Traditional values tend to shape the average Qatari person’s social and cultural life, which remains strongly centered on the family. The father has the dominant role in the family. The place of women is still overwhelmingly the home, but with the government’s active encouragement, women are increasingly entering government and private business employment. Unlike in neighboring Saudi Arabia, gender segregation in the workplace is not strictly enforced in Qatar.
Qataris have used their oil-derived incomes to build new houses with modern amenities, purchase automobiles, and travel overseas. Dress remains largely traditional. In the hot season men wear a loose-fitting cotton cloak called a dishdasha, over which, in cooler weather, they don a bisht, or woolen cloak. Qatari women wear a loose, concealing garment called an abaya, and are frequently seen veiled or wearing a beak-like leather mask called a burka over the face. The Qatari diet features lamb, rice, and local fish. Coffee is not merely a beverage but an important focus of ceremonial and social life as well. Most social recreation is in the home, although increasingly Qataris enjoy eating out and driving in the desert interior. South Asians and other expatriates maintain their own distinctive lifestyles. There are no major tensions between ethnic groups, nor between Sunni and Shia Muslims. The crime rate in Qatar is extremely low and poverty is almost unknown.
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