Gender and the Night Scene in Qatar

Public partying in Qatar is a subculture of its own. Partying for locals of Doha is only available for males, and even at that it’s very hushed. What I mean by public partying is, for example, going to a concert and/or going to a club. What I mean by subculture is a group of people who form their own culture within the larger culture.

In Doha, males form their own culture for partying by excluding the females. For this post, I did a case study based on Sean Paul’s concert on the 29^th of March, a Friday. My plan originally was to go with two Qatari friends, a male and a female, a Sudanese girl, and an American/Egyptian girl, my sister. When we got there we were all able to get in except the Qatari female. We talked to the security, and they said that Qatari females aren't allowed there. When I asked why, they avoided my question by saying it’s the rules. Both the Qatari male and female left the concert. I decided to ask more about it and figured that Qatari females aren’t allowed to clubs or any place that might serve alcohol. 

When thinking about it, one would figure that this is the norm here because it’s an Arab, religious country. However, this poses the question of why are the males allowed to “party” publicly and the females are not? When I asked a Qatari female about this, she said –rather sarcastically- “People are afraid that girls would drink and do stupid stuff like get themselves pregnant. For guys there’s no evidence, except a bad hangover. It’s culturally accepted for guys although it’s frowned upon.”

I like thinking of myself as feminist, very pro women’s rights. As described in class, the feminism social movements aim at “establishing and defining equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women.” Although, I’m not attempting to discuss the idea of Qatari women consuming alcohol, I’m discussing the fact that they aren't allowed to get into a public space because of alcohol’s presence, something that doesn't hinder a Qatari male’s life. Doesn't seem very equal, does it?

Sociology and GoRemy?

It became a norm for this generation of youth to look up topics they are interested on the Internet, more specifically on Google and YouTube. Why you ask? Well because everybody is on the Internet. I say “on” instead of “in” because all the social websites provided to us as Internet users, help people voice their opinions online, a big number of who do it through posting videos on YouTube.

Indeed, there has been a growing phenomenon of people posting their own creative videos on YouTube, Vimeo and many others, which range from music they’ve composed to comments on other videos/movies/songs/campaigns etc …

What’s interesting about those videos is that a big majority of the YouTube users are young. As a fellow Arab social media user, I notice that a lot more young Arabs from all around the world are posting videos and voicing their opinions about various topics.

The YouTube videos that came to my mind when thinking about Youth Cultures in the Middle East are the videos of Young Arab youtubers that live in America, who make silly songs about Middle Eastern food, wealth and cars. GoRemy is a YouTube channel that belongs to Remy Munasifi, he is an Arab-American stand-up comedian that makes music parodies and videos, which made his channel very famous for incorporating Arabic traditions and culture into his videos, which have over 77 millions hits now.

One of his most popular songs is “Saudis in Audis”, where he covers the fact that Saudis are very rich and well ...  drive Audis.

I notice a lot of reference to material and non-material culture in this video, such as the car, the traditional white clothing, the dancing hand gestures, and many more… 

He also brushes on Arab stereotypes, such as “ Saudis just put hose in the ground,” which refers to the abundance of oil and gas Saudi Arabia has. There are so much more stereotypical points he covers in this specific video about the highbrow Saudi culture, which you’ll all have to see for yourself.

He also has songs that talk about famous traditional Arabic dishes, such as, Tabouleh, Falafel and Hummus. His versions of these famous comedy parodies appeal to a lot of youth, especially Arab youth. He gets video responses from Arabs all around the world, but mainly from the U.S and Canada, which showcases the spread of the Arab community all around the world.

What’s also interesting about YouTube and GoRemy, is that it increased channels led and owned by Arab Youth also making funny videos about other Arab cultures, it has increased to a point where I see hegemony of Arab transmitting their cultures through comedic videos.

Watch them all they are hilarious!

Gender Stereotypes in Driving

There has been a worldwide stereotype against females as being bad drivers. From my experience and observations of male drivers throughout the years, I have noticed that most of the time when another driver does something wrong on the road, there is an immediate expectation that this driver is a female. They would say things like “that must be a woman,” or if they say the driver and recognized that she is a female they would say, “of course it’s a woman!” Some males would even make the claim that women should not drive because they are bad drivers.





This stereotype is further extended in the society here when it comes to the choice of the car bought by females and males. For example, I barely see females driving sports cars on the road here in Qatar. Most of these sports cars are driven by males, and the few females who drive sports cars are usually not Arab. This has almost led to gender polarization in the car market in Qatar, where males purchase most of the sports cars. There is an argument that justifies this phenomenon, which says that sports cars need mastery and high skill in driving that females do not have. This is not the only argument the society has created to keep females away form driving sports car. The other reason has to do with cultural acceptance. For many families here in Qatar, it is not acceptable for females to drive sports cars because they claim it grabs attention and can bring disgrace to the family. Some families don’t even allow females to drive at all for that reason.




All these reasons that society creates are made for the purpose of maintaining a patriarchal society. They shape the rules and the norms of the society to keep males in power, and even in driving males want to be the dominant, more skilled, and powerful. This stereotype and prejudice about females driving has been even extended flying airplanes. There is also a stereotype against female pilots as being bad pilots. Some people even get freaked out when they know that the pilot is a female, thinking that it is not safe to fly when a female is given the responsibility of flying the airplane.

Cai Guo-Qiang Gunpowder's Project impact On Qatar

From November 2011 through December 2011, I’ve been working with Chinese Contemporary Artist and Curator; Cai Guo-Qiang, hosted by Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar. Cai initially began working with gunpowder to foster spontaneity and confront the suppressive, controlled artistic tradition and social climate in China.















While living in Japan from 1986 to 1995, Cai explored the properties of gunpowder in his drawings, an inquiry that eventually led to his experimentation with explosives on a massive scale and the development of his signature "explosion events". While I was participating in this project, I noticed that sociology has a very huge impact on the process was running on through the whole project. At the beginning, there was a huge discussion of hosting the Gunpowder Project here in Qatar by engaging the young generation with it, however, Mathaf has broke the norms by introducing the Gunpowder Project in Qatar. Everyone who heard about the huge explosion that is going to be held in Qatar got worried about it, however, the advertisement around Doha Town helped people to get engaged with the process of the project and actually people signed to participate in this new norm happening in Qatar.















From day one, I’ve been noticing many sociological aspects from culture, mcdonaldzation, to individuality vs. collectivism. Even though, it’s Cai’s individual artwork, he broke the norm by involving us the audience from China and Qatar, in his project by assigning us tasks to complete his work as a group instead. I found that he had assigned each participant with specific tasks and everyone would be working with efficiency, calculability, predictability under his control, which symbolize mcdonaldzation. On the other hand, the gender and ethnicity was not a problem with him at all. There were many people from this region and foreigners too collaborating in his project, which is a morality's gesture from him. By hosting here in Qatar I believe, he had a huge impact in spreading his culture through his Artworks by attracting the audience and engaging them to spread and share his values. I learned from this experience that, culture could be extent through many various ways rather than the old fashioned techniques; it needs only an influential vision and strength to accomplish the intention.





It's All over the News!!








The Project's Conclusion.

Marhaba!

Al-Salam Aleekum. This is how we begin to greet people in our culture, translating to “peace be upon you.” The way people greet each other differs from one culture to another. Even within the same culture, there are different ways to greet people. These ways differ in regards to age, gender, and relationship to one another.



When focusing specifically to the Qatari culture, each house or family member has his or her own way of saying hello. Within my nuclear family, the way I greet my family members is very informal, and is different every time. This differs when greeting others. For example, personally, I usually answer phone calls saying “Al-Salam Aleekum” instead of hello. However, in face-to-face communication, the way I greet a person that is my age is different than an elderly person. Out of respect, we kiss the head of those elderly people of the same gender, even if they are not related to us. However, if they were my female and are my age, I would either shake hands or do the cheek greeting, or even hug them.



Let’s talk about the male/female differences in greetings. It is socially unacceptable and is considered deviant to do the cheek greeting with the opposite gender. If it was any of my brothers, my uncles, or father, then it is socially and religiously acceptable. For other males, I would usually just greet them by eyes or by a handshake, even though handshakes are religiously unacceptable. However, since a lot of people do it now, it is not seen as an act that deviates away from the norms to some people.



Also, it is important to note that we usually greet people differently depending on the occasion or the place we are at, on the people we are with, and on their social status. In weddings for example, it is more formal. Therefore, we usually stick to either the handshake or the cheek. In a birthday party, we usually hug each other, as the place is informal.



Another way of greeting people that is very common in Qatar among the guys is the nose greeting. Men tend to greet each other by the nose. It sounds funny, but it happens a lot here in our culture, and is seen a normal behavior.

ACT OF VIOLENCE CAN BE DEVIANT AMONG CHILDREN.

Deviance in sociology is defined as a behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. We are all deviants from time to time. Each of us violates common social norms in certain situations. Deviance involves the violation of group norms that may or may not be formalized into law. One of the most important problems is the violence happening in schools and universities that causes deviant behavior.



Violence is very common among our youth in this generation and it’s spread widely in our society. Violence can lead to several problems in our society.
Now the question arises why does such things happen and what’s the reason behind it?



The constant storm of television programs and violent media channels causes deviant behavior in children. When children are immature or in their infant age, they are very receptive and responsive by the things going on around them. They learn things very quickly and often kids are influenced by what they see. This process of learning in their infancy is called internalization or symbolic interaction by which they accept and adopt the norms, understand their cultural values and beliefs, which has been taught to them in their early stage of life. So we understand how nurture plays an important role in a children’s life.



From an age of three, children watching cartoons or kids based television channels starts imitating someone on the television. There are certain super heroes and characters in cartoons that act violently even for a so-called good reason. For example when characters like batman, superman, Spiderman is shown in a fighting scene to protect a girl from a bad man. This is how the media is playing with the growing minds of children. If the media is showing such stuff to the younger generation, then who knows after a couple of years we might see certain acts of negative deviance in our schools, colleges, universities, on streets and everywhere. As a sociologist, it is the responsibility of our society to impose a law of social control in order to stop certain acts.



These Children, who grew up watching violence on TV, may end up being violent students by fighting or bullying other students or in worst case they might target their professors too which can drag them into worst situations and they might be expelled out from their educational institution and ruin their lives even more. As a social audience, we name this act of violence as a deviant behavior that can occur in a child due to the symbolic interaction that has to be noticed in their early stages of life.

Do Trend's End Lives ?

Due to these past few years, where the Arab society has met different types of people from various countries around the world, different subcultures have emerged, stating that they will the change the stereotype idea of Arab’s to Westerners.
These Subcultures included everything from Gothic groups to Football addicts who communicate with each other on a daily basis using the most amazing creation of our time, the Internet.
However with every change there is an opposition; and opening up all of a sudden has affected the Arab society on a great level. How? Well using the example of Goths and Emo’s who have been spreading quite quickly throughout the Arab countries these subcultures have created tension and fear to the Arab society.
What is an Emo? Emo stands for Emotional, the correct term is Emotional Punk, these people are part of a group whom want to fit in with a certain group or subculture. They tend to be suicidal, wear black and listen to rock and roll. Apart from the black clothing, Emo kids can be identified through blonde or pink streaks in their hair, dark make up and plenty of piercings.
As they are creating a deviance, meaning they have created an appearance or behavior that is not accepted by the culture, values or norms of our countries in the Arab Society.
By violating certain norms and values of a culture is that these groups have created fear in households of Arab families as I mentioned people known as Emo’s tend to be suicidal and suicide is considered forbidden and unwelcomed in most religions, whether in the Arab or Western side of the world, and due to the new fashion of Emo’s Arab individual’s are carried away with the trend not knowing what it hides.
Not only has the Emo affected the Arab communities however in the following video Westerners have been affected as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUGYe3Ly0jE

Shemale

Even though it is very easy to determine one’s sex by physical appearance, it is sometimes difficult to tell whether the gender is male, female, or both. Gender roles are socially created. When visiting Thailand this Eid holiday, the number of transsexuals in the country shocked me. It is socially acceptable in Thailand, whereas it is considered as out of the norms in our society. At some cases, I couldn’t tell if it was a male or female. Their secondary sex characteristics all proved to be ones of female.



When talking with one of the transsexuals working for a makeup store in Siam Paragon, the very first thing I noticed is the voice. It was the voice of a man, but the appearance of a woman. He would refer to himself as a “she,” which confused me at some point. I didn’t really know whether to refer to him as a male or a female. His name is Boom. Boom’s height seemed very masculine, but has long hair and an ideal shape of body for a woman. Even though we sometimes refer to masculinity and femininity as a biological attribute, it is in fact socially created.



Those physical appearances determine whether we perceive a person as a male or a female. However, once they have an operation to change their physical appearance, it becomes difficult to tell the difference between the two. When comparing this to our culture here in Doha, it is seen as socially unacceptable as it deviates away from the norms. They are looked-down upon, which is why we rarely see them here in public as strict rules apply to those who are seen.



As much as those transsexuals in Thailand try to convert into the physical, behavioral, mental, and emotional traits characteristics of a female, they will never reach the “ideal.” Very few people reach the gender ideal.

Surveillance in Qatar: A Mechanism of Social Control

Among many things, the basic human experience involves the interaction with other human beings. From the moment we take our first screaming gasp of air in the world to the moment we part it, we behave, interact, and communicate with other people for a specific purpose, in a particular way in any given time and place. How we behave, interact, and communicate with each other differ between two people, two groups, two societies, two nations, and so on – and these differences are part of the reason why human experiences all over the world are not identical. But just how different are they? How similar could they be? Well, we do not just decide to behave or act in a certain way. And we certainly do not come up with our own rules of behavior individually. Norms are socially constructed. And we are socialized to accept them and act upon them.





What is considered “right” or “wrong” in any given society, such as Qatar, is socially constructed, and there are mechanisms that enforce conformity to these socially constructed rules of behavior or norms. Mechanisms of social control include formal and informal sanctions. If you happen to be the employee of the month at a McDonald’s for example, your picture would be hung up on the wall in the restaurant, and you would receive a star badge. These are formal sanctions or expressions of approval that are supported by written rules by the organization. Formal sanctions can be expressions of disapproval as well.



Another form of social control is surveillance. Surveillance is everywhere in Qatar. In public places, malls, shopping centers, buildings, offices, streets, highways, petrol stations, restaurants, etc. Ferrante defines surveillance as a mechanism of social that involves “monitoring the movements, activities, conversations, and associations of people who are believed likely to engage in wrongdoing; catching those who engage in it; preventing people from engaging in it; and ensuring that the public is protected from wrongdoers,” (p. 176). Qatar has strict laws and guidelines about public behavior, and dress code. Surveillance is a method of ensuring that people follow these laws and do not deviate from them. If people sense that they are being watched, they are likely to refrain from performing any illicit or prohibited behavior.



Even though the cameras shown in the pictures that are commonly found all over Doha do not really show a camera perspective; meaning that you wouldn’t really know if the camera is watching you or not, people regard them as though they are constantly monitoring them regardless of whether they are in fact doing so. The effect is all the same. It prevents people from engaging in deviant behavior and helps catch those in the act of deviance if it occurs.




For example, in the convenient store, Sidra at Woqod petrol station, if someone attempts to shoplift or in my case take photos in the shop you are likely to be caught and negatively sanctioned. When I was pointing my phone around to snap some photos, the manager, who was nowhere in sight when I came in, came up to me and asked me if I belonged to some organization that had the authority to take pictures inside. He told me it was prohibited to take photos in the store, and that they will confiscate my phone if I continue to take any pictures. I withdraw from the scene and quietly put my phone away. However, that does not stop me from taking some more pictures inside the next-door McDonalds, outside the car wash, and other areas of the petrol station and food complex.




The purpose of these surveillance cameras inside McDonald’s would be to ensure that workers are not slacking on the job, are not stealing any food, and not eating or chatting while on their shift. Cleaners must diligently complete their work, servers must serve customers their food according to the written rules of the company, and even customers are monitored in case of any prohibited or illegal behavior such as vandalizing restaurant property, violence, theft, etc.




Universities in Education City are also packed with these cameras. You are likely to come across them in almost every corner, in front of every staircase, elevator, and around classrooms, offices and in hallways. They can also be found outdoors at entrances, in parking lots, and on the roads. There are important norms and rules that students, faculty and staff and even visitors (excluding members of education) should follow in education city.



The following list was forwarded via email to all Northwestern in Qatar students by the Associate Dean of Students:
“General reminders about appropriate conduct in Education City and generally in Qatar.

1. Interactions with the opposite gender which may be deemed culturally inappropriate (examples include but are not limited to public displays of affection, holding hands, kissing, etc.) are prohibited.
2. Eating, drinking or smoking in public spaces during the times of fasting in Ramadan are prohibited.
3. Clothing or lack thereof that is culturally inappropriate (e.g. shorts and skirts that reveal the knees, sleeveless or thin-strapped tops, clothing that is too revealing, being shirtless for males or females, etc.) is prohibited.
4. Residents and visitors must comply with reasonable requests/directives from QF officials and branch campus staff.
5. Residents and visitors may not obstruct QF Officials or law enforcement officers in the execution of their professional duties.
6. Language that is disrespectful or inappropriate directed towards members of the Education City community is prohibited.”



These cameras are a powerful mechanism of control that helps to prevent deviance from these norms, ensure conformity to them, and allow officers and security guards to deal with deviant people in the situation where the breaking any of these rules of behavior occurs.

Language in Thailand

People don’t realize how valuable something is until it is taken away from them. I never thought of language as being that prominent in my life because every country I’ve lived in or visited know how to speak either one or both of my preferred languages, Arabic and English. Language is best defined as a symbol system involving the use of sounds, gestures, and /or characters to convey meaning.

This eid Al-adha break my dad decided to take us to Phuket in Thailand, where we could learn about a completely different culture. As soon as we landed the hotel driver, who only knew a few words of English, greeted us. On the way to the resort I saw many shops and landmarks that I was intrigued about but when I tried asking the driver about the English translation of each of the place I could not understand the sounds or gestures he was making. It was then and there I knew language was going to be a large barrier in Thailand.

Another incident related to language, was when we went elephant trekking, the people guiding the elephant barely spoke any English. The man then started humming a Lady Gaga song so I gestured to him with my hand if he knew who sang the song; he screamed out “Lady Gaga” and started making crazy hand gestures to indicate how “different” she is. Even when I’m miles away music pop culture still haunts me, I guess there really is no escaping Lady Gaga.

When we were out shopping in the outdoor markets, the people in the shops would start yelling out "hello mate" in an australian accent because they are aware the largest percentage of tourists in Thailand are Australian so they assume it would attract many people's attention. They do try to put in the effort to learn a different language and identify with tourists, but their language plays a large role in their society and they consider it to be sacred so they choose to communicate in their native language, even the younger children barely spoke any english. I found this to be really interesting because in a lot of arab countries the younger generation speak more in english than their first language.

Another very evident trait I noticed about Thailand is that people either live in extreme wealth, with large villas by the sea and their own speedboats, or they live in absolute poverty, where they can barely afford a roof over their head and own a motorcycle as their source of transportation.

Regardless of their social class and status everyone was very polite and welcoming, I suppose it is the norm in Thailand to be hospitable and helpful with guests. The one language everyone understood was money and food, wherever you are in the world those two necessities’ are always going to be known worldwide. Because Thailand has such a large population of tourists, I assumed its residents would know how to speak more English or at least understand more of it. It was only when language was taken away from me that I fully understood the importance of it and how large its function is in our lives.