Cultural Analysis of Gypsies - Essay Example

?Cultural Analysis of Gypsies Module Module ID: Introduction: The present paper aims to explore the life and culture of Romani Gypsies with particular concentration upon the life and activities of the group in the UK. Gypsies are actually the wandering groups and communities, which lead an itinerant life from moving from one place to the other without having any intention of settling down at one specific area or region and getting involved into a professional activity on permanent basis. Hence, they generally live in tents and lead a very simple and somewhat uncomfortable life with least or no facilities and luxuries in their residences or dwelling places. The gypsies are found in every country and state of the world, and they belong to various racial, ethnic, cultural, social and religious backgrounds because of their moving from one region to the other. The same situation can be observed in the most developed nations including the UK and USA. According to the studies, the gypsy population of the UK consists of Scottish travelers, English gypsies, Irish travelers and Welsh gypsies. Britain has also seen a rise in a non-traditional group of traveling folks, known as New Age Travelers. According to The Gypsy Media Company, there are approximately 300,000 Gypsy Travelers in Britain today. (Cadger, 2010: 1) Consequently, gypsies make up nearly 7% of the total British population, which come of divergent ethno-racial groups of wandering people. Plymouth (2002) categorizes the gypsies into “Circus families, Fairground and Showmen, Irish Travelers, New Travelers and Romani and Roma Gypsies”, the division of which is based upon activities and ethnicities of the traveler groups. Each group has developed its individual socio-cultural activities, which distinguishes it from the other nomadic communities of the country. Though the migration of the nomadic groups has always been based upon search for economic pursuits and financial opportunities, yet they also migrate from one place to the other due to some religious, political and social reasons, where circumstances appear to be turning unfavorable for them because of some inevitable causes and political changes take place time and again in every part of the globe. Cultural Characteristics: Romany and Roma Gypsy roots lie in Northern India, where nomadic groups first started moving towards Europe around 1000 years ago. Romany gypsies have become the part of Irish culture by entering into the process of acculturation for the last ten centuries, and consequently adopted several norms and values prevailing in the Irish culture. “Romany Gypsies have been in Britain since at least 1515 after migrating from continental Europe. The term Gypsy is a corruption of “Egyptian” which is what the settled population perceived them to be because of their dark complexion.” (Bowers, 2008) Though the centuries-long acculturation process has made a significant part of the nomads forgetful of their ancestry and their way of life, yet still the traditional gypsies stick to their mores and traditions to a large extent. These gypsies pay due heed to family life and blood relations, though the custom has been in constant decline in England for the last several decades. The gypsies do not cut-off their terms with the family members, and even remain in close contact with each other even during their living far from one another due to some professional or financial ventures and responsibilities. In the olden past, the Romany gypsies look engaged into individual activities, like performing odd jobs, entertaining the people through the monkeys and other animals they had kept with them and in collecting wastes from the waste-bins, disposal houses and other places etc, and working as servants and maids in the service of others; in all these places, the gypsies rendered services individually. However, whenever there appeared any untoward and unpleasant incident challenging the very life, dignity or honor of any member of their community, the gypsies gather like flocks and fight bravely for the common interest. Hence, the Romanies had been tied in the strong bond of unity, integration and companionship. However, with the passage of time the ties between them also witness imperative downfall because of the engagement of the gypsies in various socioeconomic, educational and corporate activities. One important distinction between the gypsies and other people is this that the gypsies do not have any belief in ethno-racial discrimination. It is therefore racial conflicts do not take place among them. A very distinguished characteristic of the nomads includes their involvement into self-employed financial activities even at micro or small scale. Thus, they do not like to work under the sub-ordination of others. It is therefore, they maintain their freedom and individuality even while working in the service of others, and make no compromise on their liberty and individuality. Acculturation: Acculturation serves as a vehemently significant trait of the Romany gypsies, where the community has successfully mixed up with the dominant population of the UK. The period before the beginning of 20th century is called as the pre-acculturation era, where the people seldom accept the gypsies as the part of their culture and civilization. Consequently, the gypsies used to lead a life of alienation in the UK with unique culture and quite divergent social norms and traditions, For instance, the Romany never wash their hands or faces in the sink at any cost, because their sinks always have bowls and other pots in them. “We have separate bowls for everything, for washing our hands and face; and for wiping around. We never get them mixed up. When we are doing our laundry we won’t wash our tea towels in with all the rest of our clothes, because we think that’s very unclean.” However, the situation started taking imperative changes with the passage of time. Now, the gypsies seek education, enjoy health facilities and seek various jobs shoulder to shoulder with the mainstream British people. Somehow, some of the gypsies choose to adhere to the occupations attributed to their ancestry; fortune-telling is particularly prominent among all, which has also been described by the poets in their literary pieces. Sutherland (1975: 3-4) argues that the Romany had developed their personal socialization, financial and judicial system, though they are not entering the mainstream court system prevailing in the country. Hence, the community is re-adding itself to the fast changing society of the contemporary world. Romany as minority Group: Gypsies have not obtained the status of equal citizens even spending several centuries in the mixed culture. It is partly due to the very reality that they do not look ready to surrender the traits and characteristics associated with their ancestry culture and civilizations for the last many centuries. The British authorities have granted different statuses and privileges to the gypsies by considering them as the minority ethnic group, though the laws differ in respect of granting the privileges to them in various counties and administrative units. “Case law established Gypsies as a recognized ethnic group in England in 1989 and Irish Travellers, already protected by race relations law in Northern Ireland, were recognized as a distinct ethnic group in England and Wales in 2000.” (Royal College of Nursing, 2011) Similarly, Scottish Gypsies also got the status of a distinct ethnic group in 2008. Thus, the Romany have been won separate identity and the facilities and rights as well, as an independent ethnic group of the UK, which has helped them in developing their separate community organizations, educational institutions, local political factions and ethno-racial unions. Although the gypsies do not make distinction between black, brown and white racial groups, yet they only adopt other gypsies as the part of the community. Consequently, they are not invited by the mainstream British to attend the cultural and religious gatherings and functions. Racial Identity Models: Theorists identify three main racial discrimination groups existing in almost all multiracial countries, states and nations, which include racist/sexist, non-racist/non-sexist and anti-racist/anti-sexist groups. (Rabow, 2011) The first one not only feels pride in identifying itself as being the part of some specific community, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation; some extremist white Anglo Saxon individuals, African blacks, feminists and gays can be stated as the member of such racist/sexist groups. On the other hand, non-racists/non-sexists is liberal people do not take any interest in any activity related to some discriminatory group or community. They are freedom-loving people and feel comfortable in interacting with all the groups existing in their society. Similarly, anti-racists/anti-sexists consider the foundation of organizations on the basis of one’s sexual orientation, gender, race, region, religion or ethnicity as the effort to divide the nation into groups and factions, and hence paving the way towards disintegration of the country at large. It is therefore, they even do not recommend separate laws and classifications for the blacks, gays, feminists and gypsies, as it is, according to them, strictly against the spirit of nationalism altogether. References Bowers, Jake (2008) Gypsies and Travellers: Their Lifestyle, History and Culture Retrieved from http://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/downloads/lifestyle_history_and_culture_24052010111520.pdf Cemlyn S et al (2009) Inequalities experienced by Gypsy and Traveller Communities: a review (PDF 1.19MB), (Research report 12). London: Equality and Human Rights Commission. Rabow, Jerome. (2011) Models of Identity Development Diversity Training at CCODE The Center for the Celebration of Diversity through Education Retrieved from http://www.diversitycelebration.com/models-of-racial-identity/ Saunders, P., Clarke, J., Kendall, S., Lee, A., Lee, S., & Matthews, F. (eds) (2000): Gypsies and Travellers in their own words. Leeds, Leeds Traveller Education Service. Sutherland, Anne. (1975) Gypsies: the Hidden Americans Taylor & Francis Read More