Why the Middle East Is a Good Place For Women Tech Entrepreneurs 229
pbahra writes "Conferences for start-ups and entrepreneurs often feature 'pitch contests,' slots in which aspiring entrepreneurs take to the stage to sell their ideas to the audience. Last month's ArabNet conference, held in the Lebanese capital, was no different. What was different, however, was the number of pitches from female entrepreneurs. The stereotype has it that women in the Middle East are subjugated, oppressed and barely let out of their houses. But if that is the case, how come 40% of the pitches were from women—a higher percentage than is typical in equivalent conferences held in Europe? Nor was this closer-to-equal representation of women unique to ArabNet--other conferences in the region boast similar ratios."
Soooo.... (Score:3, Insightful)
How many of them still had their clitoris?
Re:Soooo.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, yes. It's not fair to paint the entire region with one brush, but to even remotely suggest that the region, in general, isn't still influenced heavily by ass-backwards, women hating, religious fucktards is to miss a stupendously obvious reality. I'd say the same about Tennessee, but I think women get a moderately better shake there.
Re:Soooo.... (Score:5, Insightful)
I concur. The whole article seems to be trying to say that the Middle East isn't a sexist place.
That's like saying saying racism didn't exist in the 50s because some subset of black men were allowed to become a doctors.
"You see? X-bias doesn't exist because some token example contradicts the mountains of examples where the bias does apply."
Honestly. Does anyone here watch Star Trek? (Of course you do.) Does this not remind you of the Ferengi, as mainly depicted in DS9? The only difference I can see is that the Ferengi prefer their women unclothed rather than fully covered.
How about some examples from this article:
Lets start with the picture of the business women covered up from head to toe. For every one woman that truthfully and freely prefers to be dressed like that, how many are coerced by a sexist society?
More flexible work options, freelance, home-based work, low capital requirements; you can see why starting a company on a small scale is a much more viable thing for women to do than get a corporate job.
Why is that?
In Jordan, specifically, the main reason for women not entering the work force is the lack of a proper transit system. We don't have an affordable transit system that can take women from remote areas to the city.
Is the lack of public transportation not an issue for men, too? Why do women suffer from a lack of public transportation but men do not?
Home working also allows women to combine their traditional roles of homemaker and mother, with being an entrepreneur.
There it is. Women belong in the kitchen. Also, I imagine it's less embarassing to have women doing business anonymously over the internet, because no one needs to know she's a woman.
He said that some private-sector companies would consider employing women, but were put off by the cost and the lack of knowledge of how to hire them. "One of the problems is that they don't know where to go to find the right kind of talents."
Apparently, hiring women costs more than hiring men, and it's apparently much harder to assess the abilities of women than it is for men. Did not know that.
If you were to look at the law, even in a country that claims to be as liberal as Lebanon, technically if your husband wanted to prevent you from traveling, he can. Technically you cannot open a bank account as a married woman, your husband has to do it. However, in practice these laws are not enforced."
Well, it's not a repressive country if they simply don't enforce oppressive laws...for now. And that's an example of the most liberal middle eastern countries!
It would be ironic if a region that is castigated for its attitudes toward women actually turned out to be more welcoming of female entrepreneurs than those doing the castigating.
Right. The entire article depicted a more welcoming environment than the western world.
The fact that any women are succeeding despite living in repressive regimes speaks to their strength of will, not the supposed "progress" of those countries.
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Is the lack of public transportation not an issue for men, too? Why do women suffer from a lack of public transportation but men do not?
I can think of a few reasons.
1. They might have more obligations at home due to tradition and/or male dominance.
2. In some countries (like Saudi Arabia), women aren't allowed to drive. This is not the case for the quote, which is from a Jordanian.
3. Walking long distances alone is more dangerous if you're a woman, especially if it's dark. This is true even in Western countr
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Thanks. The question was rhetorical. All three of those answers make my point for me.
And let there be no doubt that western societies still suffer from sexism too, for example, as evidenced by the fact that it is more dangerous for women to walk around in the dark than for men, as well as the nature of the crimes women are more likely to face vs those face by men. Of course, between the two regions, we are talking orders of magnitude of difference.
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Thats primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa not the Arab world. It does happen in Egypt, but a recent campaign enlisted local Muslim clerics to preach against the practice and is evidently meeting with success.
Don't you hate it when facts interfere with glib one-liners?
Re:Soooo.... (Score:4, Informative)
Thats primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa not the Arab world.
wrong [globalpost.com], wrong [rferl.org], wrong [guardian.co.uk].
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Interesting, I didn't know that.
I think this an issue where progress can be made because it is a cultural practice and clerics have made it clear (when pushed) that it is not part of Islamic teachings.
In the Egyptian campaign mothers said they had it done to their daughters because they felt that not having it would make them unmarriageable. Showing example of uncircumcised girls who were doing fine, gotten married, gone to school helped change a lot of minds.
Public education is needed, and personally I thi
That's mainly Africa (Score:3, Insightful)
Female circumcision is an African tribal custom, not Middle Eastern. It is now associated with Islam since most of the area was conquered by Muslims,. Muslim rulers generally let the locals continue their customs, and a lot of conversion was a converted king who told his populace to convert, but didn't dare risk rebellion by abolishing popular customs such as this. Arguments still continue as to whether it's an acceptable practice under Islam.
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*Mainly* in Africa, as I said.
Wherever it goes, it's cultural. It is not part of the Quran or Hadith, but it has infected some other Muslim populations.
Of course, male genital mutilation is still required, but nobody seems to care.
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so they can pitch just not drive cars... (Score:5, Informative)
Women driving has been a controversial issue in Saudi Arabia since 1990 when 47 women got into 14 cars and drove on to a main street in Riyadh. They were stopped, suspended from work for two years and condemned for years in religious sermons and social circles....
honestly
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Many men are forbidden to drive by their ex-wives? Where? The only cases I know of is where I live the state takes your drivers license if you are a deadbeat dad who doesn't pay child support.
...said the happily married man who's never been through a messy divorce and lost most of his property.
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*sigh* (Score:3)
Note to the wise, if you're going to split with your wife try to make sure she has a job that makes nearly as much as you.
Or better yet, don't be a moron, grow a pair of balls, and don't be a stupid ass by marrying a stupid bitch who's going to take you to the cleaners.
I see this shit getting start every single day, at frat parties. I live in a college town and see all the dudes with ZERO game "somehow" "get lucky" and hook up with some decent looking chick who is going to college at a tech school for "business administration" and is clearly desperate as fuck to get out of this small town. Women have an extraordinary ability t
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Well, America isn't all that better! As a man, I think it's wrong that I got arrested just because I drunkenly stumbled into the women's bathroom and peed in the sink. If I peed in the sink in the men's bathroom there wouldn't have been a problem! SEXIST FACISTS!
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
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Beirut isn't very Arab. It's close to 40% Christian.
I think you mean isn't very Muslim, not Arab. The Christians in Beirut are still Arabs.
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Still, Lebanon is not a very typical Arab country. It has a lot of ethnic groups, and at times, showed a very pluralistic approach to internal affairs (then again, the other times were spent in bloody citizen war between those very groups). Until the jury comes back with a decision on what Egypt is becoming, it is the only somewhat (see comment above) functioning Arab democracy.
There are other Muslim democracies, such as Turkey, but they are not Arab. The only other contender for an Arab democracy is the Pa
Re:As Arab cities go... (Score:5, Informative)
"Arab" is an ethnic group, not a religion. It's more than possible to be an "Arab Christian," (typical Copt), just as it is to be an "Hispanic Jew."
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you'll find Arab and Muslim are synonymous.
And that's somehow different or more accurate than saying "you'll find Hispanic and Catholic are synonymous?"
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Beirut isn't very Arab. It's close to 40% Christian.
Your statement is a textbook example of ignorance related to the Middle East. Arab's aren't Muslims. They're Arabs. Most of those Christians are Arabs.
And to the person who commented that they're a mix of ethnicities: That's equally true about the Muslims in Beirut.
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Most Arab states go the extra mile (or kilometer) to make sure that every native person is a Muslim.
We're talking about Lebanon, not most Arab states.
Not sure what your point in providing the Wikipedia link is. It doesn't indicate that most Christians in Lebanon are non-Arabs. More importantly, it doesn't indicate that the % of non-Arab Christians differs significantly from the % of non-Arab Muslims in Lebanon.
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Re:As Arab cities go... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:As Arab cities go... (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:As Arab cities go... (Score:4, Insightful)
Would the person who modded me "troll" please point out where my information is incorrect? Read the sayings of Mohammed as recorded by Al Bukhari: "A nation headed by a woman shall never succeed"; "If I have commanded kneeling for somebody, I would command a woman to kneel for her husband", "Women lack brain and religion". And the Qur'an, I think it's in Sura 5, "As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, beat them; but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of other punishment)." Don't deny the truth.
You can split hairs about this all day long but in the end it is pointless to make fundamentalist arguments like "if the Quran tells you to do <some misogynistic act> all moslems must be following that instruction mindlessly". This is especially true because the Bible is full of similar misogynistic and inhumane crap. When was the last time you saw a couple guilty of adultery begin stoned to death at the city gates? (That little gem came from Deuteronomy 22:23-24) Both the Quaran and the Bible were written in very different times long ago and that fact should kept in mind when reading either text. If you really want to convince us that all moslems take every archaic passage in the Qaran seriously then we must by the same logic also argue that all christians do as well. Thankfully most moslems and christians (apart from some die-hard fundies) do not take everything written in the Quaran literally and implement every crazy thing that is written in scripture. Only brainless fundies do that.
Re:As Arab cities go... (Score:4, Informative)
If someone tried to preach murder, violence and the destruction of democratic states in the largest christian church in the capital city of a major western nation, how long would he be allowed to continue? On the other hand Abu Hamza was able to do this for 5 years until stopped by part of the government.
What Abu Hamza was able to do for so long in the Finsbury mosque shows that the die-hard fundies in Islam are more than just a tiny minority. Maybe they are not the majority, but they are a significant proportion.
Percentages and enforcement (Score:5, Insightful)
First, we need to separate personal choice from law or enforced custom.
A tiny percentage of Christians still practice strict biblical Christianity (believe gays should be put to death, women wear head covering in church, etc.), and NONE of them are able to put that into law to force others to obey their interpretation. In fact, they're generally laughed at or condemned by the society at large -- see the Westboro Baptists.
A large percentage of Muslims still practice strict Quranic Islam, and many of them have it in law and enforced custom to force others to obey their interpretation. People are constantly jailed, beaten and even executed for violating these religious laws.
There is a BIG difference in practice between Christianity and Islam.
People have been studying the Bible with this view for quite a long time. However, this has only recently started to happen with the Quran and Hadith, and such a thing should not be done in a Muslim country if you value your life. The Quran is still considered the absolute, unchanging, infallible Word of Allah by most adherents. That and Hadith form their law. If gays were to be put to death then, they are to be put to death now. Allah's law does not change.
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A large percentage of Muslims still practice strict Quranic Islam, and many of them have it in law and enforced custom to force others to obey their interpretation. People are constantly jailed, beaten and even executed for violating these religious laws.
It's called Sharia, and it's the fastest growing socio-political force in the world.
Re:As Arab cities go... (Score:4, Insightful)
Your words would be commendable, but we have every day knowledge of how women are actually treated by proponents of the religion, in the current time. They would be more commendable if you didn't create arguments that no one has made - e.g "all moslems must be following that instruction mindlessly".
You are the only one making that argument, and you do it so you don't have to fact the actual reality of what is happening.
When was the last time you saw a couple guilty of adultery begin stoned to death at the city gates?
Well, they generally just stone the *woman* now, so that's ok?
You can claim the "no true scotsman" argument only up to the point you have actual governments that have implemented policies. It is then no longer just the die hard fundies - they have inculcated the society to accept their basic premises. This is easily seen by the lack of prosecution of people who murder their female relatives who have brought "dishonor" upon their house.
Sorry, but you are the one being the brainless fundy, making up your own toy arguments and vanquishing those wooden soldiers.
Regards.
Re:As Arab cities go... (Score:4, Insightful)
Go to Jerusalem and piss on a Bible or a Torah, then go to Makkah and piss on a Quran.
Post results.
All superstitions are of course bad because they are nonsense, and because they are enemies of truth. Why we should respect anything thought up by people who thought the Earth was flat is highly questionable.
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I'm not exactly sure what the people who wrote the various books of those religions believed, but even the ancient Greeks knew the earth was round (circa 500BC), and they even calculated its diameter to a fairly high degree of accuracy considering the lack of technology at the time. Thinking the earth is round is nothing new.
Clarifying the posting of results (Score:2)
If you piss on the Bible or Torah, please post results.
If you piss on the Quran, please designate someone to post results for you after your demise.
Stoning still happens in Iran (Score:2)
Happens in Iran, I think you can see videos on youtube.
Unlike any Christian society, you can be executed in Iran, or Suadi, for: whichcraft, apostasy, blasphemy, homosexuality, and many other such "crimes." Amputation, lashing, and other such barbaric punishments are also quit common - even for children.
Woman also get punished, even executed, for the crime of being raped.
Also, in Iran, children as young as nin
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Following a chain of logic isn't really your forte, isn't it?
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No, that person can't point anything out. Once you've used a mod point, you cannot post in the discussion.
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No, that person can't point anything out. Once you've used a mod point, you cannot post in the discussion.
Simply not true. You can post, but then the moderation is cancelled. Also, you can post as AC.
If it were my moderation that was questioned (and I'd see the question), I'd certainly do one or the other (depending on whether I thought there was merit to the criticism).
Shachar
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When was the last time a woman in the US was sentenced to being stoned to death for adultery?
How often are woman in the US hanged for the crime of being raped?
Since when can you divorce a woman, in the US, just by saying "I divorce you" three times; and also get away with no alimony, no child support, and full custody, automatically.
Since when have women not been allowed to drive, or work, in the US?
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1. Liberals don't want anyone to pay for someone else's birth control. We want women to pay for their own, through their insurance. Since shopping around for insurance is generally infeasible, we want to make sure that insurers do not discriminate against women's sexual health.
2. Liberals do not fall in line with Islamic radicals. Liberals denounce and campaign against many elements of extremist religions, including Islam. Liberals fight for women's rights around the world. However:
A. Liberals do not lump a
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B. Liberals do not believe that bombing Middle Eastern countries is the best way to address those root causes of extremism.
That's a lie. Obama's been bombing ME countries even more than Bush has. Liberals will give lip service to non-violence when they're trying to gain power, but as soon as one of their own gets elected, they're all about continuing the same warmongering policies that the conservatives were pursuing, and their followers will happily back them up with all kinds of excuses.
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In the USA, "liberal" is whatever the Democratic Party says it is, and "liberals" are those who vote steadfastly for Democrats.
Yes, some liberals have criticized him, but lots more have backed him up and made all sorts of excuses for him. Obviously, these are two different groups of liberals.
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I also fail to understand why Insurance refuses to pay for birth control. Frankly it's much cheaper to pay for birth control than an actual birth not to mention that under a family plan they then have to pay for all those baby doctor visits down the road. It doesn't add up to me at all.
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You're right that this is why the health care system here is so screwed up, but the fact that insurance covers #2 absolutely makes these things part of "insurance". Maybe it shouldn't be that way, but it is. Americans purchase everyday (health-related) items and services through their insurance providers; hence, "purchasing power for everyday items" absolutely does constitute a purpose for insurance in the US, as screwed up as that may be. I guess you could say that US health insurance companies are, in
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I think the left tend to sympathize with the Islamist because they are the only other group that hate Christians as much as they do. Actually that's inaccurate, the majority of Muslims want to live and let live as much as anyone but there are so many extremists that are so full of hate and they have so much in common with the Hollywood left as far as hatred of Christians. It's funny to me because both sides, absent their common enemy, would despise each other totally.
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Saying it's a sterotype isn't saying it's not true (Score:4, Insightful)
The stereotype has it that women in the Middle East are subjugated, oppressed and barely let out of their houses.
In Saudi Arabia, that's *not* just a stereotype. Not to say that Saudi Arabia is representative of the entire region. But let's not pretend that more pitches from women at some conference makes it okay for one of the largest countries of the region to still tell women they can't drive, vote, show their faces in public, or even leave their house without male escort.
Re:Saying it's a sterotype isn't saying it's not t (Score:5, Informative)
Don't forget get being beating, raped and even murdered with the tacit approval of the society and the law.
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Worse than using sa to characterize the region is doing so with Lebanon.
Re:Saying it's a sterotype isn't saying it's not t (Score:5, Interesting)
A female VP from a major defense contractor was made to wait outside a contract signing not too long ago. A male subordinate sat at the event in her stead.
And that's supposedly the way women can be treated by the business classes. I certainly would think twice before I subjected myself to such a culture. If you can be a successful entrepreneur, you would provably also succeed in a much more favorable culture.
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They better hope that oil lasts forever. Because that's about the only thing that makes anyone want to do business there now.
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And that's supposedly the way women can be treated by the business classes. I certainly would think twice before I subjected myself to such a culture. If you can be a successful entrepreneur, you would provably also succeed in a much more favorable culture.
What you say is true, but a few decades ago women enterpreneurs often faced similar exclusion in the US in the business world. Thankfully, that didn't stop people from investing in the US. And thankfully, it won't stop them from doing so in the Middle East.
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In Saudi Arabia, that's *not* just a stereotype.
It is the stereotype. Please educate yourself on the meaning of the word. Being a stereotype does not mean that it's a misconception.
But let's not pretend that more pitches from women at some conference makes it okay for one of the largest countries of the region to still tell women they can't drive, vote, show their faces in public, or even leave their house without male escort.
And let's not pretend that the article is suggesting that it's OK for women not to drive, vote, etc. Your comment is essentially the same as responding to any positive aspect of the US with "Yes, but let's not pretend it makes it OK for them to invade other countries."
And oh, BTW, name one Arab country that bans women from showing their face in public (with citation). I happen
False choice fallacy (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:False choice fallacy (Score:4, Insightful)
I agree. To elaborate. From the article: “Home working also allows women to combine their traditional roles of homemaker and mother, with being an entrepreneur.”
It’s not unusual for women to run business – but I find this sentence telling. There is a difference between starting a good solid small business and a start up.
The first is basically about creating a job for yourself. It may be a restaurant, day care, or a small professional business (lawyer, hair stylist, whatever ) but it’s about creating a job for yourself that lets you manage your life /work balance.
The second is about putting in long hours for months at a time to hit that grand slam.
This is, of course, a continuum between the two. I am just surprised that the submitter and article is pitching it this way. Are these woman truly liberality if they are forced into the shallow end of the pool? Small, home businesses are great, but it’s the lower end of the entrepreneurial market.
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Who wrote this summary, anyway, and with what agenda?
Yeah, I second that. Took me a few minutes to figure out that this isn't a story about 'Middle Earth'.
I hate that sort of thing early in the morning.
TFA answers the summary's question. (Score:4, Informative)
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Don't you love it when you answer your own question?
Re:TFA answers the summary's question. (Score:5, Funny)
No, kidding. It looks like it was written by some Saudi prince who thinks that imprisoning his wife in his house is liberating, as long as he lets her run a mail order business and only beats her once a month instead of once a week.
Re:TFA answers the summary's question. (Score:4, Funny)
How does a Saudi tell which woman is his wife when they are in public?
She's the one that flinches when he raises his hand.
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Ya how the hell did this garbage make it onto slashdot, it's sexist and misleading.
Exactly! Usually /. summaries are just misleading! I don't want all of this misogyny getting in the way of my daily dosage of misrepresented facts, half-truths, and outright omissions!
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Their parents probably wanted them to leave their home region to be educated in the West, where women are allowed to succeed and where there is not a culture of subjugation and oppression. That would potentially account for the higher percentage of women at the conference than elsewhere in the world.
Ya know... (Score:4, Insightful)
I'll bet they'd be in an even better position if they were in countries/cultures where they didn't have to worry about being stoned to death and could drive themselves to meetings. But that's just me.
Re:Ya know... (Score:4, Insightful)
You mean like lebanon where this meeting took place?
Not all of the Middle East is Saudi Arabia. Yet, the US backs Saudi Arabia while they do these things and threatens to attack Iran who does not.
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Even among the countries you list there are huge differences. Saudi Arabia is pretty much the worst in the in bunch you list, unless we are comparing Riyadh to a cave in the mountains of Pakistan or Afghanistan. The Iranians are among the best in that list, yet compared to the west still terrible. At least they allow women to drive.
Turkey has an overwhelming Islamic majority and no such problems.
Your generalizations are pretty much worthless and borderline racist. Like most such generalizations.
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The only reason Turkey doesn't yet have those problems is because for generations it was run by secularists. The Islamic party currently running the joint has been slowing re-establishing Islamic control of society. I give them another 10 years before they too sink into the human rights abyss that is Islam.
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Islam is young, in another 1000 years it will be as tolerant as those Christians who call women sluts for wanting birth control. You probably won't live that long so you can continue your mindless hate against the "Other". Turkey wants to join the EU, so they cannot do what you are claiming will happen.
Indonesia is also majority Islam, over 85%, and has had a female president, something many Western nations have never done.
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Like Iran? If you read there are more female university students than males, ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5359672.stm [bbc.co.uk] ) I think they won't do too badly.
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Just as a matter of interest, exactly the opposite happened. In a bout of nationalist zeal, a lot of people applied for nuclear engineering studies.
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can't drive, can't vote, give your $ to a dude (Score:2)
Middle Eastern men still rule the household, which means their women have no rights. So being a businesswoman is not incongruous with other aspects of their lives, such as not being able to drive, or vote, or attend school. I'm sure many women from the Middle East are excited about expressing their limited freedom through entrepreneurship.
However, not enough people call Islamists on their bluff - it was never God's will to subjugate women, no matter what their ridiculous heretical Mohammed said or wrote. Sl
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free to do whatever the hell they want, whenever they want, and however the way they please
That's not freedom
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No, but it's pretty close. I'd be interested in your definition of freedom though.
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"Heretical" - seriously? From their position your religion is just as much nonsense as theirs to you.
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Saudi-Arabia, which is maybe the worst offender, although it is the friend of USA
Saudi Arabia isn't the U.S.'s friend. Their relationship is more analogous to a crackhead and his dealer.
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No, they are friends. Go ask the crackhead if the dealer is his "friend", and he'll say "yes!". The dealer may say something different to you, but to the crackhead, he'll say "you're my friend, so I'm going to give you a good price on this crack". Ergo, they are friends.
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Rick Santorum, is that you?
Acceptance percent? (Score:3)
Ouch... (Score:4, Insightful)
Locked in house. (Score:2)
Subjugated, oppressed and stuck in basement? Sounds like a true geek to me!
I jest, but I think this is actually partly true.
I know an insanely talented female programmer who grew up in the states but was moved to Saudi Arabia around age 13. What did she do all day? Sit on her computer. A couple thousand hours of C+ later and she's back in the US getting a CS degree, on her way to a prime spot at MIT Media Lab. Key point: locked in basement for long periods of time = good at programming. Refused offline poli
Read the UNDP report series (Score:3)
Compiled for the UN by the Arab world's friendliest own Arab economists and technicians. The Arab world is at or near the bottom, for the entire world, in terms of literacy, education, technical proficiency, intellectual property creation, research and development, internet penetration, media penetration, social and media freedom, contract law, technical small business start ups and technology transfer. Below the levels of much of Africa and SE Asia. Culturally, the exclusion of women, minorities only speaks to part of it. It really has to do with a historical tradition of abandoning everything the West had to contribute since the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. If you want a Turkish -centric history of this read "What Went Wrong?" by Bernard Lewis.
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The title also uses the word "women" where it should use "female" as you do.
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Just don't move in a car, or without male escort, or without wearing a head-to-toe burqua.
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Hillary Rosen specifically.
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Women is Saudi Arabia can't vote, drive, leave their houses without male escort, show their faces uncovered in public, or participate in pretty much any civic or legal function without approval of their male guardian.
So, which of those statements is the western media lying about?
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The part where one country is not an entire continent sized region or representative of a globe spanning religion.
Also Women is Saudi Arabia can vote and run for office, historically they could not (like everywhere 100 year ago).
Also there is nothing in the law about leaving the house. Particular families might practice that but you would have to look for statistics to see how prevalent, if at all, that it is.
As for face coverings, yes Saudi Arabia practices that but most Arad nations outright ban the pract
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You mean someone in Saudi Arabia can decide to run for a few small potatoes offices and then only if they get approval by the central government which just happens to not approve very many women.
It doesn't matter what's in the law if most men in Saudi Arabia will not allow their women to leave the house unescorted.
That fact that face covering demanded by men is permitted is ridiculous, honor killing is winked at, child brides are aok, the whole region seethes with inhuman customs. Stop trying to white wash
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"No, they can't. They MAY be allowed to in 2015, if the King keeps his promise."
2015 is the next election. No one can vote when an election is not being held.
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And the videos of women being buried up to their chests and stoned...that was all ketchup I guess.
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Without Hezbollah Israel would probably had done similar kind of ethnic cleansing in Lebanon that Palestinians have faced within Palestine. Remember, Hezbollah was more or less started only after Israel attacked and occupied Lebanon and the main goal of Hezbollah was driving Israel out of the country.
And in Israel some of the Jews have started their own gender separation, which is worse than in many Arabic/Muslim countries. For example, in many parts of Israel, women aren't allowed to use the same sidewalks
Jewish "Taleban" (Score:2)
As ar as I know, Hezbollah is military force which is not very concerned about modesty issues etc, unlike so called Jewish Talebans:
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