The Useless Kuwaiti Male
Posted by Kaleidoscope on October 12, 2005
written by: Ayya
(This article was written in response to Tantalize’s entry The USELESS-A- (The Useless Kuwaitia)
Three years in high school and he had not made it. His family had to find him wasta* for a decent job so that he could at least earn his own expenses. He is Kuwaiti and he wants to live lavishly like his peers. A computer to chat, a large screen TV in his private room, X,Y,Z and getting laid all become necessities. Except for the latter, he gets all of them by monthly installments that eat up all his humble salary before the end of the month, but the family is always there to help, so there is no problem.
But he is still frustrated; he wants and needs to get laid.
His mother is sympathetic, yet she is sarcastically predicting what wrath Allah will cast upon him when his sinful desires lead him to the path of incorrectness with the forbidden fruit. She tries her best to find him a suitable Kuwaiti girl to ensure his future with a generous dowry and housing that is offered by the government. The candidate must fear God and have a secure job; to her it’s a life contract and to him it’s only sex.
He wants a goddess to tease and please his manhood yet at the same time he wants her to be untouched: purer than pure.
At the other end, he assumes his role as a hunter; he maneuvers between chatting rooms on the Net and learns the lustful language in hopes of getting laid. He also Gizzes** on the Gulf Road or 7ob*** Street aiming for the jackpot where he learns the language of lust with a female to target her at a private place for a quickie.
But, one day the hunter stumbles and becomes prey.
She is the perfect girl, young and naive, from a good family, not as hot as Britney Spears, but attractive enough to aggravate his desires and pure enough to ensure her future loyalty. He tries every trick in the book to get her into his claws, but she’s not like the rest. She seems very vehement at a distance yet very reverent in proximity, and most importantly, she works and has an income which beholds the blessings of his family.
From the beginning, he sweet-talks her into spending the KD 4000 Government dowry on the marriage expenses and honeymoon for both of them. And, although her family seems more rational when they unanimously vote against this coupling, they will eventually give up and in some cases might even chip into providing a more decent start for the newlyweds.
She, nevertheless, seems contented with the little accommodation that his family has provided. She naively believes that love can conquer all and she does not hesitate to facilitate all her savings and her income to better their life together. He is her life investment now.
By now one might think that he had it made; expenses and sex are taken care of, but apparently he does not stop his gizzing. Why? BECAUSE HE NEEDS VARIETY. He is man. He is horny. He is animalistic.
His wasta* works fine with him, and he gets promoted from one position to another. As a result, his income increases and they move out to a rented apartment. Not only that, but he is also able to stash away some savings as an excuse to provide for future needs and emergencies, while she takes care of all the other expenses as she is willingly investing in her family.
When the government finally accommodates them with a suitable house, facilitated with long term easy payments, he registers it under his name. After all, he is the head of the family and he is the one who has supposedly been taking care of the payments from his own savings while apparently she is not given any right to share the ownership of the house. And when she protests, he salvages himself in the arms of his cheap mistresses to whom he complains about his ever-nagging wife.
Kids come, and along comes schooling and extra expenses, but that is her responsibility, not his. She should be able to manage whatever time and money she’s got, for most of the expenses that she perceives as mandatory, he deems unnecessary. Besides, he holds an important position; his job presents the security for the family. He can’t waste his precious time with the kids. And, she understands that and willingly fills in for him, but what she could never understand is his pleading need for entertainment elsewhere. He has even had the nerve to accuse her of being behind his infidelity as she was the one who supposedly neglected him and busied herself raising his kids.
She suddenly wakes up remembering her family warnings; she realizes how exhausted she is with heavy responsibilities that he continues to take for granted and becomes habituated to. Not only that, she also realizes that after years of giving, she practically owns nothing that could ensure a decent life with her children if she decided to physically separate.
With broken pride, she drags herself around, unnoticed like thousands of other women in her society. Mentally separated from the man she once willingly loved.
Now, where has her life investment gone?
Is he the Useless one now? Or, are you the idiot?
* Wasta: link
** Gizzing: wandering aimlessly on the streets and checking each and every promising female figure
*** 7ob: love
© COPYRIGHT AYYA 2005

October 11, 2005 at 9:40 pm
Beautifully written. I enjoyed it, thanks!
I’ve just realized (with the exception of Lisa), that we are angry, bitter people. Oh well, just as inspiration can be a source for creativity, so does anger.
October 12, 2005 at 3:06 am
Ayya, I bow at your feet!
Eloquently written! Sharp as a knife.
October 12, 2005 at 7:11 am
Ayya (and McArabian),
It’s not just a Kuwaiti problem in this aspect. American women fall into the same vicious trap. It’s rare to find a man who won’t take full and selfish advantage of everything we have to offer.
I believe we are the ones who must change this.
We let love rule our minds. Even now, I do this.
Emotions blind us to the reality a mojority of the time.
October 12, 2005 at 10:04 am
Ayya, I believe you have preceptively described the majority of the marriages Kuwaiti women are going through. It is always amusing how the Typical Kuwaiti man will expect to be the “Man of the House”, the sole decision maker, the supreme authority on everything- whether it’s the kind of family car you get or where your kids go to school- and yet expects YOU to share the financial expenses. And your momma always tells you khuthoohom fuqaraaaa, yaghneekom Allah (Marry them when they are underprivileged and God shall bestow his wealth upon you) but it seems that we women are not bestowed with wealth, but instead are stripped from it.
All this in the name of going through the God-forsaken matrimonial rite of passage: marriage, motherhood, family, home. Whatever happened to “home is where the heart is”?!
October 12, 2005 at 12:33 pm
Interesting and a valid perspective. However, what happens when Kuwaiti/Arab women seek their independence and equal rights yet expect their husbands to financially take care of all or some of the household? Isn’t that in itself a juxtaposition? Claiming it’s part of Arab or Muslim tradition would be an insult and paradox to women’s rights, would it not? Doesn’t it also negate the mutual respect that is sought from both parties? I realize expense is just one example, but it seems to be a strong motif in this region.
October 12, 2005 at 1:01 pm
Ayya,
Two Thumps up!
Describes a large population of our society-I don’t think anyone could have said it better*
Excellent article
October 12, 2005 at 2:46 pm
Well written. It works both ways though. There are relationships where the man takes advantage, and ones where the women take advantage, and some where both do. I guess I just have a different mentality then some people over here. I am still big on the 50/50 thing if possible, but inshaAllah, one day I will find out what works best, and won’t become the man I just read about in that story.
October 12, 2005 at 6:10 pm
Sorry guys to have taken so long to reply to your comments, but a situation which is partially connected to this story is heated up in my blog LOL
Mcarabian
Thanks sweetie and yes, anger can do wonders
Kikhwa
Thank sweetie, you really made my day
Lisa
Yes this is a universal problem, but that goes to show you that love should not be blind, marriage is sharing and caring. No party should take advantage of the other using his/her love.
Mushmushi
There is a misconception of rules of Islam and the role playing in the family, not only in Kuwait, but also in all Islamic region who abide to Islamic rules (Alsharee3ah Aleslamiyah), and to talk about this issue would require a book LOL, but nevertheless; my last post, although started about divorce, it had developed into a very heated discussion that digs in the core of role playing in the family.
Tantalize
A marriage contract, as we Moslems call it, to me is sharing expenditure and responsibilities if we are talking about marriages today. Role playing in Islam and all the associated rules of hereditary and such are based on a condition as per a verse in Guran:
“الرجال قوامون على النساء بما فضل الله بعضهم على بعض وبما انفقوا من اموالهم”
Translation (not literally): “men have the upper hand in a family, IF AND ONLY IF, he take charge of all the finances of the family.”
But unfortunately, many take the first half of the verse and neglect the other half which specifies that condition. Why? Because with inflation rates shooting sky high today, it’s almost impossible for a man to be the sole provider for the family. So this role playing is not valid anymore because the condition that insures it’s validity cannot be met.
As we can see from the verse that expense is not just one example in a marriage contract as per Islam, it’s the bases for roles and responsibilities that are divided between man and wife.
In my opinion, if marriage is based on mutual agreement and understanding, there is no disrespect neither for man nor for women, after all it’s a life contract.
waterlilie
Thank you sweetie
William
Yes it could work both ways, my post was in response to Tantalize’s entry earlier this week
September 3, 2006 at 2:56 pm
well said yet not all are like that u spoted the majority its like we are the only people who do that hehehe ironicly we are a high % since kuwait is so small the thing is we got a shity education system and low parantle supervesion no stuiped kuwaiti has a dream so dont realy blame it on ” the kuwaiti male ” blame it on the secioty i realy didnt wana get married to a kuwaiti but o well i gusse i got a few years to think about it while i finsh My ” Varaity ” thanx for the artical loved it well said i totaly agree acorrding to % only
October 15, 2006 at 8:26 pm
hey,ayya i like ur articale very much because its a fact in our life now . no more men’s in our life .womens should make every thing she should work,cook,bregnet if they could make her brignet without helping her they will not say no
so its a nice articale keep going.
October 17, 2006 at 4:12 pm
It’s funny but I know of so many married women in Saudi who are bedding the ‘help’ - my (married) cousin is seeing a young pakistani (hired help)and i dont blame her. When was the last time you saw or heard of a Kuwaiti man who did something nice like cooked for his wife. I see it in movies with guys being romantic but to us it’s just a dream…