Tag archives for middle east

Masculinity and men in the Middle East

Moustaches in the Middle East are a fascinating topic. The above picture is of a young Persian man. Notice the perfection of his beard. He looks well-groomed, and trimmed with the facial hair offsetting the perfect complexion of his skin. I know several Arabs and Persians who have similarly impressive goatees and beards, so the […]

Homosexuality in the Middle East: Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia: And my opinion

I have already written on the subject of homosexuality in Saudi Arabia, and I came across another interesting article on homosexuality in Kuwait, so I thought I would write about that.   This article was written in 2007 (http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=1478) and is authored by Sumayyah Meehan. The author states that in the Middle East, punishment of […]

Women’s rights in Iran: Part 1

People in the West often have a very stereotypical view of women’s rights in Iran, and other countries in the Middle East. However, the reality is far more complex than that. Women’s issues are becoming a strong force in Iranian politics. Although the constitutions of Iran in 1906 and 1979 denied women’s rights, female activists […]

Shah mat: Iranian revolution of 1979. What is the connection to chess?

The words Shah Mat in Farsi refer to the death of the King. This is the origin of the term ‘checkmate’ in English. It is the final move in a game of chess. The person who checkmates the other player wins the game. In 1979, the Iranian Revolution resulted in the death of the Shah. […]

Should girls ask guys out on dates? No!

When I was at Ricks College, I experienced something new. It was called Morp, which is Prom backwards. The reason they spell it backwards is because of the fact that for this one time, girls ask guys to the dance, rather than the other way around. Is this a good idea? I think it’s fun […]

Racism: How Arabs are depicted in Hollywood

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/reel-bad-arabs/  Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People  In Hollywood movies, ominous music accompanies Arabs on screen. The desert is shown as something to fear. This goes back to silent movies in Hollywood, with stars like Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. In Disney’s Aladdin, the film degraded Arabs by saying “they came from a land in a […]

Don’t judge Iran by Ahmadinejad: Iran is one of the world’s great civilizations

Persia, present-day Iran, is one of the world’s great civilizations and easily the largest empire of all time.   Cyrus the Great was a master engineer who helped design some of the greatest marvels of engineering and architecture the world has ever known, such as palaces, and an incredible infrastructure of bridges, highways, etc. It […]