Last few weeks I've regularly been watching American Rick Steves' travel docus on YouTube. They are incredibly impressive and he has travelled all over the world, even to Iran, Palestine etc, but also almost all European countries and/or cities.
The things you see and learn -both from a country as its culture- are wonderful!

Today I watched his docu in Iran. And what an impressive country and people! I had no idea. I'd chosen it because I wanted to know more of it. We always get such negative images and news about such countries that we are automatically influenced and anti those countries.
But watching this, I think I wouldn't really mind living there for a while.

It is a Muslim country, so women have to dress modestly, not show off their body, and cover their hair. But you see many wear long blazers with a narrow cut waist line, high heels, beautiful and careful make-up, and many wear their head scarves back on their heads so much of their hair shows.

Women have loads of freedom, they can study, work, go wherever they want. Universities -which are paid for by government (WOW!!) have more women than men! The same for executive jobs. Amazing!!

Almost everyone speaks English, quite well even, and almost everyone knows plenty about the rest of the world.
Most aren't at all anti-America, even though there is still lots of anti-American propaganda on buildings etc. The people don't share the sentiment. They want peace and interaction etc.

Women and men do have to remain separated in schools, buses etc. At the same time, women are not exploited as lust objects like we are here. There are fancy magazine with female models on them, but NO sexual innuendo, neither in photos nor text.
What a freaking relief!!!

I'm not sure if the underlying thought was to not tempt men or to protect women or both. But in essence such a policy DOES protect women.
We can mingle, are exploited etc. and look what happens: even nowadays as a woman you have to be careful where you go alone. Many men don't feel any restraint in harassing or even touching a strange woman.
And stupidly enough, women have to dress differently -like in Muslim countries- lest they lead men in temptation. What kind of idiocy is that really?
And even here we still have that to some extent, especially if you want to go certain places on your own as a woman.

In any case, it was a great docu! People are educated, intelligent, incredibly friendly and warm.
And what a pretty people! Not Arab but Persian, not speaking Arabic but Farsi.
I also learnt that much of the mayhem Iran had was caused by the US out of US self interest. How typical... And that this is the reason the Ayatolah wasn't so nice as he wants all US influence and further meddling out of his country. Can't blame the man!

All in all I had not expected to see this country this way. Such happy people, so educated, just wonderful. And how different from what we hear in the news. Just goes to show how much the media and news is steered to make us believe all these nasty stories that aren't true at all.

there are rich and poor in every country

good and bad

beauty is not in people or things nor in the eyes of the beholder but everybodies heart

Watching a documentary is not Travelling & learning how countries really are.
Try not to take this wrong...

At best, you might see things you wouldn't in person so its better than being there in real-time but there are other things you miss that can only be experienced in person.

When I was in the Navy we had 'Liberty' at many different ports in many different countries. I remember the biggest impact on me was the fact different countries 'smelled' different. You can't get that while watching a documentary.

A documentary isn't going to 'waste' film on just any ole thing. Like the sights you see while waiting in traffic in a taxi. The day to day 'grind' the locals call a 'normal day'. Tour documentaries focus on a subject and someone researches all the details needed to make that selection interesting to the show. In real life, you don't have access to all the inside info for every cultural reference you witness while you are there.

Documentaries are 'scripted', life is not.

I found in most cases, the people of other countries pretty much live the same day to day lives as other people in other countries.
Work, play, love...hate.
NEWS and media tends to focus on the extreme instances which happen in other countries. The 'stuff' which causes people to stop and take notice.

When you see a culture based documentary its sorta the same thing. You see a traditional dance, you see traditional outfits, you see cultural demonstrations. You think, oh this is how it is there. yet, that dance, those outfits, those activities only happen once a year or so. The native American in traditional outfit for a ceremony might wear jeans & a tee shirt the rest of the year.

For instance, When people from other parts of the world see a documentary on New Orleans, LA (NOLA) you will see Mardi Gras, Katrina and a city that parties. What you don't see is the high number of homeless people living on the streets. The grime which infests the city or the heavy bustling of traffic on the roads. The displayed NOLA is very different than the actual NOLA. I live 50 miles from NOLA and I won't go there. I've seen movies, shows and documentaries on NOLA and while they have some accuracy, they never capture the true essence of the place. Not like being there in person.

The only reason I'm telling you this is the fact your thread title is misleading.
Travelling & learning how countries really are
Implies actual, personal accounting of the details ignored by the media.
Then your OP talks about watching a documentary.


All documentaries have an agenda.
Personal experiences can also have an agenda but in personal experience, the non-agenda stuff doesn't get filtered out, its in your face. Plus, in real life you smell the sewage, the sweat or worse.

I've seen some very well made documentaries of places which I have never been and experiences which I will never have. One such film explored Alaska by train. It was wonderful.

I've visited Mars by video. I'll never go there so I know there is a lot I will never experience. Things you can't sense from a video or documentary.

My point is, nothing can take the place of actually being there, experiencing it in person.
A lot of people do travel the world and have experienced other countries. This thread has the potential to be very enlightening in its essence.

For me, your home is just as exotic as anyone's. I've never been there so all I have to go on is the accounting of documentaries made about it.
How accurate are those to your real life experience you live everyday.
Apply that logic to what you see on other documentaries about other places and you can see what I mean.
The same thing applies to 'online' dating.

I have to agree with Tom .. watching a video is not representative of life in a country . There may be some improvements for women in Iran but I doubt that is representative of what many face . Oppression , violence and equality is still a major concern if any of the human rights claims are to be believed . Yes some women are able to be educated but there are restrictions on what occupations they can work in . Take a look at how Iran treats women who do not conform or attempt to speak out against Islam or cleric law . Any freedom women have is still controlled by a patriarchal society which puts men first . Look at the age of child marriage (I believe it has increased from 9 to 13y) look at how women are treated if they want to divorce (only recently has the law changed to allow children to remain with their mother .. custody was always given to the husband ) , look at honour killings mostly against women and children for disobedience . That men can by law have more than one wife but a woman must remain faithful or suffer the consequences Then tell me what life is like for the majority of women in Iran.

As a person who lives in a Muslim country,I can tell you that a lot of other countries are getting a wrong image,just like when it comes to women,in my country for example women have more rights than men and they’re totally free to wear whatever they want,actually almost 38% of women are not wearing a scarf or what we call hijab and they have the right to do that without any problems,also some people think that a Muslim country is some kind of primitive country which is very wrong.
And finally,as a person who travelled to a lot of countries I can tell you that the media’s are making us look like a bunch of extremists,terrorists and backward people.
Thank you

yoda would you say that is true of all Muslim states . That women are free to behave and be as they wish ? Or does it depend on the region they live in and the religious /political rules that apply . :waving

Just curious ... Can a Muslim women marry a non Muslim man in Algeria ... there was a time they couldn’t but a Muslim man could marry a non Muslim woman Has that law changed ??!

“Islamic law retains provisions that equate a woman’s testimony in a court of law to one-half that of a man’s and value a woman’s life as one-half that of a man’s. ”

“ a 9 year old girl can be sentenced to death . Compared with a 13 year old boy “

”For a conviction of rape, the law requires four Muslim men or a combination of three men and two women or two men and four women, to have witnessed a rape “

“A virgin has to have her father’s consent or the consent of the court to marry “. Wonder what happens if she is not a virgin !!!

“A man can have four wives and many “temporarily marriages “

Taken from a human rights report 2020 on human right issues in Iran .

I live in a Muslim country. Malaysia is a multi racial nation with diverse cultures. We are not governed by religious laws nor do non Muslims have to abide the syariah law.

In modern Malaysia now, women are holding prominent positions in various government departments. Muslims and non muslims are allowed to marry with condition that non Muslim must convert. As a multi racial nation, therefore there are so many interracial marriages. And we all respect each other's religion,cultures & beliefs. A Muslim man can have up to 4 wives...but with conditions.

Not all Muslim women in here wears a hijab, they can choose to wear normal clothes, like jeans & t shirts, preferably non revealing clothes. Non Muslim can wear whatever they want as long as it's not indecent exposure.

As one of the commonwealth countries, our government has adopted the administration/education systems handed down by the British. Not much has been changed however our welfare system really sucks.
As one of the richest country in South east Asia, Malaysia has come a long....

Thanks for posting cloudy .. my posts were about Muslim women in Iran .

I am not sure what percentage of Malaysia is Muslim but Malaysia as a country is not governed by religious law and as such has different standards to the Middle East when it comes to women .... for example Malaysia has a booming sex industry . If Iran has one then it is a well kept secret

You're welcome Blondey. Just giving you a scenario from another Muslim country.

(Multiple 504 timeouts on this site today)

One thing many people fail to realize when considering life in other countries is the fact they view the differences with biased assumptions.

What seems to be an unpleasant condition other people in different countries experience is merely 'normal life' to them. Consider the fact they may view your way of life as unpleasant conditions.

There are certain violations of human rights that do happen and are unpleasant no matter the viewpoint but much of what the 'free world' considers terrible is just normal life.

If one looks at the USA's history, women only recently gained self-independence from men. Women's suffrage initiated in 1912. Before that, most women were below a man's status. In the 1800s and before, only extreme women were seen as independent and in most cases, dependency on the man was 'normal life'. Men made the decisions, men voted, men ran the country.

Women's independence has enabled the US to reach levels it wouldn't have reached if daily life remained status quo. However, women still don't have equality 100 years after the fact. The struggle for equality remains despite the independence women now possess.

When viewing people from other nations, we tend to apply our normal life conditions to them. We go to war to free the oppressed people never considering they may not want our freedom. They may be perfectly content living their normal daily lives as they have for hundreds, if not thousands of years. We assume they need freedom and use force to make it happen.

While I don't agree with how some cultures treat their women and children I must remember its Their Women and Children. They choose their daily lives the same as I choose mine. Murder is always murder and this is the bad side of some cultures but it is their culture.

When I was young and green in the Navy, before every port call we were instructed on proper culture conduct and meanings so we didn't accidentally insult the natives. In some countries, if you sit with your foot in the air with your leg resting on your knee (a standard resting position to us) if you show the bottom of your foot to someone it is offensive and can garner a hostile reaction. People's customs are different.

Here, submissive postures make you vulnerable to bullies, in some countries submissive postures are a sign of respect. When viewing the customs and daily lives of people from other countries we lose understanding when their conduct doesn't match our own. We assume they are suffering and need to be set free from such atrocities.

Most media doesn't contain disclaimers citing the cultural differences. Most NEWS reports are worded to illicit an interest based on how unfair or extreme those other countries are. They are designed to grab your attention and keep you tuned in. Oh look, women have to cover themselves up and they get gang raped and murdered in the street.

Thing is, yes, some women do get gang raped or murdered in the street but this is how its been done there for thousands of years and so far, its been working just fine for that culture. Personally, I would love to see an equal and united world for all people but I know it is unfair for me to assume that is what they want.

I totally agree with you on this. I've lived in three Muslim countries and I get so angry when people on social media generalize Muslims by the actions of a small percentage of extremists.

there is a huge difference in visiting a country as a tourist as opposed to being a permanent resident... just saying ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-CNuudRVLs

"The world is a great book, of which, those who never stir from home, only read a page!"