Devi and the Indian Culture

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone- thanks so much for the quick responses! Very insightful.

I found some really interesting parts of people's messages that I

would especially like to respond to- Instead of replying to each

single one, I'll just cut and paste here. hope that doesn't offend

anyone. :-)

 

Msbauju's post:

 

[W]hen men as well as women do worship goddesses,

as they have done for centuries in many parts of India, the

religious texts and rituals clearly express the male fear of

female powers, and the male authors of those texts therefore

make even greater efforts to control women, as if to say, " god

help us all if these naturally powerful women get political

power as well. "

 

I was reading the same thing today! I have read some of her work- I

have mixed feelings about it, but the above is something that I think

makes a lot of sense.

 

Does anyone here disagree with Prof Doniger? If so, why? Just

curious.

 

 

Max's post:

 

" India is a

patriarchal society which has retained veneration of the female

Divine to a unique degree. "

 

This is true. Yet this seems to be only a facade to me in a lot of

cases, considering how women are treated.

 

You did make a point about violence- I agree that violence against

women is a sad situation that takes place in every country. But in

India, I do think the numbers are higher, and more cases go

unreported. I can definitely say that while I feel perfectly okay

walking around at night in my town alone, I can't say the same for my

Calcutta hometown, which happens to be a very nice suburb.

 

 

Shankari Kali's post:

 

" I noticed that you said you are in New York City which is a fairly

progressive

area of the US. I can guarantee you that other parts of the US are

very

misogynistic. "

 

This may be true- I have never ventured into the South(nor do I plan

to) or the Midwest. I hope I'm not being too forward to assume you

were talking about these areas.

 

" American movies

treat women like objects too unless you like artsy, indie movies. "

 

Yes- in certain cases. But I do think generally Bollywood is worse in

this area. Can you imagine them giving an Indian actress a funny

line? God forbid a woman has a sense of humor!

 

I don't know...I may have lived in the tri-state area all my life,

but I have befriended men from all areas and walks of life in this

country, and I can safely say that, sadly, I feel much more at ease

with men who aren't Indian. I can be flirtatious, humorous, raunchy,

whatever...without worrying if they're going to pass some Victorian-

style (sorry, as you can tell, I like that word :-)) judgment against

me. But I'm getting off point now...

 

On a tangent, I'm sure you all know of Kumari puja, right? Shame that

the idea behind it (goddess in every woman) disappears from people's

heads so soon after.