Well, I will give it a try but the ins and outs of this are a long discussion, which I have made into a short one in msg 18.
A few examples of stuff
I think many of the negative perceptions people have of the Middle East(or Islamic countries) are true
When I was in Iran I met one British traveller who because he didnt see anybody being tortured in the streets or making bombs in their garden completely dismissed the concerns of the western governments about Iran. It is as if rather than opening the mind, travelling causes some to go from one extreme to the other. ie Iran if full of war mongers to 'I saw not uranium enrichment happening, so therefore there is not security risk at all from Iran'.
And another(Swiss guy) insisted that things are OK for women in Iran, and complained about the way the Lonely Planet described the restrictions. He said this to me, despite that I wouldnt dare go out in public without a headscarf, I wouldnt dare smoke in public, I wouldnt dare mention womens rights for fear that I may be speaking to a member of the secret police......
Well, those are just a couple of examples of tourists dismissing political issues, because they are having a nice time. There is not doubt that it was nice there, but I would not have thought that without the foreign passport and ticket out of there.
There is a wariness about the west
People in Iran used to ask me worried questions such as whether they could be bombed any time, whether it is really true that all the freedom here in the west makes it so dangerous that you cant go out at after 9PM, and the wonder how bad our(western womens) morals are and if freedom for women will cause islamic women to have bad morals(which they certainly dont want to risk happening)......
The attitudes towards women are true
When I was in Iran, the police decided to take the waterpipes away from the tea houses. The reason given is that women were smoking and a stop is to be put to it. After that, only the tea house that did not permit women were allowed to keep their waterpipes.
In the middle east, there are constant reminders that you are a women and thus have fewer rights about all kinds of things.
Well, dont include Kyrgyzstan if you dont want. I just included it because it is an Islamic country. Defining continents and cultural boundaries is always a complicated affair.
But these are just a few examples......
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