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In one of her songs, country singer Shania Twain croons about all the
things women do these days -- they are judges, politicians, doctors and soldiers, to name a few.
Not mentioned in
the song, but occurring more frequently as the global war on terrorism continues, is something else: female fliers in combat
missions over Afghanistan.
How the Saudis Treat Women
The Asia Times reports on an entourage of Saudi princes vacationing
in Spain:
When they were received by the chair of the Saudi parliament,
Salih bin Abdullah bin Humaid, the women [European Parliament] deputies were "denied the honor of a handshake or eye-to-eye
contact", said [Italian member Emma] Bonino, while explanations that Islam considers women to be different from men were addressed
to the male deputy guest.
Several Spanish media outlets reported that a British agency
has provided a large group of women to accompany the Saudi men during their vacations in Spain, on two conditions: the women
must be young and blonde, and must be replaced every 15 days.
Although prostitution is legal in Spain, procuring is punishable
by law. Nevertheless, no authority or organization has moved against the British agency, even though the contract was made
public.
-- As published in OpinionJournal, 5 Sept 02
A Teen Blogress: Now That's Progress
The New York Times magazine reports from Iran on the difficulties of maintaining
a culturally backward society amid technological progress:
The computer has become particularly important in the lives of urban girls,
often confined at home by traditionalist parents who, by the same token, have absolutely no clue what their daughters are
doing online.
A lot of what they're doing, it turns out, is blogging. For the uninitiated,
a blog is a Web log, a kind of online diary or journal. Many blogs, Iranian or otherwise, are boring accounts of people's
daily lives, or gibberish-like streams of consciousness. But in Iran, bolstered by the anonymity their computer screens provide,
female bloggers are catching attention for their daring and articulate mix of politics, dirty jokes and acid comment.
Here a female blogger simply lets rip: "I hate those people who pray and
with their prayers make our life a disaster. I hate all those dumb people who go to those marches and shout 'Down with America.'
I hate those people I am supposed to bribe for no reason." And then: "I hate cigarettes, I hate men and I hate my emotions
as a woman. I hate that feeling of lust and I hate my big nose." In a country where a court can sentence a woman to be stoned
to death, and 13-year-old brides are nothing extraordinary, such words amount to the most outrageous sedition and heresy.
Here's an example of what motivates the young blogresses:
Soon a police doctor will administer a compulsory virginity test, the result
of which may have a profound effect on the rest of Fatimah's life. . . . In Tehran, some surgeons specialize in restoring
a girl's virginity, technically speaking at least. This illegal operation costs $50. Abortion, of course, is also strictly
illegal, except under certain conditions, like a threat to the woman's life. So the current price of a back-alley abortion
can run as high as $500. If the father has fled, . . . young women have been known to sleep with another man and convince
him that the pregnancy is his responsibility.
Meanwhile, the Guardian quotes a "senior Western diplomat" in Tehran: "No
one is saying it out loud, but the secret hope of many Iranians is that if the US army takes neighbouring Iraq, it will come
and straighten out this place as well."
Seditious Fashion Statements
The Jerusalem Post reports an Israeli Arab fashion designer is "being attacked"--though
thus far only verbally--by the Islamic Movement in Israel and by the terror group Hamas because of a dress she designed. "Not
only do they consider the dress immodest, but it carries on it three of the 99 asma, or attributes, of Allah," the Post reports.
-- Excerpted and edited from "OpinionJournal - Best of the Web
Today", by JAMES TARANTO) September 04, 2002
Burka, Burqa, Burkha, Hijab or Chador...
...they're still like wearing circus
tents.
Burka, Burqa, Burkha, Hijab or Chador...
...they're still like wearing circus
tents.
As Afghanistan is being freed from Taliban rule,
only some women have taken off their burqas (the covering they must wear that covers them head to toe with only a small mesh
screen to peer out of). Some say they are still unsure of the response they will get. Under Taliban rule, women were routinely
beaten or even stoned to death for breaking the severe restrictions imposed on females. Others say they fear the men of the
Northern Alliance, who have been reported to have raped and beaten women during their campaigns.
Before the wars that
have torn their country apart, Afghanistan was one of the most progressive Muslim nations. Women were doctors, lawyers, teachers.
Under the Taliban they were forbidden even to learn to read. Depression at their hopeless situation caused some women to take
their own lives. How long will it take them to recover and regain the place in society they formerly achieved? Is the place
of women in the Western world really the epitome of freedom they should aim for?
The news has already shown how the
Afghani people have begun watching TV sets again. But some would say that the images shown on Western television only subjugate
women in a different way -- instead of the comparative safety of the burqa, women's bodies and faces
are exposed for comparison shopping.
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