular form or
system of religious worship; esp. in reference to its external rites
and ceremonies.' Hence, different forms of worship, different
cults, and eventually different customs, manners, mores, or life-
styles have each denominated a culture, leading to multicultural-
ism.
To illustrate the implications of these differences, examine an
early study of multiculturalism-Shakespeare's Merchant of Ven-
ice. In a famous speech, Shylock, to make his case that cosmo-
politan Venice is a place where Jews and Christians live together
in peace, argues that there is no difference between the two.
* John M. Olin Professor of Government Emeritus, Georgetown University; Resident
Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Director, Institute for Educational Affairs.
1. OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 119 (J.A. Simpson & E.S.C. Weiner eds., 2d ed.
1989).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/hjlpp19&div=69&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Feminism, Multiculturalism, and the Law: Panel III--Women: An Uncertain Fit for the Multicultural Movement
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