My Own Struggle.

[Rousedruminations]

In a highly conservative and you could say reactionary community of Srilankan Tamils, for 22 years of my life the so called community in the city that i live in had put a lid on my life and sealed it so it could eventually be a planned end for another youth in that community, that is, to be a pure SL Tamil who adheres strictly to the Hindu religion. Rebelliously i have fought against it recently as i was born and brought up in Australia.

I i have to concede that, i will always be an Australian (Aussie) first and then 2nd, probably a Srilankan, however, i take immense pleausre in living the aussie life with in such a community. This abberation is in a condescending manner look down upon by those younger, the same age as me or older and i am slowly becoming more vexed and irate about the current situation, not just in my life but with those around me as i do pity them for being very conservative or at least reactionary in the way they live their life.

The community is opposed to interracial marriages, it still uses the caste system to a certain extent, it opposes gay marriages and strongly advocates 'arranged' marriages so the purity with in the such a community is maintained. Mixed marriages are frowned upon, and they feel ashamed to be at least related/associated with the SL individual. What i find bizzarre is that even after living here for more than 25 years most of the elderly are still living in that 'box' of thinking, living the most linear life you could think of and never stepping out at least ? What has me worried is their oppressive tendencies to force feed a specific cultural influence with in the kids my age and younger , so it brainwashes them , thus it has an effect of not letting them ' think ' for themselves ? and even if they are aware, they haven't got the fire, spirit or courage to change things or speak up about these issues ? Progress would be very slow in this community to at least liberalize it , to uplift those to be more open-minded and progressive ? Yet i am moving out of this community soon ? .. thoughts about changing it perhaps (internal ) -- external ?

[Bad Grrrl Agro]

In hinduism, isn't it considered bad luck to anger a hijra?

[Lenina Rosenweg]

As I understand hijras have a place in Hindu culture but otherwise are generally looked down on. It is considered almost obligatory for hijras to be a part of traditional Hindu weddings, but then people give them money so they will leave. India and I guess Sri Lanka has a tightknit family system which can be difficult if one is lgbt.

Is Rousedruminations trans? I didn't see that.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

In a highly conservative and you could say reactionary community of Srilankan Tamils, for 22 years of my life the so called community in the city that i live in had put a lid on my life and sealed it so it could eventually be a planned end for another youth in that community, that is, to be a pure SL Tamil who adheres strictly to the Hindu religion. Rebelliously i have fought against it recently as i was born and brought up in Australia.

I i have to concede that, i will always be an Australian (Aussie) first and then 2nd, probably a Srilankan, however, i take immense pleausre in living the aussie life with in such a community. This abberation is in a condescending manner look down upon by those younger, the same age as me or older and i am slowly becoming more vexed and irate about the current situation, not just in my life but with those around me as i do pity them for being very conservative or at least reactionary in the way they live their life.

The community is opposed to interracial marriages, it still uses the caste system to a certain extent, it opposes gay marriages and strongly advocates 'arranged' marriages so the purity with in the such a community is maintained. Mixed marriages are frowned upon, and they feel ashamed to be at least related/associated with the SL individual. What i find bizzarre is that even after living here for more than 25 years most of the elderly are still living in that 'box' of thinking, living the most linear life you could think of and never stepping out at least ? What has me worried is their oppressive tendencies to force feed a specific cultural influence with in the kids my age and younger , so it brainwashes them , thus it has an effect of not letting them ' think ' for themselves ? and even if they are aware, they haven't got the fire, spirit or courage to change things or speak up about these issues ? Progress would be very slow in this community to at least liberalize it , to uplift those to be more open-minded and progressive ? Yet i am moving out of this community soon ? .. thoughts about changing it perhaps (internal ) -- external ?

Would you be able to share what it is about your community which you find most oppressive? Is it a specific issue or is it more a general feeling of confinement? what issues are you most interested in?

[Rousedruminations]

It is essentially a general feeling of confinement. It is the basic premise that one cannot marry outside the ethnic background of Srilankan Tamils, instead the marriages are arranged specifically by the parents where one family may seek another as a means for a financial end ( greater wealth and prosperity). In coercively limiting interracial marriages they purify their own racial identity where the culture slowly becomes more homogenous rather than hetrogeneous. You could almost equate what happens in our community to adolf hitler's ambitions - One race, culture and nationality. The caste system is still practiced in India and Srilanka but it has progressively died down now. The system basically inhibits the future accomplishments of an individual based on their sole historical identity, for example, if a persons father was a janitor , that person would be frowned upon in society because of his father and in the scenario of reaching higher positions in life he/she would be normally emotionally, sublty be considered a dengenerate or at least a reject. If he were to achieve for higher aims than that of his father he would be laughed or mocked at, its a similar thing here but less intense. This sort of system has flowed into countries such as a Australia where ethnic communities still uphold this reactionary, conservative and discrimnatory view. Gay marriages is also denounced in such communities where assimilation with the wider liberal/progressive and possibly left community is seriously considered a threat and yes i am perhaps considered one if i were to change their views (especially the elderly and some of the brainwashed youth .. well not all).

As for the Hijras its the first time ive ever heard of such a thing, so in the community that im associated with, and that i am estranged from now because of my views there is no such thing. If one were to be a hijra people would not associate with that person. Is it considered bad luck to anger a hijra ? .. i am totally clueless about that ! sorry for my ignorance

[Lenina Rosenweg]

In the city in the US I used to live in I've known people in the small ethnic Buddhist Bangledeshi community. It is a tightknit community. They value education but also can be very confining and controlling, particularly for young women. For lgbt people I would assume its even worse.

I don't have easy answers. You could remove yourself from the community, although that can be difficult. As I understand Australia has a problem of racism against South Asians and recent Tamil refugees. You could try to find some sort of compromise so you could live your own life but also not be cut off from family.

I don't know about the UK but for better or worse English speaking settler societies-Canada, US, Australia are more open and fluid then more traditional societies with built in caste and class systems, but of course they have been founded on a racist basis.

Other people might have more insight.

[Rousedruminations]

Well being estranged is one and i could two, change their views in the limited time i have... yes of course but the communities of different nationalities do their utmost so integration is impossible. Instead they view it as a threat and proclaim that their race is superior over the others, racism is subtly inherent in the many different forms of manifestation that takes place here. Thank you anyway.

[Rousedruminations]

Again, i think this is most prominent as well in the Islamic countries where the primitiveness of the religion inhibits the rights of women being employable, or at least considered to be human ? If i can recall, there was a stoning of a women in some middle eastern country because she was not a dutiful house wife ? I'm sure similiar stories would spring from those countries where religion is extremely and scrupulously conservative...above all women should not be descriminated against. It's not just women but as i said interracial marriages are considered to be condemnation against the purity of one's ethnic identity and that as far as i am concerned creates another barrier between two constrasting cultures ... this seriously hampers my thougts, views or political leanings .. prejudicial views need not to exist which contain superfical meanings thus a much higher level of tolerance requires the ability to logically ractionalzie, understand something with a feeling of love...

[Bad Grrrl Agro]

Again, i think this is most prominent as well in the Islamic countries where the primitiveness of the religion inhibits the rights of women being employable, or at least considered to be human ? If i can recall, there was a stoning of a women in some middle eastern country because she was not a dutiful house wife ? I'm sure similiar stories would spring from those countries where religion is extremely and scrupulously conservative...above all women should not be descriminated against. It's not just women but as i said interracial marriages are considered to be condemnation against the purity of one's ethnic identity and that as far as i am concerned creates another barrier between two constrasting cultures ... this seriously hampers my thougts, views or political leanings .. prejudicial views need not to exist which contain superfical meanings thus a much higher level of tolerance requires the ability to logically ractionalzie, understand something with a feeling of love...

If it wasn't for interracial mixing I wouldn't have been born.:crying:

[RED DAVE]

Move to the US. It's bat-shit crazy here an full of racism, yes, but people from loads of ethnic groups, sexual persuasions, etc., more-or-less get along, especially in the big cities.

In fact, move to New York.

RED DAVE

[Adi Shankara]

Move to the US. It's bat-shit crazy here an full of racism, yes, but people from loads of ethnic groups, sexual persuasions, etc., more-or-less get along, especially in the big cities.

In fact, move to New York.

RED DAVE

Not all of the USA; I'd say Minneapolis, San Francisco area, Sacramento, Honolulu, all of Virginia and DC, etc. are very racially harmonious; You will get nothing but hatred for being racist, and it's well known that racist attitudes generally make you friendless in the long run.