Integrate this!

[dreamville-bg.livejournal.com]

I came across this short story around our local blogosphere here, and though it isn't my creation, I've taken the task of translating it into English, and I would be grateful if the mods allow my version to be posted here, as I think it helps illustrate a point - even if it sounds a bit silly and hyperbolical. So here it is.


From the diary of an immigrant

Today I was smuggled across the border, and I finally made my way into Saudi Arabia. On the way here, I threw my ID card away (issued at the 1st Precinct of Varna, Bulgaria), so I had to tell the Saudi border control that I was a refugee from Donbass, Ukraine, looking for refuge from Putin's terror. They immediately believed me, and they put me on the train to Riyadh for free.

Once in Riyadh, I was accommodated at a 4-star hotel (although there were vacancies at the 5-star hotel next door), and I was promised I'd be given an apartment of my own the next day. However, in the morning they started apologizing that the relocation would take one more day. The news made me furious. I tossed away the food that some teary human-rights activists had brought me, I splashed the bottle of mineral water into their faces, and I wreaked havoc across the damned hotel room. The sofa and the armchairs I threw away through the balcony. Some people on the street started yelling back at me, but the hotel manager informed them I had come from a war-torn region, I was bearing the wounds of war on my soul, and I was deeply traumatized, therefore they ought to show some understanding. They did.

On Thursday, the local authorities expelled two Arab pensioners from their publicly owned home in order to make room for me. The ungrateful old stinkers protested for a while, so the police had to come and detain them. Now they'll be prosecuted on charges of minor hooliganism. As for myself, I was greeted by a bunch of kids with flowers at the entrance to my new neighborhood. The Saudi king suddenly appeared from somewhere, accompanied by a huge entourage, and he stopped by for a minute to shoot a selfie or two with me. I was given 2000 dollars to cover my most immediate needs, and I was promised another two grand would come the next week.

On Friday I was visited by a social worker who had been assigned to take care of me. He brought me a booklet with the first 10 articles of the Saudi Constitution, translated into my supposedly maternal Ukrainian language, and he asked me if I was in need of anything else. I put the booklet in the dustbin and told him to instruct the guy who keeps yelling from the top of that minaret just opposite my balcony to tone it down a notch, 'cause it tends to disrupt my sleep. He duly wrote that down into his notebook.

On Sunday afternoon I went downtown to investigate where their shopping malls are and get some eye-candy. Turns out all their chicks were wrapped in black like cocoons. That made me rather angry, so the next day I filed a complaint at the Municipality. That very same day, the principal of the local college issued a special address to all schoolgirls, urging them to refrain from wearing burqas, because that headgear was offensive to the honorable refugee in town. He recommended that henceforth, they should only put tight shirts and short skirts on, as my particular culture of an advanced Westerner (to them I'm a Westerner anyway) requires me to see bare hips and bosoms daily. The booklet was disseminated to all parents in the neighborhood, for the purpose of proper information and implementation.

I complained to the social worker about their food as well. The mutton was too greasy for my delicate stomach, and the beef was a bit too stringy for my tender teeth. I explained I preferred lean meat - pork steaks perhaps, or fillet in the worst-case scenario. He promised to take measures. Now all kebab chefs in the neighborhood have been instructed not to openly shove their mutton into my face, lest they cause me internal discomfort.

I'm telling you, it ain't easy being a refugee! Today I had to walk for a thousand feet in order to get my social aid - which is no more than 2000 bucks, damn it! This pissed me off big time, so I vented off at a schoolgirl whom I came across in the park. "Yo bitch, why are you trotting around in this burqa? Weren't you told to put a miniskirt on?", I yelled at her. She happened to play it tough with me at first, so I gave her a couple of slaps on her face. I was considering dragging her into the thicket and giving it to her, but then I figured what a pain it'd be to unwrap all those fabrics off her, so I decided to pass. Later I found out her brothers weren't okay with the beating, so they had filed a complaint against me at the police, and they had even organized some sort of petition against me. The Minister of the Interior himself had to get involved eventually, and show up on the local television to defend me. "We owe Christians some understanding today", he argued, "and hope that tomorrow when they become a majority here, they'd reciprocate". That made sense.

Today in the morning I told the social worker I was bored to death, so I ordered him to move a bit faster on the task of finding me some entertainment: a strip club or pride parade maybe, or something of the sort. He blinked at me at first, but I had the patience to explain that we're already in the 21st century, and everyone should be taught of the new progressive values of the liberal and democratic Western world, because that is the future. I'm not sure he fully understood me, but still, he did write that down in his notebook.

Later in the afternoon, some pollsters came to do some research on me. They asked me some silly questions. I had the patience to be sincere with them, so I admitted I deeply despised and resented the state that had adopted me, but I didn't mind being fed by it. I also said I wouldn't mind if those 2000 bucks became 3000 the next week. No problem, I could get over it.

Unfortunately, the scandal with that schoolgirl still seems to be lingering around (heh, did I say lingerie?), so the central national television arranged some debate and invited some members of several NGOs called America For Saudi Arabia, Open-Ass Society, Amnesty for Westerners, and the Arab Helsinki Committee. All of them agreed I had been accused unfairly, and my detractors were all xenophobic bigots, racist fascists, antihumanists, cannibals and Christianophobes. All in all, despicable human beings. Half of them had been abused by their fathers in their childhood, the other half had slept with their mothers. I finished watching the TV show with a smile, now reassured that those who were hatin' on me were just the scum of the local society, and the truly progressive part were really behind me.

Today the social worker asked me if I wanted to start a job. I told him I still wasn't feeling quite integrated, so he better stop wasting my time with such nonsense. I'd rather stick to the social aid, thanks. Sure, 3000 bucks ain't that much, but like they say, it is what it is. I'll manage somehow. To cut the long story short, I hate it here!

Comments

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

One thing you're right about: it is hyperbolic.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Although I don't necessarily agree with the point it's making (we've talked about this before: if you want to apply the Medieval moral standards of the Middle East to our societies, be my guest, but I'm afraid I can't second that sort of approach), I can still appreciate a piece that's had a lot of thought and effort invested in it.

[peamasii.livejournal.com]

I can imagine asking for asylum in Saudi Arabia and quickly becoming a slave labourer with no rights and very little money, like in the first paragraph.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Not bad. A bit over the top, but still it does score on all points where a decent reactionary diatribe is supposed to score. Bravo to whichever bigot came up with it, and definitely kudos for the translation. It gave us a glimpse of the precious mindset of a cartoonish type that is evidently very prevalent throughout some corners of the globe.

[garote]

It's interesting to me that this narrative leverages the sexual control of women so heavily. It's pure Wahabi to assume that women are - and should be - cocooned in clothing as a protection against the uncontrollable sexuality of men, and I find it deeply ironic that the author - who clearly sympathizes with this misogyny - has projected such lack of control onto a foreign devil who has probably seen more female flesh in any given week (and grown far less affected by it) than the author has probably seen in a lifetime.

[dreamville-bg.livejournal.com]

Methinks you completely whizzed past the idea of this whole lampoon.

[garote]

Well, that's just, like, your opinion man!

Perhaps "the point" is to characterize immigrants as disruptive and entitled, and the state and populace as naïve and posturing, but that's, like, borrrr-riiiing ;)

[dreamville-bg.livejournal.com]

It's simple. It argues that bending over backwards to accommodate the sensibilities of people who explicitly refuse to be integrated, is doomed to fail - in part because the other side refuses to reciprocate. That's all this is about. It's got nothing to do with leveraging the sexual control of women or anything beyond what I just described. Anything you might be imagining beyond that, is, like you said, "your opinion, man".

[garote]

This satire could have been written without focusing on women's modes of dress, and the imminent threat of rape (and underage rape at that). But in fact it was one of the main themes: Foreign devils are oversexed perverts who want to undress all "our" women, and their ideas about liberation are just an evil plot to see more boobies.

Go through and highlight each sentence that constructs that argument. You'll end up with about half the document colored in. If you don't find that noteworthy, well, so what? I do.

[dreamville-bg.livejournal.com]

The satire could have been written in a myriad of ways. That you've picked up one part of it to have a problem with, is solely your choice, and I don't think I'm going to entertain that line of thought any further. Because, like I said, that's not the point of said satire. Of course it's your prerogative if you'd persist with the attempts to derail it as much as you want. So please do have the last word in a sub-thread that I've grown increasingly disinterested about.

[garote]

:D

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

Women's modes of dress are a central part of the criticism against fundamentalist Islam, and respectively, a central part of Islam's criticism of Western culture. If the point is to presenting the issue of tolerating a foreign culture in a host society by means of turning the refugee situation in Europe on its head and presenting it as a hypothetical mirror situation in Saudi Arabia, then women's modes of dress, being a central part of both cultures, is something that should definitely be included in the narrative.

Underage rape is what many Middle Eastern refugees have been accused of committing, once they've arrived in Europe. Thus, it's being included in the narrative as well. Omitting it would've been disingenuous. The whole point is: should this sort of behavior be tolerated by the host society, solely based on the argument that any aspect of the refugees' culture is supposed to be tolerated for tolerance's sake? That's the question you should be asking - not whether the inclusion of underage rape is appropriate for this sort of narrative. It is part of the issue, therefore it should be included. But of course you have a problem with that. Because the very mentioning of it makes you feel uncomfortable? But that won't make the problem go away, and neither will it remove the fact that Europe's current response to that problem has been beyond inadequate.

[garote]

"Makes me feel uncomfortable?" I'm the one specifically pointing it out for discussion. Leave your strawman out of it.

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

Then stop pontificating and start discussing. Hint: proposing some solutions to the problem would be way more constructive than calling out the messenger for bringing the issue to the table.

[garote]

Yeah, see, this is what I'm talking about.

The author is invoking a stereotype of Western men as seen by fundamentalist Islam. (Specifically, that they are rapacious misogynists who are only paying lip service to women's rights for prurient reasons.) I am most definitely calling out "the messenger" for bringing "the issue" to the table, because "the issue," as brought to the table by "the messenger," is a ridiculous and deeply hypocritical stereotype that reveals as much about the author as it does about their intended target.

You want me to propose a solution to this? Here's my solution: Fundamentalist Islam needs to be called out, to do exactly the introspection that it is most afraid of, and that will cause it to dissolve from the fringes inward. It's not just an issue of modes of dress as espoused by a culture when that culture dictates those modes in law, and enforces them with religious police.

What's your solution, by the way?

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

Damn sure he is invoking a stereotype. The whole anecdote is woven of stereotypes, and for a reason.

My solution? Stop pretending that multiculturalism for its own sake would work, even if one side refuses to cooperate. Start calling things with their true names, and show some guts in handling outright outlaws.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Last time I checked, a question mark at the end of a sentence is an indication of an inquiry, rather than assertion. Could you be the one trying to employ a strawman here?

[garote]

Nope.

I started this thread with:
"It's interesting to me that this narrative leverages the sexual control of women so heavily."

That is not the equivalent of
"I have a problem with this narrative leveraging the sexual control of women so heavily."

... however much it would be convenient for you to assume so.

Do I have a problem with it? It's a meaningless question, really. I think it's intriguing, and very indicative of the biases of the author, and perhaps the biases of the group the author is ostensibly speaking for. And that's what I spent the bulk of this thread arguing.

Do you have anything to add?

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

You know what? Whatever. Central rule in metatalk: leave it after comment #3.

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

I'd say the economic and religious part would constitute the majority of the highlighted sentences, but granted, our mileages may vary.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Presumably, the imaginary immigrant from the story is deliberately using notions and actions that are most extremely opposed to the fundamental principles of the Islamic culture (women's mode of dress included), to illustrate the disparity between the expectation of Muslim immigrants to have their cultural principles tolerated in the West, while refusing to grant the same tolerance to Westerners in the Middle East. In this sense, women's mode of dress is an extremely important part of the picture and cannot be ignored.

Sexual control of women, especially underage women, is prevalent in Muslim culture as well. What's more, it is institutionalised. In cases as extreme as Saudi Arabia, women who become victims of rape are even themselves accused of having "enticed" men to rape them, and are essentially punished twice - the second time for being victims. Meanwhile, that is a taboo topic there, which is why the situation that this imaginary immigrant describes is so extremely impossible, too. That cannot be ignored, either.

Even if, just like abomvubuso above, I cannot agree with the notion that trying to equate the mores of Saudi Arabian society with those of the modern, free world, is fair in any way, or could be used as a justification for anything, I at least can see why the extremely hyperbolic examples in this story have been used, and why exactly in this particular amount and ratio.

The problem here is not "why are we talking about the objectification of women so much". The problem here is "why is it being tolerated", and by extension, "whence the double standard".

[garote]

Well said. I agree with all of this, entirely.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Then you must have realised that the question why women's mode of dress and the sexual control of women is being so prominently featured in the discourse is not the real problem here.

[garote]

Are we required to discuss "the real problem" here?

The real problem is the schizophrenia in the Muslim faith over Wahhabism. A blitzkrieg-style movement like Daesh only works in a territory that's already shot through with enough indifferent and/or sympathetic people to constantly resupply it with armaments and bodies. No sympathizers -> no Daesh -> no refugee crisis. However, the short story in the OP has nothing to say about that.

(Leaving out, of course, the mess already happening in Syria due to the Arab Spring - but then, there's a shade of the Wahhabism conflict in that, as well.)

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Yes, probably because the OP deals with the intercultural relations and the relation between cultural mores and law and order - not with the root cause for terrorism.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Oh really? It does leverage the sexual control of women too heavily, eh?

1,000+ Migrants Brawl, Rape, Sexually Assault, And Steal At ONE German Train Station On New Year’s Eve (http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/01/04/revealed-1000-migrants-brawl-rape-sexually-assault-steal-one-german-train-station-new-years-eve/)

Here's a question. At what point does leveraging sexual control of women become sufficiently heavy, in your mind?

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

There is a mass armament movement happening across all of Germany right now, this will not sit well. Kristallnacht kind of well.

[dreamville-bg.livejournal.com]

Merkel voices outrage over 'disgusting' outbreak of mass sex attacks in Cologne on New Year's Eve (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cologne-sex-attacks-sexual-assaults-new-years-eve-merkel-a6798126.html)

I'm sure she meant to voice genuine surprise.

[garote]

I point out the hypocrisy in declaring that Westerners are misogynist because they don't maintain a strict dress code and curtail the rights of women ...

... and you point out an example of "a group of people ... in appearance from the North African and Arab countries" (quoting Cologne’s chief of police Wolfgang Albers) behaving like savage misogynists.

*shrug*
Thanks for backing me up :)

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Yeah that's a hypocrisy. Explain that to deluded Muslims who genuinely believe that Westerners are misogynist. I'd use the same stereotypical delusion to illustrate the major point of contention that Muslims have with the West, and thus show how impossible it is for a Muslim society to tolerate the one most extreme thing that they despise the most in the West.

Because what I linked above is an example of the mirror opposite situation: Muslims coming to the West and blatantly violating its laws, and the West being coy about it. Something that no Muslim society would ever grant any Western "intruder". Isn't THAT the whole point of this post?

By the way, the bending-over-backwards continues. A number of German politicians have been hand-waving the Cologne problem, saying it shouldn't be automatically related to the refugees. Then whom the hell should it be related to? The sexual assaults started as soon as they arrived in Cologne - this isn't just some incidental event. It's going to happen ever more frequently. At least the German society has started calling out its own media for practically attempting to cover up the whole story, or at least tone it down. The German politicians and media are trying to bend Germany's own moral principles and laws and making one compromise after another in order to accommodate the sensibilities of the refugees, and in complete disregard of the German people.

Would a Muslim society do that? No. That's the point that's being furthered with these extreme stereotypes in this story.

It can't be THAT complicated to understand this.

[garote]

Well, that the wonder of satire: If it's done well, it doesn't have a point, so much as it provides incentives or provocation to start a broader discussion.

You're asking, "would a Muslim society do that," and clearly the answer is no, but then what is the point proposed in the story?

1. The West should be more like Muslim societies, and reject the immigrants, and/or confine them like criminals (perhaps in camps), instead of bending over backward and endangering its own citizens.
2. The West is clearly setting a better example, by bending over as much as it has, and it's inconceivable that Muslim societies would live up to the standard; brutes that they are.
3. The German media is deliberately obscuring the impact of the immigrants, and that's a good thing since it gives bigots and racists less ammunition to interfere with humanitarian work.
4. The German media is deliberately obscuring the impact of the immigrants, and that's a bad thing because if people knew how violent and dangerous and backward these Muslims really were, they would take better precautions.
5. The German media is not deliberately doing anything, but inflamed rhetoric from angry citizens and/or angry immigrants is spreading far faster and wider than normal channels of journalism can sort it out.

Pick one. :D

Crime has risen since the immigrants arrived - but does it really have specific cultural/religious motivations, as the story above implies?

Couldn't it have a more general cause like, say, lots of displaced, destitute people speaking a different language are simply not going to cleanly and immediately integrate with a society that is partly composed of citizens who are suspicious and/or selfish and/or barely scraping by themselves? It's gonna be messy. Shit's gonna happen. Raising alarms that the media is under-reporting this or that aspect of it seems a bit frivolous.

Like this whole discussion :D

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

I do not necessarily agree that the function of satire is to just scratch someone's fingers on a keyboard and provoke people into thinking... just for thinking's own sake. Satire can make a very focused point.

The point proposed in the story is that it's hypocritical, stupid and disingenuous to expect that people from the Middle East would want to integrate into Western society.

> Crime has risen since the immigrants arrived - but does it really have specific cultural/religious motivations, as the story above implies?

The latest events in Germany strongly suggest that yes, it does.

> Raising alarms that the media is under-reporting this or that aspect of it seems a bit frivolous.

Then ZDF must have apologized for having under-reported this and having been 4 days late to report it, for no reason whatsoever. Curious, that. As is your statement that "shit's gonna happen". As if nobody really expected any of this would happen.