African culture /African Ethopian marriage

When a mature girl has reached puberty and to mark the change of identity from girl to woman ,teens begin the process of stretching their lips.They do this by cutting a centimeter long incision on their lower lip and plugging it with a wooden peg.Once the initial cut is healed,it is replaced with longer peg.Once the hole is large enough ,the first day or wooden plate(approx 4 cm across) is inserted.Over a year,plates can become progressively large from 8 to 20 centimeter.


The plates are not necessary to be worn at all times,and it is not uncommon to see women without them,however unmarried girls  wear them in public and those that do not are considered as someone who does things in a hasty or clumsy manner and her bride price may be considered lower.Wearing a lip plate defines a woman as mature,fertile and ready for marriage.Once married,the plates remind her of her ties to her culture and her husband.If her husband dies,the plate must be thrown away.Even if a woman is taken in by one of her deceased husband's brother ,it is unlikely that she will wear a lip plate unless she is very young and without children. Similarly, if a close relative dies such as a brother,a woman will not wear her lip plate for many months of until her friend go to her to discuss and  talk about the death and tell that it is the time that she stop mourning.

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BANYAI TRIBE

Banyai are people who are residents of the Zambezi plateau  in Zimbabwe.This cultural group has strong religious believes that they practice.They believe that their ancestors can communicate using animals.During the Chimurenga war when blacks were colonized by whites,the (go away) bird used to communicate to the blacks to flee from the enemy were by it could shout near their home stead (vani vani chilopa chontu) this meant that go away go away human liver will be removed.This phrase asserts that people were supposed to move and hibernate in order to survive from the enemy.

According to oral tradition lions were not harmful to humans instead they respected human beings.When lions catches prey it kills it near the home steads of villagers so that they get meat from the prey.As soon as it leaves the prey it then goes back in the jungle. More-so in times of danger lions flee from the jungle in order to find fortress from human beings.In as much as lions are afraid of Lycaon  pictus (wild dogs) they come near human beings when they are about to be attacked bearing in mind that they will be protected since they also help by providing with prey.

There is also some thing unique about the Banyai tribe,as beliefs are concerned.Near the Zambezi valley there is a placed chakona chakakona banyai  this place was named after the second chimurenga war.During this war the Banyai received instructions from the ancestors throu
gh spirits mediums on how to escape from  the enemy.They were told to put a long log across the Zambezi river so that the whole tribe cross to the other side of the river.All of them crossed safely but nevertheless the white also attempted to cross using the same log but they all drowned and died in the Zambezi river,the second groups of white also tried to cross using the same log and they all died.When the war came to an  end the  ancestors told them to go back to their land using the same route.All of them crossed safely using the same log that drowned the whites hence the name (chakona chakakona banyai)  which implies that the warriors did not conqure the tribe of Banyai which is now known as the Nambia people.

INFLUENCE OF CULTURE IN RELATIONSHIPS

At the societal level,structural conflict leads to real conflict by creating mistrust among the different categories of people,leading to problems such as ethnic.Culture differs according to norms,rules and expectations that different people proprieties.Most women who are married through arranged marriages are probability likely to be unhappy in those marriages taking into consideration that it will include  cultural involvement.Cross cultural marriages have always created many problems due to the fact that people have got different world views pertaining the issues that have to do with  marriage as culture is concerned.A lot of inter racial couples mistake cultural influence for personality flaws.The ability to differentiate between a cultural norm and a personal quick is very important to prevent any misunderstandings or issues regarding compatibility.The difference between a cultural influence and a personal behavior is that cultural influence is easier to change.It is natural to change ,and cultural influence does not define our core personality but mere its outfit ,and because it is natural to change and adapt,the longer anyone stays in different cultures other than their own the more they  are provoked to view things differently.

CULTURAL CLOTHING

Traditional clothing plays an important role in the countries history and culture. These clothing's  also makes it easy for identity purposes.The sari,India-ostensibly the simplest item of clothing possible a single length of fabric,up to nine meters long,the sari is also one of the world,s most versatile and stylish garment.Herero women,Namibia have a unique way of dressing ,their dresses is an adaption of Victorian dress,as worn by the German colonists.They fought in a bloody conflict at the start of the twentieth century,and now retained as a proud part of Herero identity.The Silhouette is distinctive a full,floor length-skirt,fitted bodice with puffed sleeve,with a magnificent horn-shaped hat,the shape of cattle horns,completing the look. Sardinia traditional dress Italy,its mixed history is evident in its traditional dress,elements of which have strong Spanish and Moorish influences.Through each village has its own style,there are common feature,a veil bonnet or shawl,long pleated skirts and richly embroidered blouses.Some of the most spectacular are from the province of Nuono.

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Cultural  exchange can be defined as a process by which people of the world are unified into a society and function together.It is also known as a non profit literacy based multi cultural arts organization  for children.Every culture in the world is made up of traditions and values.Culture  may concern with individual values or group values.Cultural exchange fills a void through innovative educational programs that integrate award winning multicultural literature with the visual and  performing arts .It helps to bring an international presence to your work force.Cultural exchange provides an opportunity to create an environment where employees can embrace learning about a new cultures and give back by sharing about their personal heritage,custom and culture. More so it increase cultural knowledge with increased employ-ability.Many host companies tend to see that employees involved with cultural exchange programs improved customer support skills developing patience,refining communication,and providing excellent service.Cultural exchange helps people to have strong cultural identification and it gives them the opportunity to interact face to face and overcoming negative stereotypes.Every cultural group act different and also think differently, due to that fact that they get to exchange views,ideas,thought so that it makes them to adjust with each other that help them to cross culturally mingle.

The significance of music and dance in Indian culture

Indians  view  music  as a way of interaction,celebrating and relaying  historic events.They are used in marriage, birth ,rites of passage,hunting, ward of evil spirits and political activities.They also add dances in their music.Dancers symbolic gestures,masks,costumes,body painting and prop express the emotion of joy or sorrow.All though culture is diverse in India it still binds the country together in some form of common identification.Folk dance is one of the examples of cultural dances that are found in India.The dance  is simply without naive, for behind it's simplicity lie both profundity of conception and a directness of expression which are of great artistic values.The concept of portraying emotion is generally speaking foreign to folk dance and what is expressed in nature and original.The  total effect of the overwhelming buoyancy of spirit and the eloquent effortless ease with which it is expressed is very important.It has intimate relationship with functions of  life,food gathering,harvest,rite rituals and beliefs.The concept of music and dance elucidate that culture is a mirror that portrays the life style of human race.

ORIGINS OF CULTURE

According to Schwartz 1992 on line defines culture as a set of shared attitude,value,goals,and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. Taylor 1870 further defines culture as the integrated  pattern of human knowledge,belief and behavior that   depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations.When we distill these two definitions it can be said that culture is a set of paradigms that govern a person's life ,weather self determined or received  from others.

Regarding the origins of culture it is not known with certainty but there are various theories that can help us understand its origins, for the purpose of clarity this discourse will discuss only one  theories just to give an insight of the obscure beginnings of culture. First ,it becomes clear that society exits only in the projections of its members,that is in their action orientations and expectations and( Parsons 1953:52-53).Culture become the pure and free creation of mind Sheldon 1951:39) this implies that culture is subjective.Parson definition also implies that the actors depend on the use of shared symbols in order to co ordinate, in an order and stable way , their motivations,cognition,and need-dispositions,and consequently,their attitude concerning their social and nonsocial factional situations.

One is tempted to say culture is some thing that originates in the DNA of human being some they can do it unconsciously .Human beings are nothing with out culture because it defines who they are ,if culture was taken away from the people and treated as a necessity human race would be vanity.