Well, you know what they say about South Carolina's education, right? It doesn't rank up there with the best. Tonight's premiere of "The Amazing Race" didn't help that thought I don't think!Chris & I both love this show, and I was excited about the premiere. Little did I know until earlier in the day that the Dallas Cowboys were playing at the exact same time. It didn't take me more than a second to realize who was going to win this one. My husband loves the Cowboys so much that if Katie had been a boy, her middle name was going to be 'Dallas.' We actually know a precious little girl at church named Dallas~for the same reason...her daddy is a huge Cowboys fan!
Anyway, Chris taped my show for me and after balancing the checkbook (why is there never enough?!?!) I watched it on the computer while he finished up his football game. One of the teams I was interested in watching was a team of 2 cheerleaders from the University of South Carolina which is located in a town not far from here.
Of course, the cheerleaders are being portrayed as you would expect, as are the beauty queens, the Kentucky coal miners and the "alternate lifestyle" couple. All 12 teams pretty well fit into a stereotype. At one point, the cheerleaders walked up to the team that was comprised of 2 Muslim men. One of the cheerleaders reached out her hand to shake the hand of one of the men. He politely declined saying something about not shaking hands because of his religion. I don't know what that was all about because they didn't show his whole reply.
The part they showed later was the part that makes South Carolina look really bad! One of the cheerleaders looks at the other one and asks under her breath, "Do Muslims believe in Buddha?" The other one replies, "I don't know."
I don't claim to know much about either Muslims or Buddhists, but I think I could have at least answered that question for the poor girl.
7 comments:
That was a great game last night! We love the Cowboys, too!
I've even watched that Race show--and I kind of liked it. I just never remember to turn it on. Surely they told those cheerleaders to act dumb--I can't believe they are that dense. You did say college cheerleaders??
I love Amazing Race!! I have it recorded but I have not been able to watch it yet. Maybe tonight while I am folding clothes!! Can't wait!
The Cowboys won out at our house. I hear great things about The Amazing Race -- but I already have too many shows that I watch!
I love the Amazing Race, too! I'm still trying to decide which team I want to cheer for to win this season.
This is from their bios on the Amazing Race/CBS website:
Kellie, a senior at USC working to obtain her Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism, describes herself as being energetic and driven. Jamie was a member of the National Honor Society at USC, where she obtained her bachelor's degree in advertising. She currently works in film production. Outgoing and friendly, Jamie enjoys spending time with her family.
I'm sorry, but it these two women are going to make it in their respective fields, they need to brush up on their current affairs!
And you're right, everyone is being typecast, but I guess that's too be expected, it's just really sad.
I'm going to have to look up that handshaking thing.
okay, here's some more insight into the hand shaking thing.
According to online sources (this is a good article), One of the basic rules of Islam is that men and women who are not intimately related are not allowed to have any form of physical contact.
The article further sights Miss Manners etiquette:
The established etiquette when men and women meet (regardless of whether they’re Muslim or not) is that it is up to the woman to initiate physical contact, including the shaking of hands. If the woman extends her hand, then the man can shake it, but the man is not supposed to initiate the process.
So if the cheerleader initiated the hand shake, then the Muslim man could shake it. But apparently many men (Muslim or otherwise) are unfamiliar with this rule of etiquette.
I'm actually glad I know this now. I'll make sure I initiate handshakes with men from now on!
And the weird thing is, I'm sure I've shaken hands with my next door neighbor, who is Kurdish, and he initiated the gesture. But I think he has adopted more American ways the longer he has lived here.
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