Category Archives: Cultural Elements

Gesture Deemed Anti-Semetic in France

quenelle_full_380

A recent controversy in France has to do with a gesture called the “quenelle” gesture.  Comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala has made the gesture popular in his many performances since around 2005.   As seen in the photo above, French soccer player Nicolas Anelka, who currently plays in England, made the gesture after scoring a goal on December 28.

The gesture according to some people is just made to show general discontent towards an issue, but opposition has another opinion.  Some people consider the quenelle gesture to be anti-semetic and resembling the Nazi gesture made during World War II.  The quenelle is technically an inverted form of the Nazi gesture.  After some debate from French governments, officials have deemed the quenelle gesture as hate speech, which is against the French law.

I found it interesting and respectable that the French government has found this gesture to be hateful and disrespectful. It is encouraging to know that other countries are on the same track as the United States in equal rights for all religions.

Source:

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/0107/Anti-Semitic-or-not-quenelle-gesture-shows-bigger-issues-in-France-video

 

Controversial Exhibit in Germany

jew in a box

 

About a year ago, an art exhibit in Berlin, Germany stirred up controversy in the Jewish community.  The exhibit featured a Jewish man and woman for about two hours a day in a large glass box.  The point of the exhibit was to teach more Germans about the history of the Jewish community, because most Germans born after WWII are not informed about Jews of the past.

The man and woman were there to answer any questions about the Jewish faith that viewers had for them.  What seemed like a good idea to promote teachings of the Jewish faith to some, had the opposite effect on many others.

Many Jewish people took offense to these actions, stating that they did not want to be viewed as an exhibit to the public for everyone to question.  They did not want their faith to be put on public display for the fear of public shaming or disrespect.

I can understand both perspectives on the issue, but I think there are better ways to learn about the Jewish culture and religion than putting live people on display for the public.  I agree that this can be seen as an action of disrespect toward Jewish culture.

What are your opinions on this issue?

Source

http://www.today.com/news/jew-box-exhibit-germany-stirs-controversy-1C9180547

Germany and the Energy Crisis

 

germany energy

This article touches on many points that should hit home to all of us in America.  The energy crisis has been an ongoing issue in recent years and not only in America.  But, we don’t typically get to see the effects on other countries.  The article starts out by describing the scene of a solar plantation in Germany and explains how the owner of the land believes it is possible to be able to spread the energy technology throughout all of Germany as a constant energy source.  But the article later states that the state government wishes to wipe this solar energy plant off the map in order to mine for lignite coal underneath it.

This new information has caused a large controversy with energy activist groups, as Germany is supposed to be one of the leaders in promoting cleaner energy and a solution to the energy crisis.  Also, recently in the United States, a national governmental energy organization found that there is a way to save our atmosphere from more destruction if we work fast.  They have said that if no action is taken soon, the only way to keep the atmosphere safe would be to find a way to reverse the damage that has already occurred (a much more expensive and dangerous alternative).

This has caused much debate among German officials.  The government stands by the fact that they want to promote clean air, and Germany is one of the leading forces in renewable energy technology such as wind and solar power. The only problem is that these forms are intermittent, and unreliable in certain weather situations.  The dilemma now is to find a way to make these types of energy constant so the government no longer needs to mine under important places like the solar plant discussed in the article.

It found it interesting to see the effects of the energy crisis on countries other than the United States, because it offers a different perspective from which to view the issue.  It is also concerning that the German government would allow this destruction of clean energy so soon after the realization that we need to act fast to save our environment as we know it.

Source:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25411-german-energy-crisis-points-towards-climate-solution.html#.U2QinPldWSo

 

An Ongoing Controversy in France

Kenza Drider, a French Muslim of North African descent, wears a niqab near Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

In 2011 after over a year of debate, a full-face ban was put into effect in France.  It is now only legal for Muslim women to wear full-face veils within the walls of their place of worship, or in a private car when they cannot be seen.  Supporters of the ban believe that the veils are a hindrance to the continuity of French culture, and cite that the reason the ban was put into effect was to preserve their nation’s heritage and to fight what they see as Separatist tendencies by Muslims in France.  Others view the full face veils as a security threat because you are unable to identify the person who is wearing it. Some extremists cite that these veils are “just the tip of the iceberg” in the radicalism and separatist movement of Muslims that is currently “threatening the French Republic.”

The ban set off protests from concerned Muslims who are now worried about their rights and freedoms as French citizens.  Critics view the veil ban as a huge intrusion on their freedom of speech and religion. The article features personal stories of different women who feel betrayed by the veil ban.  One woman had been wearing her veil since the age of 15 in order to show her love and devotion to God—nothing more.

President at the time Nicolas Sarkozy was accused of turning against the French laws of the division of Church and State.  Sarkozy stated that he did not see Islam as the problem, only radical Islam.  I also found it very interesting that of the 32 women who wear full-face veils that were interviewed, zero say they were forced into wearing the veils in any way, and almost 30% of them actually began wearing the veils solely in response the recent controversy over them.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/world/europe/12france.html?_r=1&

Media Examples

Check out this German newspaper’s website– http://www.themunicheye.com/

Newspapers are still common in Germany. This German newspaper, The Munich Eye, resembles typical American newspapers greatly.  There is a column for sports, health, opinion, arts and politics, just as we would see in a newspaper in the US.  There is even a place to attain advertisements in the paper, showing the ability of German newspapers to advertise freely.

Family & Education

GERMANY

There has  been an enormous amount of progress made towards equal rights for women and men.  Women are now able to attain higher level careers than they could before.  Their only obstacle now is that the standard of childcare and childcare facilities in Germany is very low, and women are still more likely to have to stay home to care for children than men.  Also, even in their higher-level jobs, women still do not make as much money as men would in that same job.  This is similar to the United States in that women are able to attain higher-level careers, but definitely do not get paid as much as a man would in their position.  It has also been shown that not only are girls now in line with the knowledge and education power of boys their age, but they have surpassed them.  More girls than boys in Germany now go on to secondary school and Universities.

FRANCE

France is making a little bit slower progress on gender equality than Germany.  Women in France still do 80% of the household chores and get paid on average about 27% less than men do.  Sexual harassment has been an ongoing issue in France and was only just addressed in 2012 with a law making sexual harassment a crime.