Certainly if women are working mothers, they often need to hire nannies to help with the kids. But even though many more local women in Qatar are working, there are quite a number of them who aren't working, yet STILL hire nannies (not housekeepers, but nannies).
The bottom line for a lot of the differences people here are mentioning is cultural values. Yes, we in the west usually leave our parent's house when we're 18. To Arabs this might seem cold and unkind, but I would guess that most westerners view this very differently because most of us yearn to be set free in the world, to be independent and not have anyone tell us what we can or can't do.
And if our parents charge us rent when we become adults and we still live at home (though honestly not all western parents do this, in fact I would say most do not), it's to teach us that money doesn't grow on trees and that we're responsibile for taking care of ourselves.
To be honest, there are a lot of parental behaviors here that seem overly-indulgent and irresponsible to me (buying kids anything and everything they want, not expecting kids to help out with chores around the house, doing everything FOR your child and not letting them become independent, etc.). But that's because of my cultural, socio-economic upbringing, I'm sure.
There are exceptions all over (some western parents don't teach their kids anything about personal responsibility, and some Arab parents aren't always there for their kids and will cut them off if they marry someone that they don't approve of), but I think there are some generalizations one can make.
But it's important to realize that a lot of these difference in attitudes and perspectives are influenced by culture, and that you can't necessarily say one is good or bad. It SEEMS that way to each of us because of what WE think is correct or better, but everything is relative.
"Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise."
-- Maya Angelou
Certainly if women are working mothers, they often need to hire nannies to help with the kids. But even though many more local women in Qatar are working, there are quite a number of them who aren't working, yet STILL hire nannies (not housekeepers, but nannies).
The bottom line for a lot of the differences people here are mentioning is cultural values. Yes, we in the west usually leave our parent's house when we're 18. To Arabs this might seem cold and unkind, but I would guess that most westerners view this very differently because most of us yearn to be set free in the world, to be independent and not have anyone tell us what we can or can't do.
And if our parents charge us rent when we become adults and we still live at home (though honestly not all western parents do this, in fact I would say most do not), it's to teach us that money doesn't grow on trees and that we're responsibile for taking care of ourselves.
To be honest, there are a lot of parental behaviors here that seem overly-indulgent and irresponsible to me (buying kids anything and everything they want, not expecting kids to help out with chores around the house, doing everything FOR your child and not letting them become independent, etc.). But that's because of my cultural, socio-economic upbringing, I'm sure.
There are exceptions all over (some western parents don't teach their kids anything about personal responsibility, and some Arab parents aren't always there for their kids and will cut them off if they marry someone that they don't approve of), but I think there are some generalizations one can make.
But it's important to realize that a lot of these difference in attitudes and perspectives are influenced by culture, and that you can't necessarily say one is good or bad. It SEEMS that way to each of us because of what WE think is correct or better, but everything is relative.
"Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise."
-- Maya Angelou