Auto-Ethnography: What Makes Me Unique
Egyptian. Arab. Muslim. Female. All these things make me unique from any other person in the world. These are characteristics that I will always be proud of, considering the fact that I have been brought up in a community that led me to believe that these attributes are advantages. My family makes me distinctive as I’ve grown up in a society where traditions and family are the most vital thing in my life.
For example, I learned numerous things that most people aren’t aware of because I come from such a diverse country that has been stereotyped throughout history. Many people from all around the world either think that my country is an uneducated and violent place because of the recent revolution or that it is basically a desert. People come up to me and ask me if I live in the pyramids and if I ride camels everywhere. On the contrary, as well as it is a beautiful place with historical sights, it is also a modern and advanced country.
Coming from such a high context culture, I have learned that loyalty in relationships is a main factor in being both Egyptian and Arab. Being Muslim is a huge part in my life and it influences me in many ways. Most of the traditions we have in my family are linked to religion. For instance, I spend a lot of my time reciting the holy Quran, and when my family gathers we always pray together. Muslims are required to treat everyone, even enemies, with courtesy and respect, also Islam prohibits showing disrespect to parents and this is something that I truly learned to cherish as I was growing up. These things helped me understand how to communicate with people on a daily basis.
We are often labeled in particular ways by others, perhaps informally in terms of our ethnic background. I have heard many common stereotypes about being a Muslim female, from the general perception that Muslim women are oppressed to specific misperceptions around education, marital rights, and freedom, the stereotypes are many, diverse, and widely held. I consider myself lucky to hold such knowledge about my religion that gives me the ability to be able to give intellectual answers about these stereotypes that most people end up agreeing with. Various rights of Muslim women were described in the Qur’an and Hadith. These include the right to seek knowledge and gain an education, the right to work and keep her earnings, and the right to inherit. Marital rights include the right to choose her spouse, the right to keep her name and income, and the right to financial support in marriage.
Considering the fact that I come from a high context culture, I could easily relate to Kohl’s foreign counterpart values and see them in my everyday life. The top values that I recognize and relate to the most are hierarchy, tradition, and group’s welfare. Even though I might not accept some of these values, I still tend to “deal” with them on a daily basis because of my community.
One of the top values that I highly reject is hierarchy. It is exceptionally common in Egypt and it is one of the main factors that are taken into consideration when interacting with anyone. You are measured by how much you have in your bank account. To illustrate, I once opened a small food cart in my hometown in celebration of the Holy month of Ramadan. Since my father knows people in the police, I didn’t need any documents or papers to open the cart. All I needed to do was give food to every single police officer in the station near us each night, just so they don’t come and bother us. Also, since my friend’s family were known in the area, the neighbors didn’t make any complains as long as we gave them discounts on their orders as well.
This was something that benefited me at the time but the concept itself has always bothered me. I always say that I disagree with this concept, but I find myself doing the same as everyone else to get what I want since this is how things work around my community. I am treated in my community by how I look, the way that I am dressed, and who I know. It is never about who you are as a person rather than which family you come from.
The other 2 values are quite similar, and I have been placed in many situations where both values applied at the same time. Tradition and group’s welfare are almost identical since in our traditions, the group’s welfare is always prioritized. My family extremely values traditions and they always stress that we are all together for certain events. This is something that I extremely value and I also consider myself lucky to be raised in such an environment. It is always mandatory for all family members to attend our family events that transpire once every 2 weeks. This has been taking place for as long as any of us can remember. We are told that our great ancestors did the same thing as well. It is apparent how everybody cares about one another in these events. If you have a meeting at the time of the event, you have to either postpone or cancel it because family is your number 1 priority.
Our family home has a big pool that surrounds the area that we always gather around when we have these events. One thing that happens very frequently is when one of the kids fall in the pool by accident. As soon as this happens, at least 4 family members jump in the pool to save the child. They jump with their phone, wallets, and all their belongings, while three others rush to get towels and clothes for these people. Since this happens very frequently, I was used to it after a while. One thing that I never expected happening was when my cousin who can’t swim jumped in the pool to save one of my younger cousins. Since that day, all my opinions about that cousins have altered, and I always feel proud of who he is.
In Lewis’ When Cultures Collide, there is a section where it describes that “Most of Egypt is desert, and almost all the people live in the Nile Valley or in the delta, alongside the Suez Canal. ” I believe that this is where the misconception about Egypt comes from like I mentioned earlier in the paper. Since Egypt is mostly desert, people tend to think that we live in the desert and that’s why I get all these comments about living in the pyramids and riding camels. Also, they described modern Egypt as having “a dominant elite and a growing middle class, a good education system, and that women are largely integrated. ” This is also proof that Muslim women in Egypt aren’t oppressed rather than being involved in the society and in improving the education system as well.
Women have almost the same rights as men like in most countries around the world. “This clinging to the traditions and ways of earlier generations was the particular strength of the Egyptians”, and this is still the strength of Egyptian nowadays because we still hold on the same traditions. Traditions are almost worshiped in Egypt because of their significance. I am looking forward to grow up and raise my own children in Egypt, a country where I am forever indebted to because of everything that it has offered and taught me. I feel proud that one day my children are going to grow up and realize that the characteristics that they inherited from me are so unique and distinctive. They are going to be Egyptian, Arab, and Muslims who have a chance to discover all these different communities around the world, while realizing how exclusive theirs is.
