Anyone read Paramedic to the Prince?

[aurora]

I think I may have seen it recommended here but I'm not sure. It's about an American paramedic who goes to Saudia Arabia to work to earn some extra $ and experience a different culture. Several of his years are spent in the royal palace.

Anyway, it left kind of an odd feeling that I've been trying to sort through. It's not all hateful - he gives numerous stories of Saudis being very generous toward him - but the parts about women are pretty horrible.

One of the things that stuck out to me was the many anecdotes he related of Saudi men saying that clearly all Western women would agree to sex with any man because we don't cover ourselves. And it got worse from there.

I realize this is one person's telling, but I really want to know if that is the pervasive attitude.

There are lots more possible things to discuss about the book but I don't want to spoil it immediately depending on who has read it.

[summer]

Sounds interesting. I would love to know more about Saudi culture. Also something from a woman's pov would be interesting if anyone has recommendations

[dirtyred]

Aug 16, 2015 13:10:03 GMT -5 @littlemoxie said:

A Romanian friend of mine moved to Dubai in 1999. She said that she'd be out at dinner and men would leave wads of cash at her table as a proposition. They just assumed all Western women there were prostitutes.

I read a book by an American woman who lived in Saudi Arabia for a decade and she said that basically, Arabs assume that American women are whores who will sleep with anyone.

[aurora]

Aug 16, 2015 13:10:03 GMT -5 @littlemoxie said:

A Romanian friend of mine moved to Dubai in 1999. She said that she'd be out at dinner and men would leave wads of cash at her table as a proposition. They just assumed all Western women there were prostitutes.

Now, I don't know where these men were from, but I know a lot of Saudi Arabians go to Dubai on weekends to have fun. I also know that they tend to be some of the more conservative in the region, so if these men WEREN'T Saudi, it's still very possible that some/many Saudi men would feel the same way.

Obviously Dubai was no longer like that by 2010, but all of this is to say that it wouldn't surprise me at all that some Saudi men think all Western women will sleep with anyone due to the way they are dressing.

Ugh, I was kind of hoping it wasn't really true.

[aurora]

Aug 16, 2015 19:15:17 GMT -5 @littlemoxie said:

aurora - it makes perfect sense though. If you TRULY believe that women's bodies are so precious and incite so much lust that they need to be covered at all times, then a woman who doesn't cover up must not really care what will happen, right? So she is probably willing to have sex to anyone she is willing to show her body to.

I guess I was kind of hoping that - at least intellectually - they could realize that not everyone shared their beliefs on the matter. But I do see your point.

And obviously the anecdotes from my book an your friend don't mean that all Saudi men are incapable of such realization.

[sushi]

Aug 16, 2015 9:45:21 GMT -5 summer said:

Sounds interesting. I would love to know more about Saudi culture. Also something from a woman's pov would be interesting if anyone has recommendations

I read a book written by an American born muslim doctor who went there to work. It was interesting. A bit too religious for my taste, but still a good read.

I think it was called the land of invisible women.