The Outsiders: Update 2

And..... as per an SMS received now from the Oman News Agency, the author and the editor of the article (see below) are being referred to public prosecution and will have to go to court. The Week's website has been shut down. Sigh. Oman, get over it and get a life.

 

After crackdowns around the world recently on LGBT individuals (Russia, anyone?), Oman is bound to hit headlines soon enough. We've already made it to the BBC twice this week and our human rights reputation has been tainted enough recently.

 

Fifteen years ago, people were up in arms about journalists even 'suggesting' Oman had an issue with drugs. Now look at the amount of media coverage is dedicated to drugs. We have a hard time being realistic about our issues here in Oman if they don't fit in with the "Peaches and Cream Renaissance" portrait of Oman that our government has been trying to maintain since 1970.

 

By sending that message out to the public, the government has chosen to make a big deal out of one petty article. Everyone I know is trying to get their hands on the piece. Is this really the right course of action?

The Outsiders

A very interesting and controversial episode occurred on Thursday with the publication of an article titled 'The Outsiders' in the weekly magazine The Week.

 

The article briefly discussed Oman’s ‘gay community’ and how they are ‘findings ways to live life the way they want to’ or something to that effect.’ I looked at the cover page with bulging eyes and the first words that popped in my head were ‘ouch’.

 

The piece was a brave introduction of the word ‘gay’ to the Omani public in official print, but to be honest I found the piece to be poorly written. The Week can always be counted on to introduce controversial topics and I applaud them for that. However, the topic of LGBT issues is extremely sensitive.

 

If you’re going to introduce it to the public for the first time, it has to be done with great care and tact. The article failed to do that and it appears to have backfired. This morning I found a big apology on their website and the article appears to have disappeared.

 

As a Muslim, religious scholars and interpretations of religious texts tell me that homosexuality is a disease. As a human, I respect all humans regardless of their religion, race or sexual orientation. I have gay friends from my time abroad and they are some of the nicest people I know. Reconciling faith and my view of humanity is not an easy task, and I continue to think, struggle, accept, and question constantly.

 

Regardless of what I believe, I don’t think Oman was ready for the piece. It was a bit graphic and it’s worth noting that Omanis in general are not comfortable with discussing their personal lives in public, let alone their sexuality. When you ignore all this and introduce a piece on same-sex relationships, you can only expect readers to get offended. We are a tolerant country, but then again we are a Muslim one. To suggest that 6-10% of the Omani population is gay was pretty stupid, even if it’s simply a suggestion. Anyway, I hope the author of the piece is safe and that Apex publishing doesn’t suffer too much because of this. My overall view? Oman wasn’t ready.

Treasure Hunt Oman?

Morning folks! How are you spending the last day of the holidays? I came across this website online and thought you might be interested in reading about the Treasure Hunt Oman - International Media Challenge. Their challenge starts today and ends on February 12th. They're spending the last day in Salalah (Nadia approves).

Sunday

I'm in a better mood today, I promise.

(1) Feminism: to all the Omani males who read/commented/ and emailed me about my last post, I understand what you feel and I agree that women play a vital role in their own freedom... however, you need to empower, encourage, show them what's possible. And to all the open-minded sensible men out there, you rock!

(2) Oman: The New Explorers: I watched this video yesterday from Brand Oman and thought it was awesome. I'm not 100% sure what the story is behind it, but I love it anyway. Read the description below the video. Filming is amazing.

(3) Royal Decree: many of you may have heard of Dr. Abdullah Al Harrasi. He was the head of the Oman Encyclopedia project and teaches at SQU. He's also a blogger, and simply an incredible person. I think he's on a sabbatical now, but yesterday he was appointed as the new chairman of the National Authority for Television & Radio in the position of minister! Congratulations!!

(4) Tackiness: if you're in Muscat, check out Oman's latest movie "Search for the Impossible". Tacky title, tacky PHOTO. Salim Bahwan, you wrote the script, directed the movie, produced it AND get to hold the gun? Jeez. I have no faith in Omani television. Nuff Said. If you have better reviews, post a comment and I'll publish.

(5) Politics: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to our tiny country (according to every single article on the visit). I'd link you to Muscat Confidential's analysis of her visit, but his blog appears to be blocked. (?)

(6) Junk Food: the old (sniff) Pizza Hut on Salam Street shut down last week and the new two-storey Pizza Hut opened up next to Baalbeck Restaurant on 23rd of July Street. I went there last week with my sisters and was impressed with the decor and ambience. HOWEVER, although it was the day after the grand opening, half the stuff on the menu wasn't available. There wasn't even any lettuce in the salad bar. The pizza we ordered took 47 minutes to arrive. The waiter who served us didn't speak Arabic or English. We asked for mayonnaise three times, he went to the kitchen and then came back and stood at the salad bar daydreaming. We ordered Diet Pepsi and he brought Mountain Dew instead. We ordered a large salad and he brought a small plate. He dropped a fork on my sister and smeared her abaya with French salad dressing (orange) without apologizing. He almost knocked my drink over when he put the pizza on the table. I left there feeling like a nervous wreck. Serves me right for eating junk food. Never again.

(7) Gaddafi's death was disturbing. The videos of his body being dragged through Serat and him begging for mercy and being killed were just too upsetting. Why run those same shots and videos again and again and again? Seriously, media, get a life. I know he deserved it, but does that justify those horrible acts of murder and torture? No. We're not any better if we do that. There's just something wrong with the whole thing. Kill him and get it over with. God can deal with him afterwards.

(8) On a more cheerful note, Wednesday is only three days away and Eid holidays are coming up in a couple of weeks. If my calculations are right, Saturday Nov 5th is Yom Arafa (a holiday, the last day of Hajj) and the Eid would be Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Thankfully, we have a generous and wonderul Sultan who will probably give us Wednesday off as well. So, I'm hoping for the whole week. Please pray with me. I really really really need a holiday.

Times of Oman Interview Questions

Might as well follow the Dragon's example and publish my answers to Sandhya Menon's questions (intelligent reporter from the Times of Oman) before the paper is out. I was asked by Sandhya (also a blogger) a couple of weeks ago if I would be willing to participate in a piece she was writing on bloggers. I agreed, for the sake of all newspaper readers who crave something interesting every once in a while.

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She also asked for recommendations and I immediately sent her the links to some of my favorite blogs. Muscat Confidential was at the top of the list and it amused me terribly to hear that he was banned by the Times of Oman and thus could not be part of the article. Shame. However, fear not, for someone must have gotten in a good word somehow and he was invited to answer a set of questions. I will say no more. Part One on bloggers is in today's newspaper and part two will be out tomorrow. Stay tuned.

PS (please note that I chose mild/polite/friendly answers for the newspaper)

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Will you ever blow your cover?

No. Blowing my cover will limit the topics I can write about. Anonymity gives me the freedom of writing honestly without worrying about being labeled.

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Are you afraid you might be found out?

Not really. I'm not committing I crime, you know? Being anonymous is just more convenient.

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If you are, what do you think the consequence would be? I chose not to answer.

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How was it for you to have moved back after living in environments that afford women much more freedom that Oman?

I do not feel that I lack freedom in Oman. I am proud of being Omani and I would never choose to live anywhere else. However, I do live in a conservative town and unlike Western countries, social networking is huge. Everyone knows everyone. It bothered me at first that I seemed to have no privacy, but I just needed time to adapt. It was hard moving from a country that values individuality back into a society where collectivistic thinking rules and people are afraid of anyone 'different'.

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Apart from realization of writing skills and a wonderful level of comfort with English, what was the reason you started to blog?

I started blogging because I want to write a book on society in Dhofar sometime in the future. A friend of mine (an author) told me that in order to work towards this goal, I had to write one good page a day. Writing for yourself can get depressing after a while, so I thought 'why not find an audience?'. Blogging was the perfect solution. I needed to write about real issues and I needed feedback in order to stay motivated. My readers are my inspiration. It has been an amazing journey.

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Do you think you can bring about a change in society, however slow and tedious, with your writing and the awareness that your blog spreads?

Definitely. When I first started blogging, I thought I'd be writing for myself, but within a month or two when Dhofari Gucci became more popular, things changed. I'd meet someone for coffee and they'd immediately ask 'Have you heard about Dhofari Gucci?'. It was insane. I came to realize that whenever anyone Googles anything about Dhofar or Salalah in English, inevitably a link to my blog shows up on the first search page. That's how most people find it. I feel a strong sense of responsibility, especially after I discovered that my articles are being used as teaching material in colleges and I even discovered that someone quoted me in their Ph.D! This is why I try to do a little research before expressing my own personal opinion.

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Has your blog ever been noticed by anyone who has objections to what you write in there?

Yes indeed. I get hate mail on a regular basis. I can't please everyone, especially since I'm writing about sensitive social issues. If you're asking about objections from higher authorities, I pick my topics carefully. My intention has never been to offend anyone. (I know that I've annoyed some officials from the Ministry of Information in Dhofar on several occasions. A lot of people don't appreciate my spreading Dhofar's dirty laundry - as they put it- on the internet)

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If yes, how have you responded/reacted?

I had to start moderating comments a few months back when Dhofari Gucci started gaining publicity.

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How far do you plan to take your blog in that that it reveals a side of Dhofar/Oman and its people that is not very well known?

Last year after doing a little online research, I realized there are absolutely no blogs about Dhofar written by Omanis in English. In fact, it's quite hard to find any information about life in Dhofar online unless through expat websites. There are many aspects about our culture that expats do not understand. So many people come here as tourists but don't have any idea about our history and society. They're shown the green mountains, beaches, camels, coconuts, etc, but where can they find 'real' information about the people? Dhofar is such an amazing place. I feel it's my responsibility to live up to the role of Dhofar's ambassador to the English speaking world. I try to stay real without sounding like a tourism website.

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Do you have any ambitions for the blog?

Yes! There's so much I want to write about and there are so many issues that need to be tackled. I'm hoping Dhofari Gucci will become the most reliable online source of information on Dhofar. In order to reach that goal, I need to find more time to do research write. At the moment, obligations and duties in my 'real' life have taken all my spare time and I find I don't have an hour or two a day to write.

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Does it bother you that you have to be anonymous to tell it like it is?

Not much. Sometimes it gets frustrating when I have to change details around before publishing posts in order to conceal my identity. However, the advantages of being anonymous completely outweigh the disadvantages.

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Does anyone know of your identity? Family, close friends?

No. However, I have met other female bloggers in person for coffee and a chat. We're now great friends. Bloggers cover up for one another because we're all on the same boat. I have met some very enlightened young women. We all have a lot in common and after following each other's blogs for a while, it only makes sense to meet in person. I'm constantly fascinated by the number of young Omani writers out there who are capable to expressing themselves so easily in English.

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How does having this unlimited space affect your personality? For eg: Are you more interested in the goings-on of things so that you can have material for your blog? Are you more socially aware because you realize you can't put up something that you don't understand?

Yes I definitely feel that I'm more tuned in to my surroundings. I'm always looking for topics to write about. When I'm with my friends, I'm constantly asking for their opinion on anything from polygamy, witchcraft, divorce rates, local traditions, to local food and music! I carry a notebook around with me wherever I go. I definitely feel more passionate about Dhofar and I find that I'm more interested in reading about the history of this region. I find that I am able to zone out and look at Dhofar from an outsider's perspective as well as from a local girl's point of view.

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Do you write in Arabic as well?

I'm fluent in both Arabic and English, and I do write in Arabic. However, I'm more comfortable writing about Dhofar in English because I'm dealing with a completely different audience. The English-speaking online community in Oman is very different than the Arabic one, and there's plenty of information available in Arabic, so why not explore new territory?

Note - Omani Media

Hey everyone, I don't have much time to write today. Totally over-worked. However, to keep you entertained, check out Bader Al Hinai's campaign towards 'Better Media in Oman'. Seems the Omani Ramadan television series have caused an uproar! Stay tuned ..

http://baderhinai.blogspot.com/

I'm hungry!

Peace.