First off, I’d like to offer my heartfelt condolences to all those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan; my thoughts are with you.
Now, I’d like to talk about women in the Arab world. Personally, when I was in Egypt, I found that women were certainly treated much differently than they are in the United State. For example, at the fairly liberal university I attended, there were two gyms: one was a coed, state-of-the-art gym in which the only women I saw were American, while the other was a women-only gym that was small, cramped, and windowless, located in the basement. While there were undoubtedly both men who respected women (the men who asked me to help them on a school project) and women who pushed the limits and made their voices heard (my professor who wore sleeveless tops and wrote inflammatory articles), there were also paternalistic men (the shopkeeper who refused to barter with me since there was a man in our group) and submissive women.
Particularly in Egypt and Tunisia, as the revolts are beginning to reach their goals, there are now questions on the status of women. So far, I have seen conflicting reports; some are noticing that this is an opportunity for women to come and take back any power they lack, while others seem to think that women may be excluded from major changes.
The Boston Globe’s article quoted Isobel Coleman, who wrote Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Woman Are Transforming The Middle East, as cautioning women in Egypt and Tunisia to be careful, especially as there are powerful Islamist groups in both countries. Still, the article notes that the UN is working to help women; the 2009 UN Arab Human Development Report highlighted the problem, and the head of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile, recently stood up in support of Arab women.
A blog on Al-Jazeera’s Web site noted that there was a march in Tahrir Square, home of most of Egypt’s revolts, on International Women’s Day (March 8), though it was notably initially attended by a higher percentage of men than of women. Furthermore, many of the women there did not even realize that it was the holiday. Of the women there who were aware, however, several made surprising comments, including one named Iman, who told the blogger, Fatma Naib, that she did not think the country was ready for a female president yet; rather, women should be groomed for parliamentary seats.
Photo Courtesy of isafmedia
Women in the Kunar district of Afghanistan celebrating International Women's Day
The post noted the presence of an anti-women crowd; as disheartening as this is, I was comforted to see the no-nonsense reply of one woman to someone decrying the possibility of women in office: “Well, then, don’t vote for her.” Still, the organizers were sad that the day ended in hostility; while I certainly am sad that it was reduced to this, I suppose it is a positive sign that the climate is such that they were surprised at the hostility, rather than expecting it.
An article from Bloomberg’s Web site further opines that women in Egypt need to be careful, given that they currently are being excluded from the Constitution’s revision. The article quotes the cofounder of a campaign aiming to end women’s inequality in Iran, Sussan Tahmasebi, as saying, “Legal guarantees are absolutely critical. This is the moment Egyptian women and Egyptians really need to seize to ensure that women benefit from equal rights. Women’s rights are human rights, you cannot bargain us away.”
The article further noted that in 1957, Egypt became the first country to elect women to parliament; still, in 2005, only four women won seats, though the People’s Assembly then created 64 positions for women. It is currently not certain whether those spots will remain under the newly formed government.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reported on Hillary Clinton’s speech at the Women in the World conference in New York regarding both Egypt and Tunisia. She noted both that both countries served as inspiration but that, “Unfortunately, in both countries now there is a very real danger that the rights and opportunities of women could be eroded in this transition period.” Not good.
Photo courtesy of Medill DC
Hillary Clinton at the 2011 International Women of Courage Awards on March 8
Still, Clinton later promised support, saying “The United States will stand firmly for the proposition that women must be included in whatever process goes forward. No government can succeed if it excludes half of its people from important decisions.” This will certainly not help counter the claims that the United States and the West are behind these miscreant women (voiced at International Women’s Day march in Cairo), but this is yet another decision that the United States will have to make: involve itself or not?
Women’s rights have become less of an issue in the United States (though the glass ceiling still has yet to be broken), and it is easy to forget that it is still even a problem at all. Clinton, however, hit the nail on the head: women are half the population. It does not matter what the oppression is, but any action that tells them that they are not welcome or valuable will harm their cause, and harm the country. Given the reputation of many Muslim countries as oppressing women, from the difficulties in Afghanistan getting women into schools to reported voting bans for Saudi women, these critical turning points in the countries’ histories are crucial to instilling women’s rights as a new tradition.
Egypt and Tunisia already sparked one revolution; I think they have it in them to spark another.
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