Multi-Sited Ethnography Project:
How Do I Look?
By Melody Heath
During the past three
months one
theme that has occurred in several countries is the unique way women
dress and
display themselves in the public sphere compared to their private
domain. In “Poetics of Resistance” Lada
Cale Feldman
says, “there is a certain haughtiness, ignorance and everyday bluntness
in a
man thinking that being alive is something entirely normal (3).” In this article the authors are describing
the living conditions of people during the fighting that took place in Croatia
more
than a decade ago. However, this thought
provoking statement can mean many different things for many people. Not only are different societies unique to
one another, but the individuals within a culture manage to stand out
from the
rest.
Women
in three different countries that I visited have different ways of
dressing and
presenting themselves. In Japan,
I
observed two women looking through shelves of hair dye that would give
them a
more ideal western look. In Egypt,
I saw a
group of teenage girls spend almost fifteen minutes doing their hair
only to
cover it with a veil. In India the women all
covered their
arms and faces to keep their skin from tanning in the sun.
While
in Alexandria, like most first-time
visitors to Egypt,
I felt a need to visit all the main tourist attractions.
Settling in the ultra-modern Alexandria
Library, I pulled a large pile of books in front of me to go through. Three months away from a sufficient library
to read and relax in, I felt starved for the stacks of books and isles
of
shelves.
Every
time I looked up from my book and saw a veiled woman wearing the full
burkha, I
was shocked. Perhaps it is because in
the library I could forget that I was in Egypt. Or
the shock could have stemmed from the fact
that I had never seen anyone wearing a burkha in person before.
Through
my innocence I couldn’t help the mystery I felt toward these women. The only part of their bodies left uncovered
was their eyes. I wondered is that
comfortable? Can they look from side to
side, or do they have to turn their whole head to see to their left or
right? Still filled with questions about
this ancient uniform donned by Muslim women, I left the main library in
search
of the ladies’ room.
As
per usual, there was a line stretching outside the woman’s bathroom. After some minutes, when I was finally
standing in the doorway, located next to the sinks and mirrors, I was
once
again mildly surprised at what I saw. Five
teenagers about thirteen or fourteen were standing in
front of the
mirror obsessing about their hair. Their
veils were draped around their shoulders and the pins that held them in
place
were held between their lips. One was
trying to put a younger girl’s hair into a pony tail, but bumps and
tangles
kept frustrating the process. I was
surprised that girls so young wear the veil. In
“Remaking the Modern,” by Farha Ghannam, while
explaining how she did
her field work in Egypt, Ghannam mentions that an informant suggested
that she
wear a scarf so that people know she is a Muslim and that she is
married
(12). Therefore, I assumed that most of
the women I would see wearing a scarf in Egypt would be married. Next I had time to be surprised that these
girls were fretting over their hair.
If
I could have, I would have asked them, “You care what your hair looks
like? Why?” It
seems crazy to me that people would care
about certain things that aren’t even visible publicly.
If my hair was covered, I wouldn’t worry
about what it looks like. If my face was
covered, I wouldn’t put make up on. These
teens weren’t wearing the full burkha and they may
not have to
wear it even after they get married. However,
I presumed that in a society that seems to
encourage this traditional
and religious dress, women would care less about visible aspects of
beauty.
It
could be that Egyptian society has turned hair and make up into more of
a
personal beauty. Maybe requiring women
to cover their hair has made it more of a symbol of beauty. These girls know what their hair looks like
under their veils and obviously that is important to them.
Perhaps
these girls could also relate to the circumstances facing young women
in India. According to Serena Nanda in “Arranging a
Marriage in India,”
arranged marriages are the norm and expected.
While
in India,
I wanted to try to do something that I would not be able to come back
and do on
my own. One of those activities was the
chance to visit a Dalit Village. Dalits exist outside the normal caste system;
beneath everyone else. It is not
something they chose, but are born into. During
this trip; I interacted with young women who were
attending Nursing School
for free as part of a
program to improve their status in society.
A
skit that they performed for the group of students that I visited the
school
with stands out in my mind as I recall the stay. It
carried many traditional Indian ideals,
with the underlying theme; “every girl must receive an education.”
This
skit started off with a couple celebrating their sixth anniversary. The wife was unhappy because they had not
been able to have any children yet. So,
together they went to a doctor who performed a “medical surgery” that
enables
the women to have two children. The wife
is so happy now because she has children even though they constantly
nag their
father for money to buy things with. One
day, the father leaves the house and she receives a call saying that
her
husband died from a heart attack. She is
devastated and has to tell her children that their father is dead. At the worst possible moment, a man comes to
the house and tells her that her husband took out a loan for money and
she
needs to repay the loan right away. She
begs the man to give her some time to raise the funds and eventually he
agrees
to give her until the end of the month. In
a moment of strength she declares that she will get a
job and support
her family and pay off her late husband’s debts. In
an epilogue, the woman explains that
because she had an education, she was able to get a job and support her
family. Her son and daughter were able
to go to school and she paid off her late husband’s debts.
As
demonstrated in the play, the wife did not feel fulfilled because she
had not
been able to get pregnant. Giving birth
to biological children is the only way this woman could feel complete
or
happy.
All
at once we were bombarded with traditional, Indian family ideals and a
new more
modern concept that the women of this school idealize.
When asked at what age they will get married
they quickly reply, “Twenty-one” and they all agree that it will be
arranged. The director of the school
confesses that a lot of the students who stay in the area don’t work
after graduation,
but simply get married and raise families. It
is expected that Indian brides stay home and soon have
children to
take care of. Their husbands will work
to support their families and the wife will only work if something
happens to
him or if a second income is needed.
Serena
Nada talks about the emphasis Indian culture places on the importance
of
family. The article depicts her
experience talking to young people about how they feel about arranged
marriages. I realize now that by
allowing the parents to arrange their children’s marriage, the process
involves
the entire family in the decision. In
every level of Indian society, family plays the most important role.
In
a completely different way, I saw two Japanese girls submitting to
cultural
pressures as well. The country was
covered in depictions of women with blonde hair and fair skin. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise
that its people would start to emulate those attributes.
Row
after row they all show the same thing; white straight teeth, long
blond hair,
fair flawless skin. The glossy images on
the boxes call to the women looking over the rows of dye.
Picking one up, they examine the box to see
what their hair would look like after using it. Alas,
their jet black hair will not turn out like the
girl’s in the
picture. So placing it back on the
shelf, they examine some other options.
In
this small department store located in Kobe, Japan,
people
pass behind them, not bothered by the quiet dilemma going on in these
women’s
minds. I can almost see them asking the
girls on the boxes, “How do we get our hair to look like yours?” From where I am standing beside them and
facing them, I can see the concentration on their faces.
It’s almost as if they know this isn’t going
to look good. Or that it may not
work. They are not laughing and playing
around like I do with my friends who want to dye their hair crazy
colors. They are aiming for the image on
the
boxes. Even though their complexions are
not perfect, their skin is not fair, and their hair is not flowing and
light in
color.
After
lifting some other boxes and examining the charts on their sides, they
decide
on a few and head over to the clerk. Once
they are clear of the shop I examine the shelves of
hair dye. Finally I come across what I am
looking
for. Tucked away on the bottom shelves,
far right of all hair dyes are some boxes with Asian women on them with
very
dark hair.
In
“Urban Middle-Class Japanese Women and Their White Faces,” Mikiko
Ashikari,
explains that people aim for and epitomize the ideals of their society. Whatever the dominant ideal look is for a
society; its members will attempt to embody it. This
ideal look may mean paler skin, bigger breasts, or a
slimmer waste. The women saw that the most
beautiful hair is
blonde. Even if it means they may have
to bleach their hair before coloring it, they were going for the
perfect
shade. There are many ideologies for a
society, but there is one that is more dominant than another and in
this case
it is the need to be a blonde. This is
evident in billboard after billboard of young western looking women
with light
colored hair.
Each
of these experiences shows how women strive to fit in to their society
or
naturally adapt to it, but try to maintain a sense of identity. The girls in Egypt concerned themselves
with
their hair because they know what it looked like underneath their veils. The girls in India
may be trying to educate themselves and grow in society, but they still
agree
to the traditional arranged marriage in India.
The girls in Japan were as fair as could
be and
had natural straight, black hair, but they were seemingly desperate to
have the
blonde hair depicted on the boxes of dye. All
of these girls were aiming for goals ideals set for
them by society
of by themselves. In these modern
countries full of images and social ideals, it must be difficult to
find an
individual and personal identity. It is
easier for me to look at these countries from the outside and judge and
observe
them then it is for me to do the same to my own country.
It is interesting for me to be able to
observe multiple countries and find patterns in each one.
Indeed, George E. Marcus explains in his
paper “Ethnography of the World System” that there is a growing trend
to cross
examine cultures in many different branches of science.
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