While women in the west are comfortable with their nudity, why are Indian women not so?

Question

There was a recent press report about Jennifer Lopez sitting naked at dinner with her entire family. Roaming around in the buff at home is unheard of in India. Why are Indians and Indian women in particular so ashamed of their bodies? What is the cultural background for this mind set.

Answer 1

Anyone in their right mind wouldn't roam around naked in front of family or any stranger.......what's so good about exposing yourself? So you can show off your body and say "oh yeah come and get me" That's how some women get raped in the first place. Why does it bother you that Indian women don't like to expose themselves? Maybe they value their bodies and they have some morals and decency. By the way, J-Lo is really a J-HO.

Answer 2

Its a myriad of cultural concepts across the globe. In India & espeically in Hinduism female goddesses are inumerbale. Hence one of the reasons maybe that women need to respect their place in the society & dress appropriately.
I am equally convinced that such incidents of Jennifer Lopez's nudity will face public ire in the US itself. Although the US has a growing nudist society, I doubt the same view is shared by the majority of the Americans.
I would like to conclude that it is common human nature to cover up. Whether it is mere perversion or self-expression to expose one's nude body is a matter of individual choice rather than anything else.

Answer 3

i guess it's because married indian couples usually live with the husband's family there and they want to respect the family, if it's just a couple living together i don't think it would be a problem. i think society has a lot to do with it too...i mean god forbid someone saw them walking round with nothing on, word would get around pretty fast and i guess it would cause embarassment to the girl :/ even though i haven't lived there, being brought up in an indian family, i've learned that respect is very important :)

Answer 4

1st of all Lopez is an ahole, and that is disgusting, who wants someones a*s right next to their food, plus their is something wrong with u if u walk around like that in front of your mother father brother...besides i dont care who u r sitting and eating is the least flattering look, and its just nasty. Obviously i am not a fan, BUT i would of said the same about any tart who did that. Ok walking around with ur husband, in your house~different story~ but that is just not normal. But really you are wrong. Technically, most western women are not comfortable with their bodies, the laws restrict and prohibit public nudity compared to Europe, places like Brazil inparticular they are very uninhibited. The indian culture is completely different,but i would be ignorant and giving you false information if i generalized the entire people. It is not ALL, but just for sake of this ? i will tell u what i know from some women i knew that came from specific areas. So it may sound like i mean everyone but i don't.... you wouldn't really know how they felt because they are not allowed to speak on any political issues, they are not really allowed to speak their mind on any topic, in some families they do not speak unless spoken to. Men are the dominant figure in that culture and it has been bringing young girls up that way from day one so by the time they are put into marriage they are just expected to be that way. There is no other way, no other women trying to fight for equal rights, it just isn't done. There have been few women i have heard about that were caught being unfaithful and they came here to seek amnesty because they would have been killed if they were to be returned to their country. They are taught to be ashamed of their bodies, it is a vehicle for sin and for the husbands eyes only. Any skin shown outside in public is considered to be a complete lack of respect to their husbands and gives them a label of being disrespectful to themselves and their community not to mention defiant. Those poor women are living in the dark ages, but nobody lasts long enough to lead them into contemp. times. It all relates back to their religion and the role men have over them. Basically they are born to grow up be selected for marriage, bear children for the husband preferably a son first, then take care of the chilren the husbands needs cleaning and cooking. to work would be an embarrassment to the family and to speak or show even their hair shows a defiance and whorish behavior. Some women follow the "rules" so to speak with pride and have no problem with them believe it or not. If you think back in the younger days of the US, women were very modest as well.

Answer 5

Its because of Hippocratic cultural & social rules prevalent in India. Misconceptions about nudism & somehow Indians connect nudity with sex. Lack of confidence in women & lack of support from their families ( both before & after marriage) & friends due to all earlier mentioned taboos.

Answer 6

in india it is the culture to wear lots or clothes, it is a sign of respect, and also a sign of how dominate the males are. just like how 200 years ago, in the west, is was like the sluttiest thing to have your hand showin.

Answer 7

I don't modesty = ashamed, I think it means that they take into account the sentimentalities of others. Also, if you are showing it off for free then that makes lots of things a lot less exciting.

J Lo is a ho.

Answer 8

the western culture in the u.s. along with many european countries go around nude all the time. its just customs and cultures. i know many indian and arabic women in the u.s., that nude sunbath and as its the culture here, they follow it. many are comfortable with their bodies, but their culture in their country forbids many things. cultures written by the men.

Answer 9

most eastern countries have no problem about nudity. Its all just about the place's religious beliefs. Christianity condemns nudity and other such "improper" or "unchristian" acts. It becomes Taboo. or then again maybe people are just as they are..

Answer 10

culture. They are not allowed to kiss in their movies, either. They do everything, dance seductively, etc. they do show some skin in their movies, though. If they're muslim, they need to be more modest, though.