One of them is the source of self-esteem. An American is judged by
how much money he makes or what he did to succeed. Americans are also
judged by their material possessions which indicate success. What
about Malagasy people? How do they define the source of their self
esteem?
As a definition, the source of your esteem can be external or
internal—what did you do to be successful, what makes you good or bad
and how do people judge you? In the American belief—you are your
accomplishments. This creates a sense of self-responsibility.
In the Malagasy belief system, there are two important factors of self
esteem that make a person respected by society: money and age.
In Madagascar there are a lot of expressions to illustrate this
belief. Toward the importance of money in a persons success we say,
"Ny vola no maha-rangahy." This is commonly used in Malagasy speech.
This expression means, "Money makes a gentleman." Also, when the
attitude toward age takes an important role in the source of
self-esteem we have the expression, "Aza mitsako alohan'ny vazana."
Literally, "We should not have to chew before the molar." The molar
here is the older person and we are the young. The elders are the
authority; they own society even if they are poor.
As an example, in Malagasy society, a "rangahy" is the elder that
everyone should respect. He is considered as a Ray aman-dReny, as a
father. Wealth can make a man a rangahy. For Malagasy people, a
person who owns a hundred zebus (cows) is considered a rangahy. The
second expression where age makes people having high self-esteem is
shown by the fact that during meetings when there is an elder person
the rest of the audience (especially the young) are not allowed to
speak. The elders are much respected in the community.
The bottom line is that in Madagascar elders have the most value.
Elders are considered rangahy and Ran aman-dReny. But money, as the
huge factor of self esteem that it is, similar to Americans—is also a
source of self esteem which Malagasy people regard as the second key.
1 comment:
I love that your people value age and their elders. That is a beautiful acknowledgment and gives a lot of self esteem to that person. Yes I agree that people put too much importance on money, but to me what is more important is self-acceptance.
Self esteem involves "self" and should come from within. We cannot let others define us-that has another name, but self-esteem comes from self. We achieve self esteem from within ourself and self-speak.
Self speak are the words that one repeats to oneself. Such as if we always think to ourself that we are stupid or are going to fail, then we sabotage our own self esteem; however, if we compliment ourself or "pat ourself on the back" for a personal achievment then that puts us on the road to self esteem and acceptance.
Our achievments are not defined by others, but by ouself. For instance a personal achievment might be that we finished our homework on time, or we extended a kind gesture to someone. These achievments cannot be measured by others, just by ourself.
Your writing was full of many euphanisms that are always interesting and telling of a people. You are very articulate and have a great communicative style.
Good luck with your education and embracing your own personal self esteem. I am sure that you are a very beautiful person!
Peace and Love,
Stephanie
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