INDIA POWER POINT PRESENTATAION

Group IIRobert

TiaJessicaMolly Janet

Marcius

Introduction

Traditional Views of Women in Society

India is a very male dominated society, looking to woman as only wives and mothers. In his Manusmriti (Law of Menu), Mendu, a Hindu spiritual law giver says, “Her father protects (her) in her childhood, her husband protects (her) in marriage, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence.” Although this comes from an ancient texts, these practices are still used. Women are treated with unequal measures, statistically showing that one and every five married women are subjected to domestic abuse.An extreme example of abuse is in the form of “dowry deaths,” where newlywed women are murdered or pushed to suicide then masked as a accidents to profit more dowry (money, goods, land).Women from lower classes, where traditional views are still abundant are forced to be dependent to their husbands and freedom is limited.

Contemporary Views of Woman in Society

In all aspects of society, Indian women have taken on more independent roles as the economy liberated.A growing rate of woman are taking on head of household in the absence of men.Even after taking their husband’s name after marriage, woman have the right to hold their assets separately.By India law, women have access to all educational facilities to seek higher education and follow careers goals. Government has passed various laws to protect women’s rights along with encouraging the hopes of woman to have more activity in the public. Traditional practices such as child marriage, temple prostitution, and Sati (the burning of a widow alive on her husbands burial) have been completely outlawed.

Role of men: traditionally

Men are dominant and women take the back seat and are more submissive

Men do all of the work and are the main bread winners in the household.

Along with bringing home all the money men traditionally decide how the money in the household is spent.

Men, traditionally, don’t do housework they instead go out and socialize with other men and worship at the temple everyday after working.

Role of men: contemporary

Men and women are able to converse in more of an equal

sense. Women play major roles in the household also

Men take part in helping in the household and help women

with the cooking Men are not the only ones

allowed to work in the household women are allowed

to work and bring in money also

Men take part in helping raise the children and don’t leave all

of the work to the men

Role of men: in marriage

Men do not chose their wives, their parents do, and men don’t meet the wives they are to marry until 3 months prior to the wedding

Men can divorce their wives if their wife doesn’t give him sons, which has caused a high divorce rate in India.

If a married male in the family dies, the eldest male in the family will then assume responsibility for the wife and children and take care of them

Once married the father in law and males that are older than the bride are not allowed to look at the bride face to face and the bride must wear a veil when speaking to the bride.

Most middle aged men don’t remarry if they a widowed the young men are normally the only people who get remarried.

Informal Indian Dress

India is a country that has a magical or mystified allure, with bright colored clothing, bangles and bells. It is diverse in culture and religion. It is through their choice of clothing that they communicate their social status or caste, religion, region, age and educational background. (Shukla. P, pg 4).The most common piece of informal clothing that is worn by men and women of India, is the Salwar suits, that consists of a three piece outfit. The pants and ,the most common choice is the Churider pyjama, has a tightfitting drawstring waist, then the material blousons to the ankles and is fastened with tight fitting snaps. The tunic or Kurta, is varied in cut, it can be tight or loosely fitted to the body, and can have either short or long sleeves. The most common feature of the Kurta is its length, it will always fall between the upper thigh or well below the knee. The men will wear these pants with a jacket to complete their everyday ensemble. (Shukle,P. pg71). The scarf or Dupatta, is worn mostly by women, and can vary in style or print. It is draped over the breast, then hangs vertically down the back and over one shoulder to the front part of the body. Since it is usually flimsy, sheer cloth, it can also be used to cover her head and face for modesty purposes.(Shukle,P. pg72).

The Sari is another form of clothing that communicates the age and status of the women of India. The styles of cloth ultimately are chosen by the men, since they are the buyers of the cloth and usually the weavers. India is a predominantly male culture. She may posses several Sari’s, some for everyday wear and others for special occasions. The Sari is one piece of unstitched cloth, this gives a statement of being pure, this is why they are usually purchased by brides to be or married women of India. They are worn with a blouse and petticoats. They are usually chosen for their weave, color and texture (Shukla,P. pg 68). The younger brides of India usually choose the bright bolder colors of red, orange or yellow, to communicate their youth for their Sari .These colors will also be chosen for their ghunfat, the veil that young brides wear to cover their faces from the men in the household. As no verbal communication is allowed between the father in-law and the brothers of the new bride. The more mature married women will choose the lighter colors of blues and pale yellows to communicate their presence in the family. When a women becomes a widow, she will only wear the colors of white, black or brown to signify mourning. The widow will then become part of her husbands brothers family and will be treated as equal to his wife and family. (Aruna, personal communication, October 21st,2011).

Salwar suit

Retrieved on November 6,2011”http://www.greatspectrum.com

“Retrieved November 6,2011”http://www.ehow.com/how_7782408_drape-indian-sari.html

Women with their Sari

Religion in IndiaHinduism began around 1500 BCE and is the third largest religion in the world. It accounts for about 80% of people in India.While lacking a unified system of beliefs and ideas, it combines very diverse traditions and beliefs. The dharma controls ones ethics and duties, it acts as the law or natural law. The samsara controls the rebirth, or reincarnation. Karma is controlled by performing the right action. And the Moksha is liberation from the Samsara cycle.Hinduism is an all inclusive way of life. The purpose of life is to attain freedom from the reincarnation cycle. To do this one must live life following the dharma. If successful and ones karma is resolved, they will attain moksha. If ones karma is unsuccessful, their soul will enter the samsara cycle and be born into a new body.Worship can occur at home or at temples so that one can think of divinity during every day life. Shrines are created at home with icons to celebrate their chosen god.Devout Hindus worship daily after bathing at dawn. Worship includes chanting mantras, reciting scriptures, singing hymns or meditating.Special occasions like birth, marriage and death, involve elaborate sets of religious customs. These rituals are called samskaras.

Samskaras Rituals

Samskaras are rituals and sacrifices that cover every aspect of the Hindu life, from conception to death.There are two categories of Samskaras. One is to encourage kindness from the gods. The other is to keep away or get rid of hostile and evil powers. There are 16 main samskaras that serve as a rite of passage.Ceremonies can be used to influence many things including health, wealth, intelligence, fertility and social status. It brings man or woman to their highest potential physically, psychically and spiritually to achieve the highest level of all-round human welfare.Max Muller explained the ceremonies as “the deep-rooted tendency in the heart of man to bring the chief events to human life into contact with a higher power, and to give to our joys and sufferings a deeper significance and a religious sanctification.

Example of Samskaras

Samskaras are rituals and sacrifices that cover every aspect of the Hindu life, from conception to death.There are two categories of Samskaras. One is to encourage kindness from the gods. The other is to keep away or get rid of hostile and evil powers. There are 16 main samskaras that serve as a rite of passage.Ceremonies can be used to influence many things including health, wealth, intelligence, fertility and social status. It brings man or woman to their highest potential physically, psychically and spiritually to achieve the highest level of all-round human welfare.Max Muller explained the ceremonies as “the deep-rooted tendency in the heart of man to bring the chief events to human life into contact with a higher power, and to give to our joys and sufferings a deeper significance and a religious sanctification.

Indian Non-Verbal Customs

Greetings

When greeting an elder, there is also a touching of the feet of the elder, with the right hand, then touching your chest. After this, is the palms pressed together.

Gestures Out of respect, it is common

to remove one’s shoes at places of worship, when visiting people’s homes, and even in certain shops and businesses.

People beckon one another by extending an arm and making a scratching motion with their fingers, palm facing down.

The head wobble and mean various things depending on angle, expression and speed

One usually eats with their right hand, as the left is considered unclean.

Symbols

Tilak: a ritual mark made on the forehead between the eyebrows representing greeting, blessing or auspiciousness

Bindi: An auspicious mark on a married Indian woman’s forehead, symbolizing Goddess Pavarti and female energy.

Conclusion

We have seen how the culture of India communicates through all sources of verbal and nonverbal use. From the Sari and Bindi of the married India women, to their religion of Hinduism, where the people pray to their Dharma, in the hopes of attaining Karma. We have seen how the society has moved forward in allowing women to work and receive an education. These are all positive ways that communication has helped bring India that much closer into the twentieth century.