When I first came to the United States for high school, I encountered many of the stereotypes Americans have about Middle Easterners. During the Gulf War and even now, some of the same stereotypes I encountered in high school rise out of the American social fabric. For instance, in my Sociology 001 class, a student made a comment that he heard quite a peculiar story. He heard that during the Gulf War, Arab husbands would duck their wives' heads under the dashboard whenever they passed a jeep with American troops. Supposedly this was done to prevent the wife from making eye contact with any of the troops.

Along with the stereotypes, many people believe that a woman's role in Saudi Arabia is comparable to that of a mere servant. Having lived in Saudi Arabia my whole life, I can surely say that I have never heard nor seen such an incident that would support such an image for Arab women.

Like many of the stereotypes and role assignments formulated, the story mentioned above probably originated from rumors, which often happens as different cultures meet. Other examples of stereotypes include the belief that Saudi children ride camels to school! I have actually been asked, even at Penn State, if I have an oil well, or own camels or live in a tent in the middle of the desert. These stereotypes illustrate people's gullibility and how easily they succumb to ridiculous ideas. In the future, I would hope that people would try to educate themselves on foreign cultures instead of jumping to absurd stereotypes. As the world gets smaller and cultures begin to come into contact, we must learn to avoid stereotypes, whether social roles or behaviors. If we are not careful, we could offend many of the other Cultures.