Facebook Junkie

"I am starting to feel like I have had a long and overbearing relationship with over a hundred people and counting."

The ‘Communication Era’ is what we have happily dubbed the times we live in. After being the most cumbersome, near-impossible feat for mankind it has now become one of the most mundane daily activities for us to communicate with one another. After tiny letters sent on the heels of doves, after men traveling through treacherous terrain and Graham Bell’s joy at hearing a voice in the other room answer his call. We now have it all at a click of a button, no sense of accomplishment included. You know the lot; emails, video-calling, and our latest cyber drug social-networking sites. They come in the form of Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and many more I dare not list in fear of losing you right here.

I would like to interject right now by stating that I am indeed a recovering Facebook addict. You may sneer at the word ‘addict’ but I do not use it lightly or even for dramatic effect. I have actually experienced all the stages and shown all the signs of a proper addiction. A couple of years back I curiously started using, which led to abusing and eventually heavily depending on and being purely addicted to what I call the ‘Peeping Tom’ networking site.

These sites are meant for reconnection, but what do we really use them for once we have connected with all the random and not so random faces from our past? At first it felt like the high-school reunion from hell. You mentally prepared yourself and became excited at the thought of seeing how the years have treated these people. You polished your profile and made sure it looks presentable and if possible, impressive. Later came the feeling of being obligated to accept ‘friend requests’, people ‘poking’ you and readily answering a barrage of questions about your life. Overwhelming I know, not to mention feeling a tad creepy after going through your friends’ photo albums and acquiring complete knowledge of their daily activities scrolling through their ‘status updates’. I might be somewhat old-fashioned but aren’t personal photos supposed to be conveniently saved on your hard-drive or safely tucked away in a box somewhere for you to sift through on a day when you feel life is just not worth it?

Updating your status seems to be a competition for the Facebook junkie, always looking for the best sentence to make his name pop on someone’s list. So basically a lonely drive can end up morphing into, a relaxing cruise and a boring stay at home into a well-deserved rest, on one’s status. Since when have we become so ready to divulge every detail of our lives and document every movement we make? A Facebook junkie would happily update his status every couple of hours, telling me, a person who really doesn’t care that they have ‘just woken up’, an hour or so later ‘had breakfast’, next ‘off to work’ and before you know it you have become so accustomed to this person’s routine you feel you could write their status for them. Status updates are not confined only to the user’s movements though, some are just mere facts of which my favourite are the weather updates. When all else fails mention the weather, it is a sure-fire when used in conversations why not Facebook? Status goes something like this ‘it’s raining’, it’s windy’, ‘it’s sunny’ dear God we can look out the windows ourselves!

Some people have actually surpassed the term Facebook junkie reaching a whole new level of insanity that I am afraid they cannot recover from. These people found in Facebook the means to live a life outside their own using the virtual photo albums as proof of their so-called self. Photo albums on Facebook have transformed into virtual shopping lists and restaurant menus. If they see an item they want they snap a shot and it’s posted on their page, thereby enforcing their style and earning the right to be called ‘trendy’. What is even more mind-boggling is the sheer amount of comments and responses these photos get, all praise of course, but who are you actually praising? The designer who made these products? Because the person who posted a photo of the item cannot really be praised for just posting right? Apparently they can. Facebook albums are void of faces yet full of Hermes, Graff, and many, many plates of food.

People are living lifestyles so far from their true identities it is actually frightening. Why do they feel the urge to keep others informed? Is it because they seek validation? Long for a connection? Or just because it is easy to do so? If information is indeed power, then aren’t we providing it to random people by readily updating every move we make and every desire we long for?

This over-share of information erases the curiosity shrouding people’s lives and in turn eliminates the mystery. I am starting to feel like I have had a long and overbearing relationship with over a hundred people and counting. They are with me all the time and although I haven’t seen their actual faces or been in their presence for years I am starting to feel somewhat crowded. I feel like we should take a break and allow each other some space. You see, it’s not you, it’s me. I just cannot handle knowing your every move and complimenting you on your folders of shopping, so let us take a breather for a while. And if you would allow me one last piece of advice, please, please leave the weather to the weatherman.

This article was published in The Gulf Today newspaper on April 18, 2009.

Beneath The River Ous

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to have purchased a first-edition copy of Virginia Woolf’s novel The Voyage Out. It need not be said that I am a fan of Virginia Woolf and an avid collector of her works. Holding the book in my hands right now, feeling its frayed spine, flipping ever so gently through its aging pages and taking in its musty smell I am slowly slipping back in time to the events of this very day sixty-eight years ago, when one of our greatest literary minds chose to drown itself in the cold waters of the River Ous.

Virginia Woolf, daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen, wife of Leonard Woolf, passionate friend of Vita-Sackville-West, avid feminist, one of the most influential writers of the modernist movement and founder of the Hogarth Press, would not allow her madness to swallow her whole. After penning two letters, one to her idolizing husband Leonard and the other to her beloved sister Vanessa she walked out of her house, filled her pockets with stones and gave herself to the waters. Virginia Woolf’s limp, lifeless body was to be found eighteen days later by a group of children.

Virginia Woolf had an overzealous habit of jotting down every detail of her day; she insisted that every woman should write about her day for there is a treasure in every movement. She believed that every part of the day need not be wasted or forgotten and she was right. Owing to this almost obsessive habit, Virginia left behind a life-time worth of diary entries that were later compiled into five volumes which now serve as out gateway to her life, love and madness.
This wealth of detail led to the analysis and over-analysis of every aspect of Virginia’s life. Critics devoured Woolf’s diaries and personal letters hoping to make rhyme and reason of everything she did, everything she said and every word she penned. They dissected every part of her life from her mental state to her eating habits. If Virginia Woolf were alive today the critics would be her paparazzi and every detail of her life would be published in tabloids and posted on websites.

To the literary world Virginia Woolf’s life and loves have come to over-shadow her work. She was a devoted writer who lived her entire life for the craft. She was an artist forever seeking perfection. She dwelled on every sentence, in the confinement of her room among tons of scrapped papers; she recited each one out loud. One of which is the opening sentence in her novel Mrs. Dalloway: “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself”. A single sentence such as this one may have taken days from her life, years from her sanity and brought her ever so closer to the River Ous.

Everything that is to be said about Virginia Woolf has been said. Many have criticized her personality and neglected her work, many poured over her work and neglected her person, inspirations and passion. Nevertheless, all of them agreed on one thing, that Virginia Woolf had an undeniable effect on the literary world and an uncompromising hold on every person who has read any of her works. She has laid the foundation for the ‘stream of consciousness’ technique that many have failed to emulate. Although she is categorized as a feminist (what that word means nowadays I have no idea) she believed in ‘fortifying’ the difference between men and women and in blurring the lines that separate them, for only then will each come into his own.

Virginia was convinced that the mind should be androgynous in order to be able to write freely and passionately. Her ultimate aim in life was to express the necessity for female writers to find a sentence, just a single sentence that describes them, and not succumb to borrowing the male sentence that they have been exposed to since the creation of the word. Virginia searched for this very sentence all her life, who knows maybe she found it on this day sixty-eight years ago beneath the icy waters of the River Ous.

This piece was published in The Gulf Today newspaper on March 28, 2009. On Virginia Woolf's 68th death anniversary.

Dubai The Curse of The Auspicious

"I do not know whether Geraldine Bedell's book The Gulf Between Us was excluded because of its content or because of the horrible pun in its title, but I know for sure that there is more to the title than meets the discerning eye."

It is a fact that with undeniable success comes heavy scrutiny, but with the recent flood of tarnishing publicity and the Western media's constant probing of Dubai it has become evident that the intentions behind the accusatory tone of the press are both malicious and vindictive. It is also common knowledge that Dubai has comfortably taken its place among the greatest cities in the world and at an unprecedented pace. Dubai has gladly opened its doors to people from all walks of life, it has offered avid opportunities for many seeking career advancement and homes to those seeking stability and security. Dubai’s astounding achievements have stunned the Western media into submission, but that state of shock has clearly worn out. As of late all that is written about Dubai is nothing, but a slew of selective negatives, a so-called revelation on a need-to-expose basis.

The first bout of that coverage spurred from the amount of construction sites in Dubai, the media latched onto the “inhumane” labour camps. No matter what the issue the Western press seems to bring Islam into it one way or another. The BBC News published an article on the worker camps in Dubai with this opening sentence:

“There are two sounds you cannot escape in Dubai: the call to prayer ringing out from the city’s mosques five times a day and the 24-hour clunking and grinding of construction.”

What the sound of prayers has to do with labour camps is beyond me, but it is there in black and white. Failing to mention that Dubai has provided thousands of jobs for otherwise poor, desperate workers, they went on and on about the working hours and the camp conditions. The living condition details were highly exaggerated and as for working hours, the fact is the workers follow scheduled shifts that are well within reason and general rules. On the other hand, there are many Western companies that have benefited and are still benefiting from exploiting children in Asia utilising sweatshops to produce their tons of merchandise. That is all well just as long as it doesn’t happen on their soil I guess.

The second wave resulted from an incident where a British couple was found frolicking and engaging in sexual activities on a public beach in Dubai. They were arrested and taken through the proper procedures of the UAE’s legal system. Surprisingly, the British press pounced on the story and made a huge capital by painting a picture of how horrific and unjust UAE’s legal system is, mocking the religious, moral and societal beliefs of the country. Conveniently ignoring the fact that their very own British law on sex clearly states that:
“Consenting adults will be allowed to have sex at home with the curtains open but will face jail sentences of up to six months for making love in the back garden” (The Independent).
Their own back garden let alone a public beach in a Muslim country which proudly cherishes its proven traditions.

The third addition to the ongoing tsunami came in the form of protests against Dubai’s refusal in granting the Israeli female tennis player Shahar Peer, who also serves as an administrative secretary in the Israeli military, entry into the country. The media took it upon itself to label it an anti-Semitic act against Peer claiming that Dubai was taking a political stance on a professional tennis player, when in reality it was not so. The UAE has granted Andy Ram, an Israeli tennis player entry, under a “special permit” granted after the allowance of time for the necessary procedures to be taken. The UAE does not have any diplomatic relations with Israel, therefore, it is understandable that the entry of an Israeli would take time to be processed. This would also be the case for a Muslim holding an Israeli citizenship, and in Shahar Peer’s case the time was simply inadequate. But even under such an assumption as the one taken by the Western media wouldn’t the UAE government be completely justified in reinforcing its political position even if it were in the name of sports? Do they not have the right to refuse the fluttering of the Israeli flag on their soil when only a month ago Israel was well into a meaningless war on Gaza that left 1300 Palestinians dead?

Having not yet recovered from the tennis debacle Dubai is once again being forced to defend itself against the Western media after the recent exclusion of a novel from The Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature. The romantic work of fiction by an up-and-coming British writer Geraldine Bedell features the character of a homosexual sheikh. The press spun the story claiming that the country’s Islamic beliefs are stifling creativity with its censorship. This in turn forced Canadian Booker-prize winner and vice-president of the writer’s group International PEN Margaret Atwood to withdraw only a week before the festival was to begin. Atwood pulled out of the festival as a reaction to the onslaught of media that followed the festival organiser Isobel Abulhoul's decision to exclude the book and immediately posted a letter on her website stating the reasons for her withdrawal.

The chaos and outrageous media outpouring became highly contagious affecting other writers listed to participate in the festival and threats of withdrawal were made before the event organisers had a chance to clarify their position. Once Abulhoul had the chance to explain the situation it became clear to Atwood and the rest of the writers that the book was not considered for the festival because the slots provided are given to more well-known authors.
This is well within their rights as festival organisers and such rejections are done in every festival around the world. Atwood herself spoke candidly to The Guardian about her hasty reaction saying “The little golden time bomb of a refusal-with-reasons was carefully guarded by someone – who? – until now, when it was hurled into the press to great publicity effect, easily stampeding people like me.” Atwood has nowagreed to attend the festival via video link-up to make up for the misunderstanding.
Books are banned and censored for many reasons. Canada for example considers hate literature illegal, and every country is free to set its own standards according to its cultural fabric. It is clear that Geraldine Bedell was upset at the refusal of her book, took advantage of Abulhoul’s honesty and cashed in on her five minutes of fame. I do not know whether Bedell’s book The Gulf Between Us was excluded because of its content or because of the horrible pun in its title? It is quite an expected reaction that the media would make an issue out of the exclusion because it deals with homosexuality accusing Dubai of intolerance and bigotry. When on the other end of the spectrum ideals are not so different, in the United States' 2008 elections the California ballot Proposition 8, which eliminates same-sex couple’s right to marry, was passed and readily implemented. This cements the fact that no matter how open-minded the West may seem, sugar-coating their words and hiding behind their political correctness, their ideals are as reserved as ours, if not even more so.

One might argue that the media's sole purpose of existence is to report on such issues regardless of the implications and I would undoubtedly agree, but the truth is we do not report for the sake of reporting. We have a responsibility to report the truth and when the truth looks to be somewhat unattainable we must unearth it. Implications or not we must reveal both sides of the coin showing heads for heads and tails for tails. It is a shame that a country such as the UAE and a city such as Dubai that have come so far in so little time be judged so harshly and so unjustly by the Western media. Political agendas, no matter how powerful, should not taint journalism because once that happens, then our voices become their echos and our words become their weapons of mass destruction.

This article was published in The Gulf Today newspaper on February 27, 2009.