SOCA01H3 : dude you're a fag, instant karma, the atrophy of social life
Document Summary
This section examines how the mainstreaming and commercialization of indian culture has affected the identity of asian indians in the u. s. a. How first generation indians identify ethnically is a contest between old and new ethnic labels. Things like mehendi and bindis, and yoga lose their religious meanings when being taken up by the mainstream culture. Asian indian youth balance stereotypes with traditions and negotiate between the indian and. They try to keep their ethnic identity as simple as possible to avoid mistaken identifications. The american mainstream has a stereotypical idea of asian indians, and about what indian is. Yet they are not familiar with the non material concept of the culture (belief systems, values and social norms) Indian people are actually missing from this trend, it is only their material culture which is being commercialized, and which is being exposed to the mainstream. Although indian fashions are in, it does not mean that the culture itself is accepted.
