Speaker Helen Samhan and Documentary

I really enjoyed the documentary shown by Helen Samhan. I thought it was very insightful that it conveyed the perspectives of Arab women from such a variety of backgrounds and upbringings. It was interesting how one of the Arab women discussed how her non-Arab friends used to joke about how she was a terrorist. She said that she use to laugh and joke along with them because she knew it wasn’t a malicious comment. However, she expressed that it affected her deep inside because she knew that many people feel that there is truth to that comment.

I appreciated the ladies in the documentary who were very proud of their heritage and had no problems identifying where they were from. I found it a little strange that the woman who was part Philippino/Arab/American/NYC... said she tells people she’s from a particular place depending on who they are and where their from. For example, if she talking to an Arab she will say she Arab, or if she is talking to someone she doesn’t want to be bothered with she says she’s from New York. I’m curious to find out her reasoning for doing this. I think that she probably doesn’t like to or is tired of explaining her ethnicity, so she keeps it simple. She also can get away with it because she looks like she can be from a lot of places.

I found the different statistics that Helen Samhan read to us insightful as well. It was interesting to find out that more Arab women had a higher employment rate than non-Arab women. She seems very passionate about her work and I admire her goal to educate about the Arab world, especially since so many people are ignorant on the subject and feed-off of stereotypes. It was interesting when she said she spoke at a class in New Jersey and the students were not perceptive to what she was sharing. It makes me feel privilege to be at such a diverse school.