Hindu Custom of Marriage
Hinduism began in Ancient India thousands of years ago. Hindu customs differ greatly from the ones we practice in the western world. This paper discusses the Hindu custom of marriage and the expectations of those to be wed. Men are expected to marry in order to carry on the family lineage. Women are encouraged to marry to help relieve their financial burden from their parents (Sullivan 135).
A wedding occurs after a man has finished his studies, attained the permission of his teacher, bathed, and performed the ritual for homecoming. The father of the girl dresses and adorns his daughter, and receives 2-4 cows and bulls (O'Flaherty 101). The man and his wife to be walk around a fire seven times while they affirm their marriage vows to the accompanied verses from the Veda (Sullivan 135).
The Lawbook of Manu contains a list of characteristics a wife should not have. She should not come from a family that has abandoned the rituals, a family with no boys, one that does not chant the Veda. Some more characteristics that are not acceptable are women with hairy bodies, who have consumption, weak digestion, bad memories, and also leprosy.
Women that are redheads, have extra limbs, are sickly, bald, talk too much, are sallow, too fat or too thin, too tall or too dwarfish, past their prime, or lacking a limb or fond of quarreling are also not acceptable for marriage. An offensive name can determine a woman's worth.
Bad names include ones that have to do with a constellation, tree, or river, low caste names, names of mountains, and birds or snakes. Slave names and fearsome names are also to be avoided. Women with these types of names are not to be married according to the characteristics that must be met for a woman to be acceptable for marriage. A woman fit for marriage should have complete limbs, a pleasant name, should walk like a swan or elephant, have fine hair on her body and on her head, delicate limbs, and should not have big teeth. A man should take a wife of the same class (O'Flaherty 101-102), but if a marriage does take place across caste boundaries, then it is almost always the woman marrying into a higher caste (Fuller 14). Marriages are often arranged while the girl is only a child. The Manava Dharma Sastra and other legal texts "envision that a man of thirty marry a girl of twelve" (Sullivan 135).
Foerstel, Herbert N. Banned in the U.S.A.: a Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1994. Print.
Ray Bradbury, one of America’s most renowned 20th century writers once said, “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture, just get people to stop reading them” (Bradbury). In today’s society books are not burned, but some are being censored thus preventing people from enjoying the books they want to read. So what is censorship? Censorship is when an individual or an organization wants to restrict or limit access of a book to readers to avoid offending a group of people. Censorship has affected classrooms and public libraries across the nation due to people like parents, teachers and sometimes students themselves protesting against certain types of books. There is hardly a week that goes by that a book is challenged to be censored. The most common reason why a book is censored is for “violence, sex, race, Encouragement of "Damaging" Lifestyles, witchcraft, and political bias” (Butler University).
Books are banned for many reasons but more times than not it is because of the sensitive information found within the novel that agitates the reader. As long as people have been able to develop their own opinions, others have sought to prevent them from sharing. At some point in time, every idea has ultimately become objectionable to someone. The most frequently challenged and most visible targets of such objection are the very books found in classrooms and public libraries. These controversial novels teach lessons that sometimes can be very sensitive to some but there is much more to challenged books than a controversial topic. What lies within these pages is a wealth of knowledge, such as new perspectives for readers, twisting plots, and expressions that are found nowhere else. For example, To Kill A Mockingbird, contains references to rape, racial content, and profanity that have caused many to challenge the novel in the first place. The book was banned from countless
The practice of the censorship of books in schools has been prevalent due to the explicit content of them. Parents have been complaining to schools about books that count as required reading because they disapprove with the points made in the book. If a book consists of offensive or sexually explicit material, then parents would challenge the schools about them in order to prevent their children from reading them. Censorship in general has been an intensely debated issue because it is considered an infringement to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution while others argue it is used to conceal inappropriate things (Aliprandini and Sprague). The banning of books in school curriculum has also been debated since parents see certain books as inappropriate while others argue that banning them hinders student learning. Against the censorship of books in schools, Fenice Boyd and Nancy Bailey, authors of Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, believe that banning books creates a barrier between students and intellectual development (Boyd and Bailey, 655). Banning books from schools and removing them from the curriculum prevents students from exploring different ideas and developing creativity and critical thinking skills.
Noll, Elizabeth. "The Ripple Effect of Censorship: Silencing in the Classroom." Young Adult Lit: A Contemporary Reader. Ed. Dr. Jeffrey S. Copeland. Needham Heights, Mass.: Simon and Schuster Custom Publishing, 1997, p. 199-204.
Every day well meaning parents, concerned members of society, and Christian activist groups across the country fight to censor the literature that is being taught in high school classrooms. The word censorship carries all types of implications and angles; it involve s a denial of an author's right to guaranteed freedoms of expression. However, as it relates to education, this issue goes a great deal deeper than the standard First Amendment argument. In attempting to ban certain types of literature from the classroom, censors are taking away the rights of teachers to prepare students for a reality that their parents do not seem to think will ever affect them. They likewise deny students the chance to learn how to rationally make their own decisions and instead try to keep that control for themselves. Censorship is preventing intelligent, thoughtful teachers from pushing students to reach past what is just on the page. Whatever their motives may be, those who seek to repress the use of certain materials are doing more harm than good.
Bald, M. (2006). Banned books literature suppressed on religious grounds (2nd Ed.). New York, New York: Facts on File. (Original work published 2004).
There has recently been a renewed interest and passion in the issue of censorship. In the realm of the censorship of books in schools alone, several hundred cases have surfaced each year for nearly the past decade. Controversies over which books to include in the high school English curriculum present a clash of values between teachers, school systems, and parents over what is appropriate for and meaningful to students. It is important to strike a balance between English that is meaningful to students by relating to their lives and representing diversity and satisfying worries about the appropriateness of what is read. This burden often falls on teachers. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss censorship in schools and to argue that the censorship of books in the high school English curriculum is limiting and takes away literature that is meaningful to students.
Marriage practices vary across cultures. Every culture has its own way of conducting marriage according to their traditions and customs. Most cultures share common customs and practices, while some cultures have unique practices. Marriage refers to a social union agreed upon by the couples to unit as spouses. The union of couples implies sexual relations, permanence in union, and procreation. This research paper focuses on comparing marriage practices in American and Indian culture. There is significant difference between the two cultures in marriage practices.
The most debatable and controversial form of censorship today is the banning of books in school libraries. Banning books that educate students is wrong and selfish. Censorship of books in school libraries is neither uncommon nor an issue of the past. Books with artistic and cultural worth are still challenged constantly by those who want to control what others read. The roots of bigotry and illiteracy that fuel efforts to censor books and free expression are unacceptable and unconditional. Censoring school books in libraries can often lead to censorship of our basic freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment. In some cases, a minority ends up dictating the majority in censorship cases. To be told what is permissible reading material and what is not is a direct violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Vedic culture seems to have conflicting views regarding its attitude towards women, specifically its attitude towards a woman’s sexuality. This conflict can be seen by contrasting the ways in which women are treated in sacrificing rituals with how they are treated in a more intimate atmosphere, such as lovemaking, which is still often treated as a ritual in and of itself; ritual regarding fertility, love, and childbirth. To represent the roles of women in ritual, Stephanie W. Jamison has written “Sacrificed Wife, Sacrificer’s wife, which is a description and evaluation of women’s roles in ritual and hospitality in ancient India.
In the article Arranging a Marriage in India, Serena Nanda, a professor of Anthropology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, writes about what she learned about arranged marriages in India from interviewing informants and participating in arranging a marriage herself. Nanda brought in some American biases about how marriage and love are “supposed” to work. She initially had trouble accepting why someone would want or let another arrange their marriage instead of seeking a partner themselves. Nanda’s difficulty understanding arranged marriages, is a result of having grown up in a culture that leaves such decisions to the individual. Furthermore, if the quotes given in the article are an indication, Nanda let her biases influence her conduct
Almost every culture around the world have the idea of bringing together households in marriage. In the United States, this a coupling of two people who will start a life on their own. In India, a marriage is more than two people falling and love and getting married. Family, religion and casts play a role for the future bride and groom. The Indian culture’s weddings have different traditions when it comes to proposals, ring traditions and ceremonies not only for the couple but for the families as well.
There are many different marriage practices around the world and each has its own unique cultural and economic aspect. This paper will explore the dynamics of Japanese and Indian marriages and how they compare and contrast with one another. The analysis will address cultural factors and how it relates to symbolic systems such as religion and rituals and how they are slowly diminishing in lieu of a more westernized modern marriage. For instance, Japan's traditional marriages are becoming a thing of the past due to more westernized and modern versions that appeal to the younger couples. Some couples are even adopting the American wedding ceremonies in place of their cultural ones. In its effort to promote freedom of choice, India's government encourages inter-caste inter-faith marriages by offering couples money. However, this is conditional; stipulations are that "one of the partners should be from scheduled caste category and there should be no conversion in case of an inter-faith marriage" (Govt incentives for inter-caste marriages, 2012, para. 3). This is a milestone in India where traditions, customs, and the Hindu religion still rules a larger proportion of people.
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.