Greetings all!
If you’re here, you’re likely wondering why I did
not post last weekend. For reasons mostly relating to my workload at school, I
have decided to simply do a double post this weekend instead of following the
normal format. However, this blog will follow its regular format when nothing
else gets in the way. Strangely enough, these two posts will likely have
nothing in common, but bear with me. This post was inspired by a one-panel
comic I saw months ago but which I can no longer find myself. It depicted two
women, both looking at each other and the differences they saw on the outside.
One of these women was dressed in a skimpy bikini and sunglasses with bleached
blonde hair, holding a small purse with an even smaller dog on the inside, and
sandals on her feet. The other woman wore a traditional Islamic piece of
clothing which covered most all of her body, from head to toe. Very little
could be seen in the comic, at least beyond her eyes. However, both women
thought the exact same thing: “What a horribly oppressive, male-dominated
culture must rule over her life.” The comic speaks the truth; our cultures
divide us so, because we often have trouble viewing anything with a different
perspective than our own. As such, we cannot see eye to eye, and this can cause
serious issues both on the domestic and foreign policy stage. I intend to show
why culture matters so much, and what can be done about it. This week’s quote
comes from President Barack Obama, a man whose views may be too centrist for my
tastes but has been no worse a president than I expected.
Anyway, I feel it necessary I explain the comic I
just described for those who don’t understand it. It’s easy for any Western
citizen to see why the Islamic woman may appear to be oppressed by men. This is
especially true for nations which force women to dress conservatively such as
Iran. We see it as stifling freedom of expression and choice of dress,
something we can easily take for granted in a country which only keeps us from
dressing too little (and even those restrictions are small). We see a society
entirely different from our own, one where sometimes women are not allowed to
drive or leave the house without a man, in the case of Saudi Arabia at least.
We see a woman that longs to dress as she pleases, and we think how horrible it
must be for her there. But then we always forget to take a look from her perspective
towards ourselves. If you’re born in Saudi Arabia or Iran, chances are you’ll
grow to appreciate and enjoy the values these countries espouse if your
personal situation doesn’t suck. This is especially true of those who are very
religious. While we see the hijab and think of misogyny, many can see it as a
form of protection towards a woman’s modesty. Many religious women in this part
of the world view conservative dress as a way to prevent men from objectifying
them, a value which we simply don’t share because it is not a part of our
culture.
Our culture is a very liberal one, and I don’t mean
politically liberal. I mean that we have much freedom of choice in our clothing
and speech, and we very much take that to heart. Women are objectified
constantly in our media, written and digital, so we are desensitized to it. It
happens so often, that we are now used to it. However, if you were to stick a
religious Iranian man in New York, I bet you his eyes would cringe and he would
turn away upon seeing some of the billboards there. If he were to watch just
about any successful movie in America, I’m certain he’d be unhappy at the
amount of sexual content, whether simply referenced to or directly shown. I
myself hate how much sex permeates our society, but it’s not something I can
change. It is a part of our culture now, and it would take years and the
collective will of everyone in order to be changed. Therefore, it will never
happen.
However, there are some drawbacks to such a society.
Because women are objectified so much, it becomes very hard to define when a
line has been crossed. This is why sexist jokes pop up on television so very
often; whether directed towards men or women, it will almost never go “too far”
in our collective opinion. If it’s any consolation, we know that we at least
have a line we don’t cross, and it showed when Todd Akin espoused his comments
about “legitimate rape” (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/us/politics/todd-akin-provokes-ire-with-legitimate-rape-comment.html?_r=0).
Unfortunately, the very fact that our elected representatives have sunk this
low and lower should be a good indication of how poorly our society can reflect
on us. Even though we almost unanimously directed hate against him after his
statements, this doesn’t change the fact that there are likely many people out
there who agree with him, logic and science be damned. And we must realize
this: that only in a culture like our own could something like this happen. We
might not have the highest amount of rape in the world (that title belongs to
the Democratic Republic of the Congo), but we do get hundreds of thousands of
victims of sexual assault each and every year here. And I’m certain that making
sexism a joke definitely won’t help us to make those numbers go down. So the
next time you’re out in public in a revealing outfit, with eyes on you,
remember this. The thoughts going through people’s minds about your outfit
likely aren’t thoughts which you want to hear, but the fact of the matter is
that our culture is mostly okay with those thoughts (unless they’re about rape,
of course).
Cultural differences extend beyond our choice of
clothing, and can have a much more pronounced effect on our policy towards
other nations. Let’s take Russia as an example this time. For Americans, Russia
is an example of a government system we don’t want, even though communism has
been removed as the status quo there. Russia still exhibits a government which
gives stronger power to the executive branch and where corruption and cronyism
are a common thing under Putin. We look at such a way of life and wretch,
despising the thought of such little freedom. But many Russians don’t see it
this way. Unlike Saudi Arabia and Iran, I do have some contact with people in
the world’s largest country, and I am given some perspective of why Putin still
receives wide support there. Russian culture and society has very much become
used to powerful rulers over the years of the past, and these ways have not
changed much today. Having a strong central power which keeps Russia afloat can
be seen as more important to Russians than having an absolutely free society.
Having a working and growing competitive economy can be seen as more important
than having a competitive electoral process. It’s no secret that Putin has a
death grip on power in the Kremlin, but as long as Russians don’t see their
country spiral into authoritarian economic depression, it’s unlikely he’ll be
yanked from his position. But this is why we can’t understand how the protests
in Russia prior to his election not so long ago didn’t become nationwide; we
can’t imagine living in a place where freedom isn’t a top priority, and this is
why we were still disappointed when he won the election. We may see freedom and
electoral cleanliness as being incredibly important, but the same can’t be said
for Russia, at least not yet. While opposition to the current Russian model is
anything but small, it would take quite a change for the entire thing to be
flipped to a model like our own.
Meanwhile, there are likely many Russians looking
outwards towards us. Many of them likely had no idea why any of us would be so
upset that Putin became president; sure, they understand the argument that it’s
not an entirely free electoral process. But the thing is, a good amount of
Russians just don’t care that it isn’t. Many would rather see Russia prosper
economically and educationally than see one person voted out of power to
satisfy a sometimes-ally country. This is a reason for our tension; what we can’t
understand, we attack. We do this out of fear or hate, but either way the
result is the same. Neither side gets what it wants, and we end up bickering
over small things that should never get in the way of international progress.
You may be wondering why all of this matters, if as
I have said culture and values are notoriously difficult to change. If it would
take decades for us to change, then why worry about it? If problems over cultural
divisions are bound to occur, then what is the point of my argument at all? My
answer is as follows. While it is true that we cannot change our own culture
and values quickly or properly, we can certainly change how we view other
cultures and the values they espouse. It’s not easy, but I invite all of you to
try it. Any time you see an issue pop up in a nation other than your own and
you develop an opinion on it, try viewing it through the eyes of a native in
the country in question. For example, look at France and its ban on wearing
religious clothing (http://articles.cnn.com/2004-01-17/world/france.headscarves_1_muslims-protest-ban-religious-symbols-hijab?_s=PM:WORLD).
I bet it’s hard to why people would protest such a ban, but think about from
their perspective. Their religious expression is at stake because of the values
of a society not entirely their own. Is such a ban justified by values
different than those the law applies to? Think about it.
That is all for now, and once again you are
encouraged to comment here with your thoughts. My email at zerospintop@live.com is always open,
along with my Facebook, Google+, DeviantArt, Steam, and Twitter. Good night,
and this is KnoFear, signing off.
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