How are cultural values transmitted? How do they change? In what ways are they gendered?
Cultural values can be transmitted through generations within a family, or between societal groups through the use of a common language . Cultural exchanges also take place through education as well as the interactions between diplomats, merchants, travelers and migration of populations. Human beings have a tendency to change and adapt their cultures and values to cope with a constantly changing environment. Hence, over time, transmission of values may lead to cultural evolution . Traditionally, values pertaining to home and family have been particularly attributed to the female gender while those of governance and trade to the male gender.
What did Victorian women find appealing in Ottoman dress?
Victorian women symbolized the Ottoman dressing style with the extensive rights that Turkish women enjoyed when compared to European counterparts . It was the freedom for women associated with the Ottoman culture that inspired Victorian women to done similar attires. It was also considered to be a sign of wealth and being fashionable when royals and aristocrats began holding balls based on Ottoman themes. Finally, the women associated Turkish dressing with the mystic charm of foreign land rich in culture.
What were the reasons that Ottoman women borrowed elements of European dress?
The dressing of Ottoman women had remained unchanged for several centuries. However, with increased interaction with British women as well the easy available to cheaper cloth produced in Britain, the Turkish women began to adopt elements of Victorian dressing as it was considered to be fashionable.
Works Cited
Elazar, Barkan. The Retreat of Scientific Racism: Changing Concepts of Race in Britain and the United States between the World Wars. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Montagu, Lady Mary wortley. Malcolm, Jack. The Turkish Embassy Letters. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1993. 71-72.
Schonpflug, Ute. "Intergenerational Transmission of Values: The role of transmission belts." Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 32.2 (2001): 174-185.
