In the past days I was enjoying the company of some Danish and Egyptian artists. Artists of different kinds, music, food, photography, you can summarize it as just Art. We kept talking about Egypt and Denmark, the Egyptians and the Danes. We kept exploring each other, from different aspects. And in the same time, we mingled with average people, who might not always share the same views, or the same perspectives.
And as time kept passing by, I began to think. We always notice people talking about “the other”, accepting “the other”, communicating with “the other”, discovering “the other”. Is that expression really right? Should this expression exist in the first place? Are people around the world that different?
The Danes told me how some of them are still believing in the stereotype that Egypt is a desert with pyramids, with people travelling by camels. And I know Egyptians whose only information about Denmark is the Muhammad’s cartoons. Stereotypes stereotypes stereotypes, stereotypes everywhere and allover. If you considered a discussion starting point that every country or every country’s people believe in some kind of stereotype image of other country’s people, how will you continue the discussion about accepting?
4 Responses to Accept the other? Part One