Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The White Hindu

Home
Hindu
In Which I Take a Joke Too Seriously

In Which I Take a Joke Too Seriously

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:36 pm by Ambaa Choate

In Which I Take a Joke Too Seriously 2015-03-13T22:36:04-04:00 Ambaa Choate

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In response to my post about why I am called the “white” Hindu, someone linked this hilarious skit about white people who take trying to be South Asian too far…

I had to laugh out loud even though, yeah, I do recognize myself in her (and I haven’t even got the excuse of an Indian husband!) After cringing and laughing, I started to think (as I often do) and I wondered what is it about this behavior that makes us all uncomfortable?

Let’s be honest, this is a satire and is meant to exaggerate, but it’s not really exaggerating that much. Non-Indians enamored with India do do this. I do it to some extent.

So if this woman were a real person, what are her big mistakes?

Being Out of Context

The people she’s meeting with are young people in the UK who are of Indian heritage. She is behaving like their grandmother (or rather, a cliche of their grandmother). I think it is advisable to temper one’s love of Indian culture/clothes/etc. to fit the situation you are in. At a family wedding, everyone is likely to be delighted that the white wife is fitting in culturally.

Being a Cliche

It seems like she’s taking stereotypes of Indian people and being that exaggerated, not authentic, person. It immediately comes across as something that she’s doing because she finds Indian culture “neat” rather than as an expression of her true and authentic self.

Being Outside Her Own Culture

There’s immediately a question of whether she knows the background or history of the behaviors that she’s imitating. I have to wonder how we would feel about a young American or British woman of Indian heritage behaving like this? Would that change something? Actually, it wouldn’t change the being out of context part. I have a feeling this group would be equally startled if someone like themselves chose to behave in this way.

And these three things are what makes it funny. It is exaggerated and inauthentic. But if you know someone in your life who has recently discovered Indian culture, absolutely fallen in love, and goes over the top in trying to be Indian (when they are not), I would advise going easy on them. People get super excited when they discover something new that speaks to them. They go too far. But eventually they usually settle into it.

I found that when I first started putting Hinduism together with Indian culture, I wanted to do it all, be part of it all, get every detail right (and sure, go back two or three generations to do it). These days I’m more even keeled. I do the things that feel right to me and expressing who I am. I temper my dress and behavior according to where I am and what is most appropriate there.

You know, I always find it interesting that in any other religion, everyone would expect you to take on the dress and culture. If I became Orthodox Jewish, I would be expected to wear long skirts and cover my hair. If I became Reform Jewish, no one would be startled if I wore a star of David necklace. If I became Muslim, it wouldn’t be surprising if I chose to wear hijab. If I became Christian, everyone would be comfortable with me wearing a cross necklace.

Yet not with Hinduism.

When you wear things associated with Hinduism, people feel weird about it. Why is that? Because Hinduism has no dress code. A sari is not a Hindu item of clothing, it is an Indian item of clothing. It has strong ties to Hinduism, but is not actually Hindu. Well, long skirts don’t belong only to Orthodox Jews either. But with Hinduism not having a set of rules about dress, it makes it different.

So yes, I appear pretty ridiculous to plenty of people I’m sure. But if the worst that can happen is people rolling their eyes and thinking I’m over the top, if that’s the price for being true to myself, I can live with that.

RELATED POSTS:

Wild Card

ambaa

cultural appropriation

Previous Post

July 4, 2013

Cultural Appropriation and Me

Next Post

July 8, 2013 The Atman Provides

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Club Hindu Holiday How Am I Being a Hindu This Week? Inside the Life Meet a God Meet a Guru Movie Club Philosophy Corner Resources Scripture Uncategorized Wild Card

Select a Month February 2020 September 2019 May 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book of the Bible has the longest chapter?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Psalms Genesis Isaiah Jeremiah