What are you implying? That she did this for a book? Rules? What rules? Don't go on a date and drink, lest you be raped and if you are raped, well, you broke the rules, so suck it up? (unless you think she is lying) Do you think Janet Jackson didn't have a drink when she was dating her Billionaire husband-to-be? Or that they didn't have premarital sex? I don't see either of their butts in jail.
LOL. classic post. just the same back then they called it africa. but as far as Im concern they redrew it to fit their agenda. from what I understand napolean cut the noses off the sphinx because it was wide like a bm. he also destroyed other buildings and what not to remove BM influences on society and science. in any case....it is what is now. LOL
Napoleon was fascinated by Egypt and was a dedicated Egyptophile... "Napoleon was an avid supporter of the sciences. During his campaign in Egypt, he founded the Institut d’Égypte, which, among other accomplishments, claimed the re-discovery of the Rosetta Stone." And... "Frederick Lewis Norden, an artist and marine architect, sketched the Sphinx in 1737. His detailed drawings, published in 1755, showed the Sphinx with no nose; thus its removal can not be blamed on Napoleon's troops, who visited more than 50 years later." By Frederick Lewis Norden
I visit to what people call the middle east quite often. Having said that, it depends on the country in the middle east. If you are talking about countries such as Saudi Arabia, indeed, even by other Muslim standards i know consider Saudi society quite backwards, and many of the people extremely conservative, but you have elements within Saudi society that trying to change that. Needless to say, i go to Egypt quite often and know the terrain very well culturally, you have elements that is conservative (muslim brotherhood and salafist) and you have elements that is not, as the coup against the muslim brotherhood government demonstrated, when over 10 million or even more depends on who telling it demonstrated against the brotherhood. In other words, things is not always black and white as they portrait in the Western news as this little boy demonstrate from his eloquent speech about how government should run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uTpncr8knk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G46GDFMTRgE this video above is very interesting as well, things are changing slowly but surely.
As a person who is generally hostile to tradition and religion, highly religious societies make me extremely uncomfortable. I have read about certain sections of Beirut, Lebanon and Alexandria and Cairo that are reputed to be quite relaxed by regional standards and I have North African Berber and Tuareg friends who are socially more open and so cosmopolitan. But the religious conservative community seems to have so much more sway in Arab society than it does anywhere else in the world (except for maybe in the US, lol). Any countries you could recommend in particular?
Definitely Morocco, which is quite a liberal country by middle eastern standards, i have never been there, but i have many Moroccan friends, and i talk to a few westerners that visit Morocco, and had a good time. However Algeria or Tunisia i know nearly nothing about. I would had say Egypt, as i said before i know the terrain, and i have relations there, but if the dust ever get settled, it is actually a nice country, with plenty of monuments, and things to do and see and the people are quite diverse, it is almost like the fault line between Middle East and Africa, you will definitely see it among the faces between the two areas of country (north and south) peoples. I would had said Dubai, or Abu Dhabi, but due to the current news, most people maybe reluctant to go there, besides migrant workers from Bangladesh, Philippines, India, horn of Africans and other places, and prostitutes all over the planets. I had a great time in Dubai, but i still consider a plastic city, and Saudi Arabia is a nowhere zone, unless you want to make money. However to be straight forward, unfortunately as a male you will not have any problems, in places such as Saudi Arabia, but you still have to follow weird out of date protocols. Which is silly if you ask me! Lastly, if you visit the region you will notice some weird things, since you grew up in the west, and not accustom to certain expression, but it is not what you think it is, but you will figure it out. lol
Yes! This was common practice where new rulers wanted to obliterate any signs of an opposing former ruler.
Thanks for the heads-up. Other than Morocco, I have had no interest in visiting any of those nations. My mother has been to Egypt/Israel/Jordan, but she's conservative, so she didn't mind all the covered arms and hair (required even of Western women) when visiting holy sites or traveling through tribal/rural areas.
They aren't just raping women over there. A French teenage boy who was kidnapped and raped in Dubai by two men, one of whom was HIV-positive.
Wow, that is the first time i heard that. Those countries you listed your mother had visited are normally liberal when i comes down to dressing, and Israel out of all places. Even local Christian Copts(in Egypt),and liberal women normally don't wear a hijab. I don't see why your mother had to wear one, which i think is strange. Most of my female friends I know in Cairo don't even own one. Whereas countries such as Saudi Arabia, that is definitely requirement for women to dress in the ninja attire. LOL
I wasn't condemning all males. Sorry if that came out wrong. Just patriarchal bullshit customs where its seriously ok to rape a woman and she gets in trouble for that? Fuck ALL that noise. I've seen girl rising and trust me when I say that a lot of countries are like this. Many women all over the world are at the mercy of misogynist fuckers who could care less that she's a PERSON. In most cases, animals are treated better than a large majority of the women in these cultures. Those men who perpetuate this bullshit mentality need to be taken down a few hundred pegs. I'm sorry. But you ain't all that just because you were born with a penis. It's unfortunately the women who have to change these things. These men won't pull their heads out the ass unless forced too.
This was only when she visited holy places. Not a full hijab, but long sleeved blouses, hair pulled back or in a scarf, full-length skirts. It wasn't like there was an imam standing there approving outfits, but they did insist on 'respectful' clothing. My mother is a believer, so she felt that was appropriate. I didn't. But to each his/her own.
I don't think that's true. Force is absolutely the wrong tactic to employ. The men in these places need to be taught to empathize. They need to be brought in touch with the part of their souls that can feel the pain in another human being. Force will only harden their resolve not to change. Also, don't forget that there are men in these places who are trying to make a difference too. Like the circle of men who formed to protect the female protesters in Egypt.
Absolutely horrifying! That story made me sick. Poor child. His life is beyond destroyed from the brutal rape. I hope he didn't contract HIV. And his so-called 'friend' was in on it? Unreal.
I agree. I can't understand at all how, as a father or husband or brother, you could stand to see your daughter, wife, or sister raped, sent to jail and or forced to marry their rapist. Women too take part in this mentality. I remember reading once about a mother who killed her daughter after she was raped by her brothers to 'restore honor'. The morality is so twisted, it is like they view women / victims as the true criminals.