AP PHOTO – A Jordanian man looks at clothes inside a lingerie shop at a shopping mall in Amman, Jordan. Jordanians, like the rest of the world, celebrate Valentine’s Day in the 14th of February every year.
AP PHOTO – A Jordanian man looks at clothes inside a lingerie shop at a shopping mall in Amman, Jordan. Jordanians, like the rest of the world, celebrate Valentine’s Day in the 14th of February every year.
I think more than Jordanians celebrating it, it is being forced on us by Western consumer powers. Allah yahdina. It makes me sick to my stomach. People wake up and read about the origins of all of these holidays before you get interested in them.
I just hope that he bought the thing for his wife, as if it’s not and she saw this, he’ll be in deep shit.
“Jordanians, like the rest of the world, celebrate Valentine’s Day in the 14th of February every year.”
He/she makes it sound like some indicator or measure of normalcy!
Calm down folks!
For some it’s a reason to acknowlege a significant other in an extra special way by giving them pretty things that smell good. For some it’s a reason to use some creativity to show appreciation for loved ones in a non-material way. For some it’s a reason to splurge on cookies and cupcakes with pink frosting while watching chick flicks with friends, and for some it’s just another day. My point is Valentine’s day just so happens to bring a bit of extra joy into many people’s lives….so what’s it to you? why get angry at the world?
Happy V-day!
“because of Valentine’s Day. A male boyfriend or husband can be unromantic, careless, distrustful, and even violent on any average day throughout the year. But if he showers his girlfriend or wife with everything she expects on Valentine’s Day, she will be fooled to think otherwise. Women need to be aware of other signs for true love outside of February 14.”
i always found the whole “valentines day in jordan” debates interesting! 😀
At best, it’s a whimsical nod to “love”. At worst, it’s a tragic devastation that a handful of corporations have full-throttle engaged considered to “force” us towards uber-consumerism for an entirely fictional celebration of showing feelings-through-consumerism; and moreover have done so so successfully that people who do not participate are considered to be scrooges or sad or some-such.
In my opinion, it’s bollocks. But I appreciate that some like it.
It looks like he is bored , like “I just wanna get out of here” look.
I think his wife is in the store too.
Lets just hope it was his wife indeed or it’s for the wife! Other wise wifey browsing the internet and sees husband in that photo, and wifey didn’t get anything today, but a 2 lera ward from swifyeh traffic lights.
I think the real jordanian valentian are the tens of mini buses selling bears and stuff. They are all controlled by one big mafia run company. These guys are very good in getting whatever depending on the ossasion. If Amr Diab comes in tow, you’ll see Amr Diab merchandise everywhere within two days.
Who owns the esharat buisness? It is an organized buisness.
والدك وجدودك ØŒ وأبوي وجدودي ÙˆØتي Ù†Ùسي لم Ù†ØتÙÙ„ ÙÙŠ هذه المناسبه! . Ùكي٠تعمم على كل الأردنيون ،سوأل وجيه Ùقط؟
maybe he’s buying something for himself .. im just throwing it out there 😀
@ The Free Jordanian:
So what, does that mean we should not be doing anything new? or try? we do not need to blindly follow, but indeed as mentioned in comments a little appreciation to our partners in life once a while is good, make it a V-day, a B-day, or just any day….. or if according to you, then let’s live like our stone age ancestors, or not? that would be a so2al wajeeh as well….
Valentine’s Day is kinda silly. That picture, on the other hand, is adorable.
Revelation ,,you could celebrate as much as you want,it’s just not my cup of tea, ,I just don’t like when people generalize ,did I answer your question!!
@ The Free Jordanian:
هي “كي٠تعمم على كل الأردنيين” وليس الأردنيون .. Ùجدودك – إن كانوا Øقا أردنيين – لم يخطئوا بها كما Ùعلت
wow u guys are just haters .. valentine’s rocked, fat parties and whatnot.. its just an excuse to go all out
لمن يهمه الأمر،، والدي وعئلتي وجدودي قطنوا ÙÙŠ الأردن وبتØديد مدينه السلط منذ ألا٠السنين قبل وصول ال هاشم هاربون دارعون من شبه الجزيره العربيه
Posting about valatine is much easier than posting about Mahadeen-Tal case. its a hot topic too. so, enjoy the fun Naseem
@ The Free Jordanian:
Nope, you didn’t answer my question mate, as I didn’t really have a direct one. You are a very proud Jordanian (obviously), and good for you, I am happy to hear you come from a thousand year old family root, that is cool dude…. but common, stop hiding behind tradition and silly things, if you’re truly free, then you will do what you think is right, because I assume you should be able by now to make a judgment, and you do not need to base your judgment on a 1000 year old tradition mate, big deal if our granddads didn’t celebrate, why shouldn’t we? Shall we bury the girls alive like the Arabs used to do in Saudi? (they would still love to do that i bet, if the law wouldn’t punish them), just because we had some traditions does not mean we need to keep them, some are good yeah, some are not so, you can make up your own dude, shape it up to suit your way…. to be honest it aint my cup of tea either, but on the other hand, why the heck not! give me any day of the year and i would do it, and you can name it whatever you want, and you can make it up yourself, i do not mind dude…. its all relative stuff….
And yeah, does it make a bloody difference if you have ancestors in Salt from the past 1000 years and I don’t? Does my value drop? or your value rises amongst others? I care less dude…. we care for who people are now… and defiantly not about who their grand grand grand parents were ;), just a thought there…..you can be proud yeah, fine with that, but putting it loudly in a blog comment the way you did is a bit too much I think…. I mean you have no idea on who the people are here.. I can be the last king of Scotland as far as I know 🙂
@Shaheen: i haven’t had time to properly sit down and write about that case but it’s on my to-do list, which is long these days.
in other words, i actually have a life so i don’t appreciate your insinuations that i am posting “easier” topics that are not tailored to your liking.
and if you are a citizen who just can’t wait to talk about this specific issue, then i invite you to submit something to 7iber – the citizen media site.
thanks 🙂
I certainly second Cubid on the esharat business!! I’m interested to know more on who runs this….directed in a smart market sensitive strategy! You see santa hats in Christmas, New year’s flash lights, New year’s Hijri Calendars, red flowers and flags, ear warmers during snow…… all depending on occasion… I’m sure its a big business and i’m very intersted in buying shares… 🙂
CuBid ?
Again to whom it may concern, I said it before and I will say it OME MORE TIME, you can celebrate as much as you want, in matter of fact you can celebrate VD and dance 365 a year ,its your thing and that’s fine with me and actually I could care less of what you celebrate, it seems some people are throwing judgements left and Right when mentioned my roots because some of you out there think that if criticise the government polices and practices it means Iam not from Jordan and i have no right to speak about the king and his corrupt regime..
BTW Revelation , Hold your horses man and don’t get carried away, you don’t know me and you have no idea of what I think and believe of women rights and equality not only in Jordan but elsewhere….Next time ask before throwing judgments
When I lived in Jordan, the thing that pissed me off the most was the fact that people that were from there felt the need to be as “western” as possible. As if that was a stamp or normalcy. I am all for different cultures sharing ideas and thoughts (I am a product of such a union!) but what I do not understand is that people from that general vicinity (the whole Mid East) unhealthily embracing everything they are not. You should be proud of what you are and your cultures and history…not exchange it for what is suddenly popular in the west. The poster in this picture is a great example-while there is a chance that perhaps the model in the picture has roots from the region, she does not represent the beauty of a woman from that region, by any means. This subconsciously puts a message into womens heads (and men’s expectations) of what they need to BECOME and what is deemed beautiful. I am reminded of the introduction of anorexia to Caribbean and the sudden need of breast implants in Japan-all due to over marketing from the west.
My point is sure it is great to celebrate the concept behind valentines day, and one can have fun celebrating and enjoying other cultures and religions and holidays…but do not forget your own identity in the process.
@ The Free Jordanian:
Firstly, dude, I didn’t really throw a judgement on you on women’s rights, you seem to have totally missed the point, or maybe I was not clear enough, the example I took was just as an example, you were saying that you see that people should not be doing things because our granddad’s never did that either, and I threw you an opposite example of what some granddad’s did, and that should not mean we should do it as well, what I meant to say (and I think i said it already) that if our granddad’s did or didn’t do stuff, that does not make it right or wrong, keep your tradition mate, but keep your head as well…. this is not addressed personally to you, this is just a general statement to those who hide blindly behind tradition….
Mate, I donno but it seems you hardly read what I write, and respond only to things you choose, what does the King or “corrupt” government has to do with celebrating V-Day dude?? I am confused really…. or is this your alter-ego? Why do “Free Jordanian’s” need to bring up politics and blame just everyone and shout (you used CAPS in your comments, which assumes you are shouting) at every topic even if it is really not relevant to any of that?? Are you upset or something? If you have a problem with your King or your government, I do not think that bringing that up in a topic on V-day is the correct place… go and write to them direct, tell them what you think (not sure though if this of course is possible to do in Jordan), but in any case dude, relax and take it easy, it’s just a friendly conversation we are having (at lease from my perspective), you don’t like V-day or celebrating it, cool, it is your choice after all, stop being angry at the world :)…
Hope you have a good day today mate.
well, the discussion is not only confined to jordan, i heare it in other places too, outside the middle east
i mean! i have nothing against people celeberating either although i just can’t stand all thaaaaaaaaaaaat kitch!
@ Notejusta
If you don’t want to be western and you want to be traditional, I suggest you go live in a Jordanian village. From what you wrote, it sounds like you visited Amman (note: West Amman) and found it to be a cheap facsimile of America. Well, that’s true – the upwardly mobile layer of Jordanian society that inhabits West Amman is much closer to western social mores. But keep in mind they are a small fraction of the population – half the population is in Amman, maybe a third of that is westernized to this extent. Most of Jordan is NOT westernized and is, in fact, a representation of traditional, conservative Arab society.
So there it is – go live in a village. Can’t get more traditional and authentic than a lifestyle that hasn’t changed in a hundred years or so. Don’t complain about a country or a practice until you’ve seen the bulk of it.
لمن يهمه الأمر، يبدوا النقاش والØوار Ø£ØµØ¨Ø Øوار الطرشان
@ The Free Jordanian:
Indeed, absolutely spot on, I rest my case, and thanks for admitting it.
All this because of a picture of a guy ogling a plastic ass?? sometimes you feel passive aggressiveness in the air, and sometimes it hits you in the face like a… well, like a plastic ass with a cloth polka dotted heart attached to it!
Naseem…. would you mind posting something on the recent Mossad hit in Duabi? I know it has little to do with Jordan but seeing as they attempted something like that on our soil back in 97 I wonder what you think about the whole thing..
I was not asking you to post about my favorite sport club, its a national issue that I expected to see a debate about it here [ i know its my fault] and to be honest i felt a little frustration when I came here to look for a national case to see underwear’s and valentine discussion, not that valentine is bad but because there was a more important even at that time.
Freedom is for who deserves it…and the silly point is the new media is being affected by the same sickness that our traditional media has suffered for ages..
Glad to know you have a life, thought you have been writing from sahab
Regards,
I was born on valentine’s in Eastern Europe, my mom never heard of the occasion. Celebrating valentine’s among other occasions reflects the amount of time people posses. What I found even more absurd is celebrating thanksgiving! Like really! Did Native Americans feed my ancestors here too? Am I being oblivious about certain historical/hysterical fact! Just makes me wonder! For those who celebrate Valentine’s I wish a happy Vday 🙂