The Ethics of Cultural Exchange

[gelflingjen]

This is the thread where I invite the brillance of you Quillers to help me with a little secondary research with the possibility of leading further into a potential field study.

Here are a couple of questions I would love to have your input on:

One, what are your thoughts on the ethics of cultural exchange, and what are some sources of your thoughts on this(ex: readings, experience, divination, etc...)?

Two, the culture I am in a position to visit (and I will give more of a background in just a minute) is the Indian culture and is set up in a caste system. What I am interested in finding out--and perhaps you have some resources for me--is what kind of things are the peoples of different castes in India doing to address the issue of caste bias?

My situation is this. I am working towards a degree and a vision. They both center around my desire to develop a movement based curriculum for the healing of sexual trauma to be presented to groups, communities, and/or schools as a means of recovery and/or prevention. There is an organized movement in India of certified Dance Therapists (which I am not, yet) from India who are working with women and girls having come out of the sex-trade industry. I have met a small group of Americans who go to India to contribute to this movement and now I have the opportunity to accompany them.

Here are my hesitations with this: Not only am I visiting another culture (as an American) and putting myself in a position that may be seen as "help, charity, voyeourism, or missionary work," I am also visiting a (sub)culture of sexual trauma, making it extra sensitive. My goal is to go there as a learner--to meet and interview practicioners (not the participants in the programs) with the aim of seeing a working model of exactly what I want to be doing here in the states. The benefits of doing this in India are that, one, I will be in a position to learn extreme cultural senstivity, and two, I have not found a program like this in the states, and witnessing its formula and execution in India will be invaluable. Theirs is a culture with thousands of years of experience in using movement as a healing modality, both yoga and dance, while the American culture is less familiar and less comfortable with this form of expressive therapy.

So, please, help! my brilliant thinkers! web-sources, books, personal thoughts on the matter...all of these are welcome.

[Buck]

Not sure how to answer as Im not entirely sure how you define cultural exchange. If Im infering this properly, I would say that cultural exchange is awesome as long as you respect other cultures and do not try to replace 'em with yours.

Other cultures have a different way of life and for the most part you shouldn't try to erase it. If something is wrong you should try to help fix it, but fix it along the lines of their culture -- not yours. In the end I do not believe there is one 'right' culture. Variety in the world is a wonderful thing and the culture of a people is sort of a living historical repository for a people. It shouldnt be erased, imo.


What do you mean by healing sexual trauma? Are you specifically aiming to help victims or is this more of an awareness thing? Or both? Sounds very interesting.

[AquaFizz]

You know, as far as resources...I know quite a few people who have been to India recently. One is a friend who helped me ace a test on the Indian Caste System because he father is Indian and she spent a whole summer there. I also have a friend who went for a few weeks last summer and is so inlove with it that she wants to go back. I also have a friend who is there going to school and has the hook up with a family who do is Indian but also very aware of American thoughts and culture (Their eldest son is actually in school in TX right now). Granted, all of these friends went there as Christian Missionaries, minus the natives of India...but they still have a firm awareness of the system, the culture and subcultures in India. I could try to connect you with a couple of them, if you want.

Can you explain this Dance Therapy thing? It sounds so cool. So, this is something you want to bring back to America to help Americans who have suffered from sexual violence...is that the deal?

[gelflingjen]

Awesome.

Yes, the definition of cultural exchange is something I am still currently unpacking, but I think you inferred closely enough--basically someone of one culture in the presence of someone of another.

And, Buck, I agree with you about the sensitivity...that is my biggest concern. I even balk a bit at the word, 'wrong' as it is so hard to judge where another culture is in the unraveling of their history compared to where I in my own culture am. I would like to find out what people's of the Indian culture consider universally 'wrong' and what measures they are doing to change these. Like, I know there is movement in the breaking down of the caste system, and yes, Fizz, I would be interested in your friends experiences. If they are willing, maybe they could send me an email.

Healing sexual trauma...Dance Therapy...that's campfire talk 'til the sun rises. Yes, this is something I would like to see in the States. As an awareness thing (as a movement based sexuality ed curriculum) and as a theraputic modality for those who have experienced the trauma of sexual abuse. Dance therapy is an expressive art therapy, and has been shown to have very positive effects in many areas, and especially in the area of trauma.

[Amos]

Caste, in Hinduism, is bound up with the concept of "purity", and reflects a higher cosmic order (Dharma). At the top you have the priestly caste, the Brahmins. At the bottom, you have the so-called "untouchables". New laws in India prohibit discrimination against the latter, but it still occurs on a wise-spread basis because it is so ingrained in Indian society and religion. The caste system I would think, bound up as it is with Hindu beliefs and practices, would actually do more to prevent the sex-trade, since it puts strict limitations on who Hindu people can and can't have sexual relations with. A Brahmin male, for instance, couldn't marry a female from a lower caste; or touch her, or eat in the same room as her - but then even these traditions and rules vary throughout India, as Hinduism does not have a single well-defined set of beliefs. And then there are the Moslem and Christian communities within India...

The new laws against the caste system I think refer most particularly to the Untouchable caste (forgive me, I forget how they call themselves). It is illegal to discriminate against them, which is very positive since they have been traditionally reviled. Further up the caste system the "discriminations" mostly apply to marriage. I don't personally think that the dissolution of the entire caste system would be an especially good thing; or at the least, not definitely a positive thing. Before you knock down a wall, after all, you have to ask yourself why the wall was built in the first place. It might be that your wall was designed to keep out the Mongol hordes, and some little reflection will convince you that the wall is worthless (barring time-travelling Mongol hordes fromt the past). On the other hand, the wall might be built around a deep, black pit, full of wicked demons... If removing the caste system enables love-sick teenagers to marry who they want, then suely its a good thing. If it leads to a corruption of religious values and ideals, then hey, maybe then people will wish they had left it there.

In the past Hinduism has evolved to suit changing social conditions, and there's no reason the caste system couldn't undergo some significant positive changes, based on the needs and wishes of the Hindu communities, and the inevitable influence of western society. But the amount of change might not necessarily need to be that high to make things more tolerable for people who feel discriminated against; moreover, it might not even occur on anything but a superficial level (i.e law reforms which are hard to enforce). Hindu beliefs have certainly changed over the years, but many aspects of Hindu society have remained unchanged for literally thousands of years, especially ritual practices. Even now for a Hindu to go "against" caste is going against Dharma, the natural order of things, and perhaps that will always be the case.

If I was going to India, I think I would want to remain aware of caste, but leave the actual determination of its future to the Indian people, and stay out of any arguments, discussions, etc. unless specifically asked to contribute my own opinions. What you are doing, gelflingjen, I think is beautiful, and completely right. I think also you shouldn't need to feel that you must do anything apart from helping women on a personal basis. I might say that you would do much better to try to learn from those women, and other women in Hindu society, maybe even men as well (though men are typically useless in all respects), but then you are the kind of person who will do that anyway. If you want to feel more prepared, read more about Hinduism, India in general, and talk to women from India. :)


Theirs is a culture with thousands of years of experience in using movement as a healing modality, both yoga and dance
Yoga originated in India. Actually, I highly recommend reading the Bhagavad-Gita, in which Krsna first expounds the system of Yoga to the hero Arjuna (part of the immensely popular Mahabarata cycle. not a "canonical" text, but widely loved and respected).

(ps. I think most of what I said earlier is, um, right. That is, based on facts. My religious studies paper last semester focussed largely on Hinduism, and its all fairly fresh in my mind)

[dark fuschia]

That sounds pretty cool GelflingJen. Culture shock is a wierd thing and from what I hear India is one of the strangest places to visit for western eyes. I really want to go there one day. I am sure you have the discretion to deal with something like this, simply even from your realisation that discretion is required. You will probably make a mistake or two but hopefully it will be worth it for yourself and those who you come in contact with anyway. Its a learning curve and learning often involves mistakes. I think one very good rule for experiencing other cultures is that as well as trying to avoid causing offense, remember not to be offended either. I've travelled alot and one of the worse things to see is a western person's indignation at a new culture. Its just ugly and stupid. Have an open mind combined with a sense of compassion. So that if you see something that affronts you, you can discern whether this is something that breaks universal ideals or just your own cultural ideals. It will probably be hard, my friend saw an untouchable 15 year old girl being beaten in India for standing outside a restaraunt too long. Though this is clearly tied up in cultural ideals... it is also partly just the beater being an asshole. Since although he has the right to send her away and/or beat her, I think the better person would attempt to do so without the beating. But who knows, maybe they have to resort to these things in order to stay in business. How can you judge things like this that are so alien to your own mode of survival and culture. I don't know. You will probably see things like this that challenge your ideals.

[gelflingjen]

yes...to have the confidence to make mistakes...

[gelflingjen]

So I'm back and decompressing from my visit with the founders of the organization that is working State side with women over in India.

Here's what it looks like I will be doing:
Going to India--in about five months for about three month--to work with Dance Therapists in India who have programs in centers for women formerly in the sex trade industry and subjected to human traffiking. I will be observing their programs and helping to compile these exercises into handbooks, flashcards and videos that can be used universally--from Bejing to Georgia. Creating a submersion/intensive program (and fascility?) to teach teachers this training technique.

So the next five months will be my own submersion into as much learning of the culture and language/music/dances of the areas I'll be in.

Here goes!

Thanks for your resources and feedback, and anything else that you see as relating to this exploration that you want to pass my way--or opinions or questions--please, feel free.

[ericalynn]

gelflingjen: I'd love to talk to you more about your topic. I work for the YWCA and I am the Director of a program called We SPEAK (Survivors Provide Education, Affirmation, and Kinship) we have started to first free support groups in RI for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Our groups are in English and Spanish. In the format we chose there is currently no Spanish literature so we are working to translate the literature so that groups all over the world can be initiated by Spanish speaking survivors. I hope someday to be a trauma therapist who specializes in childhood sexual abuse. I hope to help children and adults who would like to overcome past abuse. I know you posed two questions and I "should" be answering them, lol. However, I have to get some sleep I am wiped from work today and I can be a crabcake when I am tired. I commend your efforts, your openness to speak about such a sensative subject and your passion to help people heal.