So, I received an Email today titled "The most pointless family picture." I was curious and opened the Email and saw a photo of 4 or 5 Muslim women in burquas and a man taking a photo of them together. The punch line of the picture was supposed to be the fact that you can barely see their face, so what's the point. Except, I didn't laugh. It wasn't funny - not at all. I actually was incredibly offended. I asked myself why this was so offensive to me and I immediately thought back to this time last year when I was in Syria and Lebannon. I thought of the women I met and these three women in particular who had their entire faces covered (excepting their eyes). We got in a conversation with them (they were lovely) and one of the women even removed part of her covering to show us her face. She had a huge smile. They were sisters. We saw them an hour later in the souq (market). I think I would have laughed at the photo prior to the trip. But now, having met the people who live there, it's not funny.
Why do we make fun of what we don't understand? Coming back from my year in England and trip to the Middle East, I don't claim to understand cultural differences anymore necessarily. However, I do feel as though I am more at peace with the differences. My travels have been tiny in comparison with the size of the world, but I have been able to places real faces and names and stories with some people from outside the US. And that changes things.
Anyways, sorry if this seems arrogant. I just feel frustrated and wanted to vent.
Jenny
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