A Social Norm : Transformations, Hybridizations And Adaptation

The five social norms that I am glad exist are the standards of personal space, the expected standard for personal hygiene, the expected standard for manners in public i.e. avoiding belching or flatulating in public areas, the norm of individual choices, and the social norm of education being a standard.

Gender is a key aspect in anthropology of religion. It is important to understand that there is a clear distinction between sex and gender. Sex is biologically defined and gender is socially constructed. This means that society and culture have influenced the expectations of gender roles. ( Eisenchlas, 2013) In the western society, there is a clear distinction between male and female and what is expected from both gender roles, however the expectations and understandings of genders vary within religions. The understanding and meaning of gender has changed dramatically over time. According to Michelle Zimbalist Kosaldo and Louise Lamphere (1974) many ethnographic studies tell us very little about the role of women within religions, therefore there was limited understanding. The focus on women only came about in the 1970’s and 1980’s when feminist’s studies began to focus on ritual roles, restrictions and menstrual taboos to understand the role of women. The examination of gender roles within Tuareg religion is a good example to demonstrate the dynamic and understanding of gender and religion.

Nonetheless, within the Hindu religion, women’s roles have evolved over time and women are going against the social norm of their tradition and their way of life in hopes of being treated in the same manner that Sikh women are within Sikhism (Desai, et al., 1995). Hindu women’s traditional roles in the household in India have changed over the past century. The influence of Western scholars as well as Sikhism views on women has brought change to the overall status and role of women in Hinduism so that Hindu women can be recognized in the same way that Sikhism women are. Western scholars who have studied Hinduism have written many books and articles on the sacred scriptures including reviews on the Vedas (hymns and ritual texts) and other religious scriptures that at one point were restricted from Hindu women.

The social norm experiment that I performed consisted of me violating a social norm and observing people’s reactions for doing so. I did something that is deemed “not normal,” based off from societal standards. The norm I broke was an interesting one. Instead of respecting strangers’ personal space, I invaded their space. I stood in front of them as close as I could possibly get, without touching them. I choose to break this social norm because of how I am with people. Strangers or friends, it does not matter, I do not like when people stand close to me. I feel as if they are invading my personal space. When people stand too close to me, I tense up and feel very uncomfortable. In my eyes, this social norm is necessary, especially for people who are similar to me and need to have their distance from others.

What I learn from this course is how sociology is a part of every aspect of our lives. It can involve how we interact with others and how a society is viewed as a whole. As I evaluate this course I see how social norms are every evolving. The things of the past that were once taboo are now being what is normal. A good example is cohabitation, seventy years ago this type of action would have been frown upon, but as look today it has become coming practice. Therefore, the when it comes to people’s social behavior it’s appears to be an ever-evolving matter. What is socially acceptable today will perhaps socially obsolete

The postmodern attitude greatly differs from the iconic and traditional values of the past. This change in attitude is a natural evolution caused by the a shift in worldviews. Thus, the values and belief systems of the 1970’s placed emphasis on optimism and censorship. Whereas, the postmodern mentality is characterized by pessimism and cynicism. This paradigm shift in values over time is directly a result of advancements in technology. Through the use of media such as television and social networks, the modern world has ushered in an era of free information exchange and high-speed communication. Progress, however, is a double-edged sword; on one hand, the globe has become well-connected, but on the other hand, anonymity allows negativity and hostility to run rampant. Therefore, increased exposure to technology in the postmodern world has lead to a society with a generally negative outlook on life. The difference between image #1 and image #2 visually represents the shift in attitude from positive to negative, from

There are several roads that lead to a boy becoming a hijra. One way into the hijra life is to be kidnapped. Organized gangs kidnap young boys from impoverished areas of India, or the boys are sold by starving parents for a low sum of money. The boys are castrated and put out onto the streets as beggars for up to forty years to prey on “religious sentiments and collective psyche of the Hindu community”12. These hijras are given protection and shelter for a percentage of their “earnings”. There is still exist a risk today for young boys in these Mafia-style activies13. Because of the castration process, there is no way for the boys to escape and reintegrate back into mainstream society. They are made permanent outcast.

For an individual to become a hijra, there is no essential trait (psychological, biological, or environmental) that leads them to this fate; hence, it is extremely difficult to generalize into a single group. As they are comprised of hermaphrodites (a person having both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics) and eunuchs (castrated men), Hijras do not consider themselves as men or women, rather they take on an aspect of femininity that is artificial (Nanda 1992:10). Due to their sexual impotence, hijras have a somewhat greater spiritual connection to their goddess Bahuchara than their other Hindu counterparts, and so they distinguish themselves as essential and unique to their society (Nanda 1992:10). According to Nanda (1992:11) hijras are of value to their community due to their spirituality and for their involvement in the following two aspects of births: (1) they perform and entertain at the births of sons; and (2) they bestow fertility onto newborn infants. Although hijras perform these respected roles, they often experience derision from members of the Indian society because of their work in prostitution – a contradiction to the unsullied spirituality they often lay claim

Author CF discusses a popular theistic ritual in the religion of Hinduism. He describes how priest and lay people perform “Puja” every day in their homes and temples. The Priest and lay people perform “Puja” in front of the deities’ pictures. Author CF concludes that “Puja” is a ritual that gives praise to the powerful gods and goddesses, and is generally used to signify personal affection towards them too. Lastly, “Puja” establishes harmony amongst the deity and the worshipper that eliminates the dissension within them.

While most people think that Muslim women are oppressed or forced to wear the hijab, a recent study in Los Angeles showed that “more Muslims agree with the Islamic dress code than actually conform to it” and that “covered women feel that the hijab is mandatory and a way to assert their Islamic identity” (Furseth 365). His research presents a framework in which symbolic boundaries are created. As defined by Lamont and Molnar, symbolic boundaries are “the tools by which individuals and groups struggle over and come to agree upon definitions of reality. Symbolic boundaries are important because they allow the distinction of different religious groups to be made and mark identities” (2002:168). The symbolic boundaries can be a symbol, rituals, gestures, and discourse. The head dress or covering of a woman is a symbol of being protective and pure in a number of religions such as Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and all around the world. Although the head covering is mentioned in every Eastern, Western, and modern religious holy text, Islam is the one questioned most often because it is the one which is most strictly followed in today’s world. Islamic women use the head covering as a symbol of faith and modesty to show that her beauty is

In modern terms, hijra is just the South Asian word for trans, transgender, or transexual identities. Meaning that their gender differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. However, it can mean much than just one’s non-conforming gender identity. Zia Jaffrey, who visited India to study noticed the hijras at a friend of a friend’s wedding, and questioned her acquaintance about them. The colleague explained their identities, but also informed Jaffrey that the word “hijra” can also be used in conversation to stand for an ambiguous position in an argument (Jaffrey 15-21). This is a sign that hijras be identified throughout the gender spectrum. While some hijras identify completely as female, seeking to “pass”, to present and be seen as the gender they identify as, and live their lives as their true gender, others just wish to identify somewhere in between the binary male and female (Beemyn 2). They live their lives to the fullest

Marriage is a significant social event in contemporary society. It is a means of building new bonds between two individuals and their subsequent families. The foundations of memorable weddings are built on those that bring often-distant family and friends together for the occasion, while dressed in their most sophisticated attire, surrounded by elegant flowers, a night of dancing, captured through the lens of an exceptional photographer. Although Hinduism and Islam are two extremely distinctive religions, their matrimonial customs do share some comparable elements, like most other cultural wedding ceremonies. In both religions, they are devotedly obedient concerning religious and cultural practices in their marital ceremonies.

As much as piercing one’s nose or mouth can be considered a tradition in a society, hitting a woman as a sign of love is also a tradition for the Kurya society. Needless to say, the majority, if not all, of the dangerous practices which are harmful to women’s welfare are generally performed under the auspices of traditional or cultural beliefs and inclinations. The same is true for female genital mutilation. Evidently, societies like the Masai of Tanzania and the Somali people in Somalia; practice female genital mutilation as part of tradition to either “cleanse a woman by the removal of "male" body parts” or “ensure pre-marital virginity and inhibit extra-marital sex, because it reduces women's libido”.

Shiva is one of Hinduism’s Supreme Beings, the god of the destroyer of evil and the transformer within the Hindu Trimurti, that also includes Brahma and Vishnu. Shiva is known as “the Lord who is half woman,” thus implying Shiva is androgynous for there is a masculine Shiva and a feminine Shiva that are together as one, known as ardhavari-ishvara. Shiva as ardhavari-ishvara is one of many examples of androgyny of Hindu gods in the Vedic literature. From scholarly analysis, androgyny of Hindu gods, with the focus of this paper on Shiva as ardhavari-ishvara, creates a positive aspect with the presence of non-gender conformity of the divine within the Hindu faith system. This also causes problems and confusion from the Western world perspective and within the Hindu worshipping communities in the that this lack of gender conformity can lead to the mislabeling of the identity of Hindu worshippers and the divine. This paper will strive to discuss the positive and negative benefits of worshipping androgynous gods, especially in today’s society where there are still gender inequalities, misinterpretations and many varying definitions surrounding what constitutes gender within social context or even religion. Most other religions require followers to refer to their God with gendered terms, but this is an interesting and positive quality that the Hinduism faith does not adhere to.

According to the Oxford dictionary, Hijras are defined as “a person whose birth sex is male but who identifies as female or as neither male nor female” (Oxford Dictionary). However, Hijras are considered the third gender in Bangladesh since the 11th of November, 2013 (Bandhu 2). Hijras have been around for a long time and have held a very respectable status in the society however, the era has become more modernized now so it has deteriorated their status in the society (Balbierz 1). Their presences were considered a charm, especially in the Hindu religion, when a new born baby was born or they served as “body guards for royalty and holy sites” back in the old times (Balbierz 1). Today, there are about “10,000 third gender people in