Examining Beauty and Fashion Cultures Around the World: Cross-Cultural Psychology
Examining Beauty and Fashion Cultures Around the World: Cross-Cultural Psychology
Post 2: India
By Sierra Lookabill
For our second exploration of beauty and fashion around the world, Peyton and I decided to look at Indian cultural beauty traditions. While there are many fashion and beauty norms throughout Indian culture, the first thing that came to my mind was henna. The history of using henna is incredibly important throughout India as well as Africa and the Middle East. Henna is also relatively inexpensive and something that we could easily try for a hands-on experience.The word "henna" refers to the plant, Lawsonia inermis, while the actual practice of applying the plant, in Hindi, is called Mehndi. The henna plant is crushed into a paste mixed with oils, which stains the top layer of skin by binding to the keratin in skin cells and provides the tattoo-like effect.
As discussed in the video below, Mehndi is an important wedding tradition in Indian culture. Henna is applied the night before the wedding to the bride's feet and hands. The plant has medicinal properties that are supposed to promote cooling and relaxing effects to the bride, to help calm anxieties and fears the night before her wedding. While an important beauty tradition, another part of the Mehndi ceremony is the joining of the two families together. This idea, I think, is indicative of the values of the culture. Females from both sides of the family come together to celebrate the wedding, and are decorated with henna designs on their hands and feet. When the ceremony is complete, the males in the both families join in the celebration.
I think this part of the ceremony is incredibly indicative of the interdependent way of thinking we typically see in Eastern cultures, including India. Though Western cultures have similar important family functions relating to weddings, this emphasis on joining the families illustrates this idea of interdependence and the importance of their relationships with others. The significance of the tradition is in the building of family and kinship, but is also an important physical representation of a beauty custom.
Though the Mehndi ceremony is one of the most notable uses of henna, it is also used for celebration of other holidays, occasions and birthdays. Western cultures have taken to using henna for cosmetic purposes outside of Mehndi ceremonies, using it for temporary tattoos and body art.
Peyton and I purchased a henna kit off of Amazon that came with stencils and two henna bottles. We both did some of the stencil tattoos to start, but I also decided to try and do a small design similar to the pictures above. These images reflect more traditional designs and styles of henna typically seen in Indian culture. The design I did below is quite small compared to what is shown in the image and videos above. Typical Mehndi ceremonies consist of intricate and extensive designs on the hands and feet of the bride, but because of time constraints I only tried doing a few smaller designs. The henna only took 3o minutes to set in, and afterward the ink left a light brown "tattoo" on our skin.
Sources:
“About Henna.” Silk & Stone, silknstone.com/About-Henna.html.
“History of Henna.” Henna King, www.hennaking.com/history-of-henna/.
“Mehndi: Indian Wedding Tradition.” Orange County Wedding Photographer Los Angeles | Lin and Jirsa, 18 Dec. 2019, www.linandjirsa.com/mehndi-photography-for-indian-weddings/.
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