Our advice columnist, Anna, is back to answer questions from Arabs having trouble relating to widespread ignorance - Dear Anna, As someone who works for a private company in the financial sector, I fail to understand the logic behind overseas fund-managers trying to convince me to invest with them in spite of their exaggerated charges. One fund-manager simply stated, while rolling his eyes: "Well, we don't have oil like you guys do, we need to make money!" I wanted to be considerate of his concern, as we all want to make a profit at the end of the day, but I don't have an oil well in my back yard. So how I am supposed to deal with situations such as this while retaining my respect for ignorance? - Investor with no oil well, Abu Dhabi
Dear Investor with no oil well, Some people think that, in this part of the world, drilling is the answer to all our financial problems. They truly believe that if only you drill deep enough oil will inevitably come out from all our back yards. They fail to understand that finding oil is a technical job, that it requires a high degree of skill and ability, and putting your hands on the right spots. So don't attempt to understand that person; just blow him out.
Dear Anna, Why did André Gerin, a deputy in the French national assembly, describe full-face veils as "the visible tip of an Islamist underground threatening the French way of life"? Don't visible signs defeat the purpose of underground societies? - Name withheld by request, Dubai Dear No Name, First, you need to note that only a very small percentage of women in Europe wear face covering. This shows that Europe - France, in this case - is concerned with the wellbeing of every citizen. Banning the niqab will achieve three things. First, it will protect the previously niqab-wearing person's identity. Second, it will ensure that their peripheral vision is not blocked. Third, it will ease communication and avoid any misunderstandings with those who claim not seeing another person's facial expression or lip movement makes comprehension difficult. Of course, to be consistent they will also have to ban huge sunglasses, surgical facemasks and all methods of communication in which you can't see a person's face, including mobile phones without video capability. I would recommend that Monsieur Gerin watches the comedy movie Hot Fuzz, in which (spoiler alert) the apparently crime-free village of Sandford in rural England has a secret underground society. There are no visible signs of its existence, but it is responsible for a series of brutal murders that appear to be accidents. The lesson is, when there are no visible signs, that's when you should be worried.
Dear Anna, I don't understand why tourists ask absurd questions about our culture. They always seem to think there is some hidden code, or a symbolic meaning for some of the things we do or do not wear. I always have to answer the question of why men are in white and women are in black. - Doesn't matter if I am white or black, Dubai Dear Doesn't matter if you're white or black, I have no answer to that question except to say that absurdity exists everywhere and to a certain extent this all fits in with people's idea of "embarking on a journey". In this journey they collect clues and try to make sense of them. They might go out to search for some hidden box labelled "Arabia"; or grab a handful of cardamom, and while sniffing it they are transcended into a magical place in the desert where belly dancers give them a taste of the "real Arabia" (despite usually being from Eastern Europe). I can only offer you my condolences, and suggest that if you are asked that question again you never provide the real answer. Fulfil your interrogator's need to find clues and codes, or try to perpetuate their already preconceived stereotypes. You could try saying that women dress in black because it symbolises their suffocated, subordinated status and the darkness that engulfs them; while white, the colour of the men's kandura, is to symbolise their angelic status and their unique ability to see the light. The egal (the round hoop around the head) is, obviously, a halo.
Did you know? Did you know that telling someone, while your eyes widen with excitement, that "You are really cool - for an Emirati" or "You are funny - for an Arab" or "- but you don't sound Arab" is not really a compliment? It is in fact a derogatory comment that assumes by default that all Arabs are neither funny nor cool. So there is a preconceived assumption that the person you are talking to is "the best of the worst", and by "complimenting" them you are automatically bestowing upon them the status of honorary non-Arab.
Hissa al Dhaheri is a sociologist and cultural researcher @Email:hissa.aldhaheri@gmail.com
