Iran culture is also known as Persian culture; in this particular culture, there are four predominant ethnic minority groups or subcultures.

The first group is the Azeris, the largest ethnic minority with over 18 million people. Their community is Shiite (Believe the leadership of the community belong to Muhammad Ali and his successors) and mainly lives in the northwest of Iran by the border with Azerbaijan and Tehran. The people are not treated as second-class citizens and are being integrated into Iranian society, business and politics compare to other minorities. Their only complaint is that they feel they are made fun of by the media, especially by some cartoons the media released comparing then to cockroaches. 

The second group is the Kurds, a Sunni community (Believe Muhammad Ali had no rightful heir to lead their community), who live in the northwest area and are only around 7% of the population (not even 4 million people). The Kurds are the most violent of the ethnicities, the government fear of this community because they never know what they might unveil. Besides, some experts say that they have ties with Israel and has helped Israel boost their intelligence gathering. 

The third community is the Arabs, who live by the Iranian-Iraqi border in the southwest part of the country and are only 3 million of them. They are mainly Shiite and the most independent group. 

The fourth group is the Baluchis, only 1.4 million of them (less than 2% of the population), live in Baluchistan a region divided between Pakistan and Iran. They are Sunni who lives in the less developed part of the country, elevating the unemployment rates. Still, their land has been used as a military base, giving them some work opportunities. These four groups make Iran be what it is and give the country the diversity needed for their needs.

Between Colombia and Iran, who has an overall higher score according to the Hofstede website? As a whole Colombia surpasses Iran with more than 50 points, but in which areas does each country stand out the most? As you may already know Colombia and Iran are to drastically different countries but they do have one quality in common, and that is their long-term orientation. The stats sure say they have one point difference but that does not mean they have something different. They both have a strong concern with establishing the absolute truth, the people only want to know the absolute truth and do not care for any speculations. It is like the phrase they say to you in court when you are going under oath, “ I swear that the evidence that I shall give, shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God”. Still, they do differ in the majority of qualities, regarding power distance Colombia is a society that believes that inequalities amongst people are simply a fact of life; while Iran is a society in which people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which need no further justification. For individualism, Colombia has its strong identities tied to class distinctions, when Iran has a close lose long-term commitment to family, extended family, or extended relationships. The masculinity aspect of Colombia is pretty competitive and status-oriented, while Iran`s is considered a feminine country who focus in “working to live”, they strive for consensus; people value equality, solidarity, and quality in their working lives. The uncertainty avoidance for Colombia is to mainly seek mechanisms to avoid ambiguity and Iran usually maintains rigid traditions and do not tolerate untraditional ideas. Lastly, the indulgence quality with a 43 point gap between the countries, says that Colombia always realizes that their impulses and desires are regarding having fun, while Iran tends cynicism and pessimism. As said earlier they are two different countries, which means that they surely had different qualities.

Iran culture is in between multi-active and reactive classification.

Multi-active:

• Talkative, people-oriented, multitasks; speak and listen at the same time, Interrupt frequently, don’t like silence.
• Relationships are important, face-to-face, dialogue-oriented.
• Not interested in deadlines, procrastinate, not obsessed with punctuality, flexible with plans, good improvising, value privacy, family-oriented, negotiate.

Reactive: 

• Don’t initiate discussion; listen first.
• Do not let their minds wander; do not interrupt, into silence.
• Do not voice strong opinions.

The Iran Culture as you may see is a mixture because; they have some characteristics from both classifications, in this case multi-active and reactive. Their culture is people-oriented and they try to speak and listen because they have something to say always. They believe relationships between families are very important for their lineage and that’s the reason why they have arranged marriages, also they tend to negotiate and be family-oriented. In the other hand they don’t like to initiate discussions and don’t let their minds wander, still they have very strong opinions. This means that they are more of a multi-active culture than a reactive one.

In Barranquilla Iran culture has not much to worry about, because Colombians and specially costeños are extroverted and are very people/family-oriented. Barranquilleros love to discuss but they normally tend to start those discussions, which could be a deal breaker in this case, however they also believe all kinds of relationships are important and they are really friendly, the only other thing is that they tend to procrastinate in work are never punctual and tend to change plans very last minute.

How different can gender stereotypes be? Truth be told women should be able to do whatever they please, but does it really happen in every culture? The fact that the answer to that specific question is no, makes me wonder how are Colombian women born under a lucky star compared to Irani women?  Colombia and Iran are two completely different countries and with drastically different cultures, never the less we live in 2019 a year of equality. Nowadays, women can work, study and choose their couple, they are able to live their lives the way they want to, or at least that’s how they do it in Colombia. In Iran, it may be considered as a violation of their traditions and cultures. It may be surreal to other people but to them it is normal, women are supposed to be taking care of the home that they are not able to work or study. Also, their parents are the ones choosing who she marries because they want to preserve a certain lineage.  Getting drunk, partying all night, having a polyamorous relationship or even wearing tight-fitting and revealing clothing may be completely normal in Colombia but again it is not in Iran. As you may have seen in the tabloids many people are having polyamorous relationships and celebrities getting drunk, yet none of that is adequate in women according to Iran’s cultural traditions. However, Colombian women may do whatever they want with their lives and even though not many people think of it as a great thing. But what would happen if an Irani women go and fools around and get drunk showing off all of her assets? For Irani men, women have to behave a certain way and that is definitely not the way to do so. Since they have to take care of their children and their house, and they can’t be seen by any other men rather than their husband, going around the city as many Colombian women do is appreciated nor allowed in this particular culture. Last especially not least, women in Iran will never be seen as breadwinners because they are not able to work, and men are the ones responsible for providing for their families. In Colombia however, it is the opposite, in Colombian culture people embrace women as breadwinners. For example, Crepes and Waffles is a ginormous Colombia restaurant chain which embraces these types of women. To conclude, we live in 2019 a year of raising gender equality, but the world still has those culture and traditions that do not allow any of it. Colombia and Iran have two different cultures with two different perspectives on women lives. Most importantly, these two cultures show us how diverse the world is.

My name is Roshell Schmulson. I was born in Dallas, Texas, United States of America, but I have been living all my life in Barranquilla, Colombia. I am studying Comunication and Jorunalism in Barranquilla at Universidad del Norte. I like sports such as, baseball, soccer and tennis. In my free time I like to do excersise and have time with my family.

These blog is going to be about severals cultures and new information about it. Also, I am going to post the writings I am going to do in all the semester.

I hope you like and coment in my post so I can know wich is you point of view.