Maldivians becoming famous for staring

from link: Life in Maldives, Part Two By Alex Werth, Elliott Professor of Biology

One of disconcerting things about life in Maldives is that it’s normal to stare, not just at out-of-place Westerners like us but at everyone else, especially women (as someone from the US Embassy warned us, it’s more like leering). This seems jarring and unexpected for a strait-laced Islamic country, but it’s just the way things are. Maldivians are reserved and show little emotion, but once you know them they open up a bit. Anthropologist Clarence Maloney suggested that these people “who live a lifetime confined with the same fellow-islanders are bound to be restrained in exhibition of their emotion.” Since Maldivians live virtually on top of each other they must repress feelings, speaking quietly and with few gestures, meeting everything with a stoical calm. In short, they are polar opposites of our three year-old Gwen, who, as she runs screaming in circles, hands above head, tries to show them another way to live. She draws lots of stares.

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