Known to be a prominent strength in the Syrian (and Arab) community, mockery is the act of diminishing a serious matter by making it appear feeble, trivial, or even insignificant. It occurs when someone creatively transforms a sincere topic into something weak or unimportant, often through sarcastic comments, derisive gestures, or scornful tones. Mockery, whether intentional or inadvertent, can leave a recipient feeling diminished and undervalued in one instance, and a critical topic unaddressed and sabotaged in another.

You open up to a friend about your excitement for an upcoming music performance, and you are met with, “Here goes Beethoven.” You bring up a new perspective and you are met with “Dakheelak,” “God have mercy on your grandfather” (a statement used to elicit shame from ancestors), or other classic, diminishing phrases.

Although this art is a great representation of one’s talent, it seriously hinders our ability to adopt new ideas and, God forbid, change. You are not required to accept every new idea that comes your way. However, you are required to carefully consider and analyze it before undermining it due to your artsy edge. This habit leaves us collectively stagnant. There is nothing a mocker cannot completely destroy, all they need is a bit of creativity.

Why we mock:

1. We block certain thoughts, ideas, or actions in our own lives, so we project by blocking them for other people through mockery, even when those blocks are socially constructed and completely made up.
2. We are insecure about the topic brought up, so we revert to the quick shortcut of bringing someone down instead of getting in touch with our own value, power, and uniqueness.
3. We are close-minded and assume a topic is unimportant because we do not participate in it in our own lives. We are not curious enough to listen to new perspectives