Authenticity of bread, yes bread.

What is authenticity? And what defines an object, or an action, or a person, or a place, as authentic? Grazian explains authenticity by, what is defined as real or true or pure by a group of people. But who determines which group of people? Or how they interpret that object of authenticity?

When I was younger, I had a Croatian neighbor. She lived right across the street. Everyday, she would come to my house to have some authentic “Arabic bread”, and then we would cross the street to her house to have some authentic “Western toast”. That way everyday we both have had something to eat from the other persons culture. As cheesy and factually incorrect as that is, we were very young, so I wouldn’t judge or laugh at me if I were you… but anyway, remembering that story now, makes me realize that even as children, we would classify objects with authenticity.

So I decided to go to a bakery and ask people their opinion on the authenticity of bread, and what they think is authentic “Arabic bread”, or authentic “Western bread”.



As I walked into the store I observed where each type of bread was displayed. The burger bun and hotdog bun were displayed right next to each other, and the thin, round Arabic bread was displayed on another side. Which already shows some kind of differentiation.



I found a Muslim, Arab women there, and decided to ask her opinion on the matter. I asked her what she defines as authentic Arabic bread, and why, and what she classifies the other types of bread as. She pointed to the thin round bread and said, this is our bread, this is what authentic Arabic bread is. Her reasoning behind that was the following exact quote: “This is what my mother used to bring home to us ever since I was a little girl, I grew up on this, so this is our traditions, the Arab tradition.”



Then she went on to talk about the other types of bread. She generally classified all the rest as “Western”. And said that just because a certain type of bread is classified under a certain culture, doesn’t mean that only that culture is expected to buy it. “I’m buying American bread right now” she said.

It was very interesting to hear this woman’s opinion on authenticity, and how she decided to classify these types of bread and why. Which takes me back to the theory of socialization. She was socialized, her beliefs and authenticity classification, were socialized into her as she grew up, and still have not changed until now. She is 24 years old.

Frontstage vs. Backstage

Today I decided to go to a casual café, one that is considered a place where middle-class people go. I wanted to analyze it using the dramaturgy theory. This theory states that organizations can be examined like plays or movies. They have a setting, actors, roles, an audience, forestage and backstage behaviors. I went to a café called Bayt Al-Shami.

I observed peoples’ behaviors, the customers, and the waiters. I listened in on their conversations and I observed their behaviors.

In Grazian’s chapter about interaction theory, he talks about the fact that culture is determined by the social contexts in which we interact with others.

In a cultural context such as the one I was in today, there are certain norms and behaviors I expected to see, and others I didn’t expect to see. For example I expected to see middle-class people, behave moderately classy, yet not as classy as what I would expect someone to behave in a hotel. The norm would be for them to, not yell in the middle of the restaurant, yet not whisper in order for them to be classy.

The setting was a very regular setting, casual middle-eastern seating, low Arabic music playing in the background, and mixed gendered groups of people sitting together, whether they were friends or family.



The front stage behavior, which is the behavior that takes place where it is visible to the audience, i.e. the customers in the restaurant, was also very predictable. People are socialized to act a certain way based on the setting they are in, and for a place like this, it was normal to see children running around, and people occasionally getting loud.



As for the waiters, they’re expected to occasionally hover, to be polite, however, they’re not expected to be as professional as classy as waiters are in a hotel restaurant, and not as trashy as they are in a cheap “guy sheesha” places. Which is also what I observed in the front stage.



The back stage behavior was particularly interesting. I got close to the kitchen area and snapped a few pictures hoping one of them would be slightly clear, and I hovered a little to listen in on their conversations.



Some were yelling, some were laughing really loudly, and one of them was sing Baby for Justin Bieber, as his friends were huddled around him.

The drastic change between front stage and back stage definitely proved that the setting really does determine peoples’ behaviors.

Who Run The World (Girls)

My title may suggest that girls have it all, success, power and of course love. However, I really just picked the title because I love Beyonce so much!




In our last Sociology class, we have discussed how families are considered as element of socialization and how gender roles can affect the stability of families and relationships. We also looked closely into the breadwinner system and discussed the elements of changes and continuity regarding the system.

Due to the rise of literacy rates amongst women and with more women entering the workforce, more women are becoming the breadwinners in their place, which has shaken up the system. Men are no longer perceived as the main provider for the household; in fact, many women began earning more than men do. Men are doing more housework than they ever had (watching a game and playing X-Box all does not count). Many couples are succumbing to the changes mainly because of the recent economic conditions. On the other hand, there is still cultural resistance and stigma towards men being the secondary earners in the household, which has discouraged many men from dating or marrying successful women.

There are two main reasons why successful women remain single, they are either too busy working and achieving their goals or they are seen as "high maintenance" by men. Men are often intimidated by women who are better than them financially and career wise. This whole "Beauty fades, but personality and brains last forever" just doesn't seem to cut it anymore. Of course, many successful men look for women are equally successful and smart in order for them to support themselves in their social and professional circles. There has been many cases where marriages have been ruined due to the wife having a more successful career, and it usually happens when the in-laws or the public interfere and comment on their situation. Most of the middle-eastern men were brought up in a house where the mom was a stay-at-home mom and the father being the breadwinner. However, many of them are pro-feminism and demand equality for women. 

What happened to "Behind every successful man is a woman"?

One thing about Middle-Eastern men, they will never let you pay the bill just because they're men.

Why are women still single then? Frankly, because some of them choose to be. What bothers in me in our society is how people contradict themselves when it's a stigma for girls to remain unmarried and for men to marry girls who are more successful (or the breadwinner) in the family. Successful, ambitious and more educated girls are then forced to stay single because they haven't found an equivalent companion.
Even though feminism is perceived as a western ideology, many westerners are highly against it simply because they're men.

Shame!

BIGGER SHAME!!

Good vs. Bad

We’ve been talking about Arab stereotypes quite a bit recently and how Hollywood portrays us in several different negative ways: the most prominent being as terrorists. When we see these images, we usually (as expected) criticize the film and the filmmaker for having such prejudiced views against us.

But, when we were watching the film, Amreeka, which was directed by an Arab woman, I realized there were a lot of stereotypes about Arabs in there as well. These stereotypes, however, had a much different effect on me.

For me, a lot of the comedy in this film came from recognizing these stereotypes. My favourite one being the cute, sarcastic grandmother that tends to worry a bit too much.

I started to wonder why these were stereotypes different. Was it because they had nothing to do with portraying Arabs as backwards and violent people? Or did it have more to do with the fact that these were stereotypes I faced on a daily basis and were written by an Arab herself?

I think who the filmmaker or the screenwriter is makes a huge difference. Usually, when Hollywood uses Arab stereotypes, they use it to create an outgroup – they make the Arab the “other.” They use this to socialize the viewers and fill them with fear, hatred, and discrimination, When an Arab filmmaker uses an Arab stereotype, however, they create an ingroup, allowing other Arab viewers to identify with what’s going in the film and better connect with it.

I even caught myself writing a very stereotypical portrayal of a Palestinian mother who only cares about her daughter getting married in one of my scripts. When my friends read it, they found it absolutely hilarious because they could all almost relate the character to their own mothers. When I took a second look at it myself, I criticized myself because I know that there is a lot more to Arab mothers than just being an obsessive and psychotic matchmaker. But for some reason, I was reinforcing that stereotype.

I guess the important thing with all stereotypes, whether they’re “good” (I’m not sure they can be) or bad ones, is to recognize the fact that they are stereotypes and to interrupt the process of socialization. 

"We've Got The Power"

In our last Sociology class, we discussed women and gender. Considering how there is an overwhelming majority of females in our class, the topics on femininity, neo-feminist cinema and power were highly intriguing.

I have witnessed and experienced a significant amount of sexism, not only from males but females too. Mothers in particular. They seem to conform to their roles as being housewives and homemakers; cooking and cleaning are an integral part of a married woman’s daily routine. Men, however, conform to their roles as being the breadwinner of the household. If men are placed in a situation where they can’t be the providers of the family they will submit to playing no part whatsoever in helping around the house. This is because they feel emasculated and since socialization portrays working around the house as a female’s responsibility, men would rather be useless than serve a purpose.



I have first-hand experience, in my own household, of my brother telling me to make him meals because I’m a female. I have also experienced something similar from my mother. She advised me to learn how to cook earlier on, in order for me to provide meals for my future husband. Parents, and the family, are the most prominent agents of socialization in any individual’s life. This explains how people can justify that they’re right for whatever reason – may it be on buying a house or car, or making the right choice on a certain issue - because their parents have cautioned them on what is right and what is wrong.


This week I attended the student-faculty dodge ball game. Seeing as the majority of students are female, some male students expressed bitterness because they saw this as disadvantageous to the students’ team. “The only reason we’re losing is because we have so many girls on our team,” said one male.


Men seem to be under the impression that women can’t exert physical power. This is mainly due to socialization – movies such as Rambo and the Expendables convey masculinity through strength and violence. But even when women play roles that show ‘power over’ others, which means getting others to do something even when they don’t want to, it isn’t interpreted in a serious manner. This is mainly because men find women playing aggressive roles attractive, and almost all of these roles played by women are sexualized.



Although the faculty won the dodge-ball game, there were quite a number of females on their team as well. The males on the student team purposely targeted the females on the faculty team, assuming that they would be the “weak” point. But the females played a large role in contributing the large number of points the faculty team won by, which shows that it is merely a social construction that “women are physically weaker than men.”

“They have nowhere to go”, said Giovanni.

Over the Spring Break I went to Soug Wagef with my younger brother for some gelato from La Dolce Vita. While we were there, we met the shop owner, Giovanni and began talking about what ended with me thinking of the socialization of people in Qatar’s public spaces on the weekends and the Indian culture and movies.

Last class we discussed Masala films, Indian society and culture, and tradition versus modernity. Generally, Masala films last for three hours, which is much longer than the amount of time a typical Western movie would last. The reason for this is because during Indian summers, the weather gets very hot making it difficult to spend most of the day outdoors and many of the people living their come from poor backgrounds. Therefore, what many Indians do is purchase theatre tickets and spend three hours indoors watching a movie in air conditioned environment.

During our conversation with Giovanni we talked about weekends at Soug Wagef and how labor workers who consist of mostly Indians are not permitted inside because of “family day”. The reason for this rule is because many women feel uncomfortable because these labor workers just hang around and “stare”. However single males who are not labor workers are permitted into the soug. This is not just the case in Soug Wagef but also in all the malls.

The reason labor workers just hang around in public spaces and “stare” instead of going to a movie during the hot hours of the day is because they cannot afford to given the low wages they are paid. 30QR is a large sum when you are paid a monthly wage of only 600QR –some of which you want to send back to your family. All these labor workers are looking for are air conditioned cheap or free spaces. 

There exists a problem for both women and labor workers living in Qatar. The labor workers want to avoid the hot sun during their free time and the women want to feel comfortable. Since going to the movies and watching three hour long Bollywood productions is what Indians do back in their home country to avoid the summer heat, I am sure they would not mind doing that here either. Currently, the cheapest movie theatre in Qatar is Gulf Cinema, which also happens to play many Masala films. As a solution, the companies in sponsoring the labor workers could look into this matter and consider opening another lower priced movie theatre for their workers so that they could spend their free time –maybe even in the Barwa project by the Industrial area.

Modern (Not) Versus Traditional

Since this week’s reading was about family, I decided to observe the socialization found in my own family. In class we discussed how in most societies there is a stereotype of the father being the breadwinner and the mother being the one who stays home and takes care of home-related topics. In the U.S, this has become less common and moreover, many countries are moving farther away from this ideology. In my blog post, I will talk about how being brought up in an Arab home has affected the way I think when it comes to family related matters.

In my own family, I notice that my parent’s roles are alike in some aspects but are different in others. For example, both of my parents are employed however, they have very different household responsibilities. My father is the one who provides us with a house but my mother turns it into a home. My father provides us with a quality education by enrolling us into the best schools but my mother comes home from work and helps us with our homework. Simply put, my father pays bills and my mother pays attention.

Growing up in a semi-traditional, semi-modern Arab family, I formed specific assumptions concerning what my role would be as a wife and mother and what my future husband’s roles would be as a husband and father. I know that as an Arab woman I am expected to know how to cook, clean and take care of the children at a minimum. Additionally, I am expected to work since more and more women of my generation are entering the workforce. I am expected to marry a man of the same social status as that of my own family or higher. My future husband is expected to have received an education equivalent to or higher than that of the one I did. He is also expected to be a workingman who can provide for his family by ensuring a house for them, good education for his children, and a comfortable lifestyle in general.

     

After taking a closer look into my own family, I realized how I am influenced by the modernization found in my generation yet still connected to my Arab roots. Societies are in fact shifting away from the old stereotype of the male being the breadwinner and the female being the home caretaker. However, they are not completely letting go of their traditional views.

Color Of Films

We can list a number of ways how films affect the socialization process for its audience. For example, films tend to set a trend of the current fashion sense, diet patterns, technological conformity with society, etc. Also, in the 21^st century, it is wise to assume that film goers definitely have a greater appeal for color films, in addition to the other incredible effects filmmakers tend to use, like 3D technology, special effects, pyro techniques, other graphic effects, etc. But foremost, color is on top that revolutionized the film viewing experience. And now, viewing and making a color film has become a norm in the world of cinema.

Fairly recently, while watching movies, I felt that the filmmaker’s use of color also has a potential for socialization process. These days, it is not very hard to notice that different genres are color-coded. For example, the horror genre is usually has a blue color gradient; romance tends to lean towards vivid colors like yellow and red; apocalyptic genres tend to be more washed out, or have a more grunge and grainy look to them. So, where is the socialization process in this?

Horror (Blue tone): The Sixth Sense (1999), Underworld (2003)

Romance (red or warm tones): Titanic (1997)

Post/Apocalyptic (Washed out tone): Book of Eli (2010), The Road (2009)

As an audience member, after I watch these films, I tend to view reality in that manner, just like any other socialization process. Whenever I think of romance, I feel the need of red, or vivid warm colors in the scene. Hence, I can understand why a candle light meal, or gift a red rose is more appropriate for a date. Another great example, how do all of you picture a post-apocalyptic world? What color scheme pops up in your imagination? Definitely not a green environment, definitely not a plain desert either; but rather, a barren land, with a washed out texture, just like the ones they depict in the movies. In other words, films are not only influencing the ways we act and behave, but also our thought process and imagination.

Qatar Motor Show 2012

This weekend I attended the Annual Motor Show with one of my female friends. Although my friend was taking her brothers and their friends along, the two of us wanted to go see the ‘cool’ collection of cars too. Upon entering the Exhibition Center, which is where the cars were being displayed, my friend and I came to the sudden realization that we were the only two female companions amidst a sea of male bachelors, families and couples.


This observation shed light on the fact that the event is mainly catered for men. It’s not surprising, especially seeing how in our society we tend to associate cars with men rather than women. Even as toddlers, boys are socialized to play with toy cars. It’s a social construct that classifies males as masculine.


At the event a couple of things provided proof that the cars were directed at a male audience. There were women hired to model for the cars. Many of the men at the event asked the models if they could have their picture taken together. If the cars were aimed at women, surely there would have been male models promoting them.


Last year, one of my friends had modeled for Bugatti. She told me that prior to working the job, she was given information about the car itself. So if she was asked about the specifics of the car, she would be able to give the information. But the people who handled the selling of the cars were men, highlighting that women do the marketing while men manage the deal making.


Although the event was for men, it specifically targeted Qatari nationals. The reason for this is obvious: affordability. The majority of men at the Motor Show were expats, so the most they would do is pose for a picture in front of a Ferrari or Lamborghini. But Qatari men were actually buying the cars.


The overall experience was quite memorable. But being a knowledgeable and experienced sociologist I was more aware of the fact that the event was highly gendered. Apart from walking away with more knowledge on gender and society, my friend and I were asked if we wanted to test-drive a BMW, and happily, my friend agreed.

Miss Congeniality

Miss Congeniality movie revolves around the FBI agent Gracie Harts who works undercover as Miss New Jersey with her team to protect the Miss United States Beauty Pageant from a possible terrorist attack.

Throughout the movie we can see a huge transformation in Gracie’s identity. At the very beginning Gracie seems to be very masculine in both her looks and her behavior. She doesn’t wear any make-up, doesn’t do her eyebrows, she doesn’t even brush her hair. Moreover, she is aggressive in everything she does, including eating, walking, and laughing. One of the ladies she meets at a bar asks her if the FBI forces all women over there to wear these “really masculine shoes”, and Gracie clarifies that its not the FBI, its her own personal choice. Moreover, her beauty pageant consultant for the mission, Victor Melling, compared her walk to the walk of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.



Gracie faces a hard time accepting her new assignment to work undercover as Miss New Jersey in the pageant. She gets a new look that shocks her colleagues, where she starts to look more feminine to others.




We can also see through the film how Gracie starts to socialize and learn the norms of this new culture she has to fit in. She takes the instructions from her adviser and watches video clips of beauty pageants and starts imitating the moves of the contestants.

At this stage Gracie’s front stage behavior is in the pageant trying to act more feminine, and her backstage behavior is with her team where she can act masculine, as she’s used to. However, as the time passes and through her interaction with the other girls in the pageant, Gracie seems to absorb more of these norms and attitudes and become more feminine overall, while maintaining some aspects of her original masculine identity, like power and independence.



Her transformation gets her the guy, her FBI colleague Eric Matthews, after she had really low chances in finding any guy who would be interested in her. This shows us how society as a social force puts a lot of pressure on individuals shaping their identities in order to have some of the things we desire, like a partner, which would be considered as positive sanctions for following the norms of the society for how we look and how we behave.

Happy national day UAE

In this day UAE celebrates their 40th national day with many festivals. They celebrate this with drawing on their face decorations and their cars, music and poems. They dress up and perform the youlah. Not only do they celebrate, Qatar also joins the celebrations by doing a 'masera' (cruising around Doha city together with flags) highlighting their happiness and joy. One of our famous local radio channels (sout al khaleej) dedicated a whole day just for UAE. Even the people in Doha are all celebrating the event by putting a status and profile picture to resemble the unity between Qatar and UAE. This conveys socialization between the two cultures.

 UAE was first colonized by the British, and gained independence in 1971. They are 7 emirates with one leader, sheik Khalifa Bin Zayid. Even though sheikh Zayid passed away, people of the UAE still relive his existence, as he was the one who changed the country. 
Both our culture are similar, however theirs a slight difference in accents. Also in the old days, we both had the same currency. Our clothing’s are similar; the males wear the traditional ‘thoub’ and the female wear the traditional ‘abaya’. We share the same norms. Our societies developed in a wider range. We are both more globalized countries but we still hold on to our past and celebrate every year.