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Arabia
Women Can't Be Left Far Behind
2005-02-11
There was a mixed reaction among voters yesterday when Arab News asked them if they wanted to see women included in the next round of municipal elections as voters or candidates. Views varied between supporters of the move, and others who said women do not need to vote as their husbands, fathers, or brothers are doing the job on their behalf.

Yet another group rejected the idea on the ground that Saudi Arabia has its own cultural and social aspects. A few did not specify their reasons, and said there was no need for their involvement. Asked about the absence of women from the election scene, Dr. Abdul Aziz ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Thunayan, a Shoura Council member and professor of pedagogy, replied: "I was asked the same question by a woman journalist from the West and I said, 'First of all, there are six million women in Saudi Arabia. I, as a member of the Shoura Council, a husband and a father, represent a large number of women voters in the Kingdom. And as we know, democracy is about majority. And if we go and ask six million women what they want, they would answer that they do not want to vote. They either want their men to vote for them, or do not want to vote at all. Women in Saudi Arabia are comfortable being represented by men. "For instance, in Saudi Arabia, it is the law itself, not the habit, which requires men to serve women and accommodate all their needs, i.e., housing, food, clothing, education, etc. She is a lady and we are the servants. Men are servants of women. So why should we drag women into issues normally handled by men?
Posted by:tipper

#10  Not to be sexist but unfortunately for the feminists women in many iff not all human societies see the world in terms of family and numbers of children - as a well-known, Left
Liberal, female senior journalist of the White House Corps was quoted as saying, "...Women view and possess honor by having children.", or words to that effect! The Left and PC says Americans must be afraid to say or argue such statements - the Left and LeftMedias can rail ags culture or cultural perceptions vv the role of women, but they need a lot more power than what they've got to fight God, Nature, and ags Women's natural gender-based inclinations itself.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2005-02-11 9:50:53 PM  

#9  Wow Moose. In my family, voting is a zero-sum game. The women and men always vote opposite. Mars/Venus and all. "But he has bad hair. If he'd just get a decent cut." "But woman, who cares about his hair, the times call for a fighter and he is one." "I don't care about that, you better get him to the salon."
Posted by: Zpaz   2005-02-11 5:34:13 PM  

#8  Some light relief: I'm going to go and cut a cake in half and ask my 8 yr old which is the bigger half. I bet she knows the answer.
Posted by: rhodesiafever   2005-02-11 1:45:07 PM  

#7  DB-And that's pretty remarkable--almost unbelievable for a man in that part of the world. I hope that these elections mark a turning point and that fellows like that man run for office.

Unfortunately, my hopes are likely to be dashed. Wahhabiism, to me, is the scurge of our times. Do we imagine that it will be going away in our lifetimes with mere elections?
Posted by: Jules 187   2005-02-11 12:48:31 PM  

#6  A Saudi man was interviewed last night at the polling place. He said he brought his young daughter along tp show that women needed to be able to vote as well as men.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2005-02-11 12:25:16 PM  

#5  Not this so-called feminist, AP. But you are correct that many of the lefty-stripe feminists are silent about women's rights when standing up for the rights would conflict with their liberal identification (systematic rape in Darfur, for example-"we can't fight for justice for those women, because that would put us on the same side as George Bush").
Posted by: Jules 187   2005-02-11 11:39:05 AM  

#4  "that little slut showing off her wrists in the pic should be flayed"
Posted by: Frank G   2005-02-11 11:16:18 AM  

#3  I think that the changing of ways in the middle east is tied to the liberation of woman from the chattal role that they are in now. And I am not talking about abortion and lesbian rights. The so-called feminists have been pretty silent about women's situations in the ME.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-02-11 11:12:27 AM  

#2  Anonymoose, it could be as well: "Men vote much like the women in their family anyway"
Posted by: Sobiesky   2005-02-11 10:56:41 AM  

#1  The amusing irony is that in any society, women vote much like the men in their family anyway, the exception being single women who live away from their families.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2005-02-11 9:17:25 AM  

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