Misogny = Hatred of Women

Yesterday, I came across an article titled, Why Do They Hate Us?, written by Mona Eltahawy.  She is an Egyptian-American columnist.  In November, 2011, Egyptian police beat her, breaking her left arm and right hand, and sexually assaulted her.  She was detained by the Interior Ministry and military intelligence for 12 hours.  Her article focused on the hatred of women by the Arab world.  Her story begins with a story written by Alifa Rifaat, Distant View of a Minaret. As I read the story, I realized that my life had mirrored that of the wife.  My experience was certainly not the only one, nor will it be the last. Sexual satisfaction is not just his right but her right too! Women the world over are second class citizens, especially in the Middle East. The United States has problems with women too. We are looked at as sexual objects, rather than living rational beings. There is abuse, neglect, rape, murder, and a host of other things that women must endure in our society. But life here is by far the best that the world has to offer. We have our freedom. We can have jobs. We do not need to marry in order to survive. We can choose to have children or not.  We can live on our own without any worries. The Middle East is a century behind in the rights of women. It was at least 100 years ago that women were allowed to vote in this country. We are given equal rights to property.  We can travel alone and drive cars. Oh how lucky we are! I feel for these women. A southern man describes his helplessness in this situation on the Foreign Policy web site.  He says that now he is aware of the problem but doesn't have the resources to rescue one. Isn't that is what men are supposed to do?  Rescue us from a miserable situation and bring us to his castle. At least, that is what the fairytale is. 

Click on the link above and watch the video to see what this Egyptian-American woman has to say about women's rights.