What a lovely culture.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44998378/ns/world_news-wonderful_world/
QuoteName changers: 285 Indian girls no longer 'unwanted'
District hopes renaming ceremony will give girls new dignity, fight discrimination
By CHAYA BABU
updated 10/22/2011 11:54:16 AM ET 2011-10-22T15:54:16
- MUMBAI, India — Hundreds of Indian girls whose names mean "unwanted" in Hindi chose new names Saturday for a fresh start in life.
A central Indian district held a renaming ceremony it hopes will give the girls new dignity and help fight widespread gender discrimination that gives India a skewed gender ratio, with far more boys than girls.
The girls — wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair — lined up to receive certificates with their new names along with small flower bouquets from Satara district officials in Maharashtra state.
In shedding names like "Nakusa" or "Nakushi," which mean "unwanted" in Hindi, some girls chose to name themselves after Bollywood stars like "Aishwarya" or Hindu goddesses like "Savitri." Some just wanted traditional names with happier meanings, such as "Vaishali" or "prosperous, beautiful and good."
"Now in school, my classmates and friends will be calling me this new name, and that makes me very happy," said a 15-year-old girl who had been named Nakusa by a grandfather disappointed by her birth. She chose the new name "Ashmita," which means "very tough" or "rock hard" in Hindi.
The plight of girls in India came to a focus as this year's census showed the nation's sex ratio had dropped over the past decade from 927 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of 6 to 914.
Maharashtra state's ratio is well below that, with just 883 girls for every 1,000 boys — down from 913 a decade ago. In the district of Satara, it is even lower at 881.
Such ratios are the result of abortions of female fetuses, or just sheer neglect leading to a higher death rate among girls. The problem is so serious in India that hospitals are legally banned from revealing the gender of an unborn fetus in order to prevent sex-selective abortions, though evidence suggests the information gets out.
Part of the reason Indians favor sons is the enormous expense of marrying off girls. Families often go into debt arranging marriages and paying for elaborate dowries. A boy, on the other hand, will one day bring home a bride and dowry. Hindu custom also dictates that only sons can light their parents' funeral pyres.
Fighting on behalf of girls
Over the years, and again now, there are efforts to fight the discrimination.
"Nakusa is a very negative name as far as female discrimination is concerned," said Satara district health officer Dr. Bhagwan Pawar, who came up with the idea for the renaming ceremony.
Other incentives, announced by federal or state governments every few years, include free meals and free education to encourage people to take care of their girls, and even cash bonuses for families with girls who graduate from high school.
Activists say the name "unwanted," which is widely given to girls across India, gives them the feeling they are worthless and a burden.
"When the child thinks about it, you know, 'My mom, my dad, and all my relatives and society call me unwanted,' she will feel very bad and depressed," said Sudha Kankaria of the organization Save the Girl Child. But giving these girls new names is only the beginning, she said.
"We have to take care of the girls, their education and even financial and social security, or again the cycle is going to repeat."
Wow, that IS fucked up.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on October 22, 2011, 04:58:31 PM
What a lovely culture.
Well, at least it's better than Chinese or Japanese culture.
Is our culture the only one that is not fucked up?
As long as it's done through abortions it's totally meh.
Quote from: Martinus on October 22, 2011, 05:06:16 PM
Is our culture the only one that is not fucked up?
Polish culture is pretty fucked up.
Quote from: Martinus on October 22, 2011, 05:06:16 PM
Is our culture the only one that is not fucked up?
'Our'? That's pretty presumptuous of you, don't you think?
Quote from: Neil on October 22, 2011, 05:19:06 PM
Quote from: Martinus on October 22, 2011, 05:06:16 PM
Is our culture the only one that is not fucked up?
'Our'? That's pretty presumptuous of you, don't you think?
It's cute how he wants to be a westerner.
Quote from: Habbaku on October 22, 2011, 05:17:20 PM
Quote from: Martinus on October 22, 2011, 05:06:16 PM
Is our culture the only one that is not fucked up?
Polish culture is pretty fucked up.
As is Western Culture. Just less fucked up than the alternatives.
Quote from: The Brain on October 22, 2011, 05:07:49 PM
As long as it's done through abortions it's totally meh.
Since our laws do allow abortion for gender selection, in one sense it's a bit hypocritical to look down on India for this. But it can't be anywhere as common for it to happen in the West, because we don't have anywhere near that big a difference in the number of male and female births (unless there's been a
huge demographic shift that we've not noticed).
Also, the article mentions young girls dying at a higher rate because of neglect.
Aborting girls is rather lame but I suppose one way of looking
at it is it helps in sorting India's too large birthrate.
The potential trouble from India and China with their many
men unable to find women though.... who knows how that
will end up.
Calling girls unwanted- at first it makes me a laugh a little
at the sheer fairy tail messedupness of it all. But...yeah.
Poor girls. At least they seem to be doing OK, one they
talk to is still in school at 15 and all that.
Quote from: Martinus on October 22, 2011, 05:06:16 PM
Is our culture the only one that is not fucked up?
I thought you would be pleased with this. It will encourage homosexuality.
I never held much stock in India or its women, but they aren't completely without their charms.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-21/india/30305734_1_life-expectancy-infant-mortality-rate-muslims
Naming your kid 'Unwanted' is pretty despicable.
Quote from: dps on October 22, 2011, 05:03:57 PM
Well, at least it's better than Chinese or Japanese culture.
hiss, lumping China and Japan together? Japan deserves a lot better than that. Also, what about its glittering culture bothers you?
Yeah it is pretty awful that a district would try and do such a thing...lol wut?
Why do we care?
Let the savages be savages.
By what measure are Indians savages? I don't buy it.
Quote from: Tyr on October 22, 2011, 10:05:05 PM
Calling girls unwanted- at first it makes me a laugh a little
at the sheer fairy tail messedupness of it all. But...yeah.
Poor girls. At least they seem to be doing OK, one they
talk to is still in school at 15 and all that.
A couple of points:
1. There's enough fairy tail on this forum as it is.
2. In the west a guy can get named Hunter.
Lettow, I know you are an idiot, but even an idiot should know that China was the only reason Japanese civilization ever surpassed the Maoris.
Quote from: Queequeg on October 23, 2011, 02:02:44 AM
Lettow, I know you are an idiot, but even an idiot should know that China was the only reason Japanese civilization ever surpassed the Maoris.
As explained in this episode of Hetalia:
http://www.goodanime.net/hetalia-axis-powers-episode-16
Hetalia is terrible fujoshibait.
China is the greatest Asian country, and Japan is the greatest country in the far east.
Actually, this reminds me of a relatively funny custom practised by early Poles (I think until 12th century or so) and possibly other people. When children were born they were given derogatory names, the equivalent of something like "Unwanted", "Ugly", "Creep" etc. as a way of diverting the attention of devils and evil spirits. Only when a kid reached 4 or 5, and was deemed "safe", he or she was given a proper, nice name like Gzgzgzgislaw or Brzizvivoj :)
I wonder if market forces will eventually force a cultural change. When women get scarce, their value should grow and the custom of having to pay a big dowry should invert itself.
Quote from: Martinus on October 23, 2011, 04:18:54 AM
Actually, this reminds me of a relatively funny custom practised by early Poles (I think until 12th century or so) and possibly other people. When children were born they were given derogatory names, the equivalent of something like "Unwanted", "Ugly", "Creep" etc. as a way of diverting the attention of devils and evil spirits. Only when a kid reached 4 or 5, and was deemed "safe", he or she was given a proper, nice name like Gzgzgzgislaw or Brzizvivoj :)
It actually made sense, consdiering the child mortality in those days. I read somewhere that emotional bonds to young children were very lose in the middle ages because of them dying so frequently.
Quote from: Lettow77 on October 23, 2011, 03:06:55 AM
China is the greatest Asian country, and Japan is the greatest country in the far east.
That is why they call Japanese the "The Yankees of the East". What you love in Japan, is what you confess to hate in your own country men.
Japanese culture is just another Western culture. I'm neutral on it. On the other hand, I'm quite bullish on Japan in general due to their construction of dreadnought battleships.
Quote from: Neil on October 23, 2011, 09:17:04 AM
Japanese culture is just another Western culture. I'm neutral on it. On the other hand, I'm quite bullish on Japan in general due to their construction of dreadnought battleships.
The Yamato was junk.
Quote from: Ed Anger on October 23, 2011, 12:41:00 PM
Quote from: Neil on October 23, 2011, 09:17:04 AM
Japanese culture is just another Western culture. I'm neutral on it. On the other hand, I'm quite bullish on Japan in general due to their construction of dreadnought battleships.
The Yamato was junk.
It suffered from the problems that all Japanese warships of WWII had: Inadequate AA weapons. At least it had decent armour.
Quote from: Razgovory on October 22, 2011, 05:26:48 PM
It's cute how he wants to be a westerner.
He's got quite few ticks from narrowminded left to do. :yes:
Quote from: DGuller on October 23, 2011, 01:28:50 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 22, 2011, 05:26:48 PM
It's cute how he wants to be a westerner.
He's got quite few ticks from narrowminded left to do. :yes:
Not to mention max his stability.
Quote from: Queequeg on October 23, 2011, 02:02:44 AM
Lettow, I know you are an idiot, but even an idiot should know that China was the only reason Japanese civilization ever surpassed the Maoris.
Maoris were cool. They totally masacred the Moriori.
They also fought the "Musket War" among themselves, proving the true power of social evolution science today.
Quote from: Zanza on October 23, 2011, 04:39:46 AM
I wonder if market forces will eventually force a cultural change. When women get scarce, their value should grow and the custom of having to pay a big dowry should invert itself.
Retrovert cultural change is very slow these days because widespread literacy and redily avalaible cultural records.
More likely, their culture will be penetrated and softened by western culture and values.
But abandoning their cultural values due to market foreces? Unlikely.
Quote from: Solmyr on October 23, 2011, 02:31:44 PM
Quote from: DGuller on October 23, 2011, 01:28:50 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 22, 2011, 05:26:48 PM
It's cute how he wants to be a westerner.
He's got quite few ticks from narrowminded left to do. :yes:
Not to mention max his stability.
Poland still needs to get around to replacing that "kill all the Jews" National Idea.
Quote from: Solmyr on October 23, 2011, 02:31:44 PM
Quote from: DGuller on October 23, 2011, 01:28:50 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on October 22, 2011, 05:26:48 PM
It's cute how he wants to be a westerner.
He's got quite few ticks from narrowminded left to do. :yes:
Not to mention max his stability.
He still wouldn't have a administration rating high enough.