Today we visited a Women Entrepreneurs, WE, meeting. The name kind of explains it. It was also kind of boring.
The main goal is to empower women. We in the U.S. have a different idea of what that means. There were a lot of questions that we thrown about today that frustrated me.
So, here is a little rant about our cultural insensitivities.
1. Indian men run the household. Indian women submit to their husbands.
bah. I should write a book. or become president. :)
Anyway.
We did a lot of interviewing and research for our project today. Have I ever told you how I feel about group projects?
Oh, while we were interviewing more women I met an adorable young girl. Her name was Uma, she was in 6th grade, and she knew how to speak English really well. All of the kids had just gotten out of school and they were swarming us, asking questions. She would translate for them. She tried to teach me how to say the word 'friend' in Tamil but I messed up horribly and she laughed at me.
Speaking of which...I made a fool of myself today. Lesson learned: never try to clime over a rope fence in a skirt. sigh. The poor doorman had to watch the whole incident without laughing. And then he had to fix the fence because I snapped the rope in half. The good news is that my newly purchased glass bottle of orange soda survived the fall without spilling a drop! :)
Tomorrow, I present my part of the project and then I get the rest of the day off. No touring, no homework, and no interviewing.
I think I might sit in the sunshine. :)
In Christ
~Michelle
The main goal is to empower women. We in the U.S. have a different idea of what that means. There were a lot of questions that we thrown about today that frustrated me.
So, here is a little rant about our cultural insensitivities.
1. Indian men run the household. Indian women submit to their husbands.
It continues to bug me that we assume the women feel oppressed because the husband plays such a large role in their lives. Sure there are overbearing husbands and the women don’t have as many rights. But, not all of their husbands are that way and that is what the women are used to. That is what they expect. Some even are grateful that their husbands take such a strong role in the family. Why is this such a foreign concept to us? arg.
2. Marriages in India are arranged by the parents of both the man and the woman.
It also frustrates me to hear some people talking like it is the craziest thing ever and that it encouraged domestic violence and a life of misery. Once again, this is their culture. They don’t expect to marry into complete bliss and wonderment. Unlike our fairytale ideals they actually understand the realities of marriage. That’s why their marriages last longer than ours. I think we should learn from that.
Oh, and they actually try to get back together if they have a rough spot in their marriage. Isn't that just ghastly! (sarcasm intended).bah. I should write a book. or become president. :)
Anyway.
We did a lot of interviewing and research for our project today. Have I ever told you how I feel about group projects?
Oh, while we were interviewing more women I met an adorable young girl. Her name was Uma, she was in 6th grade, and she knew how to speak English really well. All of the kids had just gotten out of school and they were swarming us, asking questions. She would translate for them. She tried to teach me how to say the word 'friend' in Tamil but I messed up horribly and she laughed at me.
Speaking of which...I made a fool of myself today. Lesson learned: never try to clime over a rope fence in a skirt. sigh. The poor doorman had to watch the whole incident without laughing. And then he had to fix the fence because I snapped the rope in half. The good news is that my newly purchased glass bottle of orange soda survived the fall without spilling a drop! :)
Tomorrow, I present my part of the project and then I get the rest of the day off. No touring, no homework, and no interviewing.
I think I might sit in the sunshine. :)
In Christ
~Michelle
1 comment:
Ha! I'm sure he went home and laughed about the clumsy american girl. :) You were probably quite ladylike about it too...
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