The Dilemma of Being a Female!

     The gender rules in Qatar are very discriminative toward females in so many aspects. Ladies know these aspects and they also know not to cross them. I’ll provide few examples of those rules in this blog and I’m going to analyze it in such a way to reflect what are those rules. The book "Cinematic Sociology" mentioned how the social construction of any society categorizes how people act toward each other based on gender. This provides the people of a guidance of how to interact between each other as a society.

     The first example, is about the workers in Qatar; all of them are males, like the construction workers and the security guardes in Education City. There are only two exceptions, like, the female security guard in Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and in Northwestern University in Qatar Studio. Even the workers outside of the studio building are males. The logic behind this is the idea of "building" and "protection" is often associated with males.

     Another example is when I went to the desert with Northwestern Evanston exchange students. There was no Qatari females who practiced falconry, which is a sport exclusive to men.

     However, a Germen lady arrived and I was very impressed by her. She had embraced the Qatari culture by covering her hair with a Qatari scarf that is initially designed to be worn by men. Its not just that she works in a field that dominated by men, but she also embraced the aspect of how men dress. Her ability to redefine the social construction was, again, very impressive.

     In the year that I have driven a car , I never seen a woman in a car wash or drop her car off by the garage, which is the third aspect of how females are discriminated against by the social construction that society created. This is due to the mentality that this is a "man’s job" to drive.  So I decided for the sake of experiment, to go there one more time and see how it is like.

     What I had anticipated was correct. There was no women there. It is worthy to mention that ladies can break the cultural rule sometimes and go there for a car wash, if they are willing to endure the awkwardness of workers and other drivers staring at them with one question at their minds: "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Tea Time Time!

If you ask a Qatari guy to pick you up from the airport on your first visit to Doha, he will first take you for a cup of karak before he takes you to your hotel. This is because of the Arabic hospitality manners, and also because karak is this generation’s addiction. Karak, is tea with milk, but prepared by boiling the tea leaves to make the flavor stronger. This drink has become the Qataris' identity which, in sociology, means the expressions and conceptions of a person.

History:
A couple of years ago, AlNaimi cafeteria was popular because of its delicious karak that was served in the petrol station behind Landmark Mall. The location was not only popular because of the karak, but because people treated this location as an assembly point to meet before going out anywhere or just to chat. The place eventually created an organization of young adults where they would challenge each other in drifting skills as rumors say. I found a video on YouTube that actually proves that people actually were drifting there:

The cafeteria eventually became popular and opened a couple of different branches, and here came the competitor: “Tea Time.” AlNaimi owner did not know that the place will become what it is now, but Tea Time owner had a plan to compete against AlNaimi and beat him. Tea Time’s managing director, Mr. Abdulkareem, was very smart when he opened his first branch at AlMerqab Street, in AlNasr, located closer to the center of Doha than AlNaimi and capturing a wider variety of customers (because of the location). “Our inception was in 2002 at Al-Nasar, Doha. Since then we never looked back and we are still continuing our triumph successfully.” – Tea Time Website.

Tea Time, AlMarkheya Branch
Tea Time also had a wider selection of beverages, and snacks, with Soufflé as its leading top product; this delicious cake was the main reason many people went to Tea Time instead of AlNaimi cafeteria. Take a look at their menu here. Tea Time overtook AlNaimi cafeteria, but still there are some common things we can notice in both of these chains of restaurants: They both follow Ritzer's theory of McDonaldization - efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. They both also stick to the popular culture, like the things that the consumers' love. The simplest example I can think of is how they stick to the "1-Riyal" karak, which is what the customers' expect when they go for a drink.

It is our Bar! (without the alcohol):
Aside from Sheeshas and Hookah Lounges, Tea stalls have sort of become our "bars" in the sense of gathering with friends, or alone, and drinking until you figure out your plan for the day. The good thing is that you can have your breakfast there, lunch, dinner, and even a midnight snack. These places are usually crowded by middle aged Qataris, 16-28 years old, from different classes of people, elites, middle classes, and lower classes, you can clearly identify them by their cars.

Beyond the Karak...
Karl Marx believed that it is the social conflict that drives the change in society. The government and the police hate these gatherings because it makes people want to drift and show off their skills. To stop that, cops often pass by to make sure everything is in order.
In addition, Karak sort of became the youth's most consumed drink; they drink to think, play, hangout, study, smoke, and to think about drinking karak.
To a certain degree, Qataris have been stereotyped as being karak-addicts; indeed it is a nice hot drink that you wouldn't mind enjoying any time of the day, but to Qataris, this has become their identity and that's how they feel as a part of the society they're in.

Don't believe me? I will let this annoying guy share his aesthetic feeling: P.S. This kid is not Qatari; his expressions about simply drinking karak tells us about his feelings of belonging to the society.

Abayas In Qatar

The recent readings we had this time were so broad that it made it difficult to decide what to write about. However, words such hegemony, material culture and cultural relativism stood out to me when I started to apply those terms to real life situations here in Qatar. We are not passive when it comes to the media. We, humans, tend to critically analyze and interpret what we see, read and hear. In this case, abaya trends and fashion in Qatar emphasize this theory because most women here are using abayas as a way to resist and protest against the old traditional culture. At the same time, they’re conforming the culture by resisting western influence. In order to observe and have a better understanding, I decided to take a walk in Landmark Mall and observe abaya stores and women wearing abaya.

First of all, we should keep in mind that wearing an abaya is symbolic of the Qatari material culture. By material culture, I mean everything that is part of our construct within our physical environment, basically, anything that we can touch. While walking through an abaya store, I noticed how most women bought what was either advertised through the media outlets such as posters and magazines, or custom made abayas that had some touches of western fashion. This goes back to my point, women here are resisting the western influence, but simultaneously protesting against traditional and simple culture of wearing a black abaya. In other words, abayas have become a form of expression and cultural relativism.

Another factor I noticed was the ideology behind wearing an abaya. By ideology, I mean the system of concepts and relationships by accepting its causes and effects. In other words, wearing an abaya is embedded within the Qatari culture and society if you don’t wear it, you will be looked at as either foreign or just different. It seems to be part of the social norm to wear an abaya. From what I observed tonight, most young women in their teenage years were wearing fancy abayas, whereas older women were wearing more simple and elegant abayas.

Before walking out of Landmark Mall, I noticed a group of young women wearing fancy abayas with westernized designs that looked almost like dresses. In sociological terms, that could be a possible hegemony. Yes, women here are resisting western influence, but the West has already used its power to cause voluntary consent, as it seems the natural order of things. Some abaya wearers tend to wear the abaya just because of the societal norms and for the respect of the elderly. One of the girls i talked to said, "I only wear it cause of my father. I take off my abaya when i leave the country. I design most of my abayas from most fashion trends in Europe, i guess that is a way for me to express my taste in fashion." All in all, we should keep in mind that “Culture” is socially constructed.

Deaf And Rich

Sociologists look at class and culture when they analyze society. Last week I began watching the show ‘Switched at Birth’. In my blog post, I will be discussing the overall plot of the show to give you a better understanding of what is going on. I will talk about how living and growing up in very different class cultures, created and shaped the two main characters’ (Bay and Daphne) personalities and even effected the two everyone around them. The show is set to portray the American culture and therefore contrasts the lifestyles between the highbrow, white, American family and the lowbrow, working-class, Mexican single mother who is trying to make enough money to give her daughter a normal life. The main idea is that the two girls were accidentally switched at the hospital and therefore lived lives that were not pre-destined for them.

The Mexican hairdresser raises Daphne, who is deaf. Daphne becomes accustomed to living a simple life of a poor girl in a beat down, not very safe neighborhood. She attends Carlton (a school for the deaf and is used to an environment very different from that of the hearing schools). Meanwhile, Bay is raised in the Kennish household. Her father is an ex baseball player and she attends Buckner Hall – one of the most prestigious schools in her area. Bay always feels like an outsider in her own home because she does not look like any of her family members, her interests are ones that her mother does not encourage, and her temper and sarcasm come from within her as opposed to something she picked up from her parents.

One day she decides to ask her parents for a DNA test to see if they are in fact related. The results come in negative and they all find out about the switch. From there, everything changes and Bay and Daphne and everyone involved needs to start adapting to their new lifestyle and complicated situation. For example, Daphne is now part of a hearing family and needs to keep up with reading lips because her parents have no clue about signing. Moreover, Daphne’s biological family and Bay start learning how to sign in order to make it easier to communicate with Daphne. You can see how the two cultures of the hearing and the hearing impaired come together and work towards better and easier communication through the use of language.

Born and raised in Qatar, I was socialized in an Egyptian/Palestinian home but outside, it was a whole different culture. My brothers and I attended private schools, which meant that we socialized with people of many different cultures – including locals. Because of my social experiences with my Qatari friends and classmates, I learned to speak Qatari fluently and began communicating with my friends in their language, which made it much easier for us to have better flowing conversations. We never really faced language barriers. However, you can see how I was the one who had to change and teach myself their language since I was the outsider living in their society, learning their language and traditions and cultures. Moreover, living in Qatar had influenced me to the extent that I actually got myself a Abaya made since it 'grew on me' and I grew a certain appreciation for it.

Uncooked

The melting pot, that's a term often used to refer to the culture of the United States. Even if you don't know the history of the US, you still know how diversely multicultural the country is. There is no real understanding to who is considered to be "American." Let's forget about all the wars and past conflicts and take a look at the broad picture in this present day.
You could look Indian, African, European or Arab and still be an American for many different reasons. Now let's go to the opposite side of the world into a very small country that is barely the size of one of the smallest states in the US, Qatar. Much like the US, Qatar has a variety of different cultures and ethnic groups, however, they are very segregated and it’s more obvious which group every individual belongs to. Furthermore, there’s no linkage (aka: a passport) that brings them together. Qatar is populated with Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, Iranians and other ethnic groups.

With the majority being non-Qataris, which raises the question: who are Qataris? What makes them Qatari? Unlike the US, being born in Qatar does not make you Qatari. Living in Qatar for more than 20 years or so, still doesn't make you Qatari. Some people were born, raised and brought up into the Qatari society, they might look and dress like Qataris, and considered to be socialized into this culture, but are not considered Qatari by any law. Qatar has grown a lot in the past few of years; it welcomed the film, the sport and the education industry. Naturally that brought in a lot of immigrants from all around the world, who till this day are still considered to be guests and residents in Qatar, but not citizens of the country.

Gender accessibility to different spaces in Qatar

We talked in class about gender polarization and how it separates the two genders in the society, and even creates spaces specific for each gender, like bathrooms, or even schools. We also talked about how it’s more acceptable for women to cross the social constructed rules for her gender than it is for males. That made me think about how this phenomenon applies here in Qatar, and specifically for spaces. It occurred to me that the special separation is even stronger here because of the Hijab, making the access of males to female spaces harder than the access of females to male spaces.





Most of the Qatari women wear the Hijab, and that creates a restriction for men to enter many places, as I mentioned. For example, men are not allowed to enter ladies beauty saloons, and it’s so obvious that there is a sign on the front door that says no men allowed. On the other hand, there isn’t any similar sign that restricts women from entering the males’ barbershop. Some people would say that it is still not acceptable for women to enter males’ barbershops. However, its not a formal rule like in the case of women’s saloons.





Another example that shows the limited access males have to spaces specified for females, is the gym. If we look at the gyms here in the student center, we can see that there is a gym for females and a mixed gym, where both males and females are allowed in. It is forbidden for males to enter the females’ gym, but there isn’t a gym for males where females are not allowed.





The same happens with swimming pools. There are pools that are open only for females, other open for both males and females. Also, some of these mixed pools dedicate about five hours a week for females only.
A similar example to that is the cinema. A few months ago, a new cinema theater for females opened in Aspire. Males are not allowed into that space, and if we look at cinemas here in Qatar, we will not find any cinema that allows males but not females in. moreover there are parks opened only for females and children, and the zoo also dedicates Tuesdays for women and children only.



In my opinion, it is not only the Hijab that affects this special division and accessibility. This is also happening because many Qatari families are not comfortable with letting their women going alone to mixed spaces. That’s why they created spaces like the females only cinema and parks; to accommodate with the social norms and give women the chance to have fun together outside their homes.

Society’s Dissatisfaction with Aberrant Beauty!

Every individual is judged by his or her aberrance from the norm of beauty; that’s when sociological imagination appears to explain the nonconforming behavior. Humans act by their nature, and we all are actors who play our role in life. The question of to whom we offer respect is controlled by the social status. Individual achievement that we create and personal choice to present who we are, are the way to define our self, such as graduating, having a respectful job and achieving a dream. We define each other by how we look and by what we do. Everything we do adds to our status in society. Difference must appear so we can define each other. We are born with blue or brown eyes, rich or poor, and with given names. God gives us His blessing by creating us as a human being so the life circle continues.

According to the author, poet, and playwright, Rabindranath Tagore, “Beauty is truth's smile when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror.” How do we define beauty? In my country perfect skin, wide eyes, tan color skin, and curvy body are defining the main ideal of Arabic beauty. Beauty obsession becomes a large issue that societies suffer from. There are strong pressures on people to be perfect because they want to present who they are in a fake way and accept being treated by the way they look. But yet there is a bright side of this beauty.

Make up, beauty salons, latest trends, jewelry, latest handbags, latest shoes and latest hair cuts are the main material culture, which is a favorite and hot topic these days. When I talk about these topics with my friends, we get excited and a lot of debates start. Qatari culture is really concerned about the appearance. Girls are wearing the latest model of abaya and boys are wearing the bright new Thoub. Male beauty in Qatari culture is taking on greater emphasis, although not as strongly as women’s beauty, but quite fair. Qatari man likes to wear new watches, new sunglasses, new cufflinks, and new soles. Also, they often go to the barber to shave their beard or get a hair cut.

People’s choices of custom and clothing are depending on society to present their cultural tradition and values. Qatar is a nation with high culture, in which there is luxury and splendor because of high income that came from the gas and modernity. With the rising economy Qatar’s modernization included the clothing for both men and women. The cultural values are still in the society. Furthermore, people kept on developing without forgetting their religion and tradition. For example, Qatari women still cover their bodies and they translate the old customs into a new design of body and hair covering. Wearing the abaya is not for religious matters because there are Muslim women who are covering their bodies without the abaya in other countries. However, Qatar society expects Qatari women to wear the abaya in order to be loyal to the country’s tradition.

What happens when thinking of beauty goes too far?
On weddings

At wedding parties Qatari women exaggerate their make up and wear the latest designed dress. Lack of confidence and fear of not getting accepted in the society led the women to spend a fortune on the wedding supplies, such as the latest wedding dress, famous make up artist and hair dresser, which causes a series of problems for men and increases the number of unmarried women because women demand a high dowry to arrange their imagined wedding and men can’t afford it.


“An estimated report presented by Abdul Aziz al-Ansari, the director of the Marriage Bureau located in Doha, stated that nearly 50% of the Qatari women are unmarried…. The biggest hurdle in arranging a partner is due to the high dowry demands by the bride's family” (Himadree, par.2, 4). Women obsess over beauty, exaggerate, and have a strong feeling to be perfect that has led them to never experience the beautiful touchable moments that they will get to when they marry. In role conflict women can take a role by their actions, being mature and balancing their beauty needs. Is it worth it to spend this amount of money? This depends on the goal that they want to achieve.


Religious point of view
In Islam wasting money is forbidden, yet some people do that, and guilt may cause an ongoing series of problems. The ideal society is built on the human relations and their organized interests. Also, it is characterized by its ideas, values and morals, law and systems, which establish boundaries and stop these problems from happening.



Work cited
Himadree, C. “ Spinsterhood Among Qatar Women On The Rise. “The Muslim Woman. 19 July 2006. Web. 23 Oct. 2011.

Symbols in Qatar

What are the Symbols of Qatari Culture?

As a Qatari female, I have been influenced tremendously by society. Especially that I have to watch every word or gesture I make, the way I walk or talk to other people. In other words, I do not have much freedom as Qatari society has females under the microscope.
Symbols are anything that carries a particular meaning, which is recognized by the people who share a culture. Symbols in Qatar vary, there are certain words and things we are not allowed to say as these are recognized as wrong or “haram” which means it is against our religion. For example, asking a man what his mother’s name is; is considered wrong and intolerable unless you are part of the family whilst in other country there is no problem in sharing such information with a friend.
However, Qatari and Arab teens have now created a new sub-culture by the symbols we use to “Blackberry message (bbm)” or “text” each other with. As Western movies, songs, shows have entered our lives we have started communicating in English with one another. Arabic has not been forgotten but we prefer typing in English that is why we created a language called “arabeezii” which means Arabic/English in one word. Where we write an Arabic word in English and use numbers to make the certain letters in Arabic differ from one another. This is a new generation technique which was created with the rise of technology, but if you ask most teens and look at their phones, most probably you would not understand the language unless you knew what each number represented as a letter in Arabic.

Are We in Qatar or The States?

It’s very interesting for me when I find out that people do things differently than what I’m used to. Few days ago, I was invited to spend a day on the beach with some friends. We get there and we park next to a huge portacabin with a wide area in front of it. In that area, the owner of the place has set different tents. One of them was closed and the others were open. The closed one had fancy couches while the open ones had mats on the ground set up for coffee gatherings when the weather is nice.

The set up was a beautiful combination of the west and the Middle East. In the closed portacabin there were laptops with wireless connection and a huge T.V playing Prison Break. Outside, there were Qatari guys dancing to traditional Khaliji music.

The majority of the people there, were American ladies who didn’t even know who the owner of the place is. Astonishing enough, he didn’t seem a bit annoyed by the fact that he doesn’t know these ladies. He was very welcoming and hospitable. I have seen Jassem, who is in his late 40’s many times in public. He had his Qatari “Thobe”, walked slowly with a constant frown on his face. That day, he wore shorts and a t-shit and was very hyper and loud. For me, it was like a different person with dual identities. I understand that, being in Qatar for 7 years and knowing the restrictions of the culture, especially the fact that you need to be very contained and cautious in public, which does not encourage Qatari-male and expat-female gatherings.

At lunch, we all sat on the ground around two humongous trays of rice and lamb. They started eating rice with their hands! They tried to teach me how to do that but it was very hard for me, coming from a culture where you absolutely have to use a fork and a knife even while eating pizza or french fries. I also learned many norms related to eating Qatari style. You have to sort of take a portion of the tray that is yours. You cannot not reach to the other end of the try and try to grab a piece of lamb or a handful of rice because it’s considered disrespectful just like eating from another person’s plate. I also learned that you CAN NOT use your left hand, It has to stay behind your back or to your side at all times. According to my Qatari friends, it is religiously not favorable to eat with your left because when you do, it’s like the devil shares your food or something.