> Actually, if you're a woman, there are *much* suckier rulers to live > under. (Or die under.) Saudi Arabia, for a biggie. Iraqi women > enjoy > greater freedoms than women in almost all other Mideast countries. So > if I were a woman in Iraq and knew that, sure it would suck, but many > other options would suck a lot worse.
> Julia > trying to remember which columnist it was that wrote the column that > brought this to her attention, so she could post a non-sucky link ... We decided that this was the article: > Iraq's Little Secret > > October 1, 2002 > By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF > > > > BAGHDAD, Iraq - The White House is right that Iraq is by > far the most repressive country in the entire Middle East - > but that's true only if you're a man. > > To see how many Arab countries are in some ways even more > repressive to women, consider how an invasion might play > out. If American ground troops are allowed to storm across > the desert from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, then American > servicewomen will theoretically not be able to drive > vehicles as long as they are in Saudi Arabia and will be > advised to wear an abaya over their heads. As soon as they > cross the border into enemy Iraq, they'll feel as if they > are entering the free world: they can legally drive, > uncover their heads, and even call men idiots. > > Iraqi women routinely boss men and serve in non-combat > positions in the army. Indeed, if Iraq attacks us with > smallpox, we'll have a woman to thank: Dr. Rihab Rashida > Taha, the head of Iraq's biological warfare program, who is > also known to weapons inspectors as Dr. Germ. > > A man can stop a woman on the street in Baghdad and ask for > directions without causing a scandal. Men and women can > pray at the mosque together, go to restaurants together, > swim together, court together or quarrel together. Girls > compete in after-school sports almost as often as boys, and > Iraqi television broadcasts women's sports as well as > men's. > > "No one thinks that sports are just for men," said Nadia > Yasser, the captain of the Iraqi national women's soccer > team. "It's true that my mother was a bit concerned at > first when I took up soccer, but I insisted, and so she > accepted it and just started praying for me." > > The point is not to be soft on Saddam Hussein, whose rash > wars and policies have killed hundreds of thousands of > women as well as men. Iraqi women would be much better off > with Saddam gone, and in any case the relative equality of > women in Iraq has little to do with his leadership. Iraq > has been civilized more than twice as long as Britain, > after all (it was old when Babylon arose), and Iraq got its > first woman doctor back in 1922. Then the Iran-Iraq war > boosted equality by sending men to the front lines and > forced women to fill in as factory workers, bus drivers and > government officials. > > Still, we shouldn't demonize all of Iraq - just its demon > of a ruler - and it's worth pondering this contrast between > an enemy that empowers women and allies that repress them. > This gap should shame us as well as these allies, reminding > us to use our political capital to nudge Arab countries to > respect the human rights not just of Kurds or Shiites, but > also of women. > > More broadly, in a region where women are treated as > doormats, Iraq offers an example of how an Arab country can > adhere to Islam and yet provide women with opportunities. > > "I look at women in Saudi Arabia, and I feel sorry for > them," said Thuha Farook, a young woman doctor in Basra. > "They can't learn. They can't improve themselves." > > At the Basra Maternity and Pediatric Teaching Hospital, 25 > of the 26 students in ob-gyn are women. Across town, 54 > percent of Basra University's students are female. > > Iraqi women who work typically get six months' maternity > leave at full pay and another six months at half pay. > Subsidized day care is usually available at the workplace. > Female circumcision, still common in American allies like > Egypt and Nigeria, is absent in Iraq. > > To be sure, aside from brutal political repression that is > gender-blind, Iraqi women also endure groping on crowded > buses and an occasional honor killing, in which a man kills > a daughter or sister for being unchaste. Honor killings > typically result in a six-month prison sentence in Iraq; > they sometimes go completely unpunished in other countries. > > A glance around any Baghdad street also demonstrates that > Iraq doesn't have hang-ups about the female body that > neighboring countries do. A man can travel widely in the > Arab world and know about women's legs only by hearsay, but > careful reporting in Iraq confirms that Arab women do have > knees: In Baghdad I saw women volleyball players who felt > uninhibited enough to roll up their sweats. > > So as we invade Iraq for its barbaric and repressive ways, > our allies in the Muslim world should feel deeply > embarrassed that a rogue state offers women more equality > than they do. > > >http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/01/opinion/01KRIS.html?ex=1034961041&ei=1&en=b3d3a3d828650037 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l