Activities for YOUNG WOMEN
Young Bosniak women hang out at the Sebilj Fountain in the central Trg Golub Square of Bascarsija, Sarajevo.
While there are certainly similarities between every country, a sort of
global culture with slight variations throughout the world, there are
also many differences.
When an American woman might go to the beach with her boyfriend, an
Iranian woman might go to the ski hills with her girlfriends. When a
French woman might go to the riverside to read, a Russian woman might
go to gymnastics practice.
I'm curious what are the most common activities for young girls in your
part of the world and what religious, political, national reasons may
be behind them.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, most activities for women center around just
that - women. While it is certainly common to see young men and women
doing things together, is is noticably less common than in Western
Europe. It's rare to see a young woman in Bosnia and Herzegovina
walking either alone, or with a man who is not her boyfriend.
The most popular activities for young women on a daily sense are the
same as they are everywhere else - hanging out with friends. In Bosnia
and Herzegovina, this generally involves going to a cafe to spend away
the afternoon or sitting at one of the local "hang outs" (Sebilj
Fountain, the steps of Katedrala, public parks, and any part of the
city where the streets are steep enough that the sidewalks are stairs
good for sitting on).
The most common (not most popular, most girls say they despise it)
activity for young women are cultural organizations. They learn
traditional folk dances and crafts and perform them at special events
in their towns and cities. These organizations are generally all
gender-mixed, except in the most traditional of areas.
Anything considered western is also very popular among young women,
including open mic rapping contests, visiting plays or ballets, and
shopping. Bosnian culture is very, very obcessed with female beauty
(like Colombia, or Italy) and it's actually considered a worthwhile
activity to go walking through downtown (mainly Ferhadija Street,
nicknamed the Catwalk), and show yourself off.
Going to any of the rivers near the city (mainly the Miljacka and
Bosna) for swimming is also popular with secular girls, while more
traditional girls will hang out in the courtyard of their mosques. It
might look different on the surface but their independence and
interaction with men at the mosque is the same as the independence and
interaction with men among girls hanging out in modern clothes at the
fountains.
At night the most popular activities are more specific. People will
hang-out outside on the streets, usually somewhere where they sit
together always every night with the same group of friends, or they'll
go to the cafes. 10 is the cultural hour for school age children to
come home and it's pretty common to see young women in an absolute mad
rush to make it home by that time - sort of reflects the still strong
role of parent's words.
And that's all I can think of. lol Share some examples too!