Matrilineal System Of The Khasi

According to Hinduism the female was created by Brahman as part of the duality in creation, to provide company to men and facilitate procreation, progeny and continuation of family linage. The Vedas suggest that a woman’s primary duty is to help her husband in performing obligatory duties and enable him to continue his family tradition. Her primary duty is to give birth to his children and take care of them. Hinduism is a predominantly male dominated religion. Woman play a secondary role. The situation is gradually changing. It is difficult to draw generalizations about the status of present day Hindu women because of society is complex. In general, life in cities is much different from life in the rural areas. Those who live abroad live in different conditions than those who live in the country. Yet, we have ample indications that women are still subject to many restrictions and disabilities in rural area as well as urban areas. The financial independence of woman and the education levels of the family play an important role in this regard. Women in urban areas face numerous challenges in their professions and personal lives. But overall, life is better for them compared to the past. Love marriage outside of the caste or community are scorned and sometimes the couples are killed or excommunicated by the elders in the family or village. Widows can now have a life of their own and even remarry. They draw a lot of sympathy. But

In the tribal villages of eastern Africa the Maasai marriages are arranged by the elders without ever first consulting the bride or the mother of the bride to be. Unlike, that of my own culture in the United States of America, where I am free as a citizen to choose whomever I may choose to marry and when and if I may marry. Polygyny is that of which is practiced in the Maasai culture, as an ideal that is achieved only by that of the elder men of the tribe. Unfortunately, as a result ofthemen being much older at the time of marriage, most women become widows, knowing that it is understood that they should never remarry again.

A society where people are recognised as matriline descedants.A matriline is a line of succession from a female ancestor to a successor(of either sex). There are many matrilineal societies standing in contrast to the general pattern of paternal lineage in the world. 'Mosuo of China ' is an example of matrilineal society which is famous for its strong resemblance to a matriarchal society.

As a result of these reviews, the ongoing reconstruction of the social status and roles of Hindu women has brought about many new changes in Hinduism. Some of these changes include changes in education, health measures, problems of early marriages, the positions of widows, and the representation of women in governing bodies (Desai, et al., 1995). For example, within Hinduism now,

In the typical Indian family, gender construction manifests itself especially in the roles of men and women in the household. As Judith Lorber so aptly put, “gender is a process of creating distinguishable social statuses for the assignment of rights and responsibilities” which in turn, creates the social differences that define a “man” and “woman” (Lorber). It is these differences that are used to construct and maintain an established gender order within the family. In the conventional Indian family, the order is such that the roles of the women in the household revolve around the roles of the men. This structure was something that I saw from an early age in my parents’ marriage. Though my parents defied the Indian norm of the arranged marriage, they still represented the quintessential model of an Indian couple in many other ways. My mother left her job to become a stay-at-home mom when I was about six years old. However, even before she left her job, she was implicitly expected by my father to shoulder most of the housework including cooking, cleaning, and caring for my older brother

but, It is not the most preferred: Monogamy is the ideal and preferred form of marriage in only 81 cultures out of a sample 400cultures.

cultures. The prominent role of ethnic research in archaeology makes sense because it re affirmed the long-held archaeological tenet that culturally discrete peoples could be identified by their specific objects. Orser continues by saying that the basis for identifying archaeological cultures linked distinct peoples and their unique artifacts. This quite Interesting because objects from the past, some maybe valuable brings about a sense of culture.

Reflection on one’s cultural heritage requires knowledge and understanding of the concept of cultural heritage itself. When assessing my cultural heritage, I first examined the factors that are identified as contributors to one’s heritage. According the Joint Commission (2010), culture can be defined as the, “integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs,

Throughout history, women have been treated as a subordinate. Especially in marriage, women have been taught to think of themselves merely as housewives as their ultimate achievement in life. With this, “Patriarchy is the prime obstacle to women’s advancement and development” (Sultana). The broad principle of men being in control keeps women dominated and subordinate. Patriarchy is characterized by current and historic unequal power relations between women and men whereby women are systematically disadvantaged and oppressed. Accordingly, the male-dominated system existing today forces women to merely accommodated in it in a variety of ways. Traditionally, men went to work and women stayed home to take care of the children. With this, the ideas that the woman’s place was in the home and the glorification of a very traditional role for the woman emerged. Women were celebrated as being pure and submissive while the man’s role was a more aggressive, greedy, competitive one. Many traditional norms follow a basic rule that men are dominant in status and power, so they should be the protective provider, while women should be obedient and

This joint family, like any social organization, must face problems such as acceptable division of work, relationships and specific family roles. These familial relationships are managed on the basis of a secular hierarchical principle. In fact, all Indians owe respect and obedience to the head of the family, who usually is the father or the oldest man of the family community. In The Gift of a Bride: A Tale of Anthropology, Matrimony and Murder by Nanda and Gregg, it is explained that, “females [are] placed under the perpetual guardianship of first their fathers and elder brothers, then their husbands.” (Nanda & Gregg 22) Thus, all the spending decisions, studies and profession, or marriage, are exclusively the responsibility of the father after the possible discussions with the other men of the family. Age and sex are the basic principles of this hierarchical system. The eldest sons enjoy greater unchallenged authority than their cadets. Of course men have more authority than women, but older married women have an important role within the family. In fact, the authority of a woman depends on the rank of her husband inside the group. Traditionally, the wife of the patriarch rules over domestic affairs and has considerable power over the other women in the community, especially her daughters- in-law.

Nevertheless, it’s important to distinguish between what a culture can promote as a norm and what a traditional culture can enforce. In the informational text “What is Cultural Identity?” Trumbull and Pacheco use the example of arranged marriage in India. For many years, children went along with this practice because they had no choice. Back when children were totally dependent on their parents for support, the consequences for defying one’s family would be disastrous; however, in modern India “individuals reject the practice of arranged marriage; this is partly due to the sense of independence from family brought on by both men’s and women’s participation in a rapidly developing job market” (Trumbull and Pacheco 8-9).

What is culture? According to Dr. Dennis O’Neil from the Behavioral Sciences Department at Palomar College in San Marcos, CA, “ culture is the full range of learned human behavior” and includes morals, traditions, and beliefs (1). First morals could be opinions rather than facts. Opinions on what is right and wrong, L.G.B.T ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender), and abortion. Many people have different perspectives on morals. Not everyone agrees with others peoples opinion on these certain perspectives. Next, every culture has some sort of tradition. In America, a huge celebration would be the Super Bowl. Families and friends gather together to watch the largest football game of the year, and to barbecue. Lastly many people

Traditionally, an Indian woman had only four roles and those were; Her role as a daughter, wife, sister, and lastly, a mother. The women in today’s time however are experiencing far reaching changes and are entering into new fields that were unknown to them. They are actively participating in social, economic and political activities. Unlike the older times, women today have received higher education.

     This patriarchal role of males in the Indian family allows for all the power to be placed on the father of the household. This power can be abused which I would assume happens with the children in these families. The oldest male child has the authority to boss around his other siblings, and in the death of his father he then becomes the leader of the household. This could lead to many harsh or unfair ruling by older siblings or by other members of society. This would lead for the younger sibling to have to adjust greatly as they grow into adulthood. These rules that govern Indian household are often strict and are always final. This is accepted by all.

Females do give birth to the children, but in these societies, a female is more like a piece of property than of heritage. Marriage in these societies is usually based on the best dowry, rather than being based on love like most modern marriages.