He's right, I don't like the way Arab (and Islamic) culture is portrayed and represented in pop culture either. We think they're just these charming people who have neat architecture, wear colorful clothes that are fancy, funny, and/or exotic, and get into all sorts of wacky adventures with wish-granting genies.
Where's the savagery, where they will stone, murder, torture, or rape people in the streets? Where they'll sell their barely pubescent children into prostitution or send them into a meat-grinder war where they are guaranteed to die horribly, but promised that they'll be gifted 72 virgin slaves to rape to their heart's content? Where they have laws forbidding touching anyone with their left hand, because that's the one they use to wipe their ass? Where anyone who does not worship Allah their way is an infidel to be conquered, raped, enslaved, and/or killed? Where it is outright written in their dogma to outright lie about their beliefs and intentions to infidels in order to make them put their guard down? Or...all sorts of other horrible stuff? Why doesn't this ever get represented or talked about in our stories about them?
Yeah. I'm not up on all that, but was curious, and looked into it a bit just now. It seems the dance might predate Islam, but the popularization of it in modern culture was after the Islamification of Egypt and, interestingly, due to their laws, at times those dancers were all slaves, since men and women were segregated in society...but slaves were property/entertainment.
Also, from Wikipedia, I found this rather hilarious (and sad/disturbing):
In the Ottoman Empire, belly dance was performed by women and later, by boys, in the sultan's palace.
He's right, I don't like the way Arab (and Islamic) culture is portrayed and represented in pop culture either. We think they're just these charming people who have neat architecture, wear colorful clothes that are fancy, funny, and/or exotic, and get into all sorts of wacky adventures with wish-granting genies.
Where's the savagery, where they will stone, murder, torture, or rape people in the streets? Where they'll sell their barely pubescent children into prostitution or send them into a meat-grinder war where they are guaranteed to die horribly, but promised that they'll be gifted 72 virgin slaves to rape to their heart's content? Where they have laws forbidding touching anyone with their left hand, because that's the one they use to wipe their ass? Where anyone who does not worship Allah their way is an infidel to be conquered, raped, enslaved, and/or killed? Where it is outright written in their dogma to outright lie about their beliefs and intentions to infidels in order to make them put their guard down? Or...all sorts of other horrible stuff? Why doesn't this ever get represented or talked about in our stories about them?
Yeah. I'm not up on all that, but was curious, and looked into it a bit just now. It seems the dance might predate Islam, but the popularization of it in modern culture was after the Islamification of Egypt and, interestingly, due to their laws, at times those dancers were all slaves, since men and women were segregated in society...but slaves were property/entertainment.
Also, from Wikipedia, I found this rather hilarious (and sad/disturbing):
Innnnteresting.
Belly dancing is still done in Syria and Lebanon. Granted its frowned upon for being suggestive.