The revolutions sweeping the Middle East have brought many novel images to the American public. One image in particular shocked the media talking heads: the Arab woman, taking an equal role in her country’s revolution.
Who knew that the Middle Eastern woman was so capable?
For example, in Egypt, a woman named Asmaa Mahfouz, founder of the “April 6th” movement, is responsible for a number of the protests that have been credited for the mass mobilizations of citizens that eventually led to their liberation.
And Gigi Ibrahim, a political activist, captivated the world with her reports from Tahrir Square.
Women were present at all stages of the Egyptian revolution and took equal responsibility, something Western media was definitely not expecting.
Libyan women are protesting alongside the men in support of democracy. Pictures from Benghazi, Libya, show women (veiled and unveiled) actively participating in the rebel headquarters, talking to media and formulating strategy.
In Bahrain, Yemen, Tunisia and Algeria, women from all walks of life are protesting with men about the same issues: neoliberal economic policies, oppression and inequality.
The reason our media finds this so surprising is because they were caught off guard by their own stereotypes. The Arab women weren’t conforming to media perceptions!
With great fascination, the fate of these female protestors became a popular topic on the evening news. Pundits formulated theories that the Islamic nature of these societies would marginalize women eventually.
What these ethnocentric analysts seem to have forgotten is that the marginalization of women has never been a solely Muslim problem.
Women everywhere face sexism, objectification and unequal treatment. After all, a women’s right to an abortion is still contested in this country, as is her right to equal pay. The women of the Middle East in particular have been just as marginalized by secular, nationalist and communist movements in the past.
Female participation in these uprisings has certainly had a positive effect on gender relations, but, of course, a revolution is not a magic pill.
Women in the Middle East, like women all over the world, face many obstacles on their road to emancipation.
Nevertheless, female involvement in the Arab uprisings has shown that the revolutions can — and will — help pave the way to greater gender equality in the future.
this Kurd lady really deserves a thumbs up… good job….
a shining example of what the future of the middle east will look like… thank you to the author for a positive and inspiring article….
so glad the daily cougar is paying due attention to the peoples uprisings in the Arab world… we need to know more and more Dana…. kudos….
excellent as usual
GREAT ARTICLE
don't you understand what the article is saying? clearly NO
muslims don't have a "system of gender roles" the system is effed up everywhereeee and womyn everywhere need to free themselves.
it is actually racist, what you are implying. that muslims are naturally oppressive of women. racist as usual, rickydicky
So Muslim culture doesn't oppress women?
I thought they forced women to cover up themselves. I thought that a women can be killed for extramarital sex if they are raped. I thought that Sharia courts in Iran required at least 4 witnesses to acquit a woman of such a charge.
'Muslim's don't have a system of gender roles'
I suppose that CBS reporter who was assaulted by group of Muslim men in Egypt found that out first hand.
'the system is effed up everywhereeee and womyn everywhere need to free themselves.'
from the 'gender roles' that don't exist?
'it is actually racist, what you are implying. that muslims are naturally oppressive of women.'
>Implying that Muslim is a race. That sure is ignorant
' racist as usual, rickydicky'
>implying that I'm a WASP and I hate everything that isn't like me (neither of which is true)
Please learn to spell and learn some facts.
Whats a dip$hit. I challenge you to dispute my facts.
Also I took your advice and googled 'womyn' (BTW auto-correct says its 'women') I came up with this and I quote, 'Invented as another word for woman, basically code for lesbian, judging by the people who are dumb enough to call themselves that. Us womyn are just slaves under the tyranny of men!!!!!!!!!'
Not my words but that's what came up.
You just said it, you are a WASP and you hate everything that isn't like you…this is the only right sentence in your ill comments.
So being the son of Jewish and Cherokee parents makes me a WASP?
I challenge you to prove anything else I said wrong.
lolling so hard at this
despite what glenn beck yowls at you, most western countries also tend to have pretty messed up attitudes about gender roles. its almost as if the problem lies with the human condition in general and not with islam in particular.
Dispute a fact brosef. I'm waiting.
you didn't put forth any facts. just some squishy feelings about "muslim culture", as if islam is some monolithic entity. i have no interest in convincing you that islam is not evil, just like i wouldn't care to convince a white supremacist that blacks aren't inferior, or that gays aren't the devil.
Genius article. Way to Go, Dana
Dana must not know much about her religion. Mohammed treated women as chattle and so it has been ever since.
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/010-women…
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/022-man-i…
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/12/sharia-in-sudan…
LOLOLOL you assume the author is muzlim? that's hi-larious. where has she implied that?
Here:
https://thedailycougar.com/2011/01/21/arab-student…
From that article: "as an Arab-American student on the MAL team, I faced racism of the worst kind". Also,
"All I ask, and all my community asks.."
Arabs aren't muslims. Nice try, yo yo
aren't all muslims, i mean. there are arab jews and arab christians as well.
1. I am quite certain she is not Jewish.
2. I am interested to know how many Arab Christians there are who weekly post articles concerning Arab Muslim rights and life in America, Palestine/Israel, or the Middle East.
so the author is interested in the region she comes from. how does that say anything about what religion she is? and why would that be an accusation?
just fyi, there are plenty of arab christians who are involved with the palestine/israel issue, the middle east, and arab muslim rights. ever heard of hanan ashrawi, azmi bishara, ameer makhoul, george habash, huwaida arraf, edward said, joseph massad, or ray hanania? These are just a FEW of the many. all of these people write much more than a weekly article in a university paper. edward said was christian and he wrote about discrimination against muslims and middle easterners almost exclusively.
woooowwww you should check out the topic before you run your mouth.
She mad Yoyo. She's a crazy feminist. Don't argue with fools. They bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Just let her scream and cry and rave about her beliefs. No one will listen or care and then life goes on.
uh..i'm not a girl. but i am a feminist! one for one rickydicky
and i find your comments hi-larious seeing as how you seek out these articles every week and comment on them with irrelevant comments just because you're so angry. lololol i can tell you don't "care" at all 😉
I challenge you to show me an irrelevant comment I have posted. You seem to never post facts just opinions and poorly spelled words. There is a spell check feature on here.
google "womyn" rickydicky. it's a real word, you're just too ignorant to know what it means.
I don't use wikipedia because it is very unreliable so I checked the first website after wikipedia and got this:
"womyn – Invented as another word for woman, basically code for lesbian, judging by the people who are dumb enough to call themselves that.
Us womyn are just slaves under the tyranny of men!!!!!!!!!"
Not my words. Anyway, you have yet to disprove any of my points. You just like throwing insults at me. And its RickyRicardo. Not 'rickydicky'
wikipedia is too unreliable, let me bust out urbandictionary to look this up.
i mean, look at you. what are you doing?
There's a joke in there somewhere but I just can't find it. Still waiting for someone to prove something I said wrong.
rickydick: "all muslims hate women! feminists are all lesbians! prove me wrong, libruls!"
1. You are the one bringing up the accusation.
2. I was genuinely curious. By the size of your reply it is evident that you are the loquacious one.
well i'm glad i could teach you something.
Yeah Yoyo. Your lesson was:
"Don't try arguing with me because I have nothing substantial to say!"
hey rickydicky, this thing where you latch onto other posters who won't even acknowledge you is a little desperate. just fyi
>Implying I'm grinding for attention on a college newspaper website.
If anything I'd say thats you. Seeking out every article and looking for people to mess with. Never posting facts, just baseless assumptions and empty opinions.
i am here to blow off steam and hate on dumb bigots, guppy.
Mohamad (PBUH) gave women in ancient Arab society many many rights, including the right to own business, go to war with the men, own her own property, make decisions about her own body (including abortion and birth control), make decisions about her children, and move in the public sphere freely (including ruling tribes and later on as sultanas).
What happens today in the kingdom of saudi arabia or the islamic republic of iran is not Islam. It is patriarchal perversion, using islam as an excuse. just like the highly sexualized view of women in the West is not reflective of Christianity. many more countries in the middle east are liberal, saudi and iran are outliers and extremes which racists like you will attempt to highlight in order to push bigoted agendas.
Qur'an (4:11) – (Inheritance) "The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females" (see also verse 4:176).
Qur'an (2:282) – (Court testimony) "And call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not found then a man and two women." Muslim apologists have sometimes creatively tried to explain why a woman's testimony is worth half that of a man's under Islamic law (based on this verse) while still attempting to maintain the semblance of equality. Unfortunately for them, studies consistently show that women are less likely to tell lies than men, meaning that they would make more reliable witnesses in any court – were it not for Islam's obvious sexism.
Qur'an (2:228) – "and the men are a degree above them [women]"
Qur'an (5:6) – "And if ye are unclean, purify yourselves. And if ye are sick or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it" Men are to rub dirt on their hands if there is no water to purify them following casual contact with a woman (such as shaking hands).
Qur'an (24:31) – Women are to lower their gaze around men, so they do not look them in the eye. (To be fair, men are told to do the same thing in the prior verse).
Qur'an (2:223) – "Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will…" A man has dominion over his wives' bodies as he does his land. This verse is overtly sexual. There is some dispute as to whether it is referring to the practice of anal intercourse, which it has been used historically to justify. If this is what Muhammad meant, however, then it would appear to contradict what he said in Muslim (8:3365).
Qur'an (4:3) – (Wife-to-husband ratio) "Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four"
Qur'an (53:27) – "Those who believe not in the Hereafter, name the angels with female names." Angels are sublime beings, and would therefore be male.
Qur'an (4:24) and Qur'an (33:50) – A man is permitted to take women as sex slaves outside of marriage. Note that the verse distinguishes wives from captives (those whom they right hand possesses).
1. The bible also mentions polygamy.
2. Qur'an 2:223 is not unique. Women in Europe up until the 1800s were considered chattel. Remember the infamous rule in England that the stick used to beat your wife can not be thicker than a man's thumb?
tl;dr
do you have any sources where the author's agenda isn't in the URL thx