Gender Socialization Conflicts in Doha

Food culture in Doha is one of the most important traditions that people uphold in Qatar. For example: if someone is visiting Doha for the first time, one of the things the citizens of Doha insist on offering the visitor is the food. Although the food recipes doesn’t necessarily originate in Doha, but people in Qatar perceive food as great social icebreakers.  

 Interestingly enough, when I observed the food culture in Doha I realized that the gender socialization notions and its applications in the Arab culture is conflicted. First, let me explain what I mean by the gender socialization. Gender socialization is the female and male genders’ learning process to the socially acceptable behaviors and attitudes to each gender’s role. 

In Doha’s culture, the culinary experience is one of the factors that gender is stratified by. Knowing how to cook in the Arab world is strongly affiliated with being a woman. Men are encouraged to know how to cook, however women are supposed and should know how to cook. They should also know how to serve the food for their fathers, husbands, and guests. From observation, I realized that this ideology conflicts with what’s taking place in the Arab restaurants of Doha. 

When I went to Bait El-sham, a Syrian restaurant,

 most of the waiters were males. I checked with the manager and he mentioned that the chef was a male too. Another Arabic restaurant that I went to is the Orient Pearl, which had very few female waitresses, much like Al Saha restaurant, Tajin, Damasca, and Morjan, which had mostly male waiters. Thus, the gender socialization that both genders were exposed to in their upbringing is conflicted with what’s applied in these Arabic restaurants. 

To further understand the conflict that’s taking place, I analyzed more Arab ideologies and gender socialization patterns that can be connected with this conflict. In Doha and the Arab world, there’s a huge distinction between the private, in the house, and public, outside of the house, sphere. The public sphere is more restrictive towards females. In Doha, part of the gender socialization that both genders are brought up with is that women can’t go out late, and can’t go out all the time, where as men are allowed to. 

 In trying to balance between the two deeply rooted beliefs that Arab men and women are brought up with, what became socially acceptable is that men should cook in these Arabic restaurants because it’s a male dominant society. Never mind the strong belief that cooking is associated with females, if the issue is one that has to do with gender, females are almost always contained in the private sphere of the home, something that we, females, are starting to break free from nowadays.

 

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.

Material Culture in Sudan

Culture is everything made, learned, or shared by the members of a society, including values, beliefs, behaviors, and material objects. Culture is learned, and it varies tremendously from society to society. We begin learning our culture from the moment we’re born, as the people who raise us encourage certain behaviors and teach their version of right and wrong. One important aspect of culture is Material culture. (SparkNotes)

Material culture consists of the concrete, visible parts of a culture, such as food, clothing, cars, weapons, and buildings. Aspects of material culture differ from society to society. (SparkNotes) Here are a few features of material culture in Sudan:



This is the traditional bride, where she must be covered with gold on her wedding. Also Henna is a necessity for married women, so they are known in the society that they are married. Also the Hena is a material object because is its a part of the Sudanese culture.











Also another part of the Sudanese material culture is tribal beauty marks its done by many tribes in Sudan. Which is when young girls, becomes a woman and eligible for marriage, her face will scarred in tribal patterns to represent that she is ready.






Another important material in the Sudanese culture is the “Toub” the national dress for women. Married women wore the “Toub”, which is a representation that they are married. Young girls are not allowed to wear. The “Toub” is also the identity that differentiates the Sudanese women from other women around the world.





Material culture is important in every culture and country, it defines the identity of each nation. In Sudan we have many significant material culture that presents Sudan, and known all around the world.







Here is a Video on Youtube that elobrates more on the Sudanese Culture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZtlwD2miUE


Source:

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Society and Culture.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2006. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

Unleashing the Qatari Culture in the Residence Halls

On September, 27th, 2011, one of the female residence halls in Education City in Qatar hosted an event to educate the International students about the Qatari Culture.The CDA’s and the residence hall director arrived before the event to set up all the items which represent the material culture of Qatar. These items included the traditional sofas, Arabic music, local pastries, regional dresses and henna cones.



A total of 16 students made it to the event. Most of the students came from Middle Eastern and Asian countries. However major western influence reflected the way these students dressed and talked. The fact is that Education City, which consist of six American universities, sways the subculture of the students to behave in a more western-oriented manner. They all communicated in English since not everyone from the attendants could speak the Arabic language.




Throughout this social gathering, I noticed many aspects of the non-material culture of the country. For instance, folkways like greeting everyone in the event by kissing on both cheeks were firmly applied. Also, the attendants showed open-mindedness and respect towards each other, which is a value embraced within the Qatari Culture. There were norms like maintaining the cleanliness of the place by disposing all tissues, paper plates, plastic cups after using them. Everyone made sure that they kept the pillows of the traditional sofas in the correct order after sitting on the sofas. The music was played at a modest volume. These examples illustrate how keen the Qataris are about living in a hygienic and organized place.





Back to the material culture, the students indulged in the two large dishes of the freshly baked chicken, meat, spinach and vegetable pastries known as fatayer. The portions were huge and this explains the concept of hospitality and generosity when it comes to dining in the Arabic culture. The students had fun trying out the Women’s traditional dress which corresponds to the beliefs of Islam in the culture as the dress was very conservative. Also throughout the event, the students were excited to get their hands decorated with the complex henna designs as henna in the Qatari culture symbolizes beauty.



Adding to all the energy of the occasion, one of the students turned 19 on the very same day. Matea Malikanovic a freshman at Georgetown University celebrated her birthday among the many students in the event. No one knew that her birthday was on that day so there weren’t any preparation to celebrate the occasion to its full potential. However they did sing her the popular birthday song and exchanged birthday wishes, which showed an example of cultural diffusion. Originally from Bosnia, Malikanovic shares a glimpse of her past, “I was born during the war,” she states. However, the situation has improved immensely since then. Still, she decided to study in Qatar to gain a better understanding of the culture and religions of the Middle East.


Birthday girl


A role is the behavior, obligations, and rights expected of a social status. The role of an Education City student involves committing to your schedule, submitting your assignments on time, participating in class and of course passing exams. Despite the busy academic schedule of most the students at the event, they were all looking forward to relaxing and enjoying their time. In fact, 9 students had exams the next day. Elizabeth Boctor, a Weill Cornell student said “I have no idea what I’m doing here but I know I’m happy.” Similarly, Sarah Omar, from Georgetown University expressed her excitement on attending the event, “We are enjoying free food and seeing people we normally wouldn’t see because of our busy schedules.” This casual get-together permitted the students to step out of their rigorous role and engage in leisure and social activities.

While the event only lasted for two hours, it gave students the chance to renew their motivation for studying and refresh their energy. It also helped inform them about the various aspects of the Qatari culture.

The link between food and culture

Every country has its traditional food. Like any other country, Qatar has certain types of food that represent the culture of the country. However, some of these types of food originated from other countries and then brought up in Doha. There are a several main dishes shared in Doha and amongst the Gulf countries as well which shows the cultural levelling amongst these countries. The main dish that is cooked in Doha is The Thibeeha, which is known to be a symbol for celebrations or occasions. This dish is composed of rice and herbs with meat. The Thibeeha is a very important aspect of our culture and beliefs, since it is to show respect for the guests. Welcoming a guest in the Qatari society is very important.

As a tradition, Arabic coffee must be served with dates. Dates are also part of the Muslim culture, and the production season of dates usually increases during Ramadan, which is the holy month in Islam. This is due to the reason that when its time to break our fast, we have to have at least one date before starting to eat.

There’s a cultural diffusion in Qatar when it comes to food. Food companies have been brought from all over the world to Doha, providing all types of food available. There is a wider selection where one can choose from. For example: Chinese, Lebanese, Moroccan, Indian, American, French and many other types of food. These range of different types of food allows Qatar to have selections and options for tourists to choose when they visit Qatar for the first time.

There are a few norms

when it comes to eating in Qatar. For example in gatherings, the youngsters should always allow the elders to sit first on the dining table and serve them anything they would request. This shows respect for the eldest. There are certain types of food in Doha that are preferably eaten using the hands. Fish and crabs for example are eaten using the hands. However, not everyone follows this rule but this is how most Qatari citizens eat fish and crabs.

Culture shock?

If someone would ask you, what makes you different from Person A or Person B, you would probably be able to come up with a list from the top of your head, without even having to think, like nationality, language, religion or even food habits or education.

In other words, the way you have been brought up is what differentiates you from the others. A sociologist defines this as culture. The way of life of people or more specifically, the human created strategies for adjusting to the environment.

For some of us, seeing different culture is the best part about traveling, where as for few other, they have a culture shock coming from place X to Y. Culture shock is the strain that people experience while traveling from one region to the other, and must reorient themselves to the ways of the new culture. And this was exactly what happened in the movie Outsourced, where an American products salesman (Todd) heads to India to because of his replacement, after his entire department is outsourced. Being unaware of the beliefs and values of India, he found himself in a very inconvenient situation. For example, in India, Cows are considered sacred and play an important role in the Hindu religion. Whereas when Todd goes to India, being ignorant, he talks about cows as a food product without realizing how sensitive a topic it was and he goes on doing the same sort of mistake, until he finally finds someone who could teach him about the Indian culture.

People’s behavior and values change from culture to culture, and that is rooted to the shortage and abundance of resources in different regions. For example, the video shows how common begging is in India. However, in Qatar it is hardly seen in public. The economic structure of the country breaks the conservation-oriented behaviors of its people.



According to Sociology, some of the most important types of non-material cultures are beliefs, values, norms, symbols and language. And some of these aspects were clearly noticeable in Culture Shock, an Al Jazeera documentary, on how African migrants find ways to deal with the European culture. These African migrants face instances of racist violence in Germany, where because of their skin color, people assign symbols. People assign offensive names.

Despite being immigrants, some of their habits perfectly match local customs, which is a case of cultural universals, which refers to things found in every culture. But sometimes people hold on to the viewpoint of ethnocentrism, because of which these African migrants are not being accepted by the social norms.

Click here to check out the documentary on Al Jazeera

Culture Shock: What is it like to live in Europe with an African identity?

How Do People Define Culture?

Realizing the fact that I’m a student who’s taking a Sociology class at Northwestern University in Qatar, I have definitely gained a better insight into the mechanism of this study in real life, as well as noticing how cultures and societies are greatly affected by each other. And of course, knowing the core elements of these two subjects is essential to achieve the full acknowledgement of this study. Although it’s true that I have heard the terms “subculture, norms, taboos” and many other terms in my life before, I have never actually knew how can they be applied on societies and on “real people” until I took this course. For instance, I never knew the vital and pivotal roles that norms play in a society until I had to break some of them in order to be able to write my first short project, a norm violation experiment.

However, people that have never taken such a class, have never read a book about it, or have never gone through special social situations absolutely have their own ideas and perceptions about the real meaning of culture. Some people might define it in a very generalized way, saying that it is all the apparent elements of a society. They would definitely include “frequently-referred-to” terms, such as traditions, celebrations, architecture, and religion. They might also clarify and say that religion can’t be considered a cultural element unless it is reflected through symbols, clothes, or special ceremonies. True. But this answer is clearly not what a sociologist or a sociology student is aiming for.

People often consider culture to be material culture only; the explicit things that they can touch and see (Griswold, “Culture and Societies in a Changing World). In contrast, they often ignore the non-material—implicit—culture, in which it is represented in beliefs, values, norms, gestures, and other implied elements of a society. The conception that people have about identifying cultures through their exterior elements—only—is false. Sociology wouldn’t even exist without the linkage between the implicit and the explicit elements of a society. A good explanation of what I’m trying to elaborate can be illustrated through the following example:

When you go to a church, you don’t expect to see soldiers standing in lines, practicing and drilling for their second heroic mission. You would expect the place to be quiet and peaceful, and you would expect to see people praying or reading the Bible because that’s the way it goes in sacred places. There are special religious rituals, behaviors, and atmospheres that conquer the place and they don’t have to be materially placed right in front of you that tell you how to act or behave. It all comes out of you spontaneously.

I interviewed a few people from the Education City in Qatar to know how they define culture from their own perspectives: