Post Doha Reflections
January 8th 2007 10:51
still dressed to impress!
well it has been a while since the last entry into this blog, that’s for sure. there are two main reasons for this: firstly was the actuality of the varying (and most times ultra slow) internet connections I was experiencing whilst in doha. secondly was the premise built upon returning and having to re-settle back into western culture, of which had a rather harsh impact that I was not prepared for. this lead me into a world of self aloofness on how I live, how others live, and questioning what is the ‘correct’ way of living. this is a question of which I am still certain there is not one answer to.
i have always been acquainted to the existence of eastern vs. western culture and how they are apparently binary opposites of each other. however, I ruminate it is not until one actually submerges within the extreme of the opposite culture that one may appreciate how different each is. comparing melbourne to doha qualifies I believe, and considering as many factors (whether it be political, economical or cultural) as i could, i have decided that life simply is. there is no one true way but more so simply ‘a’ way; a way in which we can struggle all we want against, but in the end it is just going to happen. i have many stories and memories to draw from to prove this hypothesis, however I will shorten them down to keep a certain amount of interest in this hypertextual piece.
after egressing from the plane, the first obvious anomaly that one notices is the dress of the locals. in this case it was an arabic country so both male and female wear flowing cotton robes, with headdress. For a more comprehensive explanation of arabic clothing, this page explains in great detail. it is quite confronting initially, particularly being a male and gazing at the women. especially when I came from a locality where the women are, generally speaking, rejoicing in the hot weather which allows them to wear as little as possible. i found it wrong as to why these women were dressed the way they are, and instantly blamed the men for making their women wear this type of dress. however once I came to understand why the women wear the abaya and jibab, i began to empathise with this culture and see it through eastern eyes.
this is a tradition that is not enforced nor policed by the men, but rather by the women themselves. the mother in law of the woman determines the amount that the woman has to cover, as to preserve the women’s beauty only for their husband. once i learned this, i began to realise that the most beautiful women are covered up all bar their eyes, and accepted that it is not wrong but merely different. a way in which I could deliberate this was to compare it to a western sensual practice of a burlesque show. if a woman comes out bearing her everything, there is nothing left to the imagination and half of the excitement is already gone. whereas if there are still a brief amount covered, the alluring enticement is greater leaving a longing sensation. this is not un-similar to the overall effect of the abaya, and is one that i concluded by the end of my journey was quite sensual. No longer was i against this kind of dress, i was embracing it! so much so, i was off to the tailor the next day to get myself a throbe.
this is merely one aspect of cultural difference, revolving around dress, between an extreme western and a extreme eastern culture. i feel as though this divide is lessening a great deal with globalisation, and we may be one of the last generations to completely experience this phenomenon. i intend to explore more of these differences, from a first hand aspect, in the following entries.
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