What is the Role of Seeing in Hinduism?

Hinduism is not only a religion, but it is also a way of life for the followers of the faith. In their religion, like many others, Hindus place their fate in the hands of a higher power. A large part of Hinduism is images, which can be used to help the person of faith come to a greater understanding and connection to their god(s). Seeing can be defined as a way to understand and interpret things, therefore two individuals may be looking at the same object but they may take from that object different meanings. Seeing in Hinduism can be achieved through iconography and traditions, which leads to a fostering of individual interpretation and a sense of community.

            Iconography and the traditions, which surround the Hindu religion and culture, foster seeing by building a visual context for the religion as well as showing the affects of the religion in everyday life. The Vedas is a collection of religious documents, which describe the “relationship between the divine and human.” The Vedas is important because it helps determine human order, how Brahmin should interact with murti, social order, etc. In the Vedas, varna-ashrama-dharma is explained and how the twice born have obligations depending upon his social class and stage of life. Sampradaya, which is translated to oral traditions, is a tradition in Hinduism where a person learns the conducts and teachings of Hinduism to orally pass those traditions on to the next generation. These examples show how a believer can comprehend that Hinduism touches people’s lives and influences what they do. Hindu ceremonies that are centered around murti (the image of the god/goddess) help the devotee build a relationship to their god/goddess and help them come to a greater understanding of that god/goddess. The Hindu customs use the full senses to worship their god/goddesses (puja). They use incense to help clean the air and aid meditation. The Brahmin ring bells to invite to god to enter the murti, and the Brahmin bathe, give light (or fire), dress, and lay jewels and flowers on the murti. The Brahmin give the murti offerings such as fruits and sweets, and the left-overs may be distributed to the congregation, which would be considered to be blessed. These acts are witnessed and include all senses, the viewer is able to literally see his god but he is also able to connect and be with his god on a more spiritual level. The individual interpretation leads the devotee to a more spiritual level because he is able to have a more personal connection to his god.

            Each person has his own background, identity, personality, and history that help him interpret the world. Every person can vary so much in how he views the world, one person cannot possibly get the same meaning from something that another person may get. Plate gives an example of an artist and viewers: the viewers see the same images that the artists has done, then two viewers are asked to produce the same image as the artists did. The viewers create two completely different images, different from each other and from what the artist has created, this shows that people see and interpret things in a different light. In the Hindu religion, darshan is the act of seeing and being seen by the murti. Seeing is also thought of as a way of believing the truth, I have seen it therefore it is true. Individuality is also present in the different relationships a devotee and the divine can have such as: devotee as servant and lord as master, devotee as friend and he lord as a friend, the devotee as a parent and the lord as a child, etc. Having different types of relationships with the gods means that each person worships and sees a god in a different way and has a different connection with their god. Although Hinduism sets up a type of individuality for each devotee to have, it also builds a sense of community for the people of that faith as well.

            Hinduism builds a sense of community though its caste system and local traditions. The caste system, or jati is a social division in which the Brahmins are at the top of the casts system, and as the casts lower in rank so does their pureness, leading finally to the untouchables. People are born into theses casts and marry individuals of the same casts. In the Veda, a man represented the social order; each body part of the man represented the natural hierarchy. Many things are relevant in all Hindu’s lives, but other things may be different, such as the gods. Different towns may have different gods that they worship that devotees outside of that town may not have heard of. Hindus can make gods to help with any issue they are facing; therefore there is individuality as well as community building because the community is united in celebrating and worshiping a unique god.

            Seeing in a religious context can be understood as a deeper understanding and connection to a higher power. In Hinduism, seeing is achieved through the use of iconography and traditions; for an example, when a devotee sees a murti. The purpose of Hinduism, not only to connect the devotee to their god, is to build a sense of community and lead the devotee to interpret the religion on their own.

Gendered Divisions Analysis On....... Pakistan: A Qualitative Study

Gendered Divisions Analysis

On Pakistan: A Qualitative Study

Pakistan’s founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, proclaimed in a speech given at a meeting of the Muslim University Union, in Aligarh, on March 10, 1944, the following: “No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you; we are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live.”

 Six decades have gone by since the independence of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and despite the Quid-e-Azam’s words of empowerment and the initial achievements made towards diminishing gender inequalities, true equality -social, political and legal- between gender remains a mere dream for the majority of Pakistani Women. The road towards emancipation has proven to be long and hard for this developing nation. The progressive efforts advanced by both the Muslim Family Ordinance of 1961 and the later Constitution of 1973 (which were respectively meant to ensure women’s rights in divorce, inheritance, and polygamy, and prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex), were curtailed by the installation of the Ziad Regime in 1979 and the subsequent passing of the Shariat Bill. Many activists argued that this law “would undermine the principles of justice, democracy, and fundamental rights of citizens, and…would become identified solely with the conservative interpretation supported by Zia’s government.” .”(US Library)

An example of the degradation of women’s status during this period is found in the 1979 Enforcement of Hudood Ordinances, which failed to discriminate between adultery (zina) and rape (zina-bil-jabr). “A man could be convicted of zina only if he were actually observed committing the crime by other men, but a woman could be convicted simply because she became pregnant.”(US Library)  As many scholars have acknowledged, the discrimination faced by Pakistani women has no sanction in the Islamic scriptures, but rather is embedded in this historically patriarchal society’s customs, values and norms, and in the conservative reading of the Holy Quran.

As stated in the attached article on page 7, “Societal and religious misconceptions about women were used to reinforce the suppression of women’s rights.” (Ali) There was not one particular religion mentioned in the study, however it is clear that religion is a major factor in the oppression of women.  The article continues to say that religion says that the “woman is made for the man, that she doesn’t have the choice to say no.”  This is in part due the conservative outlook that is ever prevalent in Pakistan.

Gender inequality is a global phenomenon, also deeply rooted in many Asian societies, resulting in discrimination of women and and is linked to gender-based violence.  Women and young girls are expected to be subservient to their male counterparts. “Young girls may experience differential access to food and medical care during childhood and later dating violence or economically coerced sex during adolescence eventually followed by by intimate partner violence, marital rape, and dowry abuse at marital age.” (Ali) 

There is also a large burden on women to be the perfect wife.  Women are expected to chores, care for children, and sacrifice her dreams for the benefit of her husband, and the benefits of her family.  It was also noted that many women must ask their husbands for permission before they participate in any activity. This is disheartening to read and to learn.  The worst of it all, is that many of these women are not aware that they are being oppressed. They don’t the freedoms the women in the west have, therefore they don’t have anything to compare themselves to.

In the end, there was one major theme that stood out to me, and that was the ‘Reiteration of gender roles’.  This included the perceptions of traditional gender roles and how it preserved the subordination of women. This is shown clearly through the research in the article, and it is also seen in the media.  It is my hope that one day, these women have the rights that they deserve.

Works Cited

1)    US Library of Congress report "Pakistan - A Country Study". Retrieved from http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/pktoc.html

2)    Ali, Tazeen S. et al. “Gender Roles and Their Influence on Life Prospects for Women in Urban Karachi, Pakistan: A Qualitative Study .” Global Health Action 4 (2011): 10.3402/gha.v4i0.7448. PMC. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. Retrived from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3208374/

3)    Peterson, V. Spike, Anne Sisson Runyan, and V. Spike Peterson. Global Gender Issues In The New Millennium. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2010. Print.

Culture in Romeo & Juliet

The film Romeo + Juliet was directed by Baz Luhrmann and released in November of 1996. The film is based off of the Shakespearean play under the same name.  The film shows the tragic ending to the lives of Romeo and Juliet who are two young lovers from feuding families who hate one another. As only a few days pass from Romeo and Juliet's meeting they get married, get separated, and end up killing themselves because they don't want to live without the other person.

This film acts as a modern interpretation of the traditional love story. The film attempts to link the language of the original play with modern-day themes such as violence in society, love in dangerous situations and the cult of personality. Seeing as the film is set in the fictional city of Verona Beach, which is a sexy, violent world neither set in the future, nor the past. This opened the door for Luhrmann to explore some of the major themes in Romeo + Juliet in the modern day.

The violence and hostility between the privileged and wealthy Capulets and financially unstable Montagues is the main source of conflict in the film. The two families get into a gun fight early in the film, there is a strong resemblance to the gang violence that occurs everyday in urban areas. The two sides hate one another so much, that they are willing to kill others, or die themselves, to let out their anger and frustration. Luhrmann also makes a valiant effort to show the differences in culture between the Montagues and Capulets.

In the opening scene, we see the Montagues who represent the poorer, lowbrow society members. This is apparent by their attire of large, baggy clothes and over the top dyed hairstyles. We also see the Capulets who represent the wealthier, highbrow members of society. The Capulets have their hair slicked back and they are wearing professional attire. The Capulets also gave off the vibe that that they felt they were above the Montagues. It is a very interesting scene and it sets the tone for the rest of the film.

In his 1958 journal entry, Raymond Williams proclaims that “culture is ordinary”. This means that every human society has its on shape and form. According to Williams, a culture has two aspects, known meanings and observations, and new observations and meanings. Throughout the course of the film, the Capulets and the Montagues hate one another and they believe that they know everything there is to know about the opposite side. They just see each other as competition and they embrace the hatred that they have.

This view is changed when the two families that they have lost two loved ones to suicide. The two families are forced to coexist and come together to mourn the deaths of the young Romeo and Juliet. The two families were able to set their differences aside and change the views and opinions that they had built up over the years. There was new meaning to this rivalry and the Capulets and Montagues agreed that the fighting needed to stop. Romeo and Juliet are singlehandedly responsible for proving Raymond Williams to be correct.

 In "Shakespeare and the American People: A Study in Cultural Transformation" by Lawrence Levine, he discusses the cultural hierarchy that occurs every single day in society. In his journal, he discusses the concepts of highbrow and lowbrow.  Highbrow is synonymous with the intellectual while lowbrow is relating to, or suitable for a person with little taste or intellectual interest (Levine). Both of these cultures are represented in this film.

The highbrow culture is reflected well within the Capulet family. They are a very wealthy family and they act in such way that makes their high ranking social status easily recognizable.  The lowbrow culture is represented by the Montague family. This family is more carefree and enjoys living life. This carefree lifestyle is frowned upon by those in the upper class as it perpetuates laziness.

As we discussed in class to Dr. Larry Grossburg introduced four key concepts that define cultural studies, materialism, conjuncture, popular, power. The popularity of the two families is obvious. Their names are plastered all over Verona Beach on billboards and signs, and as shown in the opening sequence, their names are also in the newspapers and local television news cycles. They also have a lot of power. As referenced in the film, both the Capulets and the Montagues are fighting for power in the city. They both have political connections and they both have the money to control whomever they want within the city.

All in all, the film Romeo + Juliet (Luhrmann) covers a lot of the culture that we have been covering in class. Everything that we have done from Fiske to Grossberg has had a very important role. This film is a wonderful example of the many themes in society at work.

Bibliography

Levine, Lawrence. "Shakespeare And The American People". N.p., 1984. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

Williams, Raymond. "Culture Is Ordinary". N.p., 1958. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.