cultureLast night I did not have much homework and was able to hang out with my brothers and their friends, a mix of both males and females. During this time, the conversations I engaged in gave me some very interesting remarks from my host brothers and their friends regarding their opinions about their culture. For example, while watching Rotana, the most popular music video channel in the Arab world, I saw a video of a live performance where the singer was dressed quite provocatively, even by the standards of Brittney Spears; however, having lived in Jordan for nearly two months now, I was not surprised by this sight as I have realized that the country is much more Westernized than I would ever have believed. Rather, the surprising, if not confusing, part of the video was the fact that the people cheering in the audience of the video were not only teenagers dressed in a Western fashion but also teenage girls wearing hijabs. Seeing this on the TV, I could not understand why these girls would be cheering for someone who, on the surface, did not appear to represent and respect the values that they cherished and believed in.
My brother tried to sort out my confused state by explaining that a woman wearing a hijab is not necessarily very religious or conservative. Instead they may be doing it out of habit or lack of choice. For example, after having worn it for so many years because of perhaps the rules of her family, a girl might just feel weird not having her head covered. In reality, this piece of clothing is still very pervasive in the culture, and not wearing can seem very weird to girls and women. Surprisingly, my brother also said many females wear it as a way to prevent men from approaching them. Others do it as a way to appear as well behaved and proper girls, just as many American female college students wear pearls and dress in a rather matronly fashion. In addition, not wearing the hijab may make Arab females feel like they are losing part of their identity as they might believe they are turning their back on their culture. During such a time when globalization is creeping into the Middle East at such a fast pace, this feeling becomes even more acute.
