Final Project: The Mother Punchers

This semester we were instructed to observe a subculture in Qatar. The subculture I observed were a group of metal heads; people who have a passion for metal music. The metal heads proved to be a subculture because they stood out and apart from the larger culture in Qatar. Also, they have sets of ideals, beliefs and practices that differ from the dominant culture. The subculture consisted of seven members. However, in the multimedia project I focused on one of the members and his activities. The subculture I studied meet up to “jam” once a week. They’re often seen as deviant by the larger culture so they’ve created a free space to hang out and unwind. I observed, took field notes, attended jamming sessions and interviewed members of the subculture. For my final project I focused on how the subculture resist the culture in Qatar. They resist through playing music, writing songs, dress and alienation. They subculture are aware that some people associate them with being devil worshipers and/or troublemakers. Do to the clash between their way of living and the conservative culture in Qatar the subculture feel shunned out. Although the project took me out of my comfort zone I’m fortunate to have interacted with such a great group of people who have taught me a lot.

J pop in Qatar

Through out the semester in my Youth Culture in The Middle East class, we were asked to locate a subculture. In a country as small as Qatar, one would be surprised to find subcultures such as the one I made the clip below about. They are a group of girls who are dedicated to their interest in Japanese manga, anime, Japanese Drama and music! As a result they study Japanese in order to understand what their favorite characters or singers are saying. Through their consumption of Japanese pop and their studies of the Language at Qatar Easter Language Center, the girls adapt Japanese style and manners. I hope this video that was shot at the center and at Dana’s house, one of the subculture members, would give you an idea about how the subculture is.
Try to enjoy it!

The (Blind?) Glorification Behind Modernization

My parents and I have always had an interesting relationship to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, I love and cherish them greatly. However, when it comes to seeing eye-to-eye on certain matters, a clashing does occur. I have never wondered or gave the topic a second thought until Phil Cohen’s ‘Subcultural Conflict and Working-class Community’ was assigned as a reading for class last week.

In order to explore some tensions behind parent and youth cultures I decided to visit my mother’s old house. Forty years ago, my mother lived, with her family, in Musheireb - as did many of the locals in Qatar. It was where a strong community once lived. Regardless of the poor state the inhabitants of the area had a strong bond. I’ve noticed that many of my father’s friends, including my dad, are able to speak Persian and Indian. This is because most children that lived in that close community played outside and bonded on a day-to-day level.

While exploring the area of Musheireb with my mother I can sense the personal attachment she has for the area, even though she hasn’t lived there for twenty-five years.
Around twenty-five years ago the locals began to move out of the area. “Gradual depopulation” was evident at the time. The government bought some of the houses to concentrate on “building new estates.” An example of this would be the expansion and reconstruction of Souq Wagif.

Modernization has its advantages of course; redevelopment brought more opportunities and bettered the “material conditions” of many. However, a clash between parent culture and youth culture is somewhat present. Traditions of the past seem to no longer or rarely exist. When my parents speak of their childhood there is less emphasis on material consumption and more on how strong their community was. The different lifestyles that their children have and the one they had years ago differ to a great extent. It is only natural that parents worry about the BBM lifestyle and the vast changes that seem to swirl around them. The ideology of spectacular consumption and the traditional ideology of production seem to clash. There is a great emphasis on consuming products, especially with some of the youth culture. Also, there seems to be less interest in producing as opposed to consuming. Some of the youth culture in Qatar seem to have “weaken links” in relations to “historical and parent culture.” However, some events taking place in Qatar seem to try to reconnect youth to traditions of the past. For example, on Tuesday November 13th, I attended a Dhow event that took place in Katara. It showcased the traditions of the past and had mini stalls that show how pearl diving was and fishing was conducted. The event could be trying to reconnect and educate youth about past times and also give the parent culture a trip down memory lane.

It leaves me to wonder how things will be in twenty-five years. The thought is almost haunting.

Hijabizing Graffiti

In this week's class, we discussed about cultural resistance and used Banksy's example to showcase cultural resistance. For this particular blog post, I will be analyzing the work of another graffiti artist, Princess Hijab, from the perspective of culture resistance.

So, who is Princess Hijab? Some refer her as the muslim sister version of Banksy while others claim her to be the founder of hijabism movement. Princess Hijab is an anonymous 20-year-old guerilla street artist based in Paris, who began her “noble cause” of attempting to hijabise advertisements in 2006. She does this by using spray paint and a black marker to cover women’s faces and bodies in ads, or by pasting “hijab” over models displayed in posters and billboards in the streets of Paris. However, it is unknown whether she wears a hijab or if she is even a Muslim.


Her profile page on Art Review states that, "Princess Hijab explores notions of space and possible types of representation, contrasting the normative representations of the public sphere with her personal iconoclastic approach […] She is known for her subversive work within the public space and for her “diy” and “grrl” attitude." She had initially started her work as a way of resisting the mainstream and sexist consumerist culture. In other words, the advertising culture is the dominant/ parent culture and the hijabized graffiti art is the subculture. Many people have also associated her art as way of expressing against the hijab ban in France. However, in one of her rare online interviews, she mentions," My work is nothing to do with the veil ban in France. I’ve repeatedly stated: No, that is not my message, neither in the form, nor in the content of my stuff. I started working in 2005 [before the ban was imposed] on top of that.The content of my art is more directly related to our archetypes, to the collective unconsciousness, our intimate reactions, to the closed space of the Metro and the street."







Cultural resistance comprises of 4 forms - content, form, interpretation and activity. The content of the message is aimed to attract people’s attention to what usually is unnoticeable For example, by drawing niqab on billboard models, Princess Hijab has attracted the world’s attention to the wall. Secondly, for this case, street art is the means (the medium) for culture resistance. According to her," Street art is how I build my universe, giving form to my imaginary representations. Paris - the city, the identities, fashion and society- it offers me nearly inexhaustible inspiration. It nourishes my urban expression". The interpretation part is related to the society and how they interpret the modern mainstream and consumerist culture. Activity refers to the art of graffiti, in this case, the black spray paint symbolizing the veil on poster models that attracts the attention towards those ads.





At the beginning, her art received negative reactions in the public. But now, however, Prince Hijab's guerrilla street art has gained widespread popularity and has been featured at several art exhibitions, including one in Norway recently.

From Art to Politics!

Politics or art? This art work was sprayed by Banksy on the apartheid wall in Palestine. Banksy is a street artist. Street artists use different mediums to show their art in the streets. Banksy’s real identity is anonymous. Yesterday, I watched “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” which is a documentary about street art and Banksy. What does the whole movement of street art mean? And why is significant?



The narrator stated, “Street art was poised to become the biggest counter cultural movement since punk.” While the film is supposed to be about Banksy, it ended up being about the person who was planning to make the film. He calls himself Space Invader. He started by taking videos of the street artists. Later, he becomes part of the street art subculture. A subculture is a group of people who share a style, language, type of music, activities and beliefs. He becomes involved in their activities and later performs street art himself. But, what do Space Invader and the street artists have in common?

Space Invader makes his living through selling used clothes. He would buy them cheap and see people paying lots of money to buy a piece from him because it would have a designer name. The street artists are opposed to consumerism and the hegemonic ideology of the people, which prevent them from seeing the things going on around them. The concept of hegemony refers to the way people perceive some things as common sense. Hegemonic ideas are ideas that most of the people believe and see as being the common sense ways to think or behave. The hegemonic ideology of most of people is to consume products and to understand the world in the way it is shown through media. As a shopkeeper, Space Invader has understood how consumerism is stupid. People were paying a lot of money just because of the brand’s name. Street artists and Space Invader share the same belief about consumerism.

Through street art they perform a type of cultural resistance. Stephen Duncombe perceives cultural resistance as “culture that is used, consciously or unconsciously, effectively or not, to resist and/or change the dominant political, economic and/or social structure.” The definition can be seen visually through street art.

(Screenshot from the film)

The sculpture above was made by Banksy. It is a resistance against the social hegemonic idea of respecting a national symbol that does not mean anything. Banksy uses the street art culture to change the way people perceive symbols. Whether Banksy was conscious about the message he is sending or not, and whether his art would be affective or not, doesn’t matter. Either ways, it is considered cultural resistance.

There are four means of cultural resistance, content, form, interpretation and activity. The content of the message is to attract people’s attention to what they are not seeing or noticing about the worlds around them. For example, by drawing on the apartheid wall in Palestine, Banksy attracted the world’s attention to the wall. The form is concerned with the medium of the message. Street art was always in streets and many people did not understand its purpose. The form is a typical street wall, but it took a step forward by appearing in the film. The different mean allowed the street message to be clearer. The interpretation part is related to the society and how they interpret the art. Before I watched the documentary, I interpreted street art as something beautiful, which is ruining public property. Activity is not only the performance of street art, but also the meaning behind it. When they are drawing on public property they are attracting attention to what people are not seeing. An example of this is the street art on street ads. It reflects the street artists’ belief about being opposed to consumerism.

(Screenshot from the film)

Banksy had an art exhibition in Los Angeles. He brought an elephant that was colored with the same colors of the wallpaper. In the documentary the narrator says that the purpose of the camouflage elephant was to show “how easy it is to ignore the things right in front of us.” Then he continues talking about how the people in media saw “what’s right in front of them.” The reporter in the next shot was talking about animals’ rights.
In the Youth Culture in The Middle East class, we discussed how today’s culture could be tomorrow’s commercial object. This is what is happening with the street art culture. The street art found its way to art auctions, where people were doing what the art itself was opposed to; consuming art in the form of a “commodity.” Spending lots of money just because this artist made this piece of art. Banksy himself comments on this issue saying, “It is not about the money.”

I’m a fan of art that appreciates beauty. I understand and relate to Banksy and the street artist’s resistance. I was an art student, and I didn’t like the way people try to tell others how to see art. It is like a project under construction to spread a hegemonic idea of what art should be. It aim is to teach people to ignore the beautiful art in front of them because it doesn’t follow certain rules. It also encourages consumerism and seeing art as a commodity and doing it to please people. Street artists do art because they like it and they have a message behind it. This is why they never reveal their real identities. For them it’s about the art and the message, and not the fame or the money.

Qatari Families losing Its Ties

Qatar has changed over the past couple of years. It changed in terms of its traditions and the development of the country. Some might argue that this change is positive and some might argue that its not. However, if we look at the family links of Qatar today and Qatar 60 years back, the change is quite vast. In the olden days of Qatar, all Qatari family members lived close by, they all lived in the same street, and their houses were stuck to each other. In cohen’s reading, he mentions that the modernization had resulted in the separation of family ties in East England. This also happened in Qatar, the families are not as close as they were. You rarely find families in Qatar that live next to each other or are in the same area. There are some today, in compounds but they usually separate when they get married. This is a generational conflict, because the way the older generation was raised is different than how people of today are raised due to the family ties. Personally, I have some cousins that I barely know. However, my parents for example their cousins are very close to them, they all lived next to each other, and were 24/7 with each other. This issue also causes the weakening of historical and cultural continuity. This is because it disperses the family ties in the Qatari culture and the parent culture itself. For example, one of the people I interviewed in Khretiyat area, said that because of the new highway and the modernization of Qatar, her family had to disperse. She now has family near Villagio, Landmark and Al-Khor. Another Qatari female said that she feels like she is not close to her family the way her parents are towards her grandparents. She talks about how she was not raised around her family and cousins the way her parents and grandparents lived. She showed me some pictures, of how different their lives were. You can tell that its very diverse now because when i went around West Bay, there were Qatari families living with Western neighbours. This never really would've happened years back. You can tell the difference of the people from the neighbourhood how its being more dispersed and different than how it was before. From Past knowledge, it is clear that subcultures are formed in reaction to social or economic or political changes. In this case, Qatar’s development and modernization has broken family ties

. We can use Cohen’s argument that the modernization has resulted in the loss of family relations.

Star Academy vs. Big Brother: Al-Rais

In the red corner we have Big Brother (Al-Rais). Never having reached its first round of evictions. In the blue corner we have Star Academy that has completed its eighth season. The winner is clearly the latter, having been a success across the Arab region. After reading the chapter by Kraidy I began to wonder why both reality programs, that are similar in more ways than they are different got different responses.

Having briefly watches some of the original Big Brother series from Europe and America I began to wonder why on Earth it actually got picked up in the Arab world. The concept itself was very Western, so much so that it went against the traditional values and norms of the largely Muslim audience. It isn’t the idea of having an Arabic version of a show that is problematic. It’s the actual premise and nature of the show.



Largely the audiences of the original shows tuned in to see what sexual relations were going on and to see the latest explicit argument. The contestants on the western show drink, casually have sex, and bear all (literally) to the world. Those are the three aspects of it that attract the viewers. Strip all that away and you’ll have a group of strangers living in a house. Why would anyone want to watch no drama?
Star Academy on the other hand, still had its fair share of criticism and resistance. However, it was still very similar to the actual format of the original French show Star Academy. It’s singing competition that has contestants living in a house and performing to a live audience for votes. It isn’t all based on personality, and there is a purpose for being in the same house. True, people do tend to tune in to see what the contestants are doing in the house, and to see what love triangles are forming. It's still a show that is able to use a bit of the Big Brother concept minus the excessive nudity.



Now, both shows came out at around the same time: late 2003, and early 2004. One based in Lebanon, and the other in Bahrain. Both shows received a lot of criticism and weren’t expected to succeed, and it was true for one of them. The kiss in Bahrain is probably what ended it for Big Brother. I’m sure there have been kisses on Star Academy, but I find it unlikely that they’d have the same protests as in Bahrain. It is only because they are two different cultures.



I personally see that Star Academy was produced in the right place at the right time with the right concept. Big Brother might have worked if it took place in present day Lebanon. It’s interesting to see how one show gains success and another doesn’t. There has to be more to the format of Big Brother than a group of people living in a house in order for it to be successful. Reality TV works when there’s drama, and in the case of Big Brother there was definitely drama, just not from the actual content of the show.

Expression of Fashion or Subculture ?

The concept of dramaturgy and subcultures are almost intertwined. From previous knowledge and from class discussions, I decided to visit an English speaking school to see if there was any sort of subculture or if I could apply the sociological concepts I learnt in class. I decided to visit a high school, keeping in mind that most youth subcultures are formed when they are separated from their primary socializers, their family, and not under the influence of the dominant culture. Therefore, for this blog post, I wanted to study whether there was a subculture amongst the students from the way most Muslim girls wore their school uniforms and adapted to a westernized environment.

As I was walking through the playgrounds at break time, I noticed how most Muslim girls had their hairs covered with the hijab. The normal school uniform was a polo shirt and a pair of trousers. The girls wore both long skirts and long sleeves, or simply long sleeved shirts with pants. In a sociological perspective, this can be seen as a bricolage. In this case, bricolage is how the young girls adapt to the western style fashion, but at the same time respect their religious beliefs by wearing the hijab.

The theory of commodity was present as Dick Hebdige describes it as “the conversion of subcultural signs into mass-produced objects.” It was tough to determine if the girls were expressing their sense of modesty in Islamic clothing, or conveying their sense of belonging to a certain subculture. Some of the girls had hipster looking glasses, converse shoes and even wore revealing clothing with their hijab on. Some also wore high-rise leggings with their uniform tucked in, which could be another indication of a hipster style.

On the other hand, some girls were holding designer accessories, for example; Chanel, Gucci and Burberry handbags, while others were wearing punk looking bracelets and shoes with spikes on them.  In the end, it is up to us to decide if they belong to a certain subculture, or whether its jut a form of commodity Hebdige refers to.

The world is mediated. In other words, corporations and the media normalize what was once a shock to us. Probably, the way most of the girls were dressed was once considered socially unacceptable, but through media and the fashion industry, these forms of clothing have become acceptable and normalized. Nowadays it is not out of the ordinary for a Qatari girl to wear revealing clothing, where it was contemplated deviant two years ago.

If I were to apply the dramaturgy theory by Erving Goffman, I would say that these girls are all actors on the front stage of a theater. In this case, the stage would be the school. The students, principals, cleaners, security and the teachers are the actors playing set character roles as part of their performances. The students managed their setting, clothing, language, and gestures to correspond the image they tried to project. Nevertheless, this is impression management. For instance, the girls were presented differently on front stage than if they were to be in their comfort zone, the back stage. At one point, the girls took off the hijab and started singing when they were in the classroom alone, and put on their hijab and acted all reserved once they walked out.

The female students could be part of a larger subculture or they could just be consumers of style through the mediated world. 

Taqwacore, the subculture of the Muslim punks

As I was researching about punk rock in the Middle East, I came across the Taqwacore subculture which I had no idea existed. Taqwacore is punk rock movement that has emerged following the publication of Muhammad Michael Knight’s 2003 novel, The Taqwacores, depicting a fictitious Islamic punk rock scene. The word has been derived by combining two words – “taqwa”, an Islamic concept of love and fear for Allah, and “hardcore”, the punk rock subgenre. In other words, Taqwacore can be viewed as a punk music with a Muslim connotation.

According to Hebdige, “spectacular subcultures express forbidden contents in forbidden forms. They are profane articulations and they are often and significantly defined as unnatural…” This can be applied to the Taqwacore subculture where express ion of forbidden content in forbidden forms is regular (e.g. expressing frustration of 9/11 attacks in their lyrics; women-led prayers). The basis of the subculture that is the merging of two seemingly incongruous identities contributes to the spectacular nature of the subculture. Punk rock, as a subculture and musical style actively resists mainstream society and embraces a marginalized identity and role in society. Punk rock blurs traditional boundaries between audience and performer and questions traditional or accepted norms and values. In stark contrast, Islam is a structured religion founded on a deeply personal and individual belief in God and is characterized by selflessness, devotion, and devout sense of social responsibility. From this we can call Taqwacore as a bricolage where the combination of various objects and ideas (in this case punk rock and Islam) appears nonsensical but makes perfect sense to the people involved in the subculture. For the Muslim punks, Taqwacore serves as a platform where they can embrace their own interpretations of Islam via punk rock and use internet to build communities and spread the message.Some of the popular Taqwacore bands are The Kominas, Al - Thawra and Vote Hezbollah.

For this blog article I will be examining the dressing styles and choices by the Muslim punks by viewing it from the two forms of incorporating a subculture – (a) the commodity form & (b) the ideological form. In the Subcultures Reader, Hebdige refers to the commodity form by mentioning that the subculture is communicated through commodities even if the meanings attached to those commodities are purposefully distorted. For the punk rock scene, this commodity form is represented in through the use of spikes, chains, mohawks and dyed hair. Interestingly enough, the Muslim punks combine both the usual punk rock associated styles (use of mohawk and spikes) and Arab traditional wear such as hijabs and the traditional Palestinian checkered scarves which can be seen in the below pictures.

The ideological form occurs when the subcultural style becomes more accepted through the labeling and re-defining of deviant behavior by dominant groups such as the media or the police, through various forms of communication technology. Before the use of pins and spikes on clothing was unheard of and would probably be labeled as fashion disasters. But now, it has become a part of mainstream media and hence has become acceptable. Even in the Qatari society, you can see young females wearing abayas with spikes and pins.

Once Upon A Subculture

Throughout the years the subculture of hipsters has evolved significantly. There has been resistance from society towards hipsters and what they embody and represent. I associate hipsters with being totally against the mainstream and conventional ideas. The phrase “don’t trust the system,” reminds me of the hipster style since it seems that the subculture strongly value nature, originality and freedom beyond the confinements of society. The hipster subculture is a culture within the larger culture. They have their own set of beliefs, values and interests. The subculture discussed is at variance with the larger culture. It seems to me that hipsters are completely against the materialistic way of life and the obsession with consumerism. However, that has drastically changed as the subculture has been accepted and incorporated into the larger culture.

Recently, hipsters have been made apart of the mainstream and larger culture. Websites like Tumblr has helped incorporate the subculture into the larger society. It has become the norm and popular to dress and have similar beliefs which were originally that of hipsters. Is it ironic that a subculture that is built on a belief that is completely against society become incorporated into the mainstream? Are we all hipsters at heart? Has the incorporation of the hipster lifestyle abolish the hipster subculture? All these questions formulated in my head when the hipster incorporation took place. It was confusing seeing a subculture resisted by the masses becoming a trend. However, further reading suggested that the taking on of a subculture by the popular media is a frequent occurrence.

Hebdige brought up two ways in which this occurrence happened. The subcultural styles are incorporated into the mainstream culture by the commodity form and/or the ideological form. The commodity form is “the conversion of subcultures signs into mass-produced objects.” This implies that corporate companies use these subculture styles to create new trends. The ideological form is “the labeling and re-definition of deviant behavior by dominant groups.” The two forms can be applied to the diffusion of the hipster subculture into the popular media. Since culture is not fixed it can take on many different trends and continuously alter.

Subculture? Not a Subculture?

What happened to the Bedouin’s identity? And what happened to the Hadar (urban) identity? In the past, Bedouins had different norms than the Hadar. They had different dialects. Some Bedouin still use these dialects today. For example, some of the people from Al-Hajri family end their words with “tess” when they are addressing a female. Bedouins had a different lifestyle and different tools that they used. In addition to poetry, they use the rababa, which is a musical instrument that looks like a violin. However, the rababa has only one string. While the Hadar were involved with trading and jobs related to pearl diving, the Bedouins were practicing different jobs and activities. These activities included falconry and taking care of their livestock. On one hand, the livestock represent their capital (Ras almal). On the other hand, the Hadar’s capital included ships and pearls. Because Qatar is a peninsula, the norm was to be part of the Hadar and live by the sea. The fact that the Bedouins had their own dialect, music, style and activities made them stand out as a spectacular subculture. Subcultures are groups of people who vary and differ from the mainstream in language, style, music and activities. It is a spectacular subculture because their practices are not hidden. Bedouins’ practice of poetry and falconry are activities that we can see. The spectacular subcultures are out of the ordinary, so they attract our attention as the Bedouins do with their practices.

In the article Where Have The Bedouin Gone?, Donald Cole states, “I argue for seeing Bedouin as ordinary, everyday people.” In addition to that, the Bedouin identity blendes with the mainstream Hadar identity and vice versa. Some Bedouin have moved from tents to houses. A few of them live urban lifestyles while still practicing some of their Bedouin activities, such as falconry and poetry. Some of them speak like urban people. Some might argue that Bedouin’s identity is presented in their heritage and ancestry, but it is focused on ancestry more than heritage in Qatar. Currently, Bedouins still keep their livestock (capital). However, they hire shepherds to take care of them. Such practice is not associated with Bedouins only.
I visited a farm in which people hired shepherds to take care of their livestock. There was a tent made of goat hair. However, the tent had glass windows and a door. Inside the tent, there is a television and two air conditionors. There were chairs around the tent. The chairs looked modern, but were covered with old fabric. There was a rebaba on the side of it as a decoration. Outside the tent, there were camels, goats and parrots. The style of the chairs and the weird combination of livestock and parrots, reflect how modern life has affected the identity.

(Pictures I took at the farm)

After describing the place, it gives the feeling that this is a Bedouin farm. However, it is not. The farm belongs to a Hadar family. The Bedouins are no longer a subculture because their identity has merged with the Hadar identity to produce a national identity. Bedouin no longer dominate falconry, poetry and taking care of livestock.
When a subculture’s identity is becoming mainstream, it usually happens through two forms: Commodity and ideological. The commodity form draws the relation between the subculture and the other industries. Having a farm, livestock, and purchasing old tools became a commodity. There are many shops around Doha that are specialized in putting tents and selling falconry tools. Because these things can be sold, they became mainstream. The farm I visited was in an area of more than 50 farms owned by Bedouin and Hadar. The government owns the area, but it has rented it to people. Those who do not own a certain number of goats or sheep do not have the right to rent. As a result of the government’s encouragement for people to purchase land and livestock, the practices that were associated with Bedouin are parts of the Hadar identity too. There for, the ideology of how Bedouin were looked at as being Bedouin has changed. The ideological form deals with how the presentation of a subculture in the media change the way people perceive the subculture. During Qatar national day, the national television plays footage of camels and people doing Bedouin practices. This portrayal allows the Hadar to be more familiar with such practices, so they are more likely to accept them. This proves how the culture is not constant, but changeable. What was supposed to be a Bedouin thing or a Hadar thing is now just considered a Qatari thing.

Living in Qatar and seeing how many Hadar act Bedouin on some occasions, while Bedouin act like Hadar on other occasions, led me to this assessment. Although I’m part of the Hadar, I have cousins who practice falconry and hangout with Bedouin. This doesn’t make them Bedouins, but makes the Bedouin practices mainstream and not subcultural. The fact that Bedouin are not a subculture might be general to most of the Bedouin. However, there might be some extreme cases where Bedouin are more attached to their Bedouin identities.

(Picture from the archive of my cousin's falcon)

Girls and BBM in Qatar

Blackberries have become a device that is used by a large number of people. People from all ages use it in their own way. However, there are some limitations to how it is being used. Gender plays a big role in this. Qatar is a male dominant society. This means that men have more power in showing their social life on social network programs like bbm. In a conservative country like Qatar, a girl’s reputation is very important. Blackberry also plays a role in a girl’s reputation. You may ask how? A girl in Qatar has to be careful on what to include and what to not include on blackberry messenger. For example, I asked a local girl if she can post her pictures on blackberry messenger display picture she answered: “No way!, its too risky” the case here is fear from other people in the society. Some people see it as people who post their pictures online or on social networks websites are looked at in a negative way, which is not necessarily true. As a local, I find this to be true to certain degrees. I personally don’t post any of my pictures on blackberry messenger and I do not update the areas I’m at. However, I post some pictures that show locations but not necessarily who is in the picture, or where exactly. That’s what the majority of girls choose to do, they post hints that might imply where they are but not really show where they are. This relates to the interaction theory, to interact with other through bbm. Girls are conservative because they fear others might talk about them through word of mouth

. However, some locals do post their pictures but with limitations to avoid intensity in conversations about them. Other girls might have a hidden identity on bbm with a fake name, so that they can freely post any status updates without having to worry that other might find out who they are.