Blog Post 2

In this article, published by New York Times Upfront called “Haircuts or turbans: many young Sikhs are forgoing turbans and cutting their long hair—leaving spiritual leaders dismayed”, author Amelia Gustafson writes about how men are letting go of their turbans and cutting off their long hair in the Sikh culture.  Sikh men are choosing style over tradition and leaving their long hair and turbans behind.  Sikhism is rejecting the Hindu caste system and believing in one God.  In total, there are 23 million Sikhs worldwide, 18 million in India, and hundreds of thousands in the U.S. The Sikh religion is only at 2 percent out of all the religions in India.  Cutting their hair was forbidden for a long time, and the Sikh leaders would say “long hair is a symbol of Sikh pride”.   The turban makes them stand out and manages their long hair.  In the “turban pride” movement, about half of the Sikh men in India decline the turban whereas a few decades ago it was only at 10 percent.  In self defense, some abandoned the turban when the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi happened in 1984, which led to thousands of Sikhs getting massacred all around India.  A greater impact on this whole situation would be globalization.  People who do wear turbans are trying to reverse the ongoing trend.

I think that men should be allowed to express themselves however they want to.  I noticed a lot of other religions and cultures starting to pull away from traditions and going more towards modernization.  You still see people wearing turbans, but you also notice people  showing their hair and being more out their instead of keeping it traditional.  I find that to be interesting.