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...

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Everybody works but father

“What does your dad do?”“My dad? Uh, he’s a lecturer,” I looked down at my feet, which were making patterns in the playground’s sandy grit.“Oh, what subject does he teach?”“Language,” I muttered, gritting my teeth. I knew what was coming next.“Interesting. Where?”“Well,” I was thinking fast about how I could change the topic, “He doesn’t teach anywhere as of now…”For as long as I can remember, that was the one reply I had for that seemingly harmless...

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Thai Chi and My Mother

According to some people, excluding me of course, Chinese food could be considered a therapy for the soul, something to worship. So after begging my mother to take me to a Chinese restaurant to have a taste of the holy food she agreed, and she even told me that she knows a great place in Villagio: Thai Chi. My mother was positive that this restaurant is the best in Doha, I didn’t bother to ask why so I went along. After arriving in Villagio, I...

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Hollywood Classical Style As A Product Of a Sexist Culture

Classical Hollywood filmmaking style is considered by analysts to be that of a male's gaze. For example, the framing of shots as well as the editing style seem to be executed with a male (gendered) characteristics, hence excluding or marginalizing the female characteristics. And example of a male gaze shot would be a tracking shot of a woman's body, which mimics the (typical, heterosexual) male's eye movement. Movies with central female protagonists...

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The Full Beauty Salon Experience

In contrast to almost everyone else I know, my mother doesn’t enjoy going to a beauty salon. When I asked her why, she replied saying that it was always an awkward experience for her where she was always stared at by all the other employees in the hair salon and felt like the hairstylists would ask so many questions that she had no choice but to eventually answer and tell them about her personal life. The more I thought about it, the more I realized...

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How Villagio Cinema pays its bills

Recently, I heard a very interesting fact about Villagio Cinema. Villagio Cinema when it first opened had very reasonable prices, talking more specifically when it came to the food & beverages provided to the public, for example a plate of Nachos cost 15 Riyals. After couple of months that the cinema was running, everything went up. What do you think the reason was? Trying to make more profit or maybe trying to cover the cost? Well I was told,...

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Culture and Gender Boundaries

On the 14th of February, Qatar celebrated its first official National Sports Day. As many went out to join in on the activities, all over Doha, culture flourished across the streets. From early morning till late in the dusk evening, people showed off their athletic abilities and their sense of fashion and culture. But wait, how can everyone just go out and have a great time while still maintaining their cultural and Islamic bounds? Well in Qatar,...

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"The ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling class."

In recent news, Qatar has been reported to have one of the highest densities of millionaires in the world. I found this extremely interesting because apart from the fact that Qatar has won the Fifa World Cup 2022 bid, it sheds light on its economy. But I’m sure that these statistics are exclusive to only Qatari nationals. Article on Qatar having one of the highest densities of millionaires in the world here As part of an assignment I had to do for...

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Glass Ceiling barriers Can Be Broken!

When sociologists study gender, they focus on male-female differences in behavior and appearance that have been socially created. Sexism has brought many inequalities to women, especially within areas of education, work and politics. By sexism, I mean the belief that one sex- and by extension, one gender- is innately superior to another, justifying unequal treatment of the sexes. The concept of gender stratification becomes evident, as there tends...

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Happy February 14th!!

So, there’s a new holiday in town- Qatar now celebrates a “National Sports Day.” Everyone gets a day off on February 14th. Yes, February 14th, the day that the rest of the world would consider as Valentines Day. Coincidence? Maybe. But, some people say it’s just a way to stop people from celebrating Valentines Day, which is not a day of celebration on the Islamic calendar. Qatar’s locals and a lot of its society are of Islamic background and...

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Gender-neutral children?

Gender is a very controversial issue in today’s world. Many women find themselves more masculine than what’s acceptable in the society, and many men find themselves more feminine that what’s acceptable in the society as well. These rules that society forms creates many stereotypes about the two genders that may limit the chances they have in life. For example, the glass ceiling prevents many women from achieving high management position just because...

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Updated

When I was in 6th grade, our final class project was to map out our life and where we would be in 20 years. Appropriately titled, “This is your life,” the project was supposed to be a fun way to map out our future. Each student basically designed his/her own ‘American Dream,’ complete with the notion of the white picket fence.Naïve is an understatement. I think I may have been delusional at the time, with my desires of becoming a forensic scientist...

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Everyone wants to be The Joneses

In this blog post I will be talking about conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure in the movie, “The Joneses”. In this movie a self-marketing unit working on increasing the revenue of other companies hires a fake family to promote for their products. The Joneses, who are living the American Dream, come to this neighborhood with the company’s products, fancy cars, clothe. They have to live in a fancy house and get the job of making others...

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The Glamor of the lowbrow culture.

Fight Club blew my mind. It felt like a 136-minute rollercoaster ride. And if anyone ever said that Inception was intense, it wasn’t. Inception is an animated movie meant for children in comparison to Fight Club. I spent an hour later going over scenes, reading the script online and trying to figure out whom Jack is. If the concept of social mobility has ever been appealing in a movie, this movie isn’t it. Social mobility is the movement of an individual...

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