The strong male dominance in most Mideast cultures is widely recognized throughout the world. But the impenetrable nature of that barrier is like no others. Or so I wrote just a few years ago after visiting Dubai. The role of women is narrowly defined and makes it quite difficult for them to receive an academic education and to take important roles professionally. But some progress has recently been made and perhaps this contribution from my diary as a global traveler will become outdated sooner than I had thought.
Here is one small example of how complex solutions are applied when gender roles are challenged. I was in Dubai to train a group of people coming from more than a dozen countries in the region. Assisting me was an American woman trainer. One morning I met her in front of her room so that we could go to breakfast together and discuss the day’s agenda. As she was about to close the door to her room, the houseman came along. In this hotel rooms are cleaned by men rather than women. My colleague asked him if he would please leave her some extra towels since she planned to use the swimming pool later and needed them for drying her long hair. His answer was, “yes sir”.
We walked down the hall toward the breakfast room she raised the question of why you called her “serve”. It quickly became obvious to both of us that he faced the conundrum. It is part of the world men do not take orders from women. But her status as a guest of the hotel meant that her request needed to be honored. So in his mind he simply turned her into a man and the problem was solved.
This particular seminar was one of the more interesting I have ever had the pleasure of conducting because it allowed me to see how different customs were in the various countries of the region. Many of the participants were women whose behaviors varied considerably. A woman from Jordan used the swimming pool during the long lunch and break and wore a two-piece bathing suit that might have easily been found in a pool in Florida or California. But the three women attending from Iran limited their midday break to taking a walk together in their traditional black head to toe covering outfits.
I also noticed during the seminar that while I was addressing the group and one of the Iranian women wished to ask a question, when acknowledged by me she would immediately turn to my female colleague to address the question which I was then free to answer. She felt uncomfortable addressing me as a male trainer and thus used my female colleague as a conduit.
Herb