Belonging and Cultural Norms - Sakshi Shrivastava
It must be such a luxury to have a week or two off from school or work to celebrate a holiday culturally important to you. It's something I've never really had the chance to experience.
Some people are more taken aback by this than others, but I don't celebrate Christmas or Easter. I'm not Christian; my family is Hindu, and even though we participate in the overall holiday cheer and love having vacations, there has always been a sense of being distanced from it all.
And it's not just me and my religion. Hasan Minhaj, a Muslim South Asian American comedian, also admits that he never celebrated Christmas growing up in a humorous video where he tries out various Christmas traditions, never truly enjoying or identifying with them.
Watching this video for the first time was almost cathartic for me. I enjoy listening to Christmas music and giving gifts and gorging myself on baked goods at that time of year, but I've always felt out of place when it comes to fully participating in them. They aren’t who I am.
In this world, we're becoming a little more aware with just how diverse the world actually is in terms of religion. Still, even as we make some facetious efforts towards inclusion, the very structure of how we do things in the U.S.—and much of the global "West"—is heavily oriented around just one religion: Christianity. Even when we rename the time off to more secular titles like "winter break" or "spring break" instead of Christmas or Easter, the fact of the matter remains that they're still scheduled around those celebrations, which are considered the “norm.”
My important holidays were never given time off from school. We scurry around the house to make sweets for Durga pooja, run to the store for Diwali sparklers, and squeeze in Holi celebrations after school or work, juggling homework and deadlines and putting in the requests that, you see, no, I can't turn in that paper tomorrow because I have something important to do tonight, and still figuring out how to get to sleep on time for tomorrow morning's usual rush. It gave me a sense of cultural alienation; I have to justify and explain my culture in order to request extensions or exceptions from school. Having nonwestern culture marks you as “other,” prevents you from truly belonging.
On the flip side, these cultural celebrations are my home. They hold significance for me, bringing me a deeper connection to my family. Our society assumes that Christian holidays are universal to us all, but we all deserve for where we belong to receive recognition and respect from the larger society around us, no matter what culture or religion.
Some people are more taken aback by this than others, but I don't celebrate Christmas or Easter. I'm not Christian; my family is Hindu, and even though we participate in the overall holiday cheer and love having vacations, there has always been a sense of being distanced from it all.
And it's not just me and my religion. Hasan Minhaj, a Muslim South Asian American comedian, also admits that he never celebrated Christmas growing up in a humorous video where he tries out various Christmas traditions, never truly enjoying or identifying with them.
Watching this video for the first time was almost cathartic for me. I enjoy listening to Christmas music and giving gifts and gorging myself on baked goods at that time of year, but I've always felt out of place when it comes to fully participating in them. They aren’t who I am.
In this world, we're becoming a little more aware with just how diverse the world actually is in terms of religion. Still, even as we make some facetious efforts towards inclusion, the very structure of how we do things in the U.S.—and much of the global "West"—is heavily oriented around just one religion: Christianity. Even when we rename the time off to more secular titles like "winter break" or "spring break" instead of Christmas or Easter, the fact of the matter remains that they're still scheduled around those celebrations, which are considered the “norm.”
My important holidays were never given time off from school. We scurry around the house to make sweets for Durga pooja, run to the store for Diwali sparklers, and squeeze in Holi celebrations after school or work, juggling homework and deadlines and putting in the requests that, you see, no, I can't turn in that paper tomorrow because I have something important to do tonight, and still figuring out how to get to sleep on time for tomorrow morning's usual rush. It gave me a sense of cultural alienation; I have to justify and explain my culture in order to request extensions or exceptions from school. Having nonwestern culture marks you as “other,” prevents you from truly belonging.
On the flip side, these cultural celebrations are my home. They hold significance for me, bringing me a deeper connection to my family. Our society assumes that Christian holidays are universal to us all, but we all deserve for where we belong to receive recognition and respect from the larger society around us, no matter what culture or religion.
I love how you connected this to Hasan Minaji and his video about Christmas! It's really interesting how the majority of supposedly secular countries have so many of their holidays based on Christian religious days even though France, for example, has such a vehement separation of religion and state. Do you think experiencing the feeling of being an "other" has changed how you view the idea of belonging? I think that could be an interesting way to expand your thinking, potentially something along the lines of what we discussed in CSI when we talked about the fish and being able to describe water.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing blog post! As an Indian-American myself, I can wholeheartedly relate to everything referenced–especially the holidays. It is very frustrating to see the gap between this country's level of acceptance for Western cultures and its acceptance (or lack thereof) for nonWestern cultures. Such instances of disparity between what Americans define as equality and how it is translated into everyday life makes one question whether the country really does live up to its nickname of "a melting pot of cultures." Maybe consider expanding more on what connects you to your culture? I think the problem of a split cultural identity is one that many immigrants have, and it might help provide some more background to your blog post.
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