Own Cultural Assumptions and Values in India - Essay Example

RUNNING HEAD: INDIAN WOMEN OF THE This is a research done on the particular population of theIndian women where it explains as to how one's own cultural assumptions and values impact their personal and clinical effectiveness in developing relationship skills and treatment plans with clients of a selected population. The study also analyses the needs and the attributes of a selected population as based on research. It has also dealt with the various useful nesses of the counseling method and how it could be applied to the population taken into account. The Indian Woman India, the land of diversities, is admired for its secularity and for the great cultural values that the Indians cultivate within themselves. Studying on Indian women (1) means to study the variety of women oriented cultures and values that the Indian women are distinguished for. There is not only one typical cultural aspect associated with the term, "Indian Woman", but there are rather diverse cultures and values that have become the ethos of the varied types of womanhood found in the country. The Indian woman can be classified into various categories such as a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife and even in the professional sector as a working lady and a housewife. All of these diversities are maintained in a streamlined manner and as India is a vast as a country, similarly, the cultures also vary. There are places where patriarchal society exists and there are also certain areas, such as some parts of Kerala, where there exists matriarchal society. Patriarchal society is one which is dominated by the male members of the family whereas the matriarchal society is dominated by the female counterparts. The role of the women in both the societies has lots of differences and this adds to the variety of the cultural diversities of the women in India. But keeping apart all the above said things it can be said with great certainty that whatever diverse forms the Indian woman may have but there is one national culture which is almost the same and found throughout the country. It has been the concern of many thinkers that the Indian woman not only devotes her precious time in the performance of the regular domestic chores but rather succumbs to the egoistic pleasures of her master and even for her own pride (2). It is now high time that our womankind should be freed from this barbaric act of forcing them to give up all their time in the kitchen. There has been certain revolutionary change that has taken place in the recent times and one of them is that of the growing status of the women. It is for the contribution of many factors that such a revolution has taken place freeing the modern woman from the fetters of the worn-out traditions, ignorance and prejudice. Talking about the culture, along with the growth of the British system in the 19th century, a varied cultural change could be felt. Towards the end of the decade, the change in the culture of India had taken a strong grip in the urban cities like Bombay, Chennai, Calcutta etc, and the world of restricted domestic life and the most intimate relationships became subjects of public issues and topics of debates. India's (3) culture is implanted in values and virtues so deeply that even the British colonialism couldn't move even a single piece of it during their reign of change. But today, India is going through a change which is no less awkward. The change, however, is being determined by all such things: education, opportunity and development. My Interviewee, Sheetal, has been staying in India and she has two children. She stays in a joint family system where all the members of a family stay under a single roof and share everything within them. They follow the rules of a Hindu joint family. According to her in the joint family system, the head of the family deals with all the problems of the house that comes up and thus nothing goes out of the house to become a public issue. This has been found embedded in the Indian culture that all matters are first tried to be solved in the best possible manner in the house itself. She again brings out the pros and cons of a joint family system. The staying together with all the members of the family has certain positive points and these makes the family bond stronger. She says that it is a great feeling to be staying jointly with all the family members together to share the sorrows and joys. Even when there is an urgent requirement, there is always someone next t o you to look after the matter. Moreover the family saves a lot in the economic perspective. In making two establishments there is lot of expenditure starting from accommodation to groceries to various other expenses. But being in a joint family, Sheetal finds it difficult to have a life of her own. There is no privacy for her family. If she wants to give something specially made for her children then she has also to give that to all the other children of her joint family. The worst part of it all is that there is no personal life in a joint family system and even sometimes the expenditure increases in such families. It (4) has been found to be difficult for people to move from a joint family system to a nuclear one and even the reverse is also challenging. Therefore it can be said that there are both equally divided pros and cons in both the systems. One thing that needs to be mentioned here from what has been interviewed from Sheetal is that there are lots of cultural values to be learnt from the elders in a joint family system. She speaks of the good lessons that have been taught to her children by their grand parents and the other elder members of the family. This is not possible if one stays in a nuclear family. One cannot learn the values and tradition that a family has embedded in it. The joint family system is not fading away, rather it is changing and adapting a new look. Now-a-days the youngsters expect their family members to accommodate their needs and necessities, which was previously just the opposite. Earlier, the individuals used to adapt to the needs and demands of the joint family as a whole. Since independence the Indian woman has improved in ostensibly in various ways. But it becomes difficult to classify it as good or bad. Today, Indian women have better options regarding the many aspects of life. The woman now has become financially independent which points to the fact that she has every right to decide upon her marriage and even walk out of a non-working marriage. But she in the meantime has also lost out in many ways. In today's rapid paced, work oriented and achievement driven lifestyle, the women losses the sense of connection to a bigger family and to the community. The dual responsibilities of the working woman put her in a struggled lifestyle. Such working women have to manage commitments at the workplace along with the great responsibilities at home. Even housewives sitting at home have to cope up with various responsibilities. But as studies have shown and researches speak, every Indian woman has a status and a life much better than what her mother had. This speaks of the fact that the Indian woman has obviously improved since independence. The great Indian family is going through diverse complexities in today's world, where individual freedom and rights are treasured much more than the family values. Along (5) with the modern situation showing a clear pathway which brings in improved status of women in India after independence, there are various problems which are unique as concerned to the Indian women. Some of these are described as under. The dowry system- this system calls for the payment of a large sum of money to the groom paid by the bride's party during the marriage. If by any means the bride is unable to pay the amount demanded by the groom then she is most of the times ill treated after marriage by her in-laws. Desire for male child- the Indian woman faces lots of criticism and harassment due to the lack of providing the family with a male child. Eve teasing- the women in India face another grave problem of being touched unwanted in public places and also being molested. Unequal share of inheritance- although law now provides for the right of equality to girl children even after marriage to the ancestral property, yet, there has been discrepancy in the distribution of property and the male members are given their share of property. The girls after marriage are thought to be outsiders and no longer a part of the family where she was born and brought up. Lack of public toilets- women in India face a great problem when they go out of their houses because of the lack of adequate public toilets and due to the unhygienic conditions. Ill treatment of widows- many families end up blaming the misfortune of a woman for the death of her husband. The Indian cultural value attaches great significance to the virtue and purity of men and women. Those who follow this principle do not have any sexual experience before marriage. In India (6) every truth that is found, has the opposite side also very much apparent in reality. For example, Mrs. Indira Gandhi's rule as the Prime Minister of India was a great triumph for the women leaders, yet during her rule, there were hundreds of millions of impoverished women, whose lives saw very little change during her rule. During 1990s India had won the highest number of international beauty contests and on the other side India had one of the lowest rates of female literacy in the world. India has the largest number of professionally trained women with more qualified doctors, surgeons, professors and scientists than the United States, yet the maternal mortality rates in certain rural areas are among the most awful in the world. Legally speaking, the women have been given their share of equality, yet in the social sphere, where the Indian women lives basically, there has been very less change despite the fact that they are legally and constitutionally protected by our constitution. Hinduism has provided a duality for the Indian women. On the one side she is benevolent and fertile and on the other hand she is also malevolent and aggressive. This duality is seen in the instances that globalization has provided to Indian women in modern India. The problems that the Indian women face are that of poverty, sexual harassment, female feticide, job skills, lack of education, HIV infection, especially in the rural areas. These problems take a larger form when the women are from a joint family. They feel nervous to discuss about any kind of problems that are being faced by them just with the fear of losing the good impression that she has in her house. The (7) women in India are considered to be the second class citizens by her family and even the society. Taking into consideration their social status, it can be said that it has changed a lot since independence. Earlier the women used to sit at home and would look after their children and their home but now the situation has changed and the women now are have become independent and have started working in offices and showing better performances than their male counterparts. But the dowry system and female infanticide are still prevalent in the urban areas along with the rural areas where they thrive more easily. The dowry demand has resulted in such nasty form that even in the matriarchal society of the parts of Kerala where the men used to stay in the wives house; the grooms have started demanding dowry. This phenomenon has taken a surge up only after the young men started to go to the gulf countries in search for jobs and this required lots of money. Another example of the slow changing social status of the women can be pointed out from the fact that there is now the liberty given to females also to advertise for matrimonial columns. This was very much prohibited in the earlier days. It was of general opinions that since women do sedentary work they do not require any nutritional and thus need less calories. But seen at the work schedule of a woman it will be found that the women work for more hours than the men. But due to the social norms they get less food. Many women do not get the best treatment when they fall ill. Moreover the women have a nature of suppressing their ailments while this privilege of speaking about illness is accorded to men only. The low economic status also reflects the low social status of the Indian woman. As per the 1991 census about 61% of the Indian women were illiterate and consequently most of the women folk work in agricultural fields and in other unorganized sectors. It may so happen in the passage of time that more lucrative jobs will be taken up by the men and the market will provide for unequal opportunities to women. Thus it can be said that the low status of women in the society is reflected in the unemployment which gets toughened by the lack of rights to land of the women in India. Coming back to counseling of the Indian women in joint family systems, all the above mentioned things have to be bourn in mind. Since (8) time immemorial, counseling has been prevalent in one or the other form. In all types of cultures the elders provide for certain norms which the youngsters are required to follow. Even in the Indian culture, the elders like the parents, grandparents and teachers impart counseling in the form of advices and guidance. Counseling was imparted even in the earlier days and this can be found from the epics. At that time the elders were too ready to impart counseling to the youngsters who were also prompt in receiving what they were told. But the more modern techniques and the scientific use in counseling were not found in the ancient times. The most prominent example of counseling can be shown as the dialogues between Krishna and Arjuna in the Ramayana in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Only the committed researchers in this area can speak about the fact that whether there is the touch of modern counseling in this dialogue. There have been various questions put forth regarding the relevance and importance of modern counseling techniques in all types of cultures. It has been the opinion of the experts in this field that the cultural heritage of India is probably oriented towards the modern counseling techniques. Counseling is misunderstood as an instance where on expert solves the problem of another person. It is many times believed by the layman that the expert has readymade solutions prepared for any kind of problem of human beings. But the truth is that most of the counselors know that this fact is very far from the reality. Counseling may be characterized by the following determinants: Firstly, it is expected to be a process. Secondly, it is usually for normal people having certain problems in life; Thirdly, it is a form of dynamic interaction between the client and the counselor. Fourthly, the client is always expected to be very frank and forthright with his counselor. Fifth, it is the counselor duty to keep the matters of his clients confidential. Sixth, there has to be sympathy and warmth shown by the counselor while listening to the problems of the clients. Seventh, the counselor should be non-critical and nonjudgmental. Eighth, there should be a genuine relationship between the clients and the counselors. Ninth, counseling generally works where there is good rapport rather where there is transference And lastly, the client's conscious intentions are explored rather than his unconscious intentions. Thus the counselors should keep all these points in their mind while counseling. This would provide a better result and would thus improve in the technique. For counseling the Indian woman one has first take into consideration as to from which category she comes and thus proceed further in the counseling. If the woman is uneducated then the method would be quite different from that dealing with a woman who is well educated. Similarly the method to counsel a housewife would differ from the method used to counsel a working woman. All theses categories of women have a different perspective of thinking and the counselor should be very efficient to study all these different ways of looking into the life. Moreover the problems may not be quite different but the solutions may differ a lot from woman to woman. For being a good counselor one needs to be a good psychiatrist who would understand what the client need to talk about and about what is the client most disturbed. In the above mentioned case study, the interviewee was quite fond of the joint family but she was disturbed about the fact that there is no privacy in her life. She wanted to have some time spent only with her husband and children which was not possible staying in a joint family system. This problem of hers, she was not able to share even with her husband as because of the feeling of shyness to talk about such matters. Even the fear of her husband getting angry made her stop from disclosing this to him. There was no other option for her but to get through the process of counseling. But in this case the thought of the husband also creates lots of hope in the case. Sheetal used to think that by bringing such thoughts in her mind, she is committing a blunder and was thus disturbed. Thus counseling of Indian women is not as easy a matter as it seems to be. This needs more of tackling of situations and then solving the problems of the clients. The interview made me realize the depth in a woman and what feelings she has for her husband and her family. The simple desire to stay with her husband and children made her so disturbed that she had to take the resort of counseling. This is not found in any other society in the whole world. This is how cultures prove to be the riding stone for many people. Thus from the research it is very clear that there is a need of change required in the process of counseling. The females need to have more freedom so that they can do what ever they feel like. Although being a member of the joint family system, they should also have their own individuality. They should be given the freedom of leading their own life. The main attributes of the Indian women (12), in the 21st century should be to play a significant role in bringing about a good future of the country. It has been said that it is the same hand which is there for the cradle and also for governing the nation. There is a difference in the level of development in the various parts of the country. But it has been seen that the educated women play a very effective part in developing the society. The interactive effects between the counselor and the clients of a selected population that is based on the research will differ a lot when the race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexual orientation and physical ability are different. This will happen because with the change of nationality, race or ethnicity, the values and culture also differ. So what may be prohibited in a particular culture may be allowed in some other cultures. Moreover if the gender, sexual orientation changes then the study will also be very different from what has been studied in the research done here. The Indian male is very different from the Indian women and they have a say in their household. But the females have to listen to only what has been directed to them. This has already been proved earlier. The change of culture and moral values will bring about a change in every aspect if there is any change made in the race, ethnicity, gender, nationality etc. The fact sheet that will provide help to any other counselor for future reference can be prepared, where it is necessary to include all those facts that have been studied about the particular population. The particular population that I have taken is that of the Indian women. The facts that need to be taken into consideration are: There are various categories of women in India who differ in their culture and values from one state to the other. The Indian Values are embedded very strongly within them and they are not so weak as to leave them behind. They are dominated by the male members of the family, excepting the case of matriarchal families where there is female dominancy. They hardly speak about their rights and freedom in front of any one. They are very shy in nature and can not take any bold decisions without the permission of their parents or the husband. There should be certain innovative program arranged for this particular group of people so that they too can know their skills. The programs may be in the form of any counseling or group discussion where they are made to talk freely about their feelings and bring out all the things that they have been covering inside them since long. It will give them a relieving feeling and they can relax a bit as they would be able to speak to someone about their problems which they could not have been doing in their family. It has been studied that due to the rigid family values, the women in India are not able to open up easily. So they have to be given some opportunity and time to have with their own. This can be done by conducting certain group discussions or counseling, taking into consideration the above mentioned factors. References 1. (2006), Women, Sify Khoj, Retrieved September 13, 2006, from http://www.khoj.com/Life_and_Family/Women/ 2. Sundaram V, (2005), Manual mania in 19th century Bengal, News Today, from http://www.newstodaynet.com/2005sud/05jul/ss2.htm 3. Mohan Saira, (2006), The Immigrant Experience, India Today Conclave, http://www.indiatodayconclave.com/Saira-spe.htm 4. Prasad Geetanjali, (2006), Will The Great Indian Family Survive, from http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/05inter1.htm 5. (1996-2006), Frequently Asked Questions, Kamat's Potpourri, from http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/women/faq.htm 6. Wells H. David, (2002), The Dichotomies in Indian Women Lives, APF Reporter,from Vol.20, from,http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF2003/Wells/Wells.html 7. Mohanty Bidyut, (1998), Women and Family in India and China, Gender Issues, 31, from, http://ignca.nic.in/ks_41035.htm#WOMEN 8. Dr. Sreedhar P. Krishna, (2001), Current Trends in Practice of Counseling, Psychology 4 all, http://www.psychology4all.com/CounselingTrends.htm 9. Phaedrine, 2004, Women, the Veil and the Boundaries of Religious "Jurisdiction", from http://groups.google.co.in/group/alt.religion.islam/browse_thread/thread/285441a0ccc1a6b/f5ab7d15aca3775elnk=st&q=needs+and+attributes+of+indian+women%2Cjournal&rnum=4&hl=en#f5ab7d15aca3775e 10. Coonrod S.Carol, (1998), Chronic Hunger and the Status of Women in India, The Hunger Project, http://www.thp.org/reports/indiawom.htm 11. (2001), Empowering Indian Women, Press Information Bureau, http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/Children_Women/empower_women_march_2001.htm 12. Vittal N, (2002), Indian Women in The 21st Century, from http://cvc.nic.in/vscvc/cvcspeeches/sp2jan02.pdf. Read More