The Identifiable Differences In Armenian Culture

Being a part of the Armenian community implies that you will not be discriminated against; however, having identifiable differences in Armenia was something that Armenians could not look past. Though Armenia strongly prohibited discrimination, there were still things to question such as, violence towards women and hatred towards homosexual. As mentioned in Chapter 10, “In France, the achievement of universal male suffrage under the Third Republic went hand in hand with the creation of a new republican empire based upon the principles of assimilation and Universalism.” In other words, to become a part of the Armenian culture you must first assimilate to their ideologies and change the way you live to take on the Armenian identity. In Armenia, the ideas of
violence against a woman is not prohibited. This misogynistic perspective has caused women to be fearful within Armenia. “Domestic violence in Armenia, as in many other places, is often justified as something the wife did to upset her husband. In Armenia, the first question asked by police, prosecutors, and judges when women are sexually assaulted by their husbands is often,” “What did you do to encourage this?” This is a form of slavery and proof of how the women of Armenia may feel as though they are in exile due to the prejudice against them. To take action against this discrimination, “In 2009, the U.N. Committee to Eliminate Discrimination against Women urged Armenia, “to adopt comprehensive measure to address.” Though this was called to question within the U.N., it was still not enough for the people of Armenia to prohibit such prejudice. Discrimination against women was not the only form of prejudice; people that were a part of the LGBT community face hatred within Armenia as well. Having such strong religious beliefs, Armenia inflicted hatred towards those that have decided to oppose their belief system.
The concept of Christianity was first established in Armenia-- “a religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its belief and practices.” This implies that anything that happened in Armenia that was not acceptable or that did not partake in the practice of Christianity meant that the people of Armenia would oppose it. Identity is key to Armenians, so taking on their universal view is important to the Armenian culture. Having people of the LGBT community within Armenia causes the people to feel shame or that they’ve disrespected Christianity. In the case of the LGBT organization, because it goes against Christian guidelines, people who partake in these practices are not seen as people of Armenia. According to Gabrielyan, “living in the provinces, an LGBT person is forced to hide his own nature, because he will not be accepted as an equal,”[...]LGBT people are one of the most marginalised, least visible and discriminated against groups.” Due to the cultural values instilled in Armenians, things such as homophobia is not acceptable amongst the Armenian
people. In conclusion, though discriminatory actions were not permissible there were situations which caused ideas to be put into question. Women being beaten with no prosecution in return for such a tragic experience displays discrimination. As well as people being a part of the LGBT community and not being treated as equal but instead as separate due to their identity differences. Since, identity has played a strong factor in Armenia, some may have felt compelled to act more aggressively than others thus questioning the Armenian identity.