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Ladycroft's Journal

ladycroft
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04/28/2009 07:01 #48526

death for dressing like a man?
Category: about doha
Not a lot of time to write but I wanted to put this crazy article out there. Honestly, even living here for 2 years I still find some things shocking. I mean, death for dressing like a man??? I'm still not sure exactly to what extent they mean this, but I find it far more difficult for a woman to dress like a man, since wearing pants and jeans and t-shirts are perfectly acceptable today.

We made a quick visit to UK and then stop in Rome. I'll get those pics up this weekend, I hope. Things are very, very busy with the ending of the school year. Miss you all, really looking forward to July!!!

Cross-dressing seen as a 'serious menace to society'
Publish Date: Sunday,26 April, 2009, at 12:27 PM Doha Time
By Anwar Elshamy

A leading academic has sounded an alarm against the growing trend of cross-dressers among boys and girls, saying that it is a "serious menace to society".
Speaking in the monthly Lakom Al Karar TV programme, telecast on Friday night by Qatar TV, Dr Saif al-Hajari, the deputy chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, described the emerging trend of "manly women" and "womanly men" as a "foreign trend" which, he said, had invaded the Qatari and Gulf communities as part of the "globalisation winds".
"This is an issue which can harm all our social and religious values. It needs some sort of bravery to address it. I have never imagined that one day I can see such behavioural deviations in our streets, schools or universities," Dr al-Hajari said.
The episode, which discussed behavioural deviances among youths, was part of the heated debate over the issue of "Boyat" (girls dressing and acting like boys).
Transgendered people, who reportedly are seen in public places, were the subject of a heated debate during the past few weeks as clerics, educationists and sociologists cautioned against the new trend spreading among girls and boys.
Dr al-Hajari said that the efforts of both the state and society are required to address the trend.
"There is a lack of legislation organising the public code of ethics. There is a need to develop our legislations in this regard," he said.
However, he also blamed it on what he called "foreign fingers and groups" seeking to cause harm to youngsters.
"These cases of behavioural deviations we have are not working alone. They co-ordinate with similar groups on regional and international levels," he added.
To a question whether foreign education institutes established in Qatar are responsible for the spread of the phenomenon, Dr al-Hajari said that Qatar Foundation, which is the umbrella of foreign universities in Qatar, should set up a mechanism to protect young people in such universities from "invading behaviours".
"We need to educate the administrative and teaching staff of these universities on the special traits of our society.
"Some foreign schools and universities hire staff hailing from communities that do not see any problem in what we think of as deviations. This is a problem that should be dealt with."
The participating audience, mostly students, was "divided" on how to address the emerging trend. Some of them suggested capital punishment for those who indulged in "transgendered behaviour", while others said that the organisations concerned should reach out to these groups and deal with them as patients.
"This problem can only be addressed if the community rejects this type of youth and punishes them," a participant said.
However, another participant said that students who have such behavioural deviations should be engaged rather than isolated.
Another participant called for launching a public campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of behavioural deviances as well as educating families on how to protect their children against the social menace.
On the motion "This house believes that the concerned institutions and ministries are performing their duties to correct the behavioural deviations", 100% of the audience voted that these institutions had failed to do their duties in this regard.
In a survey, which was conducted by the Amina bint Wahab Secondary School for Women, and included 500 girls aged between 15-20, a majority of 45% of the surveyed students saw those girls behaving like boys as victims, while 40% said they are guilty.
In a move to curb the phenomenon, the presenter of the programme, Mohamed al-Marri, announced that HH Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad has established a new social rehabilitation centre "Al Awin" to deal with such cases.
metalpeter - 04/28/09 17:24
Here is the way I see it. Yes there are certain Islamic Laws that must be followed in an Islamic country. That being said if you let people not from you country into your country there culture is different, you can't have only the things that you think help your country that is one of the Trade Offs. It should also be noted that not all Islam is the same. If they think it is then maybe "The Nation Of Islam" aka "The Nation" should send thousands of people over there. I also think that maybe what they should work on is the difference between Public and Private conduct education. But there needs to be a halfway ground some where. In any event it was a pretty interesting article.
james - 04/28/09 10:24
It is good to see the scholar couched his argument in tribalism and xenophobia. The irony of all this being that Iran performs the second most gender assignment surgeries in the world.

04/23/2009 14:02 #48482

the ring
Category: engaged
There she is!

image
metalpeter - 04/24/09 18:40
Very Nice,and I also like the shirt
hodown - 04/23/09 19:18
Love it and your nails!!
jenks - 04/23/09 18:22
:D
tinypliny - 04/23/09 18:02
Pretty. :)
mrmike - 04/23/09 15:16
Good Form!!
james - 04/23/09 14:38
That shirt is awesome.
carolinian - 04/23/09 14:18
One Ring To Rule Him All,
And In Matrimony Bind Him. ;)

04/07/2009 05:16 #48314

happy birthday rory!
Category: birthday
HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY RORY!

image
rory - 04/15/09 06:18
Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!
james - 04/09/09 08:50
Happy Happy! Enjoy.

It is too bad you were unable to attend the joint (e:jim)/(e:rory) birthday bash.
libertad - 04/08/09 21:46
Yay! Birthday cake!
metalpeter - 04/07/09 20:37
Happy 29th (e:rory)
tinypliny - 04/07/09 16:00
Have a splendid year ahead, Rory! Sending you a whole BIG bag of good wishes! :D
leetee - 04/07/09 11:12
Happy Birthday, Rory!!! Have fun celebrating! :o)
jason - 04/07/09 08:51
OooOOOoooooo. Have a good one!

04/06/2009 13:36 #48309

todays bits and bobs
Category: potpourri
My former student/fashion design major just left. We had our first wedding dress meeting. I'm so excited that she can help me do this. It means a lot to me to keep things tight, as in having friends and family contribute to the process and necessary components.

Meanwhile, I'm over the work thing. I vented my frustrations. I called the situation out, and I feel much better. I'm going to be just fine with it all.

Last night I spent several hours working on the "Pit of 100 Trials" in Mario Paper. You literally have to complete 100 levels of bad guy battles without any save options. Wouldn't you know it. I get to room 99 and then I die. For serious!

03/25/2009 07:30 #48193

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Category: work
Update on previous post: no one lost an eye!

There are some changes happening at work. I have a temporary divider wall to allow (e:Rory) to visit me in my home but that will be coming down next year because we need more space for students (my end of the hall currently houses me and 2 contingency rooms). No divider would mean he couldn't live with me once we're married because the country's moral codes don't allow co-habitation in this setting, even for married couples.

That combined with the fact we're running out of space has lead to the decision that RHDs are being moved off campus to community housing. This is unheard of in my position but until our new facilities are built, we are in a pickle. It means we would have to move back to a campus apartment whenever we're on duty...all of us sharing one apartment. I'm both pleased and annoyed by this. Pleased because it means nicer accommodations and lower noise. Annoyed because who wants to uproot their life one week a month (or more depending on vacation schedules) to live in a shared space?

The bigger changes are that people are leaving. A fellow RHD couldn't hack it so she's outie, and I'm totally cool with that. So I knew we had to find a replacement. I helped interview several while I was in Seattle. What I didn't know until I got to Seattle is that my supervisor has also decided to leave. She's been here for 3 years so it's cool. You can only sacrifice so much for so long. I just assumed they would post for that position like all our others and someone would replace her. That is not so.

The other day I was called into the big cheese's office along with another fellow RHD who has been here since the start with me to have a briefing. The low down is, my supervisor's position will be taken over, with some new responsibilities, to her existing equal. The current equal will be promoted. The remaining coordinator position will take over the other responsibilities, which are probably the least fun of all the things you could do in housing - assignments, billing, maintenance, etc.

At this briefing they say they would rather promote from within instead of having to open up the search outside. So, basically we have the opportunity to apply for it. Now comes the part of weighing pros and cons.

Pros:
Chance for a new challenge
Shows upward mobility on my resume
Increase in pay grade
On-call duties marginal compared to RHD position
Opportunity to supervise other professionals
Freedom from petty conduct issues that plague my desk
Work hours much more in line with my future spouse's
Not having to move back and forth to campus while on duty

Cons:
Interaction with the students (for the fun stuff) will greatly decrease
Participation in staff training would decrease substantially
I'm not a morning person so a 7:30am start time makes me cringe
The tasks are purely administrative
My fellow RHD and I are both qualified- if he applies as well it would boil down to a popularity contest which I would lose, and that irritates me on principle
Although I would be happy for him, I cannot say 100% that I would be 'resent free', especially if he then became my supervisor

Other thoughts:
If I don't apply, do I lack ambition to move upward?
Another position, for which my fellow RHD would be most suited for, is possibly opening up next year, definitely the year after...would he get this one, then switch to the other?


Ultimately I want to be happy in my work. There are things I would miss about what I do right now, but I think professionally it would be a wise move, and personally, it would help (e:Rory) and I lead a slightly more 'normal' life in our first year of marriage.

I just needed to talk out loud.
leetee - 03/27/09 23:31
good luck with whatever decision you make (have made?). tough one, but i know that you will make the right decision. :o)
metalpeter - 03/25/09 18:47
I don't really have any advise or wise words for you other then it seems like a tough choice. But from what you have said I do have a couple of things that I'm wondering. Sometimes people apply for things that they don't think they will get if you did that and then changed your mind could you turn the position down. If I understood what you wrote correctly some of what you supervisor did has been given to another person so you wouldn't be doing exactly what your supervisor did. When someone gets the Job will the duties go back to the new person. I know you said you did the interviewing of people when in "The States" as some people call them. Once someone gets the supervisor Job who them decides who to hire to take that vacated spot. Now you see why I drive my self crazy sometimes. I guess you have to see what thing would give you the most happiness and go for it.
deeglam - 03/25/09 16:10
Bah! that's a tough one- but you seem to really know what your scale is here- your pros and cons. And I really like the idea that you threw out there: "If I don't apply, do I lack ambition to move upward?" That is a really good point- because i think that maybe that would be the case, without knowing the details of course. Maybe you should at least apply- see where it could take you, maybe talk with a superior about your predicament, and discuss what you love about your current position and see if there is a way you can incorporate the things you love about the now into the future position...you know?

I don't know- but keep us posted!!! and good luck!
libertad - 03/25/09 13:19
Let me know if you didn't get my email again because I resent it.

Tough choices. It kinda sounds like you should go for it but I am sure you will know what is the right thing for you. 7:30am? Why on earth do they start so early? Anyway you could go in later if hired?
mrmike - 03/25/09 11:54
That's why we're here, now breathe regular