Something that has really intrigued me throughout the semester is how much culture plays into how one can perceive feminism. For example, here in the US we have created a culture and society that allows us to actively make changes to our lives as females. While yes, we have made a lot of progress toward our equal treatment, we expect every other country around the world to do the same. However, I think that it isn’t our place to expect that of them and why are we the ones to set the bar? To them they may not feel they are being oppressed because to them they aren’t, it’s the way it always has been, and they are okay with that, but there are also more than one side to a story. Those same women who don’t want to change also are surrounded by women who do want change and seek a freer life. We have seen examples of this in two ways, literature; with Under the Udala Trees and The Treatment of Bibi Haldar and in the documentary with The World Before Her. These both show how much culture can make an impact on how women choose and expect to live their lives.
In Under the Udala Trees, the main character really struggles not only with her sexuality but her identity. She craves to be loved and love how/who she wants but is in a constant battle with her mother who is extremely old fashion and insists that she has to live her life a certain way. A way that the society expects her to live, which would be considered normal. The normal or the ordinary is what I think is important to think about here. How each of them envision normal was very different, Ijeoma didn’t think she was weird to feel the way she did and later learned that she isn’t weird she just loves the opposite sex and that that doesn’t make her unordinary or crazy.(Okparanta,2016) I think the idea of being out of the ordinary is portrayed through the story about Bibi. While all the story says is that she is sick. We never really know if she is medically sick. My theory is that she just does not fit the society’s view of attractive. Since she isn’t not viewed as “attractive” and “marry-able” she is automatically shut out by the society.(Lahiri,161) But how does the culture define one’s idea of beauty? Americans idea beauty is much different than how India may view beauty. And to some, portraying western beauty can almost seem offensive like how some people viewed the pageant girls from the documentary.
The documentary made some very interesting yet contradicting points, which definitely depended on the side of the story. At one point one of the pageant girls says that they are obsessed with “whitening” their skin, yet some family’s find that pageants are too western and are ruining Indian culture. But does this one again sparks he question on how does each generation view their culture? Yes, the pageant girls like the idea of doing something for themselves but they are also not comfortable wearing a bikini which shows that they still want to have some of the original traditions and views that the older generations have. The girls who are training for the Hindu regime? Those girls are the ones that interested me the most, because all though they are very passionate about their religions and the culture that comes with it, they are still young girls who have some admiration for the women in pageantry. I find this interesting because they are extremely okay with the idea of living to get married and reproduce, but that doesn’t stop them from thinking about the what ifs. These girls experience so much from surviving their birth just because they are girls to later being married off, and this makes me question at what point in their life does their value change? And why do they carry so much value when it comes to reproducing yet hold very little value in the aspect of respect and getting to live an independent life. Is this something created by culture and how does this change based on the society/culture someone is in?
Our culture makes up a lot of our identity, how we view the world, and how we treat people. I think it is important to discuss culture within the class because while we may all be from the states, I think even culture changes based on state and how we each grew up. I think being able to see other people points of views and ideas on culture can be beneficial to opening up someone mind to understanding other people and their lives. This is important I think about with the class because as we continue to learn about more cultures as we read and watch more things, we will be able to see how a society’s culture plays a role in someone’s story.
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