BlogHer - Middle East - Comments

I saw this a while back and

anaesthetic — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:06:47 -0600

I saw this a while back and think it's horrible. I didn't know about the case on Maryland. I'm shocked that this is going on in Afghanistan but even moreso that it's still viewed as such in my "backyard".

Women and the Great Depression

dkdanielson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:15:38 -0600

Hi Suzanne - Thanks for including us in this. Glad to see people discussing the topic and not assuming it has "gone away." Your comments made me think back to some of my historical research about women in the Great Depression. Here's actually a good summary of how the women's movement stalled during the Great Depression, yet there are some parallels to what is going on now. http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/egd_02/egd_02_00550.html.

P.S. I'm with you on the more male caregivers being a big deal. It's an interesting twist. Especially because more people miss work for elder care than child care and it's going to be am even bigger issue. I'm thinking that maybe it's son's out of work? having to move back home? or Single/Divorced? Also, I note that my brother will have the responsibility because he lives near my parents. So, it may be a geographic thing.

Diane K. Danielson ceo, DowntownWomensClub.com

Women and the Great Depression

dkdanielson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:46:13 -0600

Diane K. Danielson ceo, DowntownWomensClub.com

That Poor Kid Should Be Removed From Her Family

Flightkeeper — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:08:29 -0500

There is no context that would make it appropriate for a 10-yr old kid to be married to some old man. And it was this kid's family that sold her off to that man and it's still this same family that is blaming her for not making more money. It is obvious that her family does not have her welfare in mind and it has nothing to do with religion. Women should make a fuss and not accept cultural traditions as an excuse.

(My blogs are http://flightkeeper.blogspot.com and http://cutefuncool.blogspot.com)

(No subject)

cluelesscrafter — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 10:02:46 -0500

I too feel that "saving"

cluelesscrafter — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 09:59:33 -0500

I too feel that "saving" takes on a patronizing stance on the matter. Can you elaborate a bit more on the rest of the article's language? How was this tone manifested (or not) throughout?

http://www.thecluelesscrafter.com/

I'm pretty sure that most

aj_baluyut — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:28:52 -0500

I'm pretty sure that most women who joins pageant knows what they are doing, let's just pray harder for them

OK

mashadutoit — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:34:58 -0500

That makes sense to me.

The social subcontext

snigdhasen — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:29:27 -0500

Mashadutoit, yes it is a contentious claim. I don't particularly agree with the author's enthusiasm for this kind of "freedom", but I think I know where he's coming from.

It's the social context. In India (and probably in many similar cultures), women are just expected to be the "moral one" while men draw far less flak for their indiscretions (the boys-will-be-boys-factor). The writer, in my understanding, is calling his fellow males fools for expecting their women to be madonnas and actually being smug in the belief that they are being the "good girls" they are expected to be. 'Basically, dude, you are being manipulated silly and your huge male ego is blinding you. Your woman knows how to get what she wants.'

That's how I read it, but then again, as women we don't want to have to stoop to this, right?

Thanks for raising this point!

Excellent question

snigdhasen — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:22:09 -0500

The best we can hope is that the women have a clear understanding of what they are doing and why they are doing it. And, of course, it is actually their own decision to participate.

Thanks for stopping by, SmartHer.

This disturbs me

mashadutoit — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:54:13 -0500

So even as they play coy and subjugated, they are actually free women
who live their lives on their own terms. I admire such women and
worship on their altar.

Because it is a contradiction. Playing coy and subjugated, even if by choice, means that you are not living your life on your own terms. What this seems to be saying is - "there are acceptable ways for you to be free - under cover, playing out specific roles defined by me"

Women who choose other ways to be free - are not as admirable to this writer, maybe? That is what I hear as a subtext when I read that exerpt.

I'm also troubled by some of

SmartHer — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:36:04 -0500

I'm also troubled by some of these issues. When women participate in beauty pageants, are they exercising their freedom and their choices or pandering to male / societal norms of beauty?

Reading Lolita

JennSpastic — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:38:25 -0500

I am embarrassed to admit that that book is really my only source of knowledge on Iran. It was a book we were reading in my college English class and most of the others in the class griped and complained about having to read it. It's sad, I think, that many females don't realize the importance of such issues until they are older. (As in, most of the others in my class at that time were under 25 years of age.)

Great post!

Great post

Jill Miller Zimon — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:20:39 -0500

And every country - ours included unfortunately - with a system or systems - political and otherwise - that needs to get with the program. It is really in times like these that I wish the time machines really worked so we could go back to see how exactly the disadvantages we've had to overcome got here in the first place. I know, I know - the blaming itself won't/wiouldn't change anything, but to know where to put pressure, what to change - I keep thinking there must be a rational way to get us to parity where we're not fighting for whatever we can get but are instead just fighting period in competition for whatever it is we want.

Progress is so slow sometimes. And even then, how many have it worse, right?

Thanks again for a great post.

Jill Writes Like She Talks

Perhaps we must agree to disagree

Kim Pearson — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:20:17 -0500

Hi Jane,

Actually, I did not agree with the Pentagon's decision to ban photos of the caskets of returning war dead. In fact I blogged in support of the Memory Hole's gallery of casket photos in 2004. To say that there are times when it is appropriate for editors to exercise discretion is not to say that he government should have the right to engage in censorship that is unrelated to national security needs or individual privacy rights.

In this instance, I concluded that it was appropriate to link to the youtube video page rather than posting it directly, so that people can make their own judgment. At that time, youtube had a page up that required viewers to enter their age in order to see the video. I thought that struck an appropriate balance between the public right to know and the need to ensure that the video is not used in an exploitive way.

Peace,

KimBlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|