I often wonder why feminists in our country are silent when it comes of the total opporession of women abroad, especially in the Middle East. This article puts it well. They have reframed oppression into a new brand of feminism. Wow, what a little relativism can do for one's perspective these days.
Then why a staunch Southern pro-lifer is backing Giuliani. It's short and sweet and well worth reading. I, as a conservative, Christian woman, strongly support Rudy because I think he's undoubtedly the best man for the job at this time of global war.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I think your assertion that feminists are silent when it comes to the issue of oppresion of women in the middle east is off the mark. Here are a few websites you might want to check: http://www.helpafghanwomen.com/
http://www.feminist.org/afghan/facts.html
Mavis Leno, wife of Jay Leno, was among the very few women in the mid-to-late 1990s who was speaking out about what the Taliban was doing to the women and children of Afghanistan.
I think the American feminist movement generally - and other worldwide organizations of a similar bent - have been very vocal about the rights women around the middle east (and Iraq in particular) have lost generally since the beginning of OIF.
http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?list=type&type=131
http://www.madre.org/sister/Iraq.html
I have personal knowledge of what life is like for women in the middle east, having lived from August, 2004-July, 2006 in Cairo, Egypt. Life is difficult for nearly all Egyptians, most especially women. Organizations like the State Department and USAid offer different types of programs to help end some of the more oppresive actions taken against women there, especially genital mutilation and health and child-rearing information.
http://egypt.usaid.gov/
http://hrw.org/women/overview-mena.html
It would be a mistake to assume that simply because the American feminist movement has not had marches about the issue in Pakistan, they do not care about the rights of women in the middle east.
Thank you for your comments and pointing out that, indeed, you can't generalize about this too much.
There are many women who call themselves feminists who do speak up about brutalities in many Muslim countries.
However, many, many other so- called feminists are silent, preferring rather to focus their attentions on triffles in the US like runnng Larry Summers out of town at Harvard.
Or they reframe female mutilation as another "lifestyle choice," or some such nonesense as that. I mean, come on now.
Please. I've never heard any feminist organizations describe FGM as a "lifestyle choice". It's disgusting, unhealthy and unsafe to all women, and should be banned everywhere.
The people who describe FGM as a "lifestyle choice" are people who live in the countries that practice and engage in this brutal tradition. I'm glad organizations like USAid are spending money to better inform those who practice this procedure - Muslim and Christian alike - that it's bad for women.
Post a Comment