Culture Wear Issues - Essay Example

This kind of wear should not be mixed with culture. Therefore, for an individual to assimilate into a new culture, they will have to probably forget the traditions and culture of their previous culture so that they may come in cohesion with the values or beliefs of the new culture they are trying to amalgamate into.

The only misconception that westerners and probably some Muslims are also carrying is that the covering of hair is not related to the cultural aspects (Human Rights News, 2005). It is more of a religious obligation that every Muslim woman should follow. This head covering is also prescribed by the law of Christianity for women as well and the nuns follow it too. In the same way, other artifacts which have a religious obligation for some of the sects of Islam, or any other religion for that matter, are also of religious importance and cannot degrade the assimilation of one individual in a different culture. This misconception is in the minds of the people that following these rituals, behaviors or artifacts can hinder the evolution of an individual in a different culture. The religious values remain the same for those who know the importance of those values; the way of integrating them into their newly adopted culture is the real task for that individual. This kind of behavior usually results in the modification of the new culture by the rules and regulations of an individual’s religion.

An example needs to be quoted here to further clarify the difference between cultural artifacts and their links with religious beliefs. The ‘kara’ which is an important religious artifact for the Shia Muslims or the ‘Ahle-Bait’, can not in any way, hinder the assimilation of a Shia Muslim into European culture. The Kara is made up of metal usually steel or silver and it is a symbol of love, affiliation, and dedication towards their Imam Zain-ul-Abaden. It is not a religious code; it proves to be just a symbol. It symbolizes the pain that the Imam went through in the war of Karbala.

For everybody else, bracelets and bangles symbolize fashion, but for the particular Muslim, it may have religious importance. Why doesn’t the wearing of bangles for Christians or Jew women produce problems and hindrances in the assimilation with the European culture if the objects that are being used by both of them are the same? The answer to this is the restricted manner in which the Western eye looks at Muslim culture and traditions. Therefore, I disagree with the statement that forgetting cultural and religious values will stop a person from assimilating with the new culture. There is room for improvement in everything, and modifying cultural values in such a way that they are also following religious beliefs might be the best way to counteract this situation.