Tehmina Durrani is a prominent woman writer of Pakistan. She writes about the subordinated and marginal status of women in Pakistani society. She portrays the miserable plight of women in a so-called democratic country. Her works reflect female subjugation and sufferings encountered by the majority of women in the conservative milieu of Pakistan. She articulates her own experiences and holds the political, religious and social mechanism responsible for such plight of women in society. The present paper analyses her autobiographical novel My Feudal Lord and aims at studying various discourses like patriarchy, feudalism, misinterpretation of religion and social taboos, which, according to the novelist, are responsible for the oppression of women …show more content…
Marginal state is that position of a person in which one is deprived of some basic rights of a society. That person or community is considered insignificant in comparison to the mainstream. Peter Brooker in A Glossary of Cultural Theory writes, “Margin(ality)—Refers to the place of repressed or subordinated textual meanings but also to the position of dissident intellectuals and social groups (women, lesbian, gays, blacks) who see themselves at a remove from the normative assumptions and oppressive power structures of mainstream society (152)”. The social groups like the Dalits, women, lesbians, gay, blacks, assume that the mainstream society has acquired the central position in society. In that society, they are considered subordinated to the mainstream society and this mainstream group try to oppress these groups and if they try to raise their voices against them, they remain unheard by them. The central group makes efforts to dominate the subordinate …show more content…
The concept of acculturation refers to the social processes by which we learn the knowledge and skills that enable us to be members of a culture. Key sites and agents of acculturation would include the family, peer groups, schools, work organizations and the media. (2)
Tehmina Durrani also encounters such behaviour in her parents’ and later at her husband’s house. Due to her dark complexion, Tehmina could not become her mother’s favourite. Although she obeyed her mother’s commands, the latter was not satisfied with her:
My mother demanded total obedience and, although I always complied, she discerned early signs of rebellion in both my expression and my body language. I obeyed, but my crime was that I did not look obedient.
One component of our society that demonstrates the concept of acculturation is food. People with Chinese, Hispanic, Italian, and French roots carry their own culture while still accepting the customs in America. In restaurants, the food they serve follows the same traditions that could be found in other countries while still adapting to the language and culture of the whites. While acculturation is more accepting to the majority of society, minorities can still be treated harshly. The Jews, for example, were willing to adapt to the German culture. In fact, many of the Jews loved the Germans and wanted to be one united culture. At the same time, the Jews wanted to keep their religion and some aspects of their culture: “The vast majority never hid the fact that they were Jews.” (Elon, 8). Some people like Moses Mendelssohn believe that it was possible to be Germans and Jews at the same time. However, the Germans felt threatened by the intellect of the Jews and began to deny them all opportunities to succeed in society. Rejection is one of the negative outcomes that can result from acculturation. In addition acculturation can lead to many outcomes
Essentially, every culture has a specific basis, native language, religion and custom that reflects its history, values and beliefs. These conceptual constructs represents the total reality of life within the community of which is commonly known as “Culture”. Culture is not only a race, but is a way of life. In the United States, there are many different races that integrate with the American race and culture. However, these individuals often times may have difficulties adjusting, adapting or maintaining their heritage. How well they acculturate and adapt to the process can have an impact on how well the individual is able to integrate or engage to one or another culture.
culture in order to fully become part of a different society (“Assimilate”, 2015). This type of
Marginalization is the process whereby something or someone is pushed to the edge of a group and accorded lesser importance. This is predominantly a social phenomenon by which a minority or sub-group is excluded, and their needs or desires ignored (BusinessDictionary.com). The society exclusion or oppression of an individual.
Acculturation often occurs at different rates, and with different aims for different groups of people. When people migrate from their birth country they can lose their sense of identity, and are forced to form another one in their new country. People are forced to adapt to a new way of living with a foreign culture, which is not always an easy process. Like oppression, acculturation is a two-part
Immigration is a complex process that results in a transformation of identity. Depending on contextual, individual, and societal differences this transformation can have either positive or detrimental results. Initially, the immigrant will be faced with an intense culture shock while settling into a new country. During this time, cognitive functioning becomes increasingly jumbled amidst the new context, resulting in immense identity confusion. This process of acculturation involves two specific issues regarding identity for each individual. These two issues include the delicate balance between remaining ethnically distinct by retaining their cultural identity and the desire to maintain positive relations with the new society. A variety of
Acculturation is the process of not only adapting to another culture but also accepting the majority group’s culture as one’s own. Because culture is complex, members of a cultural group may engage in many behaviors and habits unconsciously, making them difficult to explain to others (Pearson, p.1634, 2015).
The Social Ecological consist of several different levels including the individual (this case the child), microsystem (their parents, school, and peers), mesosystem, exosystem (mass media), and macrosystem (laws, customs, and ideologies) (). Each one of the different levels plays a major impact in building the foundation of the relationship of the parent and the child. While acculturation is the change that occurs in populations experiencing engaging contact with another population with different culture and values than
Assimilation is a pattern of different groups in relationships with each other in which the minorities of these groups is voluntarily, encouraged or even sometimes forced to blend with the majority of the group. Eventually, after this takes place the minorities’ distinct culture, belief and looks disappear into the majority group. The minority group adapts the language, norms and values of the larger group.
Cultural learning can be consciously or unconsciously learned through enculturation and acculturation. Enculturation is the "process that occurs when a person learns to identify with a particular culture
What is assimilation, and what does it mean to me, especially; in today’s world. “Assimilation is a process of ethnic boundary reduction that may come about when two or more ethnic groups come into contact with each other” (Kelly & Williams, 2016, pg. 71). What this means is, cultural groups take on the identity from that of another cultural groups; such as their cultural norms, values; and beliefs; which is better known as acculturation. Meaning one, or more of these groups take on the similarities that match their cultural beliefs, and combined them with that of homogeneity to fit into society where they practice their own cultural beliefs; and norms. This usually takes place when both ethnic groups have similar qualities, and physical characteristics
oppressive nature of the societal pressures for women to remain inside the house and have solely
Acculturation is known as a cultural change and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures at multiple levels in both interacting cultures. It has also been referred to the changes in personal values, beliefs, behaviours, and ways of living that an immigrant or minority individual makes as a result of adapting to the mainstream cultural or behavioural norms (Berry, Kim, Minde, & Mok, 1987). Acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and social institutions. In this modern era, through technology and media, people have been constantly engaging online to learn and understand new cultures, norms and languages. Acculturation is more than simply learning the English language, but also understanding the history of a new country, navigating its idioms and understanding the concepts behind its holidays.
Marginalization is the social process of isolating individuals, groups, and communities. Marginalization is the way in which society oppresses minority groups through social, political, economic, and geographic means. Discrimination and prejudices exist within our nation today creating a society where marginalization exists. Some forms of discrimination can include race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, and class. Marginalized individuals are at a social and economic disadvantage and consequently are usually located in underserved communities that continue to oppress
Acculturation is the process of how a person or a group of people adapt into another culture by taking small pieces of that culture into their own culture. It is the idea of blend in with another culture, other than your own. For example, my family and relatives came to the United States for a little over 10 years now and some of the family members have assimilated into the American culture by beginning to celebrate the holidays, during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Further, we are remaining embedded in the ethnic of being Hmong. Many of us decided to come to America to obtain a better lifestyle, and the America society has greatly impact our life to assimilate into the American culture.