Saudi Arabia and The Social Change Process
Intro
I hinted before that I would write about the Dissociative identity disorder that I and many others have noticed or experienced in my society, and I have been putting it off for way to long, but I’ve decided to give it a go.
Change, whether it is personal for fitness or health (inner or outer) or in a small business or big organization, is the subject of many books and some peoples life long study and income generator, just pass by the sections for self-help or business and you would know what I mean. The first thing they suggest is that small changes are introduced. If you want to run a marathon you cannot just get up and run it, you have to start by walking, then alternate between walking and jogging, then jog, then do half a marathon, etc. otherwise you risk injuring yourself.
As an engineer I understand that big things, need to be made first on a small scale before making them into massive structures, and that translates into social structures as well.
It is also nothing short of a miracle that Saudi is what it is today, no place in the history of the world has experienced this tremendous change in under a century.
Perspective
Almost everything is imported, and with the oil boom, the Saudi market was and still is very lucrative to manufacturers and marketers of every little and big thing. One country had the upper hand with imports into Saudi, and with trade, like early Muslim trade with the far East for example, comes products along with customs and language.
I am a product of that change, along with many others, just take a look at the Saudis writing in English. English is almost our first language, we grew up watching American shows and we dressed like the cool people we saw on TV. When we went out we ate fast food, and listened to American music, and watched Hollywood movies (not in theatres of course).
That is why, when you read blogs written by American ladies who married a Saudi, they would tell you that their husbands were at ease in the US, it is almost like going home for some.
Yet for others, it created a shock at what they or the society has become, and this is not unique. In the African American community, they label or tell a person that he/she are “acting white”, and it goes the other way also. The famous rapper Eminem was beaten at school for “trying to act black”. Then there is the Banana, and it goes on and on.
The Alternative
So what do those who experience the shock do? The only alternative would be to try to go back to the roots, quoting how glorious their people in the past were, and how if they embrace the old values, glory would be bestowed upon them again, forgetting that the only constant in life is change.
And again, there are those who make millions from promoting the old lifestyle, their books, tapes and lectures are sold, a TV appearance would make them a cool million, the mosque that they lead would be full, and what seems like a crazy fatwa would be the best advertisement, it makes people talk about them more, then they have to go on and explain themselves, and in this ever increasing traffic of media coming at us from every direction competing with their profits… a sheikh has bills to pay, kids to feed and a lifestyle to sustain.
The Negative
“They make us hate ourself and love they wealth” Kanye West said, while media in the western world makes people hate themselves for not being skinny enough, not having muscles that are big enough, not having the latest gadget and car or the biggest house or designer bag, those things are inflicted on our society, and a bit more.
That bit is the portrayal of Arabs and Muslims. As much as it leaves a negative impression on a person who has never met an Arab or Muslim, it also affects the psyche of a little Arab child growing up, making him/her hate what his/her culture represent, forgetting the many positive attributes that are available within the environment they live in and focussing on the negatives or the contorted realities provided by the media machine, and with the lack of balanced voices between the two extremes, it gets difficult, really difficult to get the positives from the past and the present to create a better now.
I have stumbled across a few Saudi blogs written by young Saudis and I could sense they suffer from what I just said.
Have a listen to this TED talk by Naif Al-Mutawa a clinical psychologist on why he created the Superheros, to better understand what I mean.
Equilibrium
Can it be achieved? Only time will tell, I believe that education and teaching people to think for themselves is a first step. No two generations are the same anywhere in the world, and each generation always tells the other they have it easy yet their generation was better 
One has to be true to thyself first, as easy as it sounds it is not easy at all.
Questions
I think I have barely scratched the surface, as these are only my modest observations, can we get to where we want to get? and where is that and what does it look like exactly? I have many questions of my own, but I would love to hear your observations and questions.
Comments
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Wow, I really loved this post! It’s like a novella for you, Qusay!
I’m used to your posts being rather short, but this was fantastic. Very well thought out and made a lot of sense. Plus it’s an interesting topic to me for some reason.
First let me say that I am glad we speak a common language. I am sorry if my culture has negatively influenced yours and shocked some people, but I am glad you speak English because I learn so much from you and others like you. I feel if people don’t want to learn about another country/culture, they don’t have to import their stuff (American TV shows, movies, clothes, food) so, eh, some personal freedoms are involved and I am good with that. I guess we should be more selective with what we freely choose to indulge.
I’ve reread your post a couple of times and especially focused on The Negative paragraphs which seems to blame “the media machine” – I’m assuming you mean the western one – and how it has negatively impacted Arab children. Honestly I put this fault mostly in the parents’ laps. TVs have OFF buttons and if my child is consuming anything that makes him/her feel cheap or strange or embarrassed because of his culture then I will gladly turn it off. Why let the western media raise your child and give him this false mindset that you don’t believe in? Don’t you think this problem could be remedied in part by Arab/Muslim parents simply not using the TV as a babysitter and letting their children watch only wholesome, edifying shows?
In my opinion, too, I hate the fact that Arab TV shows such horrible images probably at all times of day and night and parents will just let their children feed their impressionable minds on this violence. When you are young and made to feel as if the world finds you cheap and not worth much, of course you will grow up struggling with issues such as “why do they hate us? what is it about me that is inferior to them? is it because I’m darker/whiter/thinner/cuter?” I know that wars and such things are reality – sadly – but do little children need a diet of this when they are vulnerable and need to know they are valuable somehow?
Maybe what I am saying doesn’t apply to you or anyone you know and I am way off base. And I realize my experience with Arabs and Muslims is minuscule compared to yours, but based on hours and hours and hours of talking nearly every day for the last almost three years with someone who grew up with this awful diet and who often struggles with these feelings, I am speaking of that which I am familiar at least on a very small scale.
Why instead could his value not been affirmed by his parents and society? His impressionable years spared of such heartache? His culture focus on the GOOD things they had contributed to the world? No, I don’t think we should “whitewash” reality and make children not grow up caring, but must we saturate their young minds with the horrors of this world when they are too little to really handle things and realize the Big Bad Israeli/American army isn’t just right outside the door?
Do you think I don’t know what I’m talking about because I’ve grown up white and “privileged” in a peaceful land so I should keep my opinions to myself? And maybe the way my Arab friend grew up IS reality and IS normal and good for children so they will have a more caring attitude towards the hurting? Am I blind to things? Please speak up and tell me. I am willing to learn.
In summary, I think the responsibility boils down to parents. Those children are in YOUR house. YOU control what they see and listen to, what they feast their eyes and minds on. YOU can turn off the tube and share the glorious history of their people, the wonderful culture and how they differ from various cultures around the world. You can tell them ways society has changed for good or bad and possible solutions and dreams for better days. I think this would give them a more balanced view – that equilibrium – you want. It’s NOT the media or government’s responsibility…it is YOURS. God gave those children to YOU…not KSA or USA or China. Guard their hearts and minds.
And you summed that up very well with
” I believe that education and teaching people to think for themselves is a first step. ”
Amen! Don’t let the media educate your child!
Please note when I use “you” I mean a general “you” moreso than you, Qusay.
Didn’t want you to think I was challenging you. Just kind of thinking out loud since you provided such a thought-provoking post. Thanks much for it!
Thanks Chiara, I mean Susanne
Do not apologize
The media machine is the media machine, it has no direction, the same machine that sells tanning lotions to light skinned people is the same machine that sells skin whitening creams to dark skinned people, it is the same machine that tells little girls that their skin is not as clear as the model on the cover of the magazine etc.
You are privileged, but then again so am I, and so is anyone with a computer, growing up white does not detract anything from your reality, nor should it make your opinions any less valid. No one knows or holds the whole truth, we all have fragments of it, and only by realizing that, can we come together and respect each others opinions.
What I was talking about is the vacuum created by this huge leap in my country’s history, which created this thing which I do not know what to call exactly.
Thanks for the comment
“Thanks Chiara, I mean Susanne”
Oh my….:-)
Wow, that was nearly Chiara-ish in length!
loooool It is Chiara-ish (with all due respect to our beloved Chiara
I just love the terminology) in length indeed 
I actually meant my comment was so long it was Chiara-ish. As for the post – which I said I reallllllly liked – I felt it was Chiara-lite.
Needed about 8 more pictures and 3 or 4 more paragraphs to have the full Chiara affect, but it was great. I loved the intro, great examples, progression, quotes, observations, pictures and questions at the end!
Qusay, you need to write more of these!
Susanne and SaudiAspire-,b>ROFL!!!!, though I prefer the term Chiara-esque or chiara-iluminata (as opposed to chiaroscuro). LOL
Qusay–I will reply substantively anon-left hand is sitting in a giant cup of ice due to an infelicitous tea experience in one of those hegemonic purveyors of coffee places.
ROFL!!!
There, that should do it!
Sorry about your hand though…ouch!
Salamat on the hand, and will wait for your comment
Thanks to both. It is better now, just annoyingly painful yesterday.
This is an excellent post which I think truly summarizes the cultural changes and shock that Saudis go through and the challenges presented to the Saudi society as well as the perceptions (right or wrong) of the Muslim world.
I’m not sure if I totally agree about English being the first language. I think that applies to many Saudi youth who are still in the upper echelons of society. I have observed so many Saudis in their early twenties who do not know another language in spite of attending Saudi universities and believe they are more of the ‘mainstream.’ However I am very pleased by the number of young Saudis like yourself who do come forward and express so well in English.
I conducted a recent interview on my own blog about culture shock and adaptation from an expatriate who now has a successful practice as a professional counselor. http://americanbedu.com/2010/07/19/saudi-arabia-interview-with-dr-sean-truman-adaptation-as-an-expatriete/
I think much of what he has to say can also apply to Saudis and the revolution of change.
Thanks for the comment Carol,
Six years of english language is mandetory at Saudi schools from grade 7-12, I know people who have passed the TOEFL straight out of high school without ever leaving the country. While the majority does not achieve that, I assure you those guys/girls would do as badly in other tests.
I read somewhere that there is a big percentage of US high school students do not know how to read. A lecturer at a university in New Zealand told me she spends a great amount of time teaching undergrad students the difference between your and you’re and other word that as native English speakers they should know about.
I assure you that I am not in the upper echelons of society, nor were those that passed the TOEFL, we were just blessed with parents that took a great interest in our education.
As for the counselor, I think some things could be common, however I think that structuring a national identity is very different that being an expat bouncing around the world. For one there is at least an anchor in the expat’s own home culture, somewhat of a comfort zone, but jumping by leaps and bounds from old world to new, is unprecedented, it might be easier (though it is not easy at all) at in individual level, but when you take a whole culture as diverse as the Saudi society is… then it is a whole different ball game
Thanks again
The media machine is the media machine, it has no direction
I for one am very happy I have chosen to not have a tv. However, a possible tropical storm is heading this way Friday and I had no idea until today, thanks to a friend.
Uh, now that my hand is better, I was able to type a…uh…2-parter
general observations; and Saudi specific speculations. 
General Observations:
This is a seminal post, in my opinion, and more than surpasses the hopes you expressed for your follow-up in the original one you did on this theme. It opens further a very sensitive topic and gets to some of the core, difficult to articulate, concepts—difficult for individuals, societies, and nations. Most of what you have stated or alluded to is familiar– because I do and have done a lot of work in the corresponding theory, and cultural and clinical practices; I have experienced some of the analogous disconnects myself; and, as far as the Saudi specificity of bi-cultural identities I am still learning, reflecting, and formulating. Hence a number of draft posts for my blog, some with a title and a few jottings only, some almost complete, and others in the “dare I risk saying this” category.
As I commented on your first post, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a good metaphor, and certainly more accurate than “schizophrenia” which is the metaphor most commonly (mis-)used in lay writing, or artistically used in 19th and 20th century literature. Reflecting further, DID where each of the “alters” knows about the other, and can discuss, reason, and take over for the other, and where there are a limited number would be the more relevant metaphor in this situation.
However, the vast majority of “sufferers” of a cultural identity quandary or crisis are much healthier, and better able to reflect on ways to find integration. I have personally felt the profoundly uncomfortable sense of being “in the wrong culture”, “in the wrong country”, or at the worst moments wondering what the right culture and where the right country might be, if any. On occasion, in a conversation or writing, I give up linguistically, and just throw the words out in the language that persists in coming to mind, and then translate as necessary. I certainly have treated many people with just that suffering, but on a deeper level, and in a more sustained way, whether because they are immigrants, the children of immigrants, or are being/were raised in a bi-lingual, bi-cultural, bi-racial, and/or interfaith family. (As you pointed out, culture shock and expat syndromes are different).
I also teach about cross-cultural identities, including to psychiatry trainees who have interesting comments about their own cultural identifications, especially after I have made it clear that more than one can be normal and healthy. The key idea I teach is that one can have a healthy identity that is comprised of 2 or more cultural identifications—it is the strength of the identifications that is more important than the number. Weak identification with any culture or weak identifications with more than one, leaves the individual vulnerable. A strong identification with one or more is healthy, as shown by extensive research. My own observation is that strong identifications with both or all the individual’s component identities gives greater psychological protection (eg hard to have a positive sense of self if you hate or ignore ½ of who you are). It also provides better social adaptability through more transitions or life challenges—eg changing countries for work or study (or following parents doing the same); or through economic downturns, and the need for more competencies, as well as the ability to move elsewhere, or move from a multi-cultural position into a mainstream one when the cutbacks hit, etc. This includes understanding and integrating the deeper cultural paradigms not only the more obvious ones about customs, cuisine, etiquette, cultural touchstones–though these are important too.
This is also where the issue of media and ambient representations of the culture as reflected back to the person become crucial. A child’s ambiance includes the schoolyard, playground, neighbour children, social activities, and unstructured play as well as the messages transmitted by school policies, the school curriculum, the teachers and any sports leagues etc. Adults are seen to be more resilient, but can feel undercut or undermined particularly if there is sustained negativity towards them personally or towards their culture. Their ambiance includes the workplace, social clubs, neighbourhood, social institutions, adult education, legal structures, and what affects their children. For both, and for the people around them media representations and artistic productions reflect on who they are, expectations of them, and how they are to be treated.
I have been surprised by some Saudis on lengthy scholarships here who don’t make sure that their children speak, read, and write Arabic, and know more about the culture. They are understandably interested in having them master English, and certainly English language facilities and education are more readily available. They are more optimistic than I am though, about how easy it will be for the children to make up lost educational and social ground in Arabic on return to Saudi. I am confident it will happen; just not as sure it will be as easy as they seem to think. Hopefully I am wrong.
As you address, it is not just individuals, however, but cultures themselves, and nations which are still developing their identifications more actively and acutely than the usual need for general evolution with the times. I have studied and written on many cultures from different countries with that identity dilemma, starting with Canada. Saudi Arabia is both similar and unique, as each of those other cultures and countries is. There are internal, regional, and global tensions for all. This is good news, as it is obvious that one can find harmonious accommodations, even if it is not always obvious what they will be (or how long they will last).
Saudi specific speculations
At the risk of a Chiara-ish/Chiara-esque length comment (moi? jamais! LOL : ) Oh my the one above really grew and grew
), and with all the usual “I am not Saudi, not married to a Saudi, haven’t lived in Saudi—yet” caveats, I would like to share my understanding this far of the Saudi identity situation, in the hope that it is helpful in some way, and to get feedback on it. Just remember SaudiAspire called me “our beloved Chiara” LOL 
.
What struck me in learning about Saudi again (post Grade 3-4) is how very young it is as a nation, founded only in 1932, and that only after very recently allied or subjugated diverse territories, tribes, and regions with long histories were brought together. In 1919 there was no KSA, but rather a Hashemite Kingdom of the Hijaz, backed by the British, and Sultan Abdul Aziz al Saud waiting in the Najd, having defeated the Ottomans in the North. He then conquered the Hijaz in the 20s, and earned the support of the British along the way. Saudi Arabia was brand new and barely consolidated when oil was discovered in 1938 and exploited by/with the help of the Americans.
So, though not formally colonized by European powers as much of the rest of MENA had been, KSA was strongly allied with Britain, and dependant on the US through economic agreements, and for expertise, technology, and distribution of oil. It made sense to train a lot of Saudis in the US, to fulfill the professional roles required by a rapidly modernizing society, as the country itself built infrastructures and developed higher education capacities. In that sense KSA has been part of US neo-colonialism through economic power, and American cultural imperialism through exporting its products, expertise, technology, lifestyle, culture, education, and values.
However, in the case of Saudi there was a more deliberate effort to confine the bulk of the lifestyle practices and values to overseas or to foreign compounds. As a result, the otherness of each culture is reinforced, and exaggerated, making it seem as if no matter what clothes and what junk food are prevalent, what languages spoken, or pop culture icons absorbed, mentalities and social worlds are impenetrable. There is an East/West divide but it is presented as wider, more inscrutable, and more threatening than need be. As you said, this is part of a push-pull between “swallow it all whole”, and “reject it all outright”.
On the one hand, what you have described about national and cultural identities, and their manifestations individually is very familiar to me from other MENA countries which were formally colonized, and do struggle at institutional, societal, and individual levels with a resulting bilingualism and biculturalism. On the other hand, where there has been formal colonization, the colonialism and the identity issues are more overt, more easily defined, and more directly confronted. Also, often the process of colonization and decolonization was long enough that adaptations in identities were made along the way, and in an earlier time, when the pace of change wasn’t as rapid, and the reach of “modernization” had less penetrance. Further, more and more a “generation” is measured by decade rather than duo-decade, and so even the distinctions in lived experience may be exaggerated for Saudis about 10 years apart in age, rather than about 20. This ultimately potentially means an exaggerated generation gap with parents and grandparents.
For historical reasons, tribal society and conservative religion are particularly strong in Saudi as compared to some other MENA countries with which I am familiar, and this too represents a bigger gap with Western, and especially American, cultures than some others might experience. On the other hand, it may also provide a better cultural and emotional grounding, as long as adaptation and flexibility, rather than intransigence and rigidity, are foregrounded. Promoting a broader education, developing critical thinking capacities, and fostering openness to newer ideas well-adapted to the Saudi cultural mainstream would enable young people to genuinely bring all of their expertise acquired abroad home to benefit Saudi society.
As Saudi would evolve, the feeling that there is a major disconnect between one very conservative Eastern identity and a liberal Western one would diminish, both for individuals and the society as a whole. What exactly that would look like for the country and for its citizens remains to be seen because it is still in formation.
I certainly have noticed, as you have, that in the English language Saudi-themed blogosphere there are Saudis blogging and addressing these issues, often indirectly, or as subtext. Some seem to go through a period of “identification with the aggressor”, while others work harder to protect and nurture a dual identity.
Also, there are many silent Saudi husbands, as shadowy presences in the blogs of American women (and some other Westerners), who are blogging about the move back to Saudi–whether it is about to occur (often the reason for starting the blog), has occurred, or has ended. I find I relate more to the Saudis blogging and their dilemmas, than to the American wives, or feel I do, because I have a lot of reticence about the challenges that the American wives perceive and struggle with, even though I recognize their very real culture shock, and feeling that they are now married to a different Saudi than the “my Saudi” they originally fell in love with and lived with in the US. However, I promised myself not to make this comment a trilogy, so I will stop there.
I hope I am not too far off, and that there was something of value in the above. My experiences with individual Saudis have been very positive, and they seem to be juggling their identities well when living here. Thanks for the opportunity to reflect on this on your blog, and hopefully more Saudis will share their impressions.
Great post, and the TED talk is outstanding!
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