Things People Say When I Mention That I'm Arabian

[ZaraXOX]

People amsume I'm white looking at my skin tone, but I'm actually an Arabian.

---

1. "So... you eat spicy food?"

2. "Does that mean you can belly dance?"

3. "Do you speak English?" - B*tch stfu. (That was completely unnecessary but, that's how I feel.)

4. "Oh, I could never live there!" - (? ? why ? ?)

5. "Do you have to wear the... thing?" - (It's called burqa.)

6. "Are you allowed to show your legs there?" - (I lived in Dubai where everything is allowed.)

7. "Is it safe there?" - (Of course.) What do you mean? *music*

8. "So... You like Bollywood?" - (I guess. I mean, Bollywood is Indian not Arabian."

9. "Is the country like... a desert?" - (No. -_-)

10. "Does that allow your future husband to have many wives?" - (That is not even a valid question.)

11. "How are you allowed there if you're a Christian?"

---

These are just few thing I'm asked and confonted about when I tell people I'm an Arabian. I was only born in th the UAE (United Arab Emirates). I'm in the UK now. So, yeah. :)

- ZaraXOX -

[Waffles731]

7. "So... You like Bollywood?" - (I guess. I mean, Bollywood is Indian not Arabian."
REALLY PEOPLE TELL YOU THAT
9."Is the country like... a desert?" - (No. -_-)
We have a similar problem in stereotypes of the geography of the U. S
People assume that the entire American west is made up of deserts
You see these two pictures
www.nationalparks.org/.../glacier.jpg
Thats glacier national park in Montana (A part of the American west)
images.fineartamerica.com/.../...niel-hagerman.jpg
That is also in Montana, Thats the ruins of an actual old west ghost town. in Bannock State Park.
But a whole lot of people assume that the truly massive and beautiful and varied environment of the American West pretty much all looks like the second picture

[ElissaDido]

Haha yeah here people in France know more about Arabs so they don't ask me these stupid questions thankfully, but I do get them on the internet :P
It doesn't bother me much, can't really blame though, that's what they see on TV.

[BlueCoyote]

Many of these questions are totally valid and legitimate.
1. So you eat spicy food? -- A lot of food from the Arab cuisine is indeed spicy. Not like Indian spicy but it can be spicy.
3. Do you speak English? -- Why do you get pissed off about this question? If you're an Arab, how would people know whether you speak English or not? Most Arabs don't speak English. How would anyone know you've been living in the UK?
4. I could never live there. -- Well, there are SOME countries in the Arab world where I certainly wouldn't want to live. Do you want to live in Syria or Iraq? At least not right now, do you?
5. Do you have to wear... the thing? Well, A LOT of Arab women HAVE TO wear a burqa. If you don't wear a Burqa in Iran or Saudi Arabia, you go to prison and you get whipped!
6. Are you allowed to show your legs? Again, there are many Arab countries where this is NOT allowed. No reason to get pissed about it.
7. Is it safe there? -- If you just stay "I'm an Arab" this is a totally valid question. There are several Arab countries that are extremely dangerous at the moment (and have been so for a long time in some cases).
9 Is the country... like a desert? -- I hope you know there is a lot of desert in the middle east. Especially Saudi Arabia is roughly 95% desert. Why do you get angry about such a question?
10. Does that allow your future husband to have several wives? -- Not in the UK, but for example in Saudi Arabia (and in a few other Arab countries) polygamy is legal and socially accepted.
11. How are you allowed there if you're a christian? Again, very normal question. Many Arab countries prosecute christians. In Saudi Arabia you can get the DEATH PENALTY for openly being a christian.

So why do all these questions annoy you? Of course it's stupid to ask you whether you can belly dance but most of these questions are perfectly normal and legitimate.

[koksss]

this is nonsense i nearly visited most of the arab countries and u can do what ever u want in most of them like UAE , EGYPT , LEBANON and a lot more and yes some countries are very dangerous like u said like SYRIA , IRAQ but they became so coz wht the USA and Europe DID TO THEM actually ARabs are so kind and helpful more than u can even think

[BlueCoyote]

@koksss Yes, Iraq and Syria are dangerous because of the US (mostly) and Europe. I don't disagree with you there. Also, the Arab sphere is a very diverse region of the world. Sure, some countries like Lebanon or the UAE are safe to visit as tourist but many others aren't. Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and possibly Nigeria are all too dangerous to visit as tourist. That's at least 8 countries, so you can't exactly call them an exception to the rule. Furthermore, there are countries such as Saudi Arabia that are extremely dangerous for certain groups of people, such as gays and they are both extremely oppressive to women. In the case of Egypt, I wouldn't judge too easily. I have been to Egypt myself, so I know what it's like there. If you go to tourist destinations such as Hurghada, you don't have to worry a lot of course but you also shouldn't forget about things like the Luxor terrorist attacks. Almost 80 people died on that day. And this kind of thing

[BlueCoyote]

can easily happen again. Egypt is politically and economically very unstable at the moment.

Finally, you also should understand that being a tourist and being a normal citizen is NOT the same thing. Take the UAE: the reason you can drink alcohol and basically do anything you want in the UAE is because they have special rights for western tourists. Why? Because they make tons of money with tourism. If you're a normal citizen of Dubai (not a foreigner), you can't count on the same privileges.

[damnwinter]

'many Arab countries' are not her country :)))

[koksss]

from all the countries that i visited Egypt was the best followed by Lebanon , ure talking about what happened in luxor years ago made it dangerous that's weird then France is not safe US is not safe 90 % of european countries is not safe then lets kill ourselves. be logic my friend ure having what i call arabphobia

[koksss]

by the way way UAE is not looking for some tourists to visit them , oil is there power.
and please dont forget all whts happening in all arab countries is bec. of us so lets give them some real support

[BlueCoyote]

@damnwinter I realize that but she says "I'm Arab" and I'm saying you can't simply take 20 Arab countries and throw them all into the same bucket. What's likely true for the UAE is not necessarily true for the Iraq. The statements she gave were NOT about being from UAE, they were statements about being an Arab person and I'm saying that you can't just say "oh this is all wrong" AS SHE DOES because it is wrong for some Arab countries but it is correct for other Arab countries.

[BlueCoyote]

@koksss That is correct, most European countries are not safe as are most other countries in the world. HOWEVER, the degree of safety varies. In Paris we had two large-scale terrorist attacks so far and a few minor ones. In Finland there is no reported terrorist attack. In Egypt, there are regular terrorist attacks. On top of that, as I already pointed out, Egypt is currently politically and economically unstable. Now, do I claim that Egypt is as dangerous as Syria. NO OF COURSE NOT. I have no Arabphobia, so don't even dare to accuse me of that.

What I'm saying is that there are a large number of Arab/muslim countries and they are very different from one another. So you can't just say "oh this is all wrong" because what might be wrong for some Arab countries might be correct for some others. Is that really so hard to understand?

[JPSAM]

1-don't Mexicans, Indians or any other country eat spicy food?
2-a lot of western girls do. (checkout YouTube)
3-ummmmm my native language is Arabic and we study English and French at school as well. so...
4-nobody asked you to!!
5-its only in Saudi Arabia where you must wear it (if i am not mistaken)
6-we go to the beach in bikinis as well. (talking about girls of course)
7-it is safe unless you go to countries where there is war. (is France safe? is Brussels safe? is U. S. A. safe?)
8-well we are Arabian not Indian. (do you like Hollywood? (in case the one asking was not from the U. S. A.)
9-some parts of some (not all) Arab countries have desert but we live in cities and apartments and houses not tents. and in my country there is no desert at all :)
10-not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims do marry more than 1 wife.
11-i am Arabian and i proudly am Christian. yeah the majority are Muslims in Arab countries but not all.

people should read more instead of playing games on their phones all day and get some common sense and the minimum of knowledge.

[koksss]

this is the stupid American media that is trying to convince people about how arabs and specially Muslims are wicked

[Spiorad_Aisce]

Yeah I have seen cases like yours where your appearance is quite different to your race or ethnicity, I suppose surprise there is okay once it is politely expressed. There are lots of things I don't know about other races, faiths, cultures, ethnicities etc but there are better ways to ask questions than in your examples.
It looks like they have fallen into the trap of very negative stereotypes that in reality are quite offensive. I gave an opinion earlier on here where I said the best advice I could give is "Think before you speak" - How would a similar question to you sound? plus let the person tell you about themselves before you bombard them with question.
I suppose bottom line is going back to the earlier sentence, if you have to ask be courteous.

[pervertedjester]

I was going to ask if you had a Magic Carpet? 45.media.tumblr.com/.../...m7H1XI1s8lk9fo1_500.gif It was literally the only thought I had lol

[koksss]

ohh yes she does plus a camel and a tent , ahhh iam fedup from this stupidity

[Phoenix98]

Honestly probably the only thing I'd ask is how's Arabian food? or stuff relating to your culture and history as that's the kind of stuff I'm interested in, though some of those questions you mentioned are valid but at the same time some of them are not.

[MajesticWeasel]

Eh, if someone told me they were Arabian when I thought they were white, I would just be like "Oh okay, cool beans". The people who ask the ignorant questions are just kinda, well ignorant. Sure they might actually be interested in knowibg the answer to something, but some questions are just plain dumb.

[Mesonfielde]

In certain Islamic countries, males and females aren't allowed to interact unless there is another Man who oversees the conversation, and you're not allowed to live in the same house if you aren't married.

Weird as heck.

[This_is_my_username]

UGH, some people are just pain stupid and geographically incorrect. They also need to stop believing in bogus stereotypes eh Girl? :)

[ZaraXOX]

Exactly.

[damnwinter]

The West knows nothing of Middle Eastern cultures. They tend to be very ignorant of pretty much any culture that is not 'European', and even European cultures they don't cover very well. Like 'The Romanians are Coming' UK series featuring Roma people, not to mention Roma people are offended indirectly as well in that series.
I am sorry you have to go through all this, if I were Muslim I would consider moving to a more tolerant country.

[Robbey]

"People amsume I'm white looking at my skin tone, but I'm actually an Arabian."

In the US, people from the MENA are counted as white in the census so I'm a little confused why you think being "Arabian" and "white" are mutually exclusive.

[ConsultantIsBack]

Why are you using Paris Jackson's pictures on your profile?

[TheBraveLion]

Yeah i realised that too... Wtf

[Humping_Tornadoes]

lol @Asker, got caught? 😂

[michelle_applehead]

That's what I thought!

[KHaskins]

People need to get out more. And for f**k's sake, stop forming their opinions from what Walid Shoebat says on YouTube. All there is to it.

[COCOCHANEL]

you'd be asked more annoying and rude questions here even if you were white

[archiz]

also
do you have water there?
do you live under bombs?

[the-mad-german]

And what exactly is the point now?

If i tell people im German i also get asked the same old things over and over
... do u like beer
... are u nazi

live with it !

[Anonymous]

So you were born in the UAE, but you now live in the UK. I am assuming your parents are from the west too, bcause of your skin. However, there are plenty of very western looking Asians.
Let me ask you. What country is your home?

[CoolSky01]

she's lebanese , the arabs that come from lebanon, syria, plaestine, israel and jordan differ greatly from the gulf ones

[Opinion Owner]

and...
What does that have to do with anything?

[CoolSky01]

it has to do with your question, you were asking why she looks if she's an arab and i was telling you that over half the arabs in these countries if not more look as white as her.

[Opinion Owner]

@CoolSky01
"However, there are plenty of very western looking Asians. "
The Near East is located in Asia. Thusly, you can call them Asians.

[CoolSky01]

well since they live in asia they're Asians lol, but Asian can be many things

[Opinion Owner]

@CoolSky01
Americans can be many things too.

[CoolSky01]

they already are

[Opinion Owner]

@CoolSky01
America, the continent.

[michelle_applehead]

@CoolSky01 That picture is of Paris Jackson.

[John_Doesnt]

It's so awful when people are interested in other cultures and ask people about what their home country is like. I can't stand it when people take an interest in my American culture.

[TikiTook]

Isn't it so nosy and annoying? Like ugh mind your own culture please🙄👋

[John_Doesnt]

@TikiTook if you want to isolate yourself and not make any friends then fine that's your decision.

[TikiTook]

I was being sarcastic

[Sonoflife]

That's a question you should really fear.
Do you watch The Queen Ahlam show?

At that moment!
جهزي شنطتك وهاجري اليابان ههههههههههههع

[krash2002]

12. "Oh you're Arabian? That's awesome. How's your day thus far?"

[chintita]

lol i didn't know you were arab, the UAE is so cool