#you did NOT sign up for this social commentary anon but the whole Iraq pronunciation thing rly did get my brain gears going lmao

[stuckinapril]

im brazilian and i've always pronounced Iraq as ih rack and i always get corrected😭 i just can't pronounced it like EYE RACK

Noooo that makes me so annoyed bc you’re literally doing it right!! Eye-rack is so aggressive and for what 😭😭

I’ve been thinking about why people don’t know even the faintest details about Iraqi culture (like these simple pronunciations), and I think a big reason is bc we don’t really have any Iraqi representation yet in mainstream media. It’s not like there’s an Iraqi main pop girl or an Iraqi model or an Iraqi actress who’s getting any Emmys rn, and as unfortunate as that is, western culture does tend to be synonymous with the global zeitgeist in a way other cultures aren’t. People just haven’t been incentivized to dig into Arab culture in general bc of this “deficiency,” for the lack of a better term.

I feel like a lot of other ethnicities have had their turn in terms of being at the top of pop culture, but I haven’t seen that happen yet w any Arabs. If a prominent Arab celebrity (let alone an Iraqi one!! I’d legit just be happy w an Arab one) existed, maybe Arab culture would be of more interest to the GP (or just less of a lightning rod for unfounded criticism and ridicule) 🤷‍♀️