Madrid - Day 3

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Inner Conflict

In trying to decide whether or not to attend the bullfight, there were a lot factors to consider. I knew it was a cultural experience that is very important to the Spanish people. Violence is not something that I handle well, especially when it’s real. On TV, I know it’s not real, so I don’t have a problem with it, but seeing it in person would be too much. It’s hard on this trip in general to balance personal values with desire for cultural experiences.



A Rift

During this decision, there was a bit of disagreement among the group about who was going and why they were going. Even some people who were not keen on the violence, but wanted to go for the cultural experience. This was conflicting for other people, like me, who decided to not go based on the reason of violence. Was there a reason that I should have let the cultural experience outweigh my personal values? Maybe for some there was, and I understand their perspective, but the violence would have been too much for me to handle. I feel like others respected that in the end as well.



An Art, not a Sport

If this were able to be a longer section, I would love to do some in depth research on the opposition to bullfighting present in the Spanish community, but I know it exists. Bullfighting is often described as an art rather than a sport by Spaniards (Culture Smart pg. 78). I understand this sentiment, but I wonder if arts should not also examine their practices for ethical dilemmas. I can only assume that is the goal of anyone resisting this practice. Overall, I think the goal should be to make bullfighting more ethical rather than trying to eliminate it completely. The culture would probably be more receptive to the former approach.

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Photos

Hanging on the bull sculpture outside the stadium
Those of us who decided not to go to the fight were still at the stadium when they were buying tickets. We just made light of the situation by “hanging” outside.