“Belly Dancing” Before this semester began in August I was somewhat clueless when it came to foreign culture and I like many naive Americans when someone said the Middle East the first couple things that pop into my head were hummus, war, and belly dancing. Belly dancing is a common type of dance in the […]
Read more "“Belly Dancing”"Her name is Rehana. She is not just a girl, but she’s a brave warrior. She fights alongside the Kurds and protects her people from ISIS, killing over 100 IS terrorists in Northern Syria. In her famous picture she wears a smile, a peace sign, and a military uniform. Rehana’s image has exploded across social […]
Read more "The Angel of Kobane"In the country of Iran the doors have been shut to the global market. Iran has some of the most extensive financial sanctions in the world. These sanctions are imposed upon eighty million Iranians who live in a country where sixty-five percent of the population is under 35 years old. The issues pertaining to these […]
Read more "Iranian Startup Companies And Why No One Will Invest!"Today, we will continue the discussion on differences between the U.S. and the Middle East. However, there are many more differences in infancy than pregnancy in each region, because there is no universal way to raise a child in our world. The other major idea to keep in mind is that there is no universal […]
Read more "All About them Babies: Part 2"Childbirth is a woman’s issue. Childbirth is a woman’s issue. Childbirth is a woman’s issue . . . I’ve seen this phrase countless times during my research for this post, and maybe it’s just me, but something about these five words put together in this order is extremely unsettling. My first response to this sentence […]
Read more "All About them Babies: Part 1"Dominant: to utilize your power and influence over others. In every country and culture, there are dominant groups according to a number of different characteristics. The most common differentiating factors include culture, race, gender, and religion. In the United States, there are many dominant groups, including caucasians, straight individuals, and Christians. These groups tend to […]
Read more "Muslim Feminists as a Minority"In recent years, obesity has been a major part of the health discussion around the world. Statistics stating how obese many kids, women, men, middle-aged, school-aged, and any other category you can think of have been floating around and are highly discussed especially when it comes to the United States. However, more articles have been […]
Read more "Obesity in Middle Eastern Women: One of the most extreme cases in the world"Have you ever seen pictures of the Palm Islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and wondered how those beautiful islands were crafted into what they are today? Money and geographical location has allowed the Palm Islands to exist. Dubai alone is home to nine out of the seventy-eight Middle Eastern billionaires. With this wealth, and […]
Read more "Middle East: Home of the Billionaires"Female Genital Mutilation On Monday, October 29th, Reza Aslan took an interesting spin on the issue of Female Genital Mutilation when going against the comedian Bill Maher’s perspective of violence and oppression against women. Maher stated that this is a problem in “Muslim countries” that occurs in extreme forms. According to Aslan, the argument was […]
Read more "Are We Painting Everyone With the Same Brush?"In the United States, I wake up daily to rights I didn’t even realize I had been granted…because I never thought someone would take them away. As an unmarried American woman, rights like driving, going places unattended, and hanging out with guy friends are just everyday moments for me, not preposterous acts that could be […]
Read more "The Ongoing Fight for Women’s Rights"A group on Facebook, The Uprising of Women in the Arab World, recently caught my attention. The page is a call to action for men and women to join together in order to fight the oppression of women in the Arab World and grant women the rights guaranteed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of […]
Read more "Islam, Women, and Their Sexuality"In the West, many people associate Islam and the Middle East with women’s oppression. Islam itself does not perpetuate oppressive ideals against women, but laws and customs in many countries make women second-rate citizens and are even hateful toward women. With the occurrence of the Arab Spring; however, Arab women are fighting back. In December […]
Read more "The Arab Spring: A Women’s Awakening"
Across Cultures 