For this discussion on Middle Eastern cultural stereotypes, please address both of the following two question sets in separate posts.
1. Cultural Stereotypes: There are many other cultural observations that we could add, but use this list above to stimulate your thinking about your own cultural stereotypes and what you know about the actual cultures.
• What are cultural stereotypes? Do you have specific perspective and or images of Arabs? Jews? Muslims? Christian Arabs? etc.
• What are your thoughts/perspective on portrayed images of women in the Middle East? How do you think these were formed?
• Can you picture life in the Middle East without imagining a war?
Write about 150 words for this
2. Find information online about the culture, women and life in a specific part of the Middle East.
• How does it compare with your own cultural habits? What's different? What's similar?
• Marriage Customs: View the two videos in the Module about marriage rights in the Middle East.Divorce Iranian Style discusses Iran's divorce laws, which are based on Sharia or Islamic law as the country is an Islamic republic since 1979. Meanwhile, the video on Cyprus: Island of Forbidden Love shows how a country has cornered the market on civil marriage for people in Lebanon and Israel, as it's extremely difficult to marry someone outside of your religion and sect in these countries. In fact, even when George Clooney married a Lebanese Druze , he was forced to have a civil marriage and could not marry her in Lebanon. Do you think such laws and attitudes towards marriage, divorce and family shape your own thoughts about the cultures there? If so, how? How do you suppose such attitudes and laws might affect these cultures?
Write 150 words about this.