This week we read about the massive effects of modernization in third world countries and also about Bruce Knauft's experience living with the Gebusi, a group of clanspeople living in Papa New Guinea.
In the article "The Price of Progress", John H. Bodley analyzes the effects of modernization within more third world cultures, and shows whether these changes have improved or degraded the traditional societies. Often times, new developments such as imported foods, governmental policies for better health, resulting increased populations, and perceived impoverishment disrupt the established cultural systems which have provided the traditional societies with stability and economic survival. Usually, American factors such as GDP, per capita income, or formal education which urbanized countries rely on to determine progress do not translate or relate to cultures which have survived on more traditional means, such as foraging or pastoralism. Bodley makes clear the true definition of progress. To determine whether more modern institutions bring prosperity, Bodley asks, "Does progress or economic development increase or decrease a given culture's ability to satisfy the physical and psychological needs of its population?" Through much detail and analysis, Bodley has shown that the societal developments implemented through other cultures often wreck havoc on non-industrial societies. The changes made to urbanize these cultures have resulted in decreased health, disease, poverty, resource depletion, loss of tradition or culture, negative self-perceptions for the members of the culture, and overall dissatisfaction with life. One example Bodley shares is the distinct changes for the Micronesian people of Rarotonga as compared to the people of the neighboring island, Pukapuka. While Pukapuka had remained traditional in culture, Rarotonga, with increase of urbanized economic success, had been introduced to newly imported foods which had tripled salt and sugar intake, increasing the rates of high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity among men and women. The Rarotonga had become more "modernized", but according to Bodley's definition, had actually become less progressive as they became less healthy throughout the general population.
After reading Bodley's definition of progress, I realized that American society is quite behind in its progress. American society has become reliant upon machines, schedules, and means of survival that actually take more time out of the day for relaxation, eating healthy meals, exercising and developing intimate relationships. The modernization of America can be seen in any institution that values productivity rather than quality. American food industries will refine raw food into food products, detrimentally decreasing its nutritional value, but increasing the number of food products produced. Many Americans spend more time on the internet than they spend in the physical presence of their friends; while online socializing may "save time" and brings more connections, it decreases the amount of intimacy created in each relationship. Most of all, the typical American schedule leaves little room for leisure and time to exercise. While Americans spend time at their jobs or studies in order to earn money and survive, Americans typically lessen their ability to have a long life because of diseases related to pressure and stress.
An excellent example of a community which thrives within its traditional culture is the Gebusi. Bruce Knauft and his wife spent years living with the Gebusi people, and found them to be full of energy, excitement, and life-satisfaction despite their short life spans due to infection and disease within the humid climate. One interesting thing about the Gebusi is that many Americans, like Knauft, have inhibitions about things which the Gebusi embrace. Male sexuality is expressed openly in many different forms. One way that young, married men release sexual tension is by having sexual encounters with teenage boys from the village. Even though the culture is monogamous in marriage, the village is fully aware that the men of the village "break the rules" and engage in sexual acts with younger men. Knauft was once asked by a younger male if he wanted to go out with him and receive a sexual act. Knauft told him that in his culture, some men will have sex with other men, and others do not, and that Knauft himself was one who did not engage in sexual acts with other men. The openness of male sexuality among the Gebusi reflects a celebration of patriarchal affluence and contributes to a communal pastime.
In contrast, American celebration of patriarchal affluence is developed through distinct images of 'man' and 'woman'. While Gebusi men will dance in clothing that is influenced through masculinity and femininity, American society often shames bisexual, transsexual, or homosexual behavior. A man that dresses as a female in America is usually not taken very seriously by other heterosexual men and can turn off women, rather than attract them. I recently dated a young man for two and a half years who considers himself to be bisexual. Throughout dating him, I had received a lot of negative criticism about why I was dating him and what kind of person he is. I feel bad that I was sometimes influenced by the negative questioning others expressed to me, and to know that somewhere in the world men can express their femininity and masculinity openly among others, and even have it seen as desirable, makes me feel hopeful that someday, as different cultures frequently cross paths, America will accept more that both genders can express either feminine or masculine expressions of sexuality.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Cult. Anth. BLOG #6: Adaptions Lost Through World System Integration
For thousands of years, humans have learned how to physically adapt into their environment to survive. Humans had learned how to forage by gathering plants, become pastoral by domesticating animals, develop horticulture by manual labor of planting, and creating agriculture with the invention of new farm machinery. These types of survival form into different cultures, the systems by which humans learn to survive. Whereas animals survive by whether they have the preferable traits to an environment, humans create their own suitable behavior to survive in the environment and pass the information along for future generations. Each way of living, or culture, is best because it is suited to its own unique environment, after years of trial and error.
As more people have filled the planet, different cultures have increasingly come into contact with one another, creating conflict. When culture is taught within a group of people, the people of that group will usually believe that this way of living is the only proper way to live. This way of thinking is called ethnocentrism. Sometimes ethnocentrism can be so strong that people will try to enforce their own ideas on how to live onto other groups of people. These enforcements of new rules are usually ill-fitting and detrimental to the new society because the perceived "right" way to live usually does not best utilize the resources of the new environment. The society which lives in the environment usually knows the best way of how to use it.
As these different types of cultures merge, there can be confusion and conflict about what things should be valued. Pastoralists sense that their animals symbolize the group's own well-being and sense of identity. Cultivators in horticulture will bless the crops that they receive from the earth, and will connect crop production with their own sexual fertility and human worth. More modern farmers who use technology in agriculture still have pride in their crops, but also in how big of land or how much technology they use, as that is what will provide them with the biggest yield. Americans believe that if you have more money, you will have a happier life, not because paper money is intrinsically valuable, but because it represents all of the other things which one can buy with money. These cultures all value things that give them the ability to survive. By growing up and believing that these things are what gives one life in their particular situation, humans will connect their own well-being and identity to things which ensure their survival. This is why indigenous peoples and capitalist countries alike will strive to keep their cultures alive, so the meaning of their own lives can remain alive as well.
Anthropologists believe that there is a world system that is creating relationships between different cultures that are defined by power. According to Lassiter, the world system is "the culture that mediates our relationship with the environment, writ on an international scale" (120). Whoever has more control over the environment and resources will have more control of what kind of relationship will come between the two cultures. Most often, if a more powerful, “core” country values capitalism, other countries will be forced to compete for power, or else they will end up as dependents of the more powerful country and in effect, the nation will have its culture ripped away and it will lose the ability to survive on its own.
As capitalism becomes more affluent in the world, there becomes a greater struggle for indigenous or rural groups of people to maintain their own cultural identities. The capitalist "core" countries of Britain and America have found their way into gaining profit from the cocaine industry in Bolivia. In effect, the Bolivian peoples have struggled to maintain their culture, their personal identity, and their ability to survive. As more men are enlisted to work for the cocaine industry, there are less laborers to work the fields of the small villages. One village, Pocona, is run by almost all women now, as the men have all left to process cocaine. This loss of workers leaves Pocona with a lack of diversity in their horticulture, less food, and broken-up families. Even the men who are supposedly earning money by processing cocaine end up not earning a good wage, addicted to crack, and possibly receiving a venereal disease from a local prostitute. Both the men and the village left behind suffer in health because the capitalistic, profiting cocaine industry pushes out the people's natural ability to care for themselves.
I see this pattern of the world system pushing out individual cultures in the way that more and more international students are attending private, liberal-arts colleges. I find it ironic that while I was college-searching, colleges would advertise that their campuses were more diverse, meaning that they had a larger percentage of international students on campus. However, as more and more international students become accustomed the fast-paced, competitive, and American way of life, their native diversity naturally fades. I see that the capitalist economy "pushes" these students away from their culture and into American life. When I've asked some international friends of mine why they came to Luther, they have told me that their parents wanted them to have a good education, and Luther provided them with good financial aid packages. There is no intrinsic reason that someone would want to come live in Decorah, Iowa. The parents of international students feel the "push" of the world system, as more capitalistic competition in the world means that their children need a higher education to succeed. Although they may still have parents back at home who live a more rural lifestyle than college life in America, the students will eventually start to talk, act, and be more like Americans, therefore leaving their own cultural ways behind, and making room for more American, and capitalistic ways of living.
As more people have filled the planet, different cultures have increasingly come into contact with one another, creating conflict. When culture is taught within a group of people, the people of that group will usually believe that this way of living is the only proper way to live. This way of thinking is called ethnocentrism. Sometimes ethnocentrism can be so strong that people will try to enforce their own ideas on how to live onto other groups of people. These enforcements of new rules are usually ill-fitting and detrimental to the new society because the perceived "right" way to live usually does not best utilize the resources of the new environment. The society which lives in the environment usually knows the best way of how to use it.
As these different types of cultures merge, there can be confusion and conflict about what things should be valued. Pastoralists sense that their animals symbolize the group's own well-being and sense of identity. Cultivators in horticulture will bless the crops that they receive from the earth, and will connect crop production with their own sexual fertility and human worth. More modern farmers who use technology in agriculture still have pride in their crops, but also in how big of land or how much technology they use, as that is what will provide them with the biggest yield. Americans believe that if you have more money, you will have a happier life, not because paper money is intrinsically valuable, but because it represents all of the other things which one can buy with money. These cultures all value things that give them the ability to survive. By growing up and believing that these things are what gives one life in their particular situation, humans will connect their own well-being and identity to things which ensure their survival. This is why indigenous peoples and capitalist countries alike will strive to keep their cultures alive, so the meaning of their own lives can remain alive as well.
Anthropologists believe that there is a world system that is creating relationships between different cultures that are defined by power. According to Lassiter, the world system is "the culture that mediates our relationship with the environment, writ on an international scale" (120). Whoever has more control over the environment and resources will have more control of what kind of relationship will come between the two cultures. Most often, if a more powerful, “core” country values capitalism, other countries will be forced to compete for power, or else they will end up as dependents of the more powerful country and in effect, the nation will have its culture ripped away and it will lose the ability to survive on its own.
As capitalism becomes more affluent in the world, there becomes a greater struggle for indigenous or rural groups of people to maintain their own cultural identities. The capitalist "core" countries of Britain and America have found their way into gaining profit from the cocaine industry in Bolivia. In effect, the Bolivian peoples have struggled to maintain their culture, their personal identity, and their ability to survive. As more men are enlisted to work for the cocaine industry, there are less laborers to work the fields of the small villages. One village, Pocona, is run by almost all women now, as the men have all left to process cocaine. This loss of workers leaves Pocona with a lack of diversity in their horticulture, less food, and broken-up families. Even the men who are supposedly earning money by processing cocaine end up not earning a good wage, addicted to crack, and possibly receiving a venereal disease from a local prostitute. Both the men and the village left behind suffer in health because the capitalistic, profiting cocaine industry pushes out the people's natural ability to care for themselves.
I see this pattern of the world system pushing out individual cultures in the way that more and more international students are attending private, liberal-arts colleges. I find it ironic that while I was college-searching, colleges would advertise that their campuses were more diverse, meaning that they had a larger percentage of international students on campus. However, as more and more international students become accustomed the fast-paced, competitive, and American way of life, their native diversity naturally fades. I see that the capitalist economy "pushes" these students away from their culture and into American life. When I've asked some international friends of mine why they came to Luther, they have told me that their parents wanted them to have a good education, and Luther provided them with good financial aid packages. There is no intrinsic reason that someone would want to come live in Decorah, Iowa. The parents of international students feel the "push" of the world system, as more capitalistic competition in the world means that their children need a higher education to succeed. Although they may still have parents back at home who live a more rural lifestyle than college life in America, the students will eventually start to talk, act, and be more like Americans, therefore leaving their own cultural ways behind, and making room for more American, and capitalistic ways of living.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Cult. Anth. BLOG #5: Misunderstood Perspectives of Iraq, The Veil and Islam
Because Americans know so little of Middle Eastern culture, Americans' ideas and values misread how Middle Eastern women are treated. The womens' veils do not signify sexist oppression. The Qu'ran does not force women to wear it. The women's veils are not part of Islam, but a desired part of their community values. The women of Iraq believe that not covering oneself is shameful, and the use of the abayah or veil allows them to feel in high esteem about themselves. Americans believe that Middle Eastern women are not allowed to express themselves, when in fact, by wearing the veil, they are expressing the fulfilling values of their culture. A recent event exemplifies this difference in cultural values. In a recent beauty pageant, Miss Iraq showed off her bikini body onstage to the international camera. Americans belived that this act showed liberation and a healthy woman's confidence. On the other hand, important figures from Iraq found this display shameful for the woman. Americans disrespect the Middle Eastern ideal of liberation by assuming that both types of liberation are the same. Americans' ethnocentrism assumes that showing one's body freely is liberating.
Middle Eastern women often pity American women for being so naive as not to cover themselves. During her year and a half stay in El Nahra, Iraq, Elizabeth Warlock Fernea experienced this dispute concerning the veil. Like all travelers, Fernea arrived in Iraq more or less with an ethnocentrism which held some stereotypes about the women she would encounter. When Elizabeth Fernea first appeared in Baghdad, she was set to not wear an abayah and give into the perceived oppression of the veil. She was quick to learn by hostile or strange stares that by not wearing the abayah, she was shaming herself. Soon a female acquaintance had one made for Fernea and she felt much better.
It is not simply that Americans focus on looks and the Middle Eastern women do not care about their appearances, or do not express themselves. It is only that the two cultures give different standards as to what looks good and what does not. Abayahs and veils, contrary to American belief, look good to Middle Eastern women because it upholds their moral integrity. This makes them happy and gives one as much confidence as an American women could feel while wearing a new, red, summer dress.
There are biblical examples which have influenced these cultural ideas. In the Qu'ranic Bible, the story of the Garden of Eden is different than in the Christian Bible. It is believed and taught that once Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, they were forced to strip their clothes. This story reflects the Middle Eastern value that to be without clothes in public is shameful, rather than liberating. The Christian Bible, Adam and Eve, once realizing their own nakedness, put clothes on themselves, which signifies that they had become ashamed of their nudity. Interestingly, Christians do not settle on the idea as to cover themselves so much as they focus on the innocence of being naked before God. Even Christian Americans show off some skin publicly when diving into the swimming pool.
There are other groups in the world who consider not covering oneself to be shameful. In a adulthood ceremony of the Nitendi in the Santa Cruz Islands, the young boys of the tribe are made to remove their clothes for five days until the Nitendi festival. After feeling shameful for five days, they are clothed at the ceremony and hence become adults. This can relate to the Adam and Eve story in the Christian Bible, because during the time they were naked, they were without knowledge, like a child. The Nitendi realize that this nakedness represents childhood, and by reclothing the young boys, they gain back their adulthood.
While putting so much pressure to release the women from the abayah, Americans miss the point that many Iraqi's who immigrate here to America are fleeing from religious persecution. In the land of the free, it is absurd that America does not throw open its arms to console those who are searching for religious freedom. The first pilgrims to the U.S. were Dutch Protestants who desired to flee from the Catholic persecutions. However, stereotypes of terrorism infiltrate the nation's mind. Constant television images of terrorist men in kaffiyehs or turbans bring the idea that all Iraqi men could be terrorists. This idea is hardly challenged in American society. Although precautions have cooled down since the few years after the 9//11 attack in New York, Iraqis are often prejudiced against, being overly searched in comparison to other plane passengers and not given company jobs in fear that they could abuse the system.
One way to be opened minded rather than prejudging one's safety is to reach out and get to know the Middle Eastern immigrants who live in America. Linda Walbridge became friends with Seyed Moustafa, a Shiite Muslim who left Iraq with his family to flee religious persecution from Saddam Hussein. His education is substantially intricate, as he speaks several languages and he has been trained as a Shiite Muslim cleric. His family is famous for helping to conduct Shiite religious rituals for local American Muslim communities. I find that Moustafa's life work is not much different than a Baptist preacher in America. These two types of religious leaders are both dedicated to their religion and host a passion to spread the words of their holy texts to others. They also satisfy the spiritual lives of the members in their respective communities.
Islam is similar to Christianity in the way that Islam is a fulfilling, spiritual religion and not a constant jihad. When the idea of Islam is brought up to Americans, the stereotype of men in turbans shouting and shooting with rifles into the air can sometimes come to mind. However, most time these images of jihad, or holy war, are rebellions against the oppressive, persecuting Middle Eastern governments, and do not connect with the Islamic faith at all. The Islamic faith is very much based on community and honoring the Qu'ran. Just like American Christians may meet for a Bible study, groups of women and men will meet, having one person read the Qu'ran and others will listen and reflect on its powerful words. In Guests of the Shiek, the women of El Nahra would sit and listen to the Qu'ran being read aloud and found this practice very spiritually uplifting. Also, the leading figures of Christianity and Islam, Jesus Christ and the Prophet Mohammed are similar in their martyrdom. Children's stories from each religion pay tribute to each of them, showing that they died, each for the greater good of their communities.
The best way to bridge gaps of understanding inbetween two cultures is two have cross cultural experiences which expose the contradicting ideas and misunderstandings. Since the abayah or veil is such a contrast or opposite value of American culture, it sticks out and therefore brings more opportunity for Americans to learn and discuss about the true meaning behind the abayah.
Americans have not yet truly accepted the religion of Islam because it is misunderstood and confused with ideas of political uprising.
Middle Eastern women often pity American women for being so naive as not to cover themselves. During her year and a half stay in El Nahra, Iraq, Elizabeth Warlock Fernea experienced this dispute concerning the veil. Like all travelers, Fernea arrived in Iraq more or less with an ethnocentrism which held some stereotypes about the women she would encounter. When Elizabeth Fernea first appeared in Baghdad, she was set to not wear an abayah and give into the perceived oppression of the veil. She was quick to learn by hostile or strange stares that by not wearing the abayah, she was shaming herself. Soon a female acquaintance had one made for Fernea and she felt much better.
It is not simply that Americans focus on looks and the Middle Eastern women do not care about their appearances, or do not express themselves. It is only that the two cultures give different standards as to what looks good and what does not. Abayahs and veils, contrary to American belief, look good to Middle Eastern women because it upholds their moral integrity. This makes them happy and gives one as much confidence as an American women could feel while wearing a new, red, summer dress.
There are biblical examples which have influenced these cultural ideas. In the Qu'ranic Bible, the story of the Garden of Eden is different than in the Christian Bible. It is believed and taught that once Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, they were forced to strip their clothes. This story reflects the Middle Eastern value that to be without clothes in public is shameful, rather than liberating. The Christian Bible, Adam and Eve, once realizing their own nakedness, put clothes on themselves, which signifies that they had become ashamed of their nudity. Interestingly, Christians do not settle on the idea as to cover themselves so much as they focus on the innocence of being naked before God. Even Christian Americans show off some skin publicly when diving into the swimming pool.
There are other groups in the world who consider not covering oneself to be shameful. In a adulthood ceremony of the Nitendi in the Santa Cruz Islands, the young boys of the tribe are made to remove their clothes for five days until the Nitendi festival. After feeling shameful for five days, they are clothed at the ceremony and hence become adults. This can relate to the Adam and Eve story in the Christian Bible, because during the time they were naked, they were without knowledge, like a child. The Nitendi realize that this nakedness represents childhood, and by reclothing the young boys, they gain back their adulthood.
While putting so much pressure to release the women from the abayah, Americans miss the point that many Iraqi's who immigrate here to America are fleeing from religious persecution. In the land of the free, it is absurd that America does not throw open its arms to console those who are searching for religious freedom. The first pilgrims to the U.S. were Dutch Protestants who desired to flee from the Catholic persecutions. However, stereotypes of terrorism infiltrate the nation's mind. Constant television images of terrorist men in kaffiyehs or turbans bring the idea that all Iraqi men could be terrorists. This idea is hardly challenged in American society. Although precautions have cooled down since the few years after the 9//11 attack in New York, Iraqis are often prejudiced against, being overly searched in comparison to other plane passengers and not given company jobs in fear that they could abuse the system.
One way to be opened minded rather than prejudging one's safety is to reach out and get to know the Middle Eastern immigrants who live in America. Linda Walbridge became friends with Seyed Moustafa, a Shiite Muslim who left Iraq with his family to flee religious persecution from Saddam Hussein. His education is substantially intricate, as he speaks several languages and he has been trained as a Shiite Muslim cleric. His family is famous for helping to conduct Shiite religious rituals for local American Muslim communities. I find that Moustafa's life work is not much different than a Baptist preacher in America. These two types of religious leaders are both dedicated to their religion and host a passion to spread the words of their holy texts to others. They also satisfy the spiritual lives of the members in their respective communities.
Islam is similar to Christianity in the way that Islam is a fulfilling, spiritual religion and not a constant jihad. When the idea of Islam is brought up to Americans, the stereotype of men in turbans shouting and shooting with rifles into the air can sometimes come to mind. However, most time these images of jihad, or holy war, are rebellions against the oppressive, persecuting Middle Eastern governments, and do not connect with the Islamic faith at all. The Islamic faith is very much based on community and honoring the Qu'ran. Just like American Christians may meet for a Bible study, groups of women and men will meet, having one person read the Qu'ran and others will listen and reflect on its powerful words. In Guests of the Shiek, the women of El Nahra would sit and listen to the Qu'ran being read aloud and found this practice very spiritually uplifting. Also, the leading figures of Christianity and Islam, Jesus Christ and the Prophet Mohammed are similar in their martyrdom. Children's stories from each religion pay tribute to each of them, showing that they died, each for the greater good of their communities.
The best way to bridge gaps of understanding inbetween two cultures is two have cross cultural experiences which expose the contradicting ideas and misunderstandings. Since the abayah or veil is such a contrast or opposite value of American culture, it sticks out and therefore brings more opportunity for Americans to learn and discuss about the true meaning behind the abayah.
Americans have not yet truly accepted the religion of Islam because it is misunderstood and confused with ideas of political uprising.
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