Trial of Culture – Saudi Arabia Vs. United States

While culture a term that is known globally, each person has a different picture of what culture looks like. For example, I, as a white female american, have a very different picture of culture than someone who would live in the Middle East. I am used to wearing whatever I want, saying whatever I want, and doing whatever I want. However in countries like the Middle East, woman do not have those types of luxuries. For this discussion, I am going to discuss Saudi Arabia. I have a particular interest in this country because my father had actually visited this country when he was in the military and has a lot of stories he likes to tell us. In particular, he likes to tell us about the people and their culture, which is where my focus will be today.

Religion – Islam vs. Christianity. 

According to Moran (et al, 2014, p. 324), “Islam permeates Saudi life.” The text continues to talk about how Allah is often a topic in many conversations. This is significant because when the religion is the topic of many conversations, Islam will then, turn into the law (Pennsylvania State University, 2020). This is the case in Saudi Arabia because there are a lot of laws that are influenced by the religion itself. Conversely, the primary religion in the United States is Christianity. Unlike Saudi Arabia, the United States of America has freedom of religion where we are allowed to believe whatever we want to believe. Our government is also minimally influenced by Christianity. By this, I mean to say that we mostly observe Christian holidays, however we do also observe others as well.

While talking about holidays, I would also like to talk about the differences between two major, but similar holidays: Ramadan and Lent. Cohen (n.d.) describes Ramadan as being a fast from sunup to sunset. In this time, Saudi Arabians are not able to eat, drink, or smoke, among other things. This is similar to Christianity’s Lent because Christians give up something for a set amount of time. However the two differ because of the different beliefs.

Music – Folk vs. Pop

Another very interesting difference, and one that I find the most intriguing, is the differences in music between the two countries. As someone who has a great appreciation for all types of music, I found it interesting that both countries have different music. In Saudi Arabia, everything is inspired be the old folk music and the past that has been handed down (Culture & Art | The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, n.d.). Whereas in the United States, there isn’t really a large influence from history. Most musical artists write from feeling or actions. While there are songs from the past in the United States, it is not necessarily in the forefront of out culture.

Dress Code – Modesty vs. Non-Modesty

The final factor I wanted to discuss was the different dress codes between our two countries. In Saudi Arabia, women are required to dress very modestly. According to Cohen (n.d.) “Saudi Arabian women are required, according to Islamic law, to cover their bodies in abaya (black robes and face coverings) as a sign of respect for Muslim modesty laws.” This means that they are not able to show any part of themselves to the public. While they may have recently relaxed these rules a little bit to allow women to wear another color or a few other changes, they still mostly choose to keep themselves covered (Reynolds, 2020).

This is very different from the United States because our women have the ability to wear whatever we want. In fact, in the United States of America, there are many women who choose to hardly wear clothes at all. I found it interesting to read in a few locations that there are policies in place that even in someone outside of the country would travel to Saudi Arabia, they would still have to respect their dress code and wear something modest, even if that person is not Islamic.

In conclusion, there are many differences between Saudi Arabia and the United States. While there are other things that make our two countries different, these are three that I found the most interesting. I always find things to be very interesting when we have the opportunity to look into the culture of another country and see how they work. I look forward to the next opportunity to learn something new about someone else.

References

Cohen, G. (n.d.). Cultural Traditions in Saudi Arabia. USA Today. https://traveltips.usatoday.com/culture-traditions-saudi-arabia-16963.html

Culture & Art | The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (n.d.). The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. https://www.saudiembassy.net/culture-art

Moran, S. V., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. Routledge.

Pennsylvania State University. (2020). Focus on Saudi Arabia. Leadership in a Global Context. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2075490/modules/items/29697188

Reynolds, A. (2020, March 21). I’m a female traveler who spent 3 weeks backpacking around Saudi Arabia — and discovered it’s not for the casual vacationer. Here’s where I went and what I experienced. Business Insider Nederland. https://www.businessinsider.nl/female-solo-traveler-went-to-saudi-arabia-heres-what-i-saw