HW # 10

http://www.ameinfo.com/272791.html

This article is about how Saudi Arabia is building sport facilities for girls.  They will be opening numerous girls sport facilities around the country. This is the first time this has ever happened in Saudi Arabia. It’s a huge step for women in this country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/world/middleeast/potential-new-saudi-crown-prince-is-hard-line-but-pragmatic.html?_r=1&ref=saudiarabia

This article talks about the potential of up and coming prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz.  After Prince Sultan passed this week they needed someone to take his place so they appointed Prince Aziz to take over.  This article basically described the new prince and what was to come to Saudi Arabia.  He talks about how Saudi Arabia is the only “bedrock” arab country in the middle east.

1.  Do you feel that women’s rights are improving in Saudi Arabia? and do you think that there will ever be a day where women will be equal to men in Saudi Arabia?

2.  Do you think that Prince Aziz will be any different than the previous rulers of Saudi Arabia? Do you think Saudi Arabia will move away from traditional Arab values and develop a more modern look?

HW #9

1.  I would say that the first person to defy the typical stereotype of syrian people would be the vendor.  He talked about how he was happy to serve john kerry and get a picture with him. the next would saeed, the guard. He worked as a guard to support his family, he also talks about his dreams in becoming a fashion designer and how he loves fashion tv. this shows that Syrians have dreams too just like Americans. To me this shows that the stereotype that all Syrians hate Americans is a false statement.

2.  Our media acts like a mirror because it tries to get emotion from the people. whether that emotion be fear, hope, or sadness. the media is always changing the news to more attention from the people. 2 examples would be the whole middle east situation. they make it seem like all Muslims hate Americans when really they don’t. this makes us believe it and stereotype them based on the media. another example is that everyone from afghanistan are terrorists. this is not true and they only show the terrorist because it puts emotions into the viewer and creates a stereotype that is hated.

3.  One way he characterizes Americans is that we are all competing against us. This i agree with. we are all trying to get the upper hand on one another.  we all have this survival of the fitess attitude. we are all looking for the american dream.  anther thing he says is that America turns their cities into tourist attractions like disneyland.  i disagree with this. every country has tourist attractions, the US is no different. and on that note the US has no control on tourist attractions to begin with it’s all private companies.

4.  I think he means by this phrase is that we wish we could be friends but there is no way of doing so because of the politics. Our countries are not the best of friends so it would make it hard for any of this to work out.

HW #8

1.  He basically describes young muslims and arabs just like young americans.  He explains that they have the same dreams that americans do, they want a voice in how they live their lives.  He thinkgs that the media portrays all muslims and arabs as terrorists when really they are not. He basically says that we have more in common than what we think

2.  I would definitely say that our leaders goals is to protect us from outside threats. If that means supporting a dictator that will not attack us than i am fine with that.  I think that our safety is more important than spreading the idea of democracy.  We can try to spread it all we want but a lot of countries do not like us intervening in their business and trying to change them.  Safety is always the number one goal for our country.

3.  I’ve never really been stereotyped to the extent of being made fun of.  I’m a really quiet person at first. So i guess you could say that i have been stereotyped that i do not talk to people which is a false statement.  I think that people stereotype to better understand whats going on around them. It gives them a better idea of who they should hang out with or not hang out with. they label people to make themselves feel more accepted.

HW #7

1.  This introduction has made people think solely about themselves rather than other people and their relationship with him.  It seems that there is a hole in relationships because people are worrying too much about how much money they make. It seems like people chose to be financially stable over anything, even if that means relationships with others. Now new products have caused  people to spend their money on things that don’t matter. They spend their money on things that once didnt matter but are now the new fad.

2.  I think that the Ladakhis were better off before the introduction of money. Their society was based on building relationships with others to survive. They didn’t need money because they would trade with each other for the things they needed.  When money came into the picture they started thinking more about themselves and kind of tore them apart from one another. They went from the simple life to the difficult life.

1.  The advantage of an arranged marriage is that you are almost gauranteed a partner for life. They know for a fact that they will have someone there for support and to raise a family with.  They also do not have to worry about getting their parents approval because they are the ones that chose their partner.  They know what they are getting themselves into and for the most part stay together for the rest of their lives.

2.  The circumstances that lead to my parents getting married was that they loved each other.  They grew up together. They were both from the same small town, went to the same small high school. The thing that I think played the most important part is that they both loved each other. They would do anything for each other. My mom packed up and moved with my dad to Alaska for the Air Force. They both were willing to sacrifice for each other and that is why they make it work.