Kathy one answer I have is...

Submitted by chiraz (United States), Mar 4, 2007 at 22:37

I do agree that people should not be stereotyped as 'they', and I do try to view people as individuals. I think one of the biggest differences between many Islamic societies and 'Western' societies is the obvious intertwining of religious faith and law, culture, social behavior that is present in Islamic socieities.

This probably leads most people, outside of or not completely familiar with the societies, to assume cultural/religious norms would require all of the people in that society to live and behave in the same ways. Everyone may not be perfect but it seems in a more orthodox Islamic society there is a fine line for error when it comes to what is acceptable way of life and what is not.

I have only met people from Palestine, Kuwait, Egypt and Sudan and, correct me if I'm wrong but, it seems in these societies there is not the same diversity or choice in lifestyles that are available in the US or any other 'westernized' societies. This may be one reason that people feel they can generalize about what they should expect from someone of that particular society. Again because people are individuals I don't believe that generalizations are good, however this may provide some explanation for them in this context.

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