**It’s been a while, huh? No worries, I’m still alive. I’ll post privately in a bit for those that are curious to what the hell is up with my disappearance.**
It’s no secret that women in the Arab world are killed legally by their male relatives when the women have "dishonored" the family. Regardless of what people think, this isn’t an Islam doctrine, it’s a cultural doctrine. What’s the difference, you ask? It means that there’s nothing in the Qur’an that calls on a woman to be killed if she was raped or a strange man on the street looked on her bare ankle. Because of this, American born and raised Muslims don’t have a tendency to kill their sisters and mothers for some perceived slight on the family. It’s against the Muslim doctrine to kill wives and sisters, but it’s fully acceptable by cultural standards- which have caused clerics and leaders to translate the laws of Islam to fit within their societal standards. Let’s break it down a little more with a small comparison.
In the U.S. divorce is a cultural norm. It’s legal despite the religion of the couple being divorced. But Christian doctrine decries divorce and calls a man who divorces and remarries an "adulterer" (same for the woman). Because the Bible doesn’t recognize divorce as culturally acceptable, the Bible considers the man to have two wives- which in itself didn’t used to be wrong until the New Testament, but that’s not the point. Adulterers should be killed, according to that particular religious doctrine, but our cultural mores say divorce is legal and right and not a stoning offense and so translation of said book has changed according to what the law allows. Consider that Mormonism allowed for multiple wives, but cultural norms of the majority abhorred (and still do) that practice. Polygamy was outlawed and Mormons changed to suit the laws of the society in which they live.
Still confused? Still can’t quite separate cultural doctrine from religious doctrine when related to those who we hate because they don’t like us (or whatever reason we hate them, I’m a little lost right now because it changes so much)?
Let’s pretend that Jesus and Mohammad haven’t been born yet. Hell, let’s make Buddha join them in the great abyss- just to be fair. Without them we are left simply with societies ruled by cultural norms. What must it have been like in the Middle East prior to them and/or without them? According to what is known, women were treated as cattle, husbands took multiple wives, foreigners were regularly enslaved, female children were killed at birth, etc etc etc. Even in what became primarily Christian strongholds, women were less than dirt and treated as such. In the desert, culturally accepted practices varied from tribe to tribe, of course. In some places the honor of the family was the most important thing, above all else. And women, the jewels of the herd, were guardians of that honor. If they weren’t strong enough to protect themselves, then WHAP! That was culturally accepted. This was accepted even in societies that adopted Christianity. Women often received death penalties while the punishment for men who offended the women was a monetary fine (or he had to give so many heads of cattle, whichever he could afford).
But the view that women were crap wasn’t just an Arab thing. This view was held in most societies throughout the world. Look at any nation’s history and you’ll see a cultural of abhorrent behavior toward women. Until very recently it was acceptable for a man to beat his wife and children. Women in the United States weren’t allowed to vote or file for divorce (What? Really? Of course, divorce was relatively rare and seriously frowned upon). And if a woman in the U.S. was raped? She didn’t get stoned (not anymore) but she was shunned and the blame was put on her shoulders (and sometimes still is).
Then, of course, there was genocide which was common among Christian nations. Killing with small pox ridden blankets? That was ok because they weren’t Christian. Did the Bible- or Jesus - say to annihilate entire cultures because they weren’t believers? No, but someone translated something therein to fit their purposes and gone are ancient societies such as the Mayan. Pre-Christian European societies accepted the practice of killing off entire cities of their enemies. Look at their history of castles, enslavement, rebellion and just basic savagery. That became part of their translation of what the Bible called on them to do. Crusades anyone?
What the hell is my point?
My point is that there are ignorant, power-hungry people strewn throughout history that have used their religious text to excuse abhorrent behavior that has always been a part of their culture. When their culture changes (or when a member of that religion enters a society where certain behavior is not acceptable) their translation of religious text changes. The meaning of the doctrine of that text changes. And so…
It’s not Islam, you fools. It’s the culture. The only way the culture will change is if the people within are educated. By "the people within" I mean the women so that they can educate their sons and daughters. The sons grow up to be different and their society changes. And the leaders will then translate their religious text differently. Middle Eastern women need more exposure to strong feminists to show them that change can happen and it is good.
Religion can be blamed for many of history’s woes. But that’s a little unfair, because the only way people can use religion against other people is if the underlying culture allows it. The Bible was used to excuse many of Christianity’s genocidal tendencies, but our culture has almost completely eradicated that. The Bible is now translated in a completely different way. The same way that the Qur’an is translated completely different in the U.S. than it is in the Middle East. Change the culture and the religious translation of doctrine changes.
It always amazes me that certain people fail to come to this same type of conclusion. These same people deride all feminists and then say shit like "Women in the U.S. are more equal than before but still not completely equal" and "Look how they treat women over there!" and can’t see the fucking correlation. Women in this country would be a lot worse off if it wasn’t for those damned feminists demanding rights and burning bras. Then those women had children and raised them differently than they were raised, which in effect changed our own culture for the better (discounting, of course, McDonald’s). That’s exactly the kind of change that the women in the Middle East need with direction from feminists.
A war to "save them" isn’t going to do it. Joe was right when he said "Change needs to happen from within". It has nothing to do with their religious text. But then to see that you have to remember history, which is difficult for people that can’t even remember why we went to "war" in the first place (and/or remember that they hate feminists while they’re praising them…Ha!).
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8 Comments
The only way the culture will change is if the people within are educated. By “the people within” I mean the women so that they can educate their sons and daughters.
I’ve been saying for years that the breakthrough in Arab countries will come when women decide enough is enough. That’s what it takes for change to come about. The mullahs will be powerless when the women down tools, not necessarily in a Lysistrata sense, and refuse to cooperate until change comes. An oppressive society simply can’t function if the women, who may well be the main victims, don’t play along.
I believe it’s happening, slowly but surely. Of course it doesn’t help that one of the countries where women were most emancipated — Iraq — has been turned upside down and delivered into the hands of one extremist faction or the other. The Iraq war has set the cause of the evolution of attitudes in the Middle East back decades, in so many ways.
A sane and insightful policy towards Islamic fundamentalism, whether on our part or the part of the home governments, would target those women in a big way, with education and childcare and jobs. Instead we get no-neck rent-a-thugs searching people’s shoes at airports, and extraordinary rendition to tell the repressors, we hate you on the surface, but deep down we couldn’t live without you.
Excellent argument, JJ, with excellent examples. In fact, one of the stories in the links I put up at Cody’s specifically talks about an honor killing in a non-Islamic society. The girl was planning, in fact, to marry a Muslim and convert. Her family smashed her face with a big rock.
So these neocons don’t like how women are treated in Saudi Arabia? Yet they will proudly crow to the heavens about their God-given right to drive Hummers and keep the people who do these things swimming in American money. Anyone who suggests cutting our dependence on mideast oil just isn’t a good American. (Or a hypocrite, if the person who suggests it doesn’t get around in a horse-drawn buggy.)
The fact is, every time some politician, pundit, or blogger goes on about how America stands against tyranny, he or she is just spouting gas. Yes, we have stood against tyranny many times, but we’ve stood with it at least as many, as well.
It’s been my experience that basically some people suck and will use whatever excuse they can to justify their behavior. And there are enough sheep out there willing to swallow said justification to assauge their guilt in doing what they know is wrong but would want to do anyway. We know killing is bad, but if you really hate another group and you can justify it some way (religion, culture, whatever) then you’re off the hook, right? I didn’t want to kill my sister but God made me.
I never understood that kind of blindness.
While I agree with you I must point out that change need not only come from the women folk. There are plenty of men out there that didn’t have the positive female influence that still recognize what you’re saying and fight for the rights of all people to be treated equally.
Again, well said.
OMG, what a great post! Well worth the wait.
I say it is 100% utter and total bullshit that our involvement in Iraq had anything to do with women’s rights. It’s hilarious that people even assert this. Next they’ll declare they were trying to save the unborn babies. Sure, I supported the war for a while, but it had nada to do with wanting to help Iraqis. That’s so ridiculous. I thought kicking Saddam’s ass would be of strategic benefit to the U.S. I was wrong, or at least I was wrong to think an incompetent, bumbling idiot would be able to manage anything resembling an effective campaign in a reasonable amount of time.
Anyway, back to women’s rights. Change must come from within the culture, I agree. It’s okay for us to tsk over news stories, but that’s kinda pointless when we support those very governments that punish rape victims, gays, etc. We might think about voting for people who will focus on alternatives to foreign oil, thus lessening the flow of money to those misogynistic men who run the oil-producing nations we coddle at the moment. But that might mean an increase in taxes, YIKES!!! Can’t have that. Better to keep things as they are and whine about the flaws in other cultures while we drive around in SUVs.
[P.S. I wrote the above before viewing Joe's comment, I swear! I ARE NOT A COPPYCAT.]
And one thing that drives me nuts is young women today who insist they aren’t “feminists” and call them hairy-legged lesbians, or whatever the insult du jour happens to be, while taking for granted all the rights those women fought their butts off for.
Looking forward to more posts from you, JJ!
SG,
I apologize for not giving you proper credit.
They would have no chance were the women allowed to congregate and compare notes and take a stand. They like to believe anyone with XX chromosomes is weak and stupid, but the fact is they make sure their women can’t have the power they know they’re capable of.
Exactly. The problem is those that are in power and trying to point to women’s issues as a reason to be in Iraq don’t really see the problem with the issues of the women. They simply are trying to play on people’s sympathy. Once we’re in good with the oil baron’s then they forget about women’s rights in those countries.
Saudi Arabia being a prime example of that hypocrisy. They want to threaten us all with “You’ll be wearing burqas!” but…
Joe,
You’re right. They want to drive the big ol’ SUVs and chug the oil away. They want power. They don’t give a rat’s ass what’s happening to the women over there. We’re not at “war” to free anyone.
Sydwynd,
I understand what you’re saying and I know it chaps your butt whenever I bring up something like this :). However, if it weren’t for the women raising them, most men in the (power) majority would have been quite happy with the status quo. This is true for every society, including our own. Women in our society weren’t raised from second class citizenship by overly loud men standing up for their rights. They had to be loud, obnoxious, and daring or quietly manipulative. When women start standing up for themselves, the men that love and respect them start standing by their sides.
When they’re quietly accepting of their lot in life, the men that love and respect them, though treating them better than most women are/were treated, still don’t/didn’t try to change their situation. Those men have to be made aware that their loved ones are getting the short end of the stick before they’re really willing to fight for them. Unfortunately, history has proven this. I think, too, that this holds true for any group that isn’t in power in any society. Until the oppressed start fighting back en masse those in power that sympathize with them will see nothing wrong with their plight.
Miz Uv,
Thanks. I appreciate that.
I love it when people snidely say to me “You’re a feminists aren’t you?” That’s a bad thing? I like to respond with “Do you vote? Thank a feminist. Wear pants? Thank a feminist.” Every woman who stands up for herself, asserts her rights, and demands any kind of equality is a feminist of some order. It’s not just the rad fems that make a difference.
Wow, that was long.
Sorry ’bout that, folks.
“My point is that there are ignorant, power-hungry people strewn throughout history that have used their religious text to excuse abhorrent behavior that has always been a part of their culture. “
Wow, that’s a keeper. Nail on head. I’ve missed little gems like this, Jenny!
Great post, JJ! Second one I’ve read this week that mentions bra burning (D-Cup, of all people!).
Have a great Thanksgiving!
P.S. - Nice 10 Things back there. Thanks for letting us get to know you more.