ANTH 1a Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Burqa, Ethnomedicine, Medical Anthropology

• School: Brandeis University
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANTH 1a
• Professor: Anjaria Ulka

Document Summary

Higher class = more veiling = more honor at stake. Female street vendors see burqa as aspirational- can"t afford the luxury of isolating themselves from public life like that. Malinowski and benedict (1930s): culture is an idea meant to emphasize common humanity. Ex. to debunk racist hierarchies- now being used to emphasize essential differences. Poetry of defiance coinciding with the ideology of honor . Culture may provide framework but it doesn"t dictate every action. Moral standards are seen as individual achievements rather than obligations. Eurocentric idea that people must not want to choose modesty. Different levels of modesty expected from different societies: power: idea of saving , clothing: reduces muslim women"s experience to single article of clothing, freedom: needs to be expanded. Healing practices intertwined with understanding of body. Conceptions of body as vessel, machine, secular closed off individual, open system, two spirits. Disease: discrete, natural entity that can be identified and treated by a health program.