Focus of the Month
Last month I tried to highlight on untangling issues of women, religion and fashion, an issue brought to my attention by President Sarkozy's comments on the burqa.
This month, I would like to take a different direction and examine the experiences of the Single, Arab, Young Male (SAYM), an overlooked and dismissed subgroup, and often only in the international eye when it relates to terrorist extremism unfortunately.
Here is Kuwait, I tend to roll my eyes at the SAMYs and find myself stereotyping on a daily basis as empty-headed consumerists (some more unfairly than others). But in between these caricatures of the Angry Young Arab and the "Funky" Young Arab, there must be more of a grain of humanity.
This is going to be a bit of a challenge for me because I am neither arab nor male, so I appreciate any feedback or suggestions on topics to be covered. I am interested in issues of marriage and relationships, gay rights, daily obstacles with "family-only" barring, men who promote equal rights and make a difference in the community, and opportunities for male youth for entrepreneurship and innovation.
Posts
so I'm a single, male, Arab, young (not really, but lets assume it) I'm willing to volunteer as a lab rat here, what would you be interested in knowing?
Hi Khaled!
I am interested in everything and anything you want to say, express or vent, you can email me at victoriabroadinq8@gmail.com if you want to give a longer response or even if want me to put up a post by you.
In particular, I feel that while the rest of the world seems to focus on women's rights in the Middle East, its forgotten that men are also affected by segregation. I am interested to know in which ways.
I'll give you an anecdote, at my work, a snobbish woman refused to stand in line. My coworkers insisted she queue like everyone else, her response was that she did not want to stand in between two unknown men, a skinny South Asian in a full business suit and a young lad maybe no older than 16.
To me, I found it almost a little insulting to the men. These two guys were just trying to get their business done like any other client. They were not there to fish for women. What did she thing, they were going to molest her? I just thought in that moment, that it was pretty embarassing for them and a bit of an insult to their dignity. But I dont know, what do you think?