One day I was bored out of my mind, I'd done my homework and revision for that day, my best friend was on holiday, my other friends were busy, so I went looking for something to watch and found this documentary. It's called: "The Great British School Swap" where racially segregated children visit and study at each other's schools, learning about each other as they do so. There were 12 British white students and 12 British ethnic students. Before meeting each other the two groups made absurd assumptions about each other, which were purely based on negative stereotypes, and some I don't even know how they came up with.
So, that documentary gave me the idea to conduct a little experiment on G@G. I'm a British Pakistani Muslim girl, and I wanted to know what people would think of me if I just told people those four things about myself.
To be specific, this question: British Pakistani Muslim Girl. What do you think?
I got nice responses, funny responses and responses which were just ugly.
Let's dive straight in!
That's a fair point. Here's how I can be both British and Pakistani: I'm born in England, so were parents. However, my grandparents came to England in the 60s and 70s, from Pakistan. So I am born in England which makes me British, but my grandparents were born in Pakistan, meaning I'm of Pakistani descent. I love being British, but I don't want to forget my heritage, therefore, I consider myself to be British Pakistani.
Haha, my parents listened to Queen when they were younger- I've heard their songs and yes, they're songs are pretty good not going to lie. Fun fact- Freddie Mercury was of Indian descent.
Haha, I am unless I'm roasting my friends- or when you insult Spider-Man. ;P
I've had a good conversation with this person. He told me he believed that Muslim girls are not allowed to talk to white people because their fathers and brothers tell them they can't.
That isn't always the case. I am a Muslim girl, and a lot of my friends are Muslim girls. We live in a diverse area- full of people of various ethnicities including white people, and a lot of our friends are white. My best friend is a white girl, I went to her house 3 times last week and I plan to go again on Sunday.
He then went on to say how Muslims in his country segregate themselves from the wider community because they don't want to know white people.
That's not always the case.
Sometimes, Muslims get attacked. For their religion, or skin colour or both. A pregnant Muslim lady was kicked in the stomach, her baby died. She was attacked for being Muslim.
Even in my city, there are certain areas I avoid because there is a possibility of me being attacked in those areas, for my skin colour, or my religion or both. I'm about 5'1, I weigh about 43-45kg, I walk with a limp, I can't defend myself, so it's best for me to avoid those areas.
And Muslims who can defend themselves would most likely avoid those areas too. Because the minute a Muslim fights back, he or she may be seen as a trouble causer, and get labelled all sorts so it's best to just stay out of trouble in the first place.
I'm not going to lie, I was expecting an opinion like this.
I do believe in both conservative and liberal values.
And this person believes I am "oppressed" because of my religion- they claim to have lived in a Muslim country.
Well:
I'm not forced to wear the hijab- I show my hair as I like.
I can wear what I like.
Yes, my family and I have disagreements- and sometimes they say things or I say things but in the end we realise our wrongdoing discuss things, and usually, our peace offering is a cup of tea.
I'm free to study.
"Let there be no compulsion in religion" a quote from the Qur'an. So anybody who forces in the name of Islam is going against Islam. Full stop.
This person also sent me a video on claiming how the hijab is not empowering and in fact oppressing.
Well if the woman chooses to wear the hijab because she feels it empowers her, it is not oppressing. Because it's her choice. Full stop.
Such a sweet thing to say. I love that you respect my religion and my nationality. I also have Indian friends who are great. :)
Yes, this person has made good guesses.
I like being British.
I fit in well with British culture.
I like my Pakistani heritage, I think it's important to know who I am.
People assume I'm Indian all the time.
British culture has had an effect on me. You are a product of your environment after all.
Actually no- I speak a little bit of Punjabi.
Evening meals during Ramadan are the best
I do hold a lot of views my parents and grandparents hold- but not all.
I have had a decent education.
I don't know what this person means.
Firstly, I believe in Jesus. Jesus is a prophet in Islam, we call him Isa, and he is the son of Maryam (Mary) we don't believe in the Trinity, but we believe that Isa (Jesus) is the Messiah.
Secondly, I can't cook to save my life. My mother is the one who can cook a mean biryani. Last week I and my best friend got hungry at her house, we struggled to cook packet noodles. Yeah, I know we're terrible, but I'll learn after exams I guess.
Thirdly, you are bang on but I'm not going to say which one.
Thank you. It's always nice to hear a good and respectful opinion. As for my accent, it's standard where I'm from and I'm glad you believe my beliefs should be respected.
There need to be more people with your mindset, regarding beliefs and respect, in the world.
Definitely British. Spent my whole life in England, never been outside of England, so what I am if I'm not British?
Your little analogy about a dog born in a stable, I can debunk it right here. You're correct a dog born in a stable is not a horse.
But a dog and a horse are both different species.
Whether a human is born in England or a human is born in Pakistan- they are still human.
If two horses from one stable are transported to another, and they have a child in the new stable then that baby horse is from that stable.
My best friend is British Hungarian- her grandfather is Hungarian her parents are born in England. She's been to Hungary and many other countries. Is she British? Yes.
Boring- that's a matter of opinion.
Secluded- I go out to meet my friends when we can be bothered, I got to school and socialise as well as study- I don't see how I'm kept a secret from anyone haha.
narrow-minded philosophically - Actually I and many people around me, for example, my teachers consider me to be open minded.
nearly non-existent personality - Again a matter of opinion, but my friends and people who know me would say otherwise.
will likely end up being married off to some other Pakistani and will get stuck at home, unless she wants to taste knuckle sandwich- My parents haven't discussed marriage with me properly, they are more concerned about me getting to university and how we're going to pay for it.
Potential threat to security - Okay, okay... I'm 5'1, 43-45kg, I have diplegia I walk with a limp, I can't fight physically to save my life, yet I'm a threat to security? Sure.
Very likely to give birth to future terrorists and criminals - I'd raise my children to be good law abiding citizens, who will follow their dreams.
You assumed all this because you knew four things about me? Nationality. Ethnicity. Religion. Gender. Prejudice much?
Product of incest - No my parents aren't cousins. Nor were my grandparents. And cousin marriage is nothing to do with religion and is not apart of my culture.
Urdu- Actually Punjabi.
Sharia courts - Never been to a court.
Make-up - Don't wear or own any.
Burkas - Never worn one.
Social media - Don't most of us regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion or gender?
Typical - Not sure what you mean by that.
Slough? More Pakistanis than white people?
https://www.slough.gov.uk/downloads/Demographics.pdf
Are you sure about that?
Benefits - Many people get them in England. Regardless of their ethnicity or religion.
Scams - Never scammed
Cheat - Only in monopoly.
Drug rackets - Never done drugs. Only taken paracetamol and calpol.
Immunity from prosecution - Nope sorry, never been prosecuted.
Bazaars - I go to the bazaar sometimes. I see no problem with it, it gets a little crowded that's the only thing I hate.
Vapes - Never vaped. Fun fact, I've seen kids at school vape of various ethnicities.
Matalan - I go to Matalan. Problem?
Child sex rings - That's just sick and wrong, I wonder what type of person can think that.
Down syndrome - Nobody in my family has that.
Autism - One of my cousins who is a mixed-race child has Autism.
other forms of mental retardation - People of all ethnicities have mental disabilities. It happens for all kinds of reasons.
(All that inbreeding takes its toll) - What inbreeding?
genetic conditions - I have diplegia passed down from my father. Nothing to do with inbreeding, my parents aren't related.
Let me know if I've missed anything - Yeah you missed a lot. You were so inaccurate. You can really assume all this about a person, just by knowing four things about them? Says a lot about you as a person.
Actually, no. My parents and I haven't really spoken about marriage much. Right now, I'm sixteen years old their biggest concern is how they're going to pay for me to go to university and study, where I'm going to study, and if I'll move out or not.
To them, my education is much more important than marriage at the moment.
You disagree? You know what? That's okay. Not everybody is going to agree with my beliefs, and that is fine. People are people. As long as you respect them that is okay. You respect me I respect you. If someone disrespects me I avoid them and I wouldn't stoop down to their level. You wouldn't hate me as a person? That says a lot about you. Shows your maturity. Thanks for the honest, respectful opinion.
Inshallah to you too brother. :)
There are a lot of rich things which are apart of our culture which people tend to ignore.
Food. Biryani.
Clothes. The salwar kameez with all the different embroidery designs
The shopping. All the market places.
The music. My favourite Pakistani song has always been 'dil dil Pakistan'
Celebrations like Eid and Ramadan.
The huge weddings where it's basically a feast.
All the different languages. Punjabi. Urdu. Pashto. Hindi.
Pakistani tea.
And who can forget the cricket?
Then we've got the British culture.
Fish and chips.
Tea.
All the soaps to mock.
Phil Mitchell (because like it or not he's a national treasure)
The clothes.
The fact that you can walk down the street and just see takeaways from all different cultures.
The music.
I could go on forever, but you get the picture. The point is I'm glad I've got both cultures, and appreciate them both.
I wouldn't say my eyebrows are perfect, and they're flat, not arched, I wear Pakistani dress on special occasions, I don't know what MD means, haha. Behind closed doors, I just sleep and write and study most of the times and go out every now and then to see my friends, I get pimples every now and then because I'm a teenager and those things happen.
Thank you :)
True that. :)
I love potatoes. ;P
Fish and chips - love those.
Religion - Yes. That is what Islam is and I follow it.
Indian - Many people assume I am.
Female sex - That I am too.
Saving the best opinion I got for last...
Okay, you caught me red-handed. I'm drinking tea right now, and it is a cup of good tea, guilty as charged! :P
What makes your opinion the best is the final sentence. This person is absolutely right. There isn't enough information to form an opinion on me. You can't just do that from somebody's nationality, ethnicity, religion or gender.
I was looking for an answer like this.
It was a trick question.
Well done sir. :)
And I'm finally done. Finished. Thank you for reading. This took me ages to write, but I'm glad I was able to go through each opinion and respond in a way where everyone can see. I hid the usernames because I didn't know who would be comfortable with me mentioning them on my post. Feel free to call yourself out if you see your opinion here. :)
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