Folks, I have no doubt that Gabe did see the documentary about Victorian morality in India but is this the only or main reason why India has a "puritanical" (I prefer the word "different") attitude towards sex and the display of the human form?
If the British presence was the cause of this, it would apply equally to the other parts of the British Empire - Australia, large parts of Africa, West Indies, etc. Also, there would have been a major shift in attitudes after 1947 at least. I submit that other more important reasons for the attitudes are: 1. The Mughal influence. The attitude in the neighbouring Muslim countries today is even more repressive. 2. The Church influence. This applied particularly to Goa. Recently we were treated to this description of the Mhapsa Fest: "The 'art gallery' was like some pre-historic site of pornographic art in a ruined house located in a jungle of weeds and thorns. Both, the site and the porno art has been captured in digital imagery. The house exterior was exhibited as photos during the Mhapsa Fest, the art is fit only for porno sites." 3. The Asian influence. The whole continent of Asia applies different values from the West and it is not a bad thing either! The clashes of culture are inevitably more pronounced in Goa because of the presence of tourists. On 7 Feb. 2004 a Scotsman travel writer observed: "At Chapora I watched a balding Bombay gent, baggy grey flannel trousers rolled to his knees, vainly try to persuade two topless German girls to pose with him for a souvenir photo - just the latest in the long history of culture clashes that have given Goa its oddball charm. Full text, 1604 words at: http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=148902004 A few years ago Der Spiegel, the German newsmagazine did a photo feature on Goa. It carried two contrasting photographs - one, a hundred years ago, of the white traveller to the East paying a local woman to stand naked next to him in a photograph. The next photograph showed a recent scene on a Goa beach. The Indian traveller had paid a young female hippie to stand naked next to him. Evidently the hippies have a scale of charges depending on the apparent affluence of the tourist and the amount they are expected to reveal! Cheers, Eddie =================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gabe Menezes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> .> Indians have > to lay the blame on the puritanical British. Prior to that Indians were sex > gods/goddesses. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
