how cooking frees men

1)      How did the cooking of food allow our ancestors to restructure the working day?

Cooking food helped our ancestors as raw food was very hard to eat and digest. It is estimated that 42% of the day or just over 5 hours a day in 12 hours, was spent in just trying to chew and digest the food. This would lead to less time for hunting and gathering.  Cooking food helped in chewing and digesting food easily therefore saving time.

2)    What is the sexual division of labour and why does its evolution centre on hunter-gatherers?

Sexual division of labour refers to the different activities to contribute to the household and economy done by males and females. Its evolution centres toward the hunters and gatherers. Gender division work for labour is present universally. The work division depends and varies on the culture as well.

3)     What are two major feature of the sexual division on labor represented by the Hadza?

Hadza are modern people from Africa who still engage and practice foraging. The hunting was primarily done by men and gathering was done by women. However in the end it was feasted by both the sexes.

4)    How has the division of labor by sex been thought to have affected society as a whole?

The division of labor by sex has been affecting the society as a whole because it was thought to have promoted ethical standards in all the societies. It has also created strong bonds in family. The division increases productivity as it allows the opposite genders to work on what they are skilled at.

5)     Why does the author believe that cooking food was an essential factor in allowing for the sexual division of labor?

Cooking food, in the perspective of the author is an essential factor in allowing sexual division of labor because the food was edible once it was cooked, it was easier to chew and digest, which saved more time for the people. Therefore the time spent chewing, eating and digesting food was minimised which resulted to ore time for hunting and gathering by men and women.

Patterns of Subsistence

Patterns of Subsistence

Pastoralism: pastoralism is when people make lives by the help of tending herds and large animals. Pastoralism includes animals like horses, cattle, camels, etc as a part of their herd. There are two ways of migration under Pastoralism, they are Nomadism and Transhumance. Nomadism includes not permanent settlements and the migration pattern vary as well, the people are self-sufficient as well. Whereas Transhumance has people moving to and fro from two places. The houses and the village settlement is permanent. Both these societies are male dominant and work division is based on gender.

 Foraging: Foraging is an ancient pattern of subsistence of humans. They depend upon the environment and what it offers. They do not have animals and also don’t engage in agriculture. The men are hunters and the females are gatherers, therefore this was a male dominated society. The activities mostly depended on the gender where as some didn’t and the dwellings were temporary rather than permanent. The availability of food and water played a huge part in the choosing of a place to stay. The community sizes were limited. Their way of hunting and gathering was divided into three Pedestrian which was diversified hunting and gathering on foot, Equestrian which was hunting for large animals on horsebacks and Aquatic for fishing. Most ancient form of subsistence. They have domestic dogs so that they protect, detect and help in hunting.

Horticulture: is a small scale farming with low intensity, it was also part time planting and tending of domestic plants. However, hunting and gathering was a part occasionally practised. The productivity is higher and it also has more population than foraging and pastoralism. They don’t only farm but also exchange goods and sell in markets for living. The trade is only done by a few. They don’t use pesticides or large machinery and do most of their work by hand. They also have particular shifting patterns.

Intensive Agriculture: this is the subsistence of large and populous societies and are modern large scale societies. It is primary food production pattern and is developed and is developing. This has increased by a large amount in the last century. It uses pesticides, chemicals and large machinery. Most of the work is performed through the usage of machines now. These are permanent settlements and this increases job opportunities amongst people.   

Hey bloger’s,

   As a Manangae teen and a part of Nepal , where English has taken over all the cultures of Nepal and it has come into my realization how much of an affect English as the lingua franca of the world has made  on my culture and my heritage as well as all the other cultures in Nepal . English is widely spoken all around the world and from the internet to trading and everything English is the language used. It is very hard to speak my mother tongue and when I try to speak my mother tongue I tend to make a lot of grammatical errors and suffer discomfort while speaking it.  We have learnt in TOK that how we tend to always think in English and then translate it in our minds and make a lot of mistakes while speaking it in our mother tongue.

The language of English is like a communicable disease and has spread all over the world by missionaries and etc. Such as in India, after the British left the country, they realized that the language of English was an important factor they brought into India and it is due to that India has come to be known as one of the leading countries in the world. There are also other countries such as China, Africa in which the language of English has taken over but have developed it in their own accent. English is so important and necessary in this modern world, that every president, prime minister, government of countries have broken laws and gone against the religious heritage of that country in order to make the youth of that country a necessary English speaking and learning country.

My parents always tell me  that I should get engaged more into the society of Managaes and focus more on the language and things going around the society, but as a modern child  I made my own decision to stay away from the Managae society functions and cultures and be more active towards the us world and follow their activities and functions and cultures, cause later on in my life it is English language that will get me IB diploma at the first place , a college, a job and for communication skills. I always go against my parents in this matter and encourage my parents as well as my grandparents that they too should learn English, by which they can be well aware of the things going around the world. I strongly believe that the gap that has been created between the younger generation and the older generation is a good thing as it will help us to have a brighter future. There are still kids and teens of my age who are forced to learn their mother tongue and follow their own cultures and not English. On this modern world no one can afford not to learn English in other to do something. It is really hard for me, when I try to communicate with my grandparents, they do not understand English and it is very hard for me think in English and speak it out in Manangae. There are not even specified words in the Manangae language, like there is no word for dinner and many other things. Because of this it is really hard to communicate and try to express what I feel and want to say to my grandparents and it is not a big problem for me only, but for majority of the Nepalese. They also tend to think that the trend, fashion, culture we follow is a bad thing since they have bring brought up with such strict and cultural rules

We should not think that taking ones culture as second language as a bad thing, or the gap that has been created, it has been said that after ten to twenty years later, English will take over almost all the places in the world. Words like “yes” “no” are so familiar to almost every language. English has spread itself around the world and people are all trying to learn English as a part of their school or college or even outside so that communication gap between people isn’t created. Till date I have been asked to follow and learn the language and cultures of my parents, but I take pride in learning English and it cultures. Although I get a lot of criticism from the older generation, I realize the loss of culture but along with that I am learing something new each day. The English language has been a parasitic language and is a parasitic language due to this it is easy for everyone to adapt to its culture. The flexibility of the language is high and how it includes words from Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic, etcetera, makes it even more comfortable to use. Considering the twenty first century and the lifestyle that we have adapted to and live in, we have to follow the English language and not some cultural language and till date there are places where people are not allowed to talk English or take it as a offense if someone of that place does talk so. In conclusion, I would say that the loss of my culture is a sad thing, however being a part of a culture which helps me be a citizen of a global village compensates to my loss.

Truth About Generation Differences

Hi to all my bloggers and readers,

As a Nepali teen who is a part of a world that is dominated by English language I have come to realize how much of an affect the Lingua Franca of the world, English, has made on us and our culture as a whole. English is a widely famous and spoken language and used as the primary medium of communication between people of nearly all nations. In English class last week, we discussed as to how widely spread English is and its status as a parasitic language. I took time to think about how English has been a dominant language as it has come to my notice of how, even when I speak my mother tongue, I naturally tend to use English words to replace the ones I can’t express in Nepali. I was rather amazed by myself, how could this be that I was comfortable with not my native language but English?

English has affected not only one language but, being the ‘parasitic’ language that it is, English itself derives words from a myriad of other tongues. After the British Empire spread out to India, China, Africa and the New World, it appropriated words from these languages and made them the Empire’s own. The English words are mostly derived from languages like Late Imperial Latin, Germanic Anglo-Saxon and Norman French. Due to this, English can be easier to speak as it consists of words from almost every non-tonal language. The English language derived words from almost every nation that the British Empire colonised.

So now let me tell you all a story based on what I myself experienced. The idea as to Nepal’s status before the English language spread around the globe made me very interested. When I told this to my parents. Referring to the fact that I am living in the 21st century they told me how I could actually experience it myself. To my amazement it was all possible by interpreting videos in a way which would make me feel like a part of a world where English wasn’t the lingua franca. My experience as a student of the IBDP and part of a culture to which English is important, made it rather difficult in even simple situations like asking for directions to not use English. People all around me were talking in various ethnic languages. English words that were so commonly used, even between people who had very little or no knowledge in English like “please”, “sorry” “yes” and “no” or even in a where most of the people started their phone conversation with the English word “hello”  hearing basically no English words in conversations astonished me.

The huge communication gap that was created through English being a secondary language for most of the youth in the 21st century was not evident and having very little personal knowledge about English and a deficiency of Nepali vocabulary was a huge problem for conversing. The wide usage of words from the English language while communicating in one’s native language is evident and is prominent when I speak Nepali.  When I try to communicate with my elderly family members or people around me I have a difficulty relating to them or understanding how they feel. In turn they feel the same way about me, they cannot relate to how I feel about certain situations and how I cannot understand some issues that only they can.

 It is said that language shapes one’s mind and how one thinks of situations. Language also sets boundaries as to what one can think or feel. Insufficient vocabulary confines ones thinking capability, example: the words “nakalli” doesn’t exist in the English vocabulary therefore cannot be understood by a native English speaker. Due to this the idea of this word is not there in the speaker therefore one cannot think of such a situation where this is to be used.

In my perspective, having a deficiency of understanding and speaking a mutual language can create not just a communication barrier between people in terms of speaking itself but also loss in understanding ones feeling or ideas. I as a person am much more used to and at ease speaking English rather than Nepali where as my grandfather has a low understanding and usage of English, this has created barriers between communications due the loss of understanding in languages. I communicating with someone who cannot understand English decreases my opportunity to understand how they feel about the situation through their cultural insight. Therefore, as I communicate with people around me who don’t have an idea as to how the English language works, the communication gap is large as they and I don’t share the same idea to situations. Our insights and ways to assess situations automatically have differences. Our cultural values and notions are also different due to which we may differences in our cultural norms and we may also have disagreements. To avoid this people of different generations may not have to converse about. The communication gap that has been built between the generations is due to the youth of Nepal having more usage of social media and English being a compulsory language to learn in schools. The amazing truth about how the world is evolving as a global village is evident through the usage of English being the lingua franca and how people of different ethics groups, cultures or countries and on the run to learn English and to make it a medium of communication with people of different nations.

With this I wrap up my blog for this week, see you soon. Till next time…

rites of passege

rites of passege 
”A ritual or ceremony signifying an event in a person’s life indicative of a transition from one stage to another, as from adolescence to adulthood.”

N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rite+of+passage>.

the tribe of Yanomamo

       Yanomamo reaction paper

Yanomamo tribe is found in Venezuela and Brazil. The Yanomamo fall into the category of Tropical Forest Indians called “foot people”. They don’t have any writing but their language is very vast and complex. The Yanomamo tribe has a village which is very open and therefore public, one can hear, smell and see almost everything happening in the village. Very less privacy is available amongst the tribe. The clothes that they wear is also very different, it covers minimal skin and they also use cloth that they tie around their ankles and wrist. Aggression also plays a large part in the shaping of their culture. Much of their lives revolve around hunting, gathering, collecting and gardening. Each village however is the replica of another in this tribe.

 The Yanomamo people have settled near interfluvial plains of major rivers and avoid large rivers. This is caused because the Yanomamo tribes believe that large rivers can only be crossed in dry seasons. They traditionally avoid large rivers, thus also avoiding contact with other people who come from the river. This shows that the Yanomamo tribes try to avoid outside contact and rather stay with their own people. However, the tribe does abandon their large village (the shabono), for a few weeks. In this time the tribe camps in other places and make temporary huts and shacks with the help of branches and leaves. Each family makes and lives in a separate hut during this time.

Two major seasons dominate the annual cycle of the Yanomamo tribe, the dry season and the wet season.   The dry season is also the time when raiders can travel and strike silently at their unsuspecting enemies. The Yanonamo are still conducing inter village warfare. In their perspective, this is not ritualistic and a lot of men died due to this. This seems very alien to us, yet this is practised without any hesitation by the Yanomamo tribe. The war is usually due to marriage or girl child amongst the tribes. However the fights are not blind and uncontrolled, they have series of graded forms of violence.

The marriages and kinship largely decides the social status in the tribe, however there are lesser women compared to men, due to both, lesser birth of girl child and the fact that many men have more than one wife. The marriage is arranged by older kins, usually brothers, fathers and uncles of the girl. Fights also occur within the village usually due to the lack of delivering the girl child promised for marriage.

In the perspective of the author, he describes how he thought that the Yanomamo tribe was just extremely alien and that they were somehow shocking but after discussing this with his other colleagues he found how similar all their situation was and how they all had accepted these cultures even if they were a world apart. What I realised in this book was how cultural relativism, etic and emic all have played a huge part on the experience of the author. He learned the language and the lifestyle of the tribe and by the end of it he realized how charming and nice his experience actually was. Not only did he face problems in the beginning, they tribe must have also felt awkward how a very different man was styding them but even in the midst of the lifestyle like the Yanomamo tribe they managed to be cultural relativistic. 

1 hour observation.

                       1 hour observation

On the 19 of September I went to Thamel in front of Mandala Street to do my observation for an hour. The day had started with plenty of sunshine but by the afternoon the endless rain had gotten the day gloomy and dark. I had already seen things I had never noticed just the second I started my observation. The first thing I noticed was how there was a smaller rate of footfall due to the rain. My surrounding was chaotic, the streets were busy even though the evening had a smaller rate of footfall. Things I took notice of in my environment was how Thamel had more foreign flags than of Nepal itself. There was a Mexican Flag and Korean as well, even languages of various nation could be heard being spoken, Russian, Mandarin, Punjabi and French, these were a few languages I heard being spoken.

The street was filled with more foreigners than Nepali, people from different parts of the world could be seen here. Clicking pictures and looking amazed at how tiny a country could be. The tourists had shocked about the traffic and the endless sounds that came from just everywhere. There were sanragi, flute and various other instruments being sold and as well as being played for demonstration. While the traditional music was being played, a huge Hulux passed by, filled with teenage boys that played hip-hop music a bit loud even for Thamel. Another thing I took notice of was how a lot of Ricksha drivers were using whistling as an alternative for horn.

A bunch of  Sikh men passed by and the first thing I noticed was how they were all wearing the same t-shirt in different colours, they were loud and were cursing and laughing about something that they found a bit too hilarious. I also saw a Nepali man wearing a Sherwani with Dhaka Topi and a European man in clothes that were a cross of a sadhu and a monk, all this mixtures of clothing articles amazed me. Another thing I noticed about the clothing of people were how a Nepali woman was feeling really cold, she was wearing a thing fur jacket and the first thing that came to my mind were how the  foreigners were dressed in light clothing while most of the Nepali’s were wearing a light sweater or a jacket. This shows how weather can be a big part of culture and how weather can define lifestyle and behaviour of people. Another point I noticed about clothing was how much skin was being shown by people of different nations, foreigners however did show as much skin as a Nepali girl was. This made me think of how urbanization has taken place by which even the clothing preferences have changed.

This observation made me realize how many teens were smoking, also drinking. Even beggars of young ages were puffing packets with substance. In many countries underage drinking and usage of any illegal substance can lead to prison however the same isn’t followed in Nepal.

While I looked at different people, I noticed how varied even couples were. I wouldn’t say this is how majority is but from my observation, in that evening, I saw about 20-30 couples from which 18 were not Nepali. I also took notice how diverse the couples were, most of them were from different cultures.

While I was observing, a woman came up to me to ask about a location of a hotel, she said she wasn’t a local however, she was Nepali. I also noticed a group of 3 men, walking around the same street again and again. They probably lost their way because they looked confused. This situation made me think how people think they know the place they belong to but at times we aren’t any more different than a tourist. This shows how one adapts to the place and culture they live in, this shows cultural relativism is practiced even when it is unnoticed.

Through this observation I learned how little things matter though they may be unnoticed. The downfall was the curious and judgemental looks I got from people but this experience was very good.

quran

Quran Verse                                Al- buruj chapter85

                                  82:1

When the sky breaks apart

82:2

And when the stars fall, scattering,

82:3

And when the seas are erupted

82:4

And when the [contents of] graves are scattered,

82:5

A soul will [then] know what it has put forth and kept back.

82:6

O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous,

82:7

Who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you?

82:8

In whatever form He willed has He assembled you.

82:9

No! But you deny the Recompense.

82:10

And indeed, [appointed] over you are keepers,

82:11

Noble and recording;

82:12

They know whatever you do.

82:13

Indeed, the righteous will be in pleasure,

82:14

And indeed, the wicked will be in Hellfire.

82:15

They will [enter to] burn therein on the Day of Recompense,

82:16

And never therefrom will they be absent.

82:17

And what can make you know what is the Day of Recompense?

82:18

Then, what can make you know what is the Day of Recompense?

82:19

It is the Day when a soul will not possess for another soul [power to do] a thing; and the command, that Day, is [entirely] with Allah .

Al-Infitar, of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, contains 19 verses. Al-Buruj, which means The Cleaving in English is the 82 chapter. In this chapter, it is talked how one knows or realises what it has kept in and given to others only when they reach their grave. It tells us that how we deceive the greater force, the God and how it somehow does effect us. Through this chapter of Quran I have come to know that many people believe in after life and how sins that one does now can affect us later. In this chapter it tells us that the wrong doings of one can be avoided throughout their life however karma does catch up in the end. In the verse it is discussed how one’s wrong doing don’t only affect them but the people around them and how it also concern Allah and how concerning him is a sin after all. My understanding to this was the fact that one deceiving their maker will affect them in the times ahead and how they may face trouble. I was very touched by this verse of the Quran as it made me rethink how choices of people actions are so much more than just their will in many places. It has made me realise that one’s action, in many places is also determined by their culture, religion, the way they were brought up and that that their actions don’t only depend on them due to the fact that it affects more than just the individual.

SMALL PLACES, LARGE ISSUES question answers

    SMALL PLACES, LARGE ISSUES

   An Introduction to Social and

               Culture anthropology

Short answers:

1.     1)   What is the common “common concern” that all anthropologists share?

The common concern that Thomas Highland Eriksen believes that is common between all anthropologists is that they try to understand the connections within the societies and between societies.

2) What do you think Eriksen means when he says:"As an ethical principle, however, it is probably impossible in practice, since it seems to indicate that everything is as good as everything else, provided it makes sense in a particular society. It may ultimately lead to nihilism." p6

Eriksen through this quote is trying to say that cultural relativism may be ethically impossible to practice due to the simple fact that what makes sense in one society may not make sense in another, though if it is what a person wants they may not see consequences and react to it causing nihilism.

Paragraph response:

Eriksen says anthropologists, "warn against the application of a shared, universal scale to be used in the evaluation of every society." (p 6) Why is this the case? To what extend do you agree or disagree with the approach? Why?

In Eriksens book Small Places, Large Issues under which he has discussed topics like “the problem of ethnocentrism”. Ethnocentrism, this term means when one believes the culture they are a part of or are studying about is somehow superior to others. However to answer the question above, using the same shared and universal scale to evaluate every society is not correct. This is used in various times like GNP (gross national product), democratic rights, literacy rates and longevity. This is occurring due to simple facts that these things are to be compared between countries however, I disagree with it due to the simple fact that situations may arise where comparing the GNP between two countries isn’t practical. Lets take a hypotheses, one of the countries that are being compared isn’t allowed to eat beef where as one is, comparing these two countries in terms of this situation is not practical. However in a larger picture, a countries GNP may be low due to situations like the tertiary sector may be the sector which is more important to the country than the other two sectors however another country may have the primary sector as the most earning sector due to lower educations of citizens therefore it is simple that in most cases the tertiary sector earns much more than the primary earns lesser. So, how can we use universal scales and judge countries or compare countries? It is simply against cultural relativism. In Nepal we get a limited amount of electricity, we have our issues but we do go forward with our life yet in a perspective of another country we may be living the hard life in their eyes, the tribes of the Amazon forest may have minimal education yet does that mean they are any less intelligent than us or inferior to us in any way? O couse not. Situations like this need the use of holism where more than one segment of the situation is seen and then evaluated and ranking people isn’t what anthropology is about.

meanings of jargons in anthropology context

          meanings of jargons in anthropology context

emic: Emic in the anthropology context investigates how people think and perceive and categorize the world inn their perspective. It also shows how they imagine things and explain them.It tends to come from within the culture.
etic: Etic in the anthropology context is an account description of behaviour just like Emic. however in Etic account of description is believed to be neutral and can be applied to other culture instead of just one.
agency: Is the capacity of a human to act and work individually, it also involves making free and ones willing choices.
structure: Structure in anthropology debates the term agency. However, structure is how human culture must be understood in terms of their relationship  and how their decisions will and can affect others.
holism:  Holism means that one cannot determine anything with just a component of it, therefore one needs to take the entire system and analyse it and then determine how the little components are an important part.

          10 minute observation

In my anthropology class we had discussed about how anthropologist spend years observing people of a different place with different culture so they can do their study on them. Living with ones study for a period of time is called participant observation.

We were all given an assignment to do which was divided into two parts, part 1. Getting a written consent from our participant. For this I asked my mother to be my participant who I could observe. My mother was astonished and told me it scared her how someone would look at her for 10 minutes. However she did agree to be my participant. Part 2. Was observing the person, for which I choose the action to be cooking. On Sunday I observed my mother cooking a dinner for a little get together we had in our home.

The observation on Sunday started with my mother letting me know how much of a nuisance I was because due to my observation she was getting nervous and was afraid she would get something wrong with the dishes. Hence, I stayed at a distance while I did my work.

My mother was very determined to make food that was excellent. She took help from my maid for cutting and the rest was done by her. She looked patient yet the façade couldn’t cover up very second so once in a while when something wasn’t going as planned she got frustrated. She had a great co-ordination and was quick. She did various tasks at once like she was a machine, she was caught up in what she was doing and after a few minutes she didn’t know or seem to care who was looking or observing her. There was continuous noises of clinking and scrapping, sounds that were made from the utensils clashing the pots she used for the cooking, there was whistling of pressure cookers and commands being given by my mother to my maid. The kitchen was extremely hot and it almost felt like staying in a micro-oven, I couldn’t imagine how my mother was able to do any activity in that heat. Sizzling or vegetables in hot oil, the smell of spices and various food items, it was sad how I had to wait till I would be able eat all that was prepared.

While the observation lasted for 10 minutes, it felt short and I thought I still hadn’t gathered a lot of information. It was amazing how little details could be taken when one is actually paying attention to things others are doing. When I asked my mother about how she felt, she said the attention I paid actually scared her in the beginning yet after a while it didn’t seem to make a difference. When I shared my notes with her she was shocked I had the capacity to not move around and pay attention to one thing, she told me that a few things missing were how cooking and household chores and being a housewife looks easy but all that was a lie, to which I agreed to with no doubt. She being the house maker was just amazing at what she did and cooking was her favourite thing to do, she said it was less work and more hobby to her.

“CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Summary of “CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS” by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban

“ members of one culture might view as strange and bizarre in another culture (for example, polygamy, body tattooing, or strict dietary laws) can be understood best within that culture's context. Theoretically, anthropologists always should be observers and recorders not evaluators of other peoples’ customs and values.” ; Page 1

The main argument of the article is that there are many cultures around the world and we should learn about them before judging them unless if there’s is something ethically wrong in their cultur . One culture varies greatly from another culture. There around thousands of cultures around the world. We don’t know about a lot of cultures. One person may only know about as much as a handful of cultures. And in every culture there might be things that may look weird to us. We can find many such examples every day. So before we judge any culture we should learn about them and know about the cultures ethics. Our culture creates viewpoints for us about different things. We see things differently than other peop ot be judging people . Instead we should try to learn about their cultures. In the given article we see that the western countries have been telling Islamic countries to implement women empowerment. But it is very hypocritical that Islamic countries have more number of female leaders than western countries. Islamic countries have given more power to women . It is true that we should respect all cultures and learn about them. But in some cultures, even our own cultures, there might be something that is morally wrong and absurd. Like female circumcision or killing someone is wrong no matter what. We should stop things like these. Even if we respect cultures we have to say le because of our culture. So, if we see anything that may seem wrong or unethical to us, we should n what is wrong and what is right.

Review on

Cultural Relativism

By Mark Glazer

Cultural relativism is a key methodological which is extremely important in the subject Anthropology. It is the key to understanding scientific anthropology as they are the key to understanding of the anthropological frame of mind, says Mark Glazer. Cultural relativism itself means that no culture is ever right or wrong because what is correct in one culture may be incorrect in another therefore all cultures are equal, never superior to one another and never incorrect.

Back in time anthropologist believed that studying a culture required cold and neutral eyes and only one set of views so that a particular culture’s merit and demerits could be understood without consideration of another. This notion was believed to have helped in studying one culture in depth.

Franz Boas, an anthropologist was the first to have considered not one but many cultures at the same time. Boas was the one who discovered Cultural Relativism. Along with him his students, which included Alfred Kroeber, Ruth Benedict, etc, were all associated with this perspective. Boas published his views on this comparative method for the first time in 1896. Following Boas, his student Alfred Kroeber made basic tenets of Cultural Relativism and Ruth Benedict was the most important practitioner of Cultural Relativism. For Benedict cultural anthropology is a disciplined that studies differences between cultures. Robert Lowie, another major cultural relativist, came closer to Boas’ views on Cultural Relativism by deeply rooting into the philosophy of science and accepted cultural relativism as a science.

Therefore, by the end of the text, I understood how cultural relativism may have caused a loss in the depth of study in one culture, it has broaden the knowledge we have of various cultures and how to respect and understand different cultures.

the irawen culture

           ANTHROPOLOGY

The World of the Unknown

In the world of anthropologist, even the world’s most unusual thing is no different than their own culture and customs to them. By making the familiar different and the different familiar, anthropologists around the world have proven how diverse they are and how they can adapt and also connect to any culture, even the most exotic ones.

 Situated above India and under the vast Himalayas is the place where the Irawens call home. The culture of the Irawen also has a lot to do with the solar and lunar gods. As alien as this sounds and may be scientifically impossible, in the Irawen culture every girl child has to marry the sun. This traditional ritual has its own significance and it is performed by different families in different ways. It is called Ufag. As per the Irawen culture, a girl child has to perform this ceremony so that they can get married later in life with a man.

The girl child is forced to stay in a room that is isolated from sunlight and any men for 12 days. The room is made dark and the room and only man made light is allowed to light the room. The room is said to be protected by a sprit ghost who is also worshipped by the Irawen. The replica of the ghost which is named Yahkk is made out of cotton and put in a box in the corner of the room. Every day the Yahkk is given food and is belived that if people touch it or take away its food the person will be cursed and the girl child is sacrificed to the gods. As per the culture

The girl child is forced to wake up at dawn to clean herself with water from spring which is extremely cold and which includes parts of plants to cleanse the body of the young girl for holy purposes. After this the young girl is taken to get ready and look like a bride. As per history and myth the girl child has a high chance of getting ill due to food that is served. The food that the girl child eats is not allowed to have any salt or spice. The food is made to be either sweet or tasteless just for the girl to survive the 12 days. A girl child if falls sick, she cannot take any medication and is forced to conceal the pain. While doing this if she dies she is buried in the very room she was staying in while the ritual as the ritual incued her not to be able to see the sunlight, the same is continued even when she is dead.

The irawen culture is wide and definitely not seen elsewhere.  From the acestors of the Irawen it is said that this ritual is done to make girls pure and so that the Sun god can protect them from people and that an Irawen girl child is never widowed due to one of her husband being immortal and a god.

desi land

                                                               Desi Land

A Book By Shalini Shankar

 Written by Shalini Shankar, a social culture and linguistic anthropologist whose central concerns include media, semiotics, race and ethnicity, youth culture, Asia America and the South Asia diaspora. Shalini is working on her forth coming book Advertising Diversity: Producing Language and Ethnicity in American Advertising.  The first book of Shalini, Desi Land was published in 2008 by the Durham: NC Duke University Press. Shalini being a South Asian and from the Indian Subcontinent written the book Desi Land 'desi' which in Hindi (the national language of India) means 'countryman'.

The book, Desi Land is set on the time period of the high-tech boom, between 1999 to 2001. The book is greatly written on the teens living in the Silicon Valley of California who originally are from the Indian Sub- continent. The various ethnic groups captured by this dysphoric semiotic include Punjab Sikhs, Pakistani Muslims, Gujarati Hindus, Indo-Fijians Hindu and Muslims, Tamil and Telegu are amongst others. The stereotypical thoughts of the world on the Asians and South Asian as being smart, well brought up, socially integrated, raised to be academically high achieving makes them model minorities in the western parts of the world.

In the book Desi Land, there are two places that are referred to. One, Dixie Land, a place of tremendous ideas, creativity and talent but also deep racism and prejudice in the America South. Two, Disney Land, a constructed space of imagination and wonder. Made due to the high-tech boom in the Silicon Valley. While these two places, far from each other in terms of its characteristics, in between lies the Desi Land. It is inflected both with a spirit of wonder and enthusiasm as well as immense obstacles of class and race for those who are not well positioned to realize their dream. The Desi teens of The Silicon Valley, to succeed in America had to negotiate the race and the class based politics at their school, manage social and academic expectations of being model minorities. If one was trying to live the American ‘Amrikan’ Dream in the Silicon Valley one had to be actively negotiating due to everyday dynamics about class, race and language. The complex social cliques and dynamic of style of Desi teens in the Silicon Valley undergo terms like “ABCD” or “American Born Confused Desi.” This term, often used by the first generation Desis to describe the second generation.

Unlike the American Dream in the Silicon Valley where every teen was a dot com millionaire. The American ‘Amrikan’ dream that Desi teens saw were to work in in the upper management at the same place where some of the Desi teens parents were working blue collared jobs. In the Desi Land the American Dream stands for the notable contrast to the colour blind American dream and its promise of upward mobility.

Therefore this shows that Desi Land, a place where one can have countless opportunities and chances, due to the existence of stereotypical thoughts of people and discrimination, one would have obstacles and difficulties to pass through. As for the stereotypical thoughts, it created nothing but false hopes and a situation where people from South Asia had to be over achievers or there would be no place for them in the society. Desi teens now are encouraged to express their culture heritage and display their ethnicity, although in controlled ways. With help of multiculturism they celebrate their cultural background in socially sanctioned spaces. Yet when they cross these lines by engaging in cultural and linguistic expression that challenges the ground rules and codes of their schools and communities, they cease to be model and their status becomes more ambiguous. What happens to these Desi teens in their community impacts greatly in the future. The expectations of Desi land and how people manage them is a constant reminder of inequality.

From my point of view, the book Desi Land is well written in every aspect and shows how Asian teens struggle in the world outside and so foreign to them due to the stereotypical thoughts that have been set on the minds of the world. Being academically brilliant, show casing the acceptable and perfect behaviour. The Desi’s idea of success is loyalty, reputation and other signifiers and these are other than the latter aspects which is the over achievement in every aspect of life.

I think that Desi teen were not only judged by people in school and of other communities but also by their own, including their families and other Desis. The ways Desi teens relate to these narrative success, how they craft their own meanings of what it means to be successful, and how they aim to achieve their goals in Silicon Valley are the core concern of this book.

                                                           

                                                              BIBLIOGRAPHY

Desi Land- Shalini Shankar

htthttp://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42852640p://www.reviews.media-culture.org.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3180

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Shalini+Shankar.+Desi+Land%3A+Teen+Culture,+Class+and+Success+in...-a0252006846

a step to knowing me

                     Me and Myself
             introduction blog



  

          With 7 billion people on this very planet we live in each of us seek to leave a mark and thrive to exist. With no big or great difference, I am a part of this 7 billion human that live on planet earth.

                                                          I am Aayushma Shahi, born in the cold 20th December of 1997. So, basically I am 16. I live with my family consisting of my mum, dad and my younger sister in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. I returned to my home town after long stay in Dehradun, India as a student in a boarding school. I enjoy reading, from John Green to George Orwell from Cassandra Clare to Danielle Steele and everything and everyone in between. I believe that reading not only gives us knowledge and helps us in the academic front but it also builds us up and makes us think and imagine. As a reader or a "bookworm" I believe a book helps me live more than one life. People say I am boring and asks me to "get out and get a life" I say I have numerous not just one. reading makes me happy not just because it entertains me but because it makes me believe if nothing works out at the very moment it will work out in the end, not all books end up that way but some do. I just believe their is a happy ending for everyone, because everybody deserves one. I am just optimistic and a dreamer, a free one.

                                                  On the academic front, I enjoy English as a subject. As I joined an I.B school I think even Theory of Knowledge is an interesting subject. I am also a part of the Social, Culture and Anthropology class which I say is a class I have wanted to join for quite some time. Learning about humans, cultures, ethnic groups and basically all people and their ways of living and their way of show casing their identity is appealing and amazing.

                                      I very much look forward for the 2 years of high school that is left for me. I look forward to flourish in every way possible in these two years, in a new environment and with my family.