If you want to write about an exotic other, it's helps to have some actual first-hand knowledge of the people and place to add nuance to your descriptions. Othe

If you want to write about an exotic other, it's helps to have some actual first-hand knowledge of the people and place to add nuance to your descriptions. Otherwise you're just misrepresenting other people's cultures for entertainment. You also end up saying really goofy contradictions like "wow, all these rights for women. Other than, you know, tangible political rights": >The Tuareg women, seen here arriving at the Tuareg Political Party speech in 2006, may not obviously be part of political life, but their opinion is highly valued by the men, who will likely discuss issues with their mother or wife. The opinions of wives and mothers have been "highly valued" by men in pretty much every culture and period of history. As long as those opinions are contained within the home and not shared too loudly or aggressively. Something about this article reminds me of the mindless reporting on "the Kurds", who are presented as a monolithically noble or progressive ethnicity, contrasted with their barbarous neighbors. This superficial gaze has to overlook that there was a large Islamist Tuareg faction (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansar_Dine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansar_Dine) that tried to take over Mali recently (and similarly there are many Kurds in the Islamic State).