I'm a Third Culture Kid. A term coined by sociologist Ruth Hill Useem in the 1960s, a TCK refers to someone who “spends a significant portion of their lives outside their parent’s culture, and builds relationships to all the cultures, while not having full ownership in any”. Yes, I often suffer from culture shock when I return to my own "home" country. I went to an International school in Oman and my friends were from all over the world – the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, Africa, and some parts of Europe. I could sort them out by continent! All our cultures rubbed off on each other and I grew up becoming a little bit of everything. Every day I learned a little bit more about how different cultures view certain things, and one such day was during break, when I overheard two of my friends discussing the Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty incident.
In April 2007, at an AIDS-awareness American actor Richard Gere kissed Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty several times on the cheek in New Delhi, causing waves of anger and protests across India. One of my friends, a conservative Pakistani with Indian roots, was angry at the incident because it was an outright attack on their cultural values. “She has disgraced her family and her fans” said Miriam, “And Richard Gere imposing himself on her is right in line with the American mentality. They think they can do whatever they want, wherever they want”.
My other friend Latisha, a Ugandan who grew up in British School before moving into our school, laughed derisively. “It’s just a kiss” she exclaimed, “Why is the Indian public blowing it so out of proportion? They’re burning effigies of Richard Gere and burning photos of Shilpa Shetty. Why can’t these Indians just get with the times?”.
I sensed Miriam getting riled up at this comment. “Kissing in public may be okay for him but public displays of affection are still taboo in India and he should have been more respectful. And Shilpa Shetty shouldn’t have let it happen. Do not insult the public for wanting to protect their heritage!” At this point, Latisha must have realized she hit a nerve, because she quickly changed the subject.
Looking back on this conversation, I realized how intercultural conflicts can happen both in the macrocosm and microcosm. Richard Gere caused massive protests across India when he did something that wouldn’t have caused a flinch back in the US. Shilpa Shetty, of course couldn’t have been to blame. Pushing him off the pedestal would have been rather ungracious on her part, especially on national TV. Perhaps some of these protestors saw Gere's move as symbolic of the stereotype that all Americans were culturally insensitive and imposed their values carelessly on the rest of the world. And fundamentalist Hindu groups may have seen it as an affront to the moral values they hold so dear, in their own land. But people from other cultures like Latisha, may comprehend the reaction at face-value as simply an over-reaction by a public that “refuses to get with it”. Clearly, if only you looked beyond the tip of the iceberg, cultural practices and reactions that seemed bizarre upfront begin to to make more sense.
Both Miriam and Latisha were new to my school. Neither grew up with such close encounters with other cultures. They were both being stubbornly ethnocentric, and never saw the incident from a cross-cultural lens - precisely what Richard Gere too may have failed to do. Perhaps issuing arrest warrants for Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere was uncalled for. But even if it was an innocuous publicity stunt by an actor, Richard Gere could have prevented a lot of conflict with a little bit of cultural sensitivity on his part. It doesn’t take a Third Culture Kid to realize that in a postmodernist world, we’re not as isolated as we used to be. As global citizens we must all strive to be a little more understanding and culturally sensitized, and not see the world through our own culturally conditioned eyes only.
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http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/04_01/GereShilpa2AP_800x316.jpg
Hi Ranmali,
ReplyDeleteFrom the way Richard Gere kissed Shilpa Shetty, it does not look like a normal friendly pecks on the cheeks which most Americans and Europeans do when they greet someone.
I guess the Indians can't blame Shilpa Shetty either because it looks like Richard Gere actually lunge forward to grab and kiss her.I presumed that Shilpa Sheety did not expect him to behave in this manner.It isn't like both of them were in a relationship and it is quite rude for one to behave this way in public, on stage.Indeed, Richard Gere has seriously gone overboard when he potrayed this sort of affection in public,especially in culturally-sensitive societies.I am not at all surprise that some Indians would burn effigies of Richard Gere. He had already took a big step forward and had bypassed the cultural lines.
I believe that in each society has set a cultural line and a "tolerable" line where certain culturally-sensitive acts are deem to be mild and tolerable.In this case, Richard Gere had quite obviously crossed both lines.
LOL. I remembered when this incident happened, my dad was fuming mad too. My dad is rather conservative and he was angry that Richard Gere disrespected the conservative Indian culture when he forced a hug and a kiss on Shilpa Shetty. Even though I probably embrace the western culture more than my own, I see myself supporting his view. However, I must add that Richard Gere acting as an insensitive, “shameless” American is a stereotype. Not all Americans are comfortable with public display of affection although most of us Asians probably presume so.
ReplyDeleteIt is no surprise that the Indians reacted defensively at a large scale. The same thing happen when Shilpa Shetty was a victim of racism in the Big Brother reality show. Maybe the Indians feel passionately about defending their women?
Hey Deenise and Geraldine,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments! For this week's blog post, among the many amusing and not-so-amusing anecdotes of cultural faux pas I have both witnessed and made myself, I decided to talk about this one to both show how one act of insensitivity lead to strife, and how it was percieved by 2 different people of different cultural backgrounds. Yes Deenise, the pictures make me wonder how innocent Richard Gere's kiss really was. But the fact is, if this took place in a less conservative place, it wouldn't have caused the riptides that it did. It was why Latisha couldn't for the life of her understand what the big deal was about.
People should open their eyes more. Goes without saying for Richard Gere, but also to people with Latisha's mentality. Before saying things like "Why can't these Indians just get with the times", one must study the cultural context within which it happened, the reasoning behind the conflict and the moral values it reflects, dont you think?
And yep you're correct, Geraldine. I did mention that the perception that all Americans were culturally insensitive was a stereotype. A stereotype that Richard Gere may have nevertheless only perpetuated in the minds of the protestors.
Hey Ranmali,
ReplyDeleteYups I remember this incident too! There was a big hooha raised over the over enthusiasm of Richard Gere and that he stepped over the boundary of cultural norms. Like Deenise, I believe that Shilpa Shetty was not prepared for the onslaught of kisses from Gere, and she cannot be blamed for the behaviour of her co-host. It was not like she could push him away on stage with so many onlookers without seeming rude and aloof. If she had done so, there probably would have been reports in the US about Shilpa's insulting and discourteous action.
I guess, Gere should have been more restrained and make an effort to be more sensitive to other cultures.
Hello Ranmali,
ReplyDeleteI indeed do agree with Deenise. It does seem that Gere's actions were not as simple as a hug and a peck on the cheek. I think Shilpa shows signs of shock and distress from the pictures.
I think that Gere should be more cultural sensitive here. After all, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do". I mean, it is pretty common sense that one should 'behave' when they are in other countries. He certainly has crossed the line, with a huge chunk indeed. With his actions, it is not surprising that people would take that Americans take such things easily.
But blaming the incident on Shilpa would be uncalled for. It wasn't even like she was asking for it and it's very likely that she did not expect it! Of course, many would think that she agreed to this publicity stunt...
Ranmali: I guess that Latisha could have been more sensitive about her comments regarding this issue. However, if you think from another perspective, she is not that wrong to have said that comment. The world is no longer the world decades ago when countries can be very isolated from the rest of the world. Nowadays, most of the world is connected through globalization and should you think about culture as something specific to a country or should we be considering a kind of "global" culture? I am not saying we should be following the trail of any nation in particular, but there is surely an obvious global trend. If we jump onto the globalization train, isn't it logical to pick up a global culture as well? And I end off with a question. What exactly is culture in the context of a world that depends on globalization?
ReplyDeleteDear Soon Yee,
ReplyDeleteI think I have to disagree with you. I do not think that it is logical to pick up a “global” culture just because we embrace globalization. First of all, is there even a “global” culture? Yes, the American culture is definitely wide spread probably because our media is saturated with it. However, human beings are not passive recipients of culture or even globalization. They pick and choose what they want.
We have to remember that India stills holds on to most of its culture despite globalization. Their media is still dominated with their own productions. Kissing scenes had always been censored by a song until recently. Hence most of the Indian population is still uncomfortable with public display of affection. On the other hand, Latisha grew up around western culture and thus she sees kissing as a normal display of affection. Her view that India was overreacting was ethnocentric.
Even within a country, many cultures exist. For example in South India, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have a very different language, music and dance forms. So then can we see culture as something specific to a country? Factors such as generation, education and religion can also alter the way a specific culture is practiced since culture is dynamic. So what is culture? I believe that culture is shared values, beliefs and practices held by a group of people who may or may not share the same borders or even race.
Geraldine
Hey Soon Yee
ReplyDeleteSorry for this delay, I've just been absolutely swamped with work and I never had the time to sit down and write a proper reply. I'm extremely sleep-deprived but I shall try to write as coherently as I can!
Getting to your post, thanks for bringing it up. To answer your questions, I think one must first look at the very definition of "globalization". It's a ubiquitous phenomenon that has resulted in borders being crossed, cultures being blended, and certain traditional values being disintegrated. Ever-increasing intricate interconnections have been formed that mould our social lives and our very sense of identity. But inspite of all this intermixing, is the world really becoming homogenous? In this seething flow of cultures, many people pick their beliefs and ideas a la carte. I'd say societies are infact getting more heterogenous than ever with all these cross-cultural experiences. Globalization is clearly not making one culture out of many.
Another point to consider is that the "extent" of globalization differs from region to region. There is a difference in the degree to which globalization has penetrated society in the developing world and the developed world. For e.g. Rajasthan may be less globalized than Britain. In the presence of such varying economic and political factors, is there really such a thing as a unifying, all-ecompassing "global culture"? I think not.
In the failure to understand this imbalance of globalization and heteregoneity of culture, Latisha was being ethnocentric. Miriam's reaction to Latisha's comment was one fraught with emotion, and understandably so.
This is a really excellent post, Ranmali. First, you describe your own background as a "TCK" clearly and concisely with a solid academic reference, then you use that as a pretext for discussing varying cultural perspectives in the context of your classmates' views of the Gere-Shetty incident. Wow! And look at all the great feedback you've gotten.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the two girls whose perspectives you highlight had views that were so diametrically opposed. Oh the world we live in, even that of one school!
Anyway, thank you for sharing this with us. Much appreciated!
p.s. With regard to you statement in the commentary: Another point to consider is that the "extent" of globalization differs from region to region. There is a difference in the degree to which globalization has penetrated society in the developing world and the developed world. For e.g. Rajasthan may be less globalized than Britain. In the presence of such varying economic and political factors, is there really such a thing as a unifying, all-ecompassing "global culture"? I think not.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Regions throughout the world have varied and continue to do so in their manner of assimilating the vast universe of things we call "global culture." Traditional Pashtun Afghans in villages outside Kandahar may swear off "all things Western," but that doesn't seem to apply to Toyota Landcruisers and AK-47s. In short, objects of material culture might be welcomed wholeheartedly while values and norms shunned. To all the folks crying foul over Gere's stranglehold though, I'd say "yes," that was uncalled for. But I'd add "let's get real." Look at Bollywood and all the sex that is sold openly as artful film before we castigate the "West" for having dubious values.