Within the study of Human Geography, which is defined as the study of ‘how people make places, how we organize space and society, how we interact with each other in places and across space, and how we make sense of others and ourselves in out localities, regions, and the world’ (Fouberg, 8), is the topic of Social Geography. Social Geography is most simply described as the study of people and their environment with a large emphasis on social factors. Within the textbook Human Geography People, Place, and Culture there is only one chapter having to do with Social Geography, Chapter Five Identity: Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality. Dowry death’s in India is a topic discussed in that chapter, which can be compared to a JSTOR article called Dowry as Female Competition. There are many issues concerned with dowry and Social Geography, on many different scales. The largest part of Social Geography seems to be identity, which is ‘how we make sense of ourselves’ (Fouberg, 146), a topic that is extremely complex and has a lot of factors involved with it. Our identities are fluid, ever changing, constructed through experiences, emotions, connections, and rejections, defined by ourselves and others. A commonality in identity is identifying against other people, forming an identity around people who are believed to be the enemy or different from other people. The most common idea in this time period for people to identity with is identification with their own personal state. Nationalism defines people but it also allows other identities to exist at the same time, so one may be patriotic while also being a number of other things. People in general have different identity’s at different scales as well so at a national global scale ... ... middle of paper ... ...eography is likely the most complex because it has to do with society and people who are ever changing and developing. Most simply it can be summarized as how people identity themselves and each other, and how those identity influence lives and relationships. Social Geography can explain things, like why dowries appear in certain countries and not others, and can be used to solve certain issues, such as finding out why residential segregation has gotten better within the last decade and what we can do to improve it even more. Bibliography Fouberg, Erin Hogan., Alexander B. Murphy, and Blij Harm Jan De. Human Geography: People, Place, and Culture. 10th ed. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2012. Print. Boster, James S. "Dowry as Female Competition." American Anthropologist. By Steven J. C. Gaulin. Vol. 92. N.p.: American Anthropological Association, 1990. 994-1005. Print.
Fellmann, Getis, and Getis. Human Geography, Sixth Edition, Updated Edition. McGraw Hill. New York, 2001.
Knox, Paul, and Sllie Marston. "Chapter 8 Food and Agriculture." In Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context. Glenview, Il: Pearson, 2013. 266-298.
Blij has clearly put this book into historical significance by mentioning the idea of geography and how it plays a role in societies all over the world. However, the five themes of culture regions, cultural diffusion, cultural interaction, cultural ecology, and cultural landscapes are all clearly defined within a specific context to a particular nation. Through reading this intriguing piece of literature I received the underlying notion that Blij firmly believes that landscapes of the world realm are not going to change. De Blij worldview of regions, diffusion, interaction, ecology, and landscapes has allowed him to simultaneously link issues together from the United States all the way to Southeast Asia.
Physical geography has shaped humans, our cultures, and our societies. Physical geography refers to the weather, climate, or agriculture of a certain region. Humans cannot control the weather so, so we must adapt whatever nature brings our way. Specific life styles must come and go, and we must be able to shift from one condition to another. How has physical geography shaped the world we live in today?
Knox, P. L. & Marston, S. A. Places and Regions in Global Context: Human Geography. Upper Saddle River , NJ : Pearson Education, Inc., 2003.
This course of cultural geography has taught me new and old ideas along with theories that help shape the world. Before I started this class, I was not sure how well I was going to like it. I was not ever interested in geography and always overlooked ideas of culture. It was an idea that I never truly understood. However, these ideas were more broad and interesting than I anticipated. I began to understand what Geographers meant and what all was included within the idea of cultural geography. The world is always changing and I have learned that cultural geography is a way to keep pace with what is changing and understand how the world has gotten to where it is. Geography is the study of all these changes that will shape our future world and the environment and beliefs within it (Greiner 2012). Cultural geography has changed my view of the world and I have learned aspects of geography that has attracted my interests to learn more in and beyond this class.
The diverse nature of Geography has always attracted me to the subject, and the bridge it forms between the Arts and the Sciences reflects many of my interests. I am greatly enjoying the work which I am doing for the A level syllabus, on both the human and physical sides of the course, and would like to continue to study in both these fields. Geography gives the opportunity to accumulate a valuable range of skills, and I particularly enjoy the variety of analytical, numerical, bibliographical and research skills which I am called upon to use. The study of Geography will enable me to consider complex interactions between the human and physical environments, and the scope for useful research within the subject is very appealing. I have attended a number of Geographical Association lectures organised by my local branch, and look forward to taking responsibility for my own work in response to such stimulus.
Geography Alive!: Regions and People. Palto Alto, CA: Teacher's Curriculum Institute, 2006. N. pag. Print.
...adder, achieve economic security, accumulate material wealth.” Due to the avarice of consumer greed, the custom of dowry has disseminated to communities and social classes that normally do not engage in those practices. Furthermore, the nature of consumer greed facilitates the need to demand more dowry since dowry is representative of the social and economic status of both families and the extent to which their family co-exists in India’s caste system. Unfortunately, because of patriarchal attitudes, the bridegroom and his family have greater bargaining power and are typically the ones who set the dowry rates. In addition, the economic model used to calculate the dowry takes into account the bridegroom’s education and future earning potential while the bride’s education and earning potential are only relevant to her societal role of being a better wife and mother.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in the collection of her short stories titled Arranged Marriage, portrays a negative image of the Indian cultural practices while discussing marital relationships in the diasporic space. The title gives the impression that Indian marriage system is not only weird but also barbaric. She fails to understand that gender bias is not unique to India, and it is a global problem.
Dowry is a tradition that runs throughout all of Indian society. Dowry is a tradition that the groom and his relatives demand cash, jewelry and other luxuries from the bride’s family. Upon marriage, the daughter is given household appliances for dowry such as furniture, TV’s, refrigerators and even clothing, cash and jewelry. It was given to show love and affection from the bride’s family and to ensure a joyful and happy life after they are married. The rich viewed dowry as a status symbol, but for the poor it is a sense of honor. Some people would say dowry is a curse for Indian society and disrespect for women in this situation. This tradition is a burden on the bride’s family but the groom and his family get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. The value of the dowry depends on the job the groom has at the time “ranging from 250,000 yen to 5 million yen or more in a country where a basic graduates salary starts from 6,250 yen” ( Women In India).When there is an arranged marria...
The community should be seen as is the social bonds; the exchange of bride wealth is a form of power and wealth transference. The Tiv men who were able to overthrow the hierarchical system which involved working for older men to be able to save their hard earnings for bridewealth, by doing migrant labour in the urban areas and converting their wages into bride wealth. Money that was earned by doing migrant wage work has challenged the traditional value hierarchy and has altered the patterns of agricultural production, this has also led to changes in marketing strategies and in consumption. Bohannan, P. (1955) The young Tiv men are using modern ways of gaining wealth in order to transfer wage labour money into bride wealth. The young Tiv men are gaining wealth quicker as well as hierarchical status within Tivland, this is leading to more modern means of consumption and wealth within their community. The speed of the movement through the hierarchy shows that the changes are creating less of a dependency on the senior Tiv men for bride
de Blij, H.J., and Alexander B. Murphy. Human Geography: Culture, Society, and Space. 6th ed. New York: Wiley, 1998.
One of the main focus of geography as a discipline is the study of place. It is very common among individuals that when an object, an event or even a word is used repeatedly it loses its value or meaning, unfortunately place is no exception (Tuan,1977). The word place has become so familiar that rarely do people take time to think what it actually means and perhaps consider its importance. In his attempt to differentiate two familiar words that are used interchangeable space and place, Tuan (1979) defines places as spaces which people occupy and over long periods of time grow attached to and have better understanding of.