Mission

The iCross-Cultural Citizen Project is a cultural anthropology course-based project meant to raise critical consciousness about the rich cultural diversity in our indigenous world. Being totally aware of the limitations of being outsiders, we are a group of multidisciplinary undergraduate students who believe in cross-cultural sensitivity and participatory agency aimed at disseminating information about indigenous realities as accurately as possible.

Vision

The iCross-Cultural Citizen Project’s vision is to create an online cross-cultural space for students, professionals, and youth to learn and exchange cross-culturally sensitive information about contemporary indigenous experiences. From that outsider student’s perspective, we will try to theoretically explore possible collaborative solutions to problems that affect the indigenous populations of our planet. Finally, we hope for the future creation of a space where indigenous youth can share their experiences and their realities with us for real mutual collaboration to take place.

Values

We value the maximization of benefits to indigenous peoples and other vulnerable populations in the world.

We value the respect for persons all over the world.

We value the equal treatment of people, and we are against the exploitation of vulnerable groups around the world.

We value collaborative cross-cultural learning and critical thinking.


Monday, June 1, 2015

Gender, Marriage and Family

Every society or tribe has a different definition or meaning to certain elements that makes their culture unique. Gender, marriage and family each plays a distinct role when it comes to differentiating men and women in certain aspects of societies. In the Karen culture, females and males are the foundation of the family and a happy village. Unlike other cultures where women are submissive to the men, the Karen view the women superior to men and considered the voice of reasoning within the household. This rare quality for an indigenous tribe portrays the Karen as somewhat more understanding of the role of the female counterpart. Women are adored and respected. Family is the heart and soul of the Karen family. Exploring these complex aspects can others understand them from the Karen perspective and make the Karen more interesting to study.

Gender has always defined the position of men and women in society. In the indigenous society of the Karen, men and women have specific roles to follow. After marriage, men assume the role of head of the household and provider of the family. Women become the motherly figure of the home by performing the daily tasks of cleaning, cooking, taking care of the children and assisting her husband with any responsibilities. Although a foreign person might think that because of these typical gender roles assigned to the spouses that the Karen are a male dominated society, the Karen are actual one of the few indigenous that are matrilineal societies (Neiman, Soh, Sutan 2008). In a matrilineal society, ancestry is traced back through the mother's side and these ancestors are considered of higher authority.They are the head of the household while still receiving support from their husband. Clothing and beautification also play major roles in the typical gender roles of the Karen people. Before marriage, young women wear white clothing as a sign that they have yet to marry and begin to wear the popular "brass rings" to make themselves more attractive to potential suitors. After marriage, women can begin wearing colored clothing. Although pride comes with certain gender roles, this is not seen with the Karen contrary with other indigenous tribes.

Marriage is one of the biggest steps an adult can take in their lives. After exploring and learning about the Karen state, marriage partakes as a grand social occasion where families come together to form one. The suitable age for marriage in the Karen  For most part, marriages are arranged by the families based on tradition and the religion that is practiced by the families. At times, the interested suitor can exchange love letters with the girl's family expressing his interests and intentions towards marrying the young girl. The Karen have three distinct religions that are Buddhism, Christianity, and Animist. Depending on whichever religion is practiced, wedding ceremonies are held and celebrated by the families of the newlyweds (Neiman, Soh, Sutan 2008). Animist is the major religion out of the three and for weddings, these occasions can become several days of celebration. After marriage, the man moves in with the woman's family, opposite to what other cultures might do after marriage. The husband begins to take care of his new family by providing the necessities.

Family is considered the nuclear core of society. For the Karen people, the family is the most fundamental element in society. Mainly composed of the extended family members, the Karen people will have multiple kids as this is a sign of prosperity within the family and they can also help around with the household chores. With this huge emphasis of the family being everything, in the little villages all families can just become one giant extended family and look out for one another. Sadly with the current civil war issues, many families and friends have separated due to fleeing for better security. Naming the sons and daughters in a Karen family is an important task that parents must do. Compared to how in different cultures a last name originates on who the person is a descendant of a particular person in society. For example, in Irish culture O'Brien might mean son of Brien or descendant of Brien. In Karen families, children are named based on significant events and their names will also include their distinct title in the family (Neiman, Soh, Sutan 2008). Regarding with the political and war issues currently affecting Burma, families have been separated and learned through these hardships how to handle different roles that pertained to a certain gender. For example, if the mother is the head of household after being separated from her husband she may now hunt and provide for her family.


 Karen mothers and children


References

Neiman, Amy; Soh, Eunice; Sutan, Parisa
2008 Karen Cultural Profile. https://ethnomed.org/culture/karen/karen-cultural-profile#section-3, May 31, 2015.
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownJune 3, 2015 at 7:01 PM

    Coming from a large family predominantly of women, (my mother has 5 sisters and 1 brother and 10 out of my 15 cousins are females) there is that connection between the high-status Karen women have in their families, society, and my family. Just like in the Karen family, the female voice is the most prestigious one among the family members and it can be said the same about my family. Family is the most scared concept in the Karen society because just like any other cultural society, it is seen as the foundation of everything. Being part of such huge family, I grew up with always keeping my family near and dear as they are the ones that will always support you regardless of anything. With the same values of looking out for one another and learning life lessons from our aunts, older cousins and parents, the Karen share the similar values that were inculcated within my cousins and I.

    Gender roles tend to generalize many aspects of life. As it can be seen with the Karen family, men are the provider and women are the homemaker. This is opposite in my family from the female perspective. Compared to the Karen people and other indigenous tribes, where women do not pursue an education because of gender roles and are domesticated to only care for house duties, in my family we are told to pursue whatever we want to do with our lives. Having a VP economist aunt, an orthodontist cousin, a lawyer mother, and a dentist cousin can be a major inspiration to the younger ones and teach them that us, women do not need to settle for men even if we are still considered the "voice of reasoning."

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