Archive for the ‘Anthropology’ Category
Who said it?
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology on februari 4th, 2009
Working with several informants for my thesis on Young Urban Middle Class Delhi girls I am concerned with the immunity of their identities. As an anthropologist I aim at following the guidelines set out by the American Anthropological Association’s Code Of Ethics to keep my informants anonymous. But when it comes to facts, statements and incidents at some point is it of value for the statement itself who said it?
When a girl from Punjab is having a drink it is one thing, Punjab is an Indian state famous for the alcohol culture but when a girl from a small town in a more conservative state says the same it is interpreted differently as much more controversial. And if a girl who lived all her life in Delhi says she has prejudices about Delhi-ites is quite another thing then if an out-state girl from a small town says it.
I need to be able to present the data necessary so that the reader can interpret the meaning of the statements correctly. It does matter who said it! I need a way to present the data necessary within the Code Of Ethics. It will be done. I just need to work on it, to give my data the nuances and meaning it deserves.
Maybe some things does matter less who said it?
The “we can do it” approach
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology, Gender, India on februari 2nd, 2009
India is interesting on so many levels. And I am fascinated by the strong “we can do it” approach that is present among the young women. “It” i this sense refers to meeting equality, meeting the men half-way on many levels of society. I have a deep interest in India and gender. For my master thesis in Anthropology I choose to conduct research in the vibrant globalized sphere of South Delhi - where gender roles are constantly being negotiated in the capital city which is moving with a high speed towards the future.
I am especially interested in the gender perspective in India today. Marriage has been and still is an important social institution in India. “A good marriage” is essential and to be a good wife is a desirable goal for many women in India. The young women I met in Delhi are well aware of what is considered desired female behaviour and they in many ways try to live up to this norm and to follow the social unwritten rules of what is considered desirable female behaviour. But even though they do have room for negotiating their role within the marriage institution.
I am fascinated by the strong “we can do it” approach – meaning match up to the men, become their equals within the society as such and specifically within the marriage institution. According to my informants, many Indian marriages are based on inequality, the man is often considered to be in charge of decisions. When the family units are becoming nuclear, breaking free from the extended family setting then new rules are negotiated between the spouses with no external power involved. With every generation comes change, and with every generation small changes are being made, my Delhi informants can see these changes in their parents and grandparents attitudes that differs on many levels from their own. Delhi women are moving at a high speed.
Even if the young women are restricted on many areas of the society – especially when it comes to moving freely in their own city after night falls. I admire their spirit! I wish them all the best in their struggle fuelled by their ‘we can do it’ approach. I am grateful that I had the privilege to meet some of these young women during my stay in Delhi at the end of year 2008.
When time as I know it, changed
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology, India on januari 30th, 2009
In India I for the first time experienced that time is a cultural construction. The Indian Standard Time, IST, is occasionally called Indian Stretchable Time. This is something that you have to experience to learn. I waited in frustration on SST (Swedish Standard Time) on so many occasions before I realised that 5 PM does not mean 5 PM for most people in India. It means closer to 6 PM actually.
So many of my meetings in India were late. To me coming from Sweden time is something of a holy concept. Swedish official meetings, private meetings, theatre shows, trains and university classes always start at the exact time being announced. For me, until recently; time was a static concept. For most Swedes to be late is a great embarrassment, to fail to abide the rule of time in Sweden is a very serious matter. Being late is a socially coded crime not being looked mildly upon.
I was suprised to get to know myself, how rigid I actually am when it comes to time. And most of my friends and family are and of course most of them are Swedish… We anthropologists like to say things like “you dont realise your own cultural heritage until you are in a different setting”. Bingo, I can analyze myself! I realized in the field that it was no use in using SST in India.
It was difficult, but highly necessary for me to adjust and to stay sane when time as I know it changed. I just had to lay off my Swedish ways and go native when it came to time, meetings and making plans. I came to love conducting fieldwork in IST…
Forced into a foreign gender role
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology, Gender on januari 27th, 2009
The experience in patriarchal India can not be experienced first hand by the male voyager. In India I for the first time felt discriminated, silenced and sometimes even invisible because of my gender.
It is inevitable to escape ones own bias. Each of us has a couple of potential biases that will come to work when producing a piece of text, art och music. I as a creator of a text, being my master thesis in anthropology, I am no different. In anthropology class we need to learn to be reflexive regarding our own persons and our bias in our features, gender, class, etc.. I choose to come clean at the very beginning of my thesis regarding my gender bias. I know I cant escape it, so I choose to portray the female perspective on India, based on the experiences I, as a woman, have had in India before my research took place.
This section may be on the first introductionary page of my thesis:
“Imagine yourself young and adventurous experiencing the beautiful Indian subcontinent together with your best friend. You travel together to the villages and the cities of North India enjoying every moment connected and intoxicated by mother India. But then you meet up with your fiancée and your start to see India through his eyes. A completely different experience is revealed. I felt like a minor when men working at hotels, restaurants or taxis asked my fiance -whats her name? whats her job?”
I wanted to scream, I was filled with rage, I got tired of talking when I was not being heard. I became silenced, the subjugated woman belonging to the man who was expected to answer for me. I was forced into the role of someone who should not be listened do. And my fiance was forced into the dominant role… On some levels we had to follow the Indian gender roles to be able to move around in the society. Me screaming to be heard was not helping, I can not change the mind of those men who actually believes that a woman’s voice is not worth as much as a mans voice.
Later I learnt that is a cultural custom of politeness for Indian males not to approach or speak to unrelated females. This explains the behaviour but does not justify it. As I am biased, coming from a complete different setting namely Sweden- top ranked on the Gender Equality Index. India is to be found among the bottom 10 on the same Index.
I respect culture and I am glad that culture is a vibrant, not a static system. I am glad for all the women in India that times are changing and the gender roles with the culture. This will be developed further in my thesis….
Coming of Age in Technology
Posted by Johanna in Anthropology on januari 23rd, 2009
There is a much famous anthropological book called Coming of Age in Samoa written by Margaret Mead. The book reached a huge audience in the 60ies and we had Mead in mind when producing a film about the modern age that we live in today. Coming of Age in Technology is a school project I was a part of at the Anthropology department at Stockholm University. Thank you Kleerup for letting us play your brilliant song to our images. Thank you Wreck Creative Studios for technological assistance.
Click to watch;
