Women's Rights
I was very upset when I read this post in Arabic by a fellow blogger, Raed Al-saed. It is a month old, but I have only came across it recently. Nevertheless, I felt so strongly against it that I had to post my reaction.While I always respect freedom of speech and the right for everyone to have their own opinions, I cannot stand ignorance! Raed put a disclaimer saying that he received this article as a forward in his email. However, that does not exonerate him from being affiliated to such an ignorant expression of opinion.
My argument is simple. I have three points to make:
- While it is true that there women as described in the article, he failed to recognize that there men that are jut as shallow, under-educated and useless. It is unfair and ignorant to generalize.
- The article describes a vicious cycle of ignorance. Men look down at women because of the way they have been raised, the women they have lived around and how their role models treated those women. When you shut-off women from participating in serious issues as well as fail to emphasize on them how important it is to be educated and a contributing member of society, what happens? They end up becoming individuals who are EXACTLY as described in the 'humorous' article. I do not blame anyone who ridicules a person who IS ignorant, useless and unsophisticated. However, the more you shut-off women, the worse the situation gets. I don't see how this is funny.
- It is foolish to discourage those women who did manage to escape the viscous cycle of ignorance. Those women are highly educated, qualified and not shallow. While there are some characters whom we may question their intentions, that is applicable to both men and women. I believe, however, the more there are people contributing to society, the more there will be people with good intentions who will weed out the pretenders.
Women's 'rights' in Saudi Arabis did not suddenly pop up after 9/11. There has always been great female role models. Those women are educated and contributing members of society who are great examples for both boys and girls.
I was offended. Ignorance is not funny. It is sad.
interesting read
posted by SunShine @ 10:10 a.m.
7 Comments:
it's just sad that these role models needed the support OF the MEN in their families to actually be able to do something.. :s
Great post. There are intelligent and capable women the world over. Ironically, I can't think of a single culture in which women have attained full human rights in which they were not fought for -- in many large and small ways -- by women!
I am in awe of the strength and fortitude exemplified by so many Saudi women. It is not easy, I realize . . . but great strides have been made, probably I would imagine with a tremendous support from many "unamed" mothers and grandmothers.
take it easy sister.. let those who think that their "rebellious" demeaning writing will be acknowledged..
Women have been on the forefront since ancient times, look at Pre-Islamic and Islamic times.. there's a lot to learn..
I can see why you would get pissed off, but you expressed your opinion clearly.. ma sha Allah
Keep it up, and I got ur back :P
Y
Sunshine,
Believe it or not I read Raed's post like long ago, and I was like (haha @ the screen) as you said quite ignorant..
and I NEVER forgot his post, because it was EXTREMLY annoying.
On thursday I remembered his post, I was at the bank (men's section) trying to deposit a cheque, and I cannot tell you I was number 30 in a long queue and guess what? no man tried to help me out or even ask me to sit, I remembered Raed's post, and I was like where are you Mr. Raed to see how equally we are treated... I wanted to take a picture of my self in that looong queue and post it, just to prove that hey we women do wait in long queues..
Good post sunshine :")
A Different Point of View:
I actually agree with the guy's post. The women described in that article -even though they're not a majority- should not whine and complain about their "ungiven rights".. They're actually being given thier (although different) rights.. they want to be able to spend money, sleep till noon, do nothing around the house, demand that they are always served first because they're "women".. they're not necessarily uneducated or ignorant.. it's their choice of life.. well, life is give and take.. they are taking all these "rights".. they have to give up the rest.. no one can have it all.. There is nothing that annoys me more than women who demand that their husbands buy them expensive clothes and extravagant jewelry, treat them like princesses, and so on.. then bitch when they're asked to give up something in return..
If they were the working type, who only spend their husband's money on reasonable things, do their share around the house, do not demand any special treatment because they're women.. now these are the women who actually deserve more, because they're giving more.. THESE are the women you're talking about Sunshine.. also not a majority :)
<<< nods head to DiDi
I agree with you. That's why you are my friend ;) you can look at things from an objective and open-minded poingt of view.
However, the article was generalizing. That's what bugged me.
Thanks to all of you for your comments!
Because I've also added this article to my blog, I thought I'd share my comment on what I feel about it.
If anything, what the guy has written is very applicable to quite a few (much higher percentage in Saudi society vs. other societies) women back home. For these types of women, these are the rights they want and these are the rights they get.
For all other women who want to be educated and treated equally on the fronts that really matter, it's a different story.
One must ignore the fact that the guy is also being sarcastic on quite a few instances. Creative writing and entertainment in general does have the tendency to be extreme (Tash ma tash, etc).
So let's all take a chill pill and take the article for what it really is, an exaggeration of a situation which, whether we want to believe it or not, is quite common.
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