Somalian Culture Vs American Culture Essay

Somalia is a developing country on the eastern coast of Africa. Somalian culture shapes their society and how they deal with issues and daily life. Culture is a how a group of people live in their everyday lives. It is their values, belief systems and behaviors that are passed down from past generations. As in other cultures, Somalian culture plays a role in the upbringing of children. Even before birth, certain values and norms help Somalians make important decisions about their soon to be infants. Infancy is the early stages of new born and young babies.

Somalia’s culture is very different compared to American culture, partly because most Somalians practice Islam. This religion shapes a lot of their customs and values. Married Somalian

women cover their bodies including their hair, and pants are not to be worn unless it is under a dress or skirt (Lewis, T. 2009). Another unique aspect of Somalian culture is that if a man is wealthy enough, he is allowed to have up to 4 wives, which is custom for their religion (Lewis, T. 2009) Infants play an important role in Somalian culture because the more children a mother has, her status will increase.
Cultural attitudes toward infancy
One cultural attitude Somalians have is that males and females have to be circumcised.

These procedures are done from birth to 5 years old and are seen as a part of growing up; uncircumcised Somalians are seen as unclean (Lewis, T. 2009). While male circumcision is safe if done correctly, female circumcision is dangerous for the child and can have many devastating complications. Some complications include scarring, urinary complications, sexual dysfunction, and psychological problems (Hearst, A., & Molnar, A. 2013). These views about uncircumcised men and women are founded in social tradition and religious beliefs (Hearst, A., & Molnar, A.

(2013).
Another custom is not to use diapers. Somalian mothers believe that after only a short time, infants are toilet trained. Instead of using diapers, the mothers hold their babies over a bowl (Lewis, T. 2009). The mothers want the infants to be trained at an earlier age, which is also why they don’t use diapers. Another custom is to have the mother and infant stay inside their home for the first 40 days of the infant’s life. This is known as afatanbah (Lewis, T. 2009). Incense is burned to protect the baby from everyday scents of the world; these scents are believed to make the newborn sick. This custom has been passed down and the mothers truly believe that they are protecting their infants (Lewis, T. 2009).
Adult roles and infant roles
Adult Somali women are expected to be the caretakers of the home.

This responsibility is passed down from past generations. They are taught to completely run the home, including cooking, cleaning, care taking and handling finances. Somali girls are taught to run the home from around age 7-9. After they are taught about how to run the home, they are expected to take on a significant level of the responsibility of running the home (Lewis, T. 2009). As the young girls get older, they gain more independence and have many physical and cognitive changes. All of these changes allow the mothers to teach them about running the

home.
Adult Somali men are responsible for providing financially for their families. During a traditional Somali wedding party, the male elders tell the groom that he is responsible for providing for his wife (Lewis, T. 2009). In recent years Somali women may be able to find lower paying jobs, while the men traditionally hold the higher paying jobs. The average age of marriage in Somalia is 14-15 years old; children are taught at an early age of their future responsibilities (Lewis, T. 2009). Boys are taught by their fathers at a young age that they are to be the head of household when they get married.
Somalia is a patriarchal society and if children were to abandon these functions and responsibilities they would risk being deviant in the eyes of their culture. Both of these functions and responsibilities are gender specific and if they would not continue to teach the young children of their roles, it would go against their societal rules.