Blog #10: Democracy a Double-Edged Sword for Women

This article starts out with talking about the bombings in the US at the recent Boston Marathon. People are trying to connect these bombings to terrorism but they are not connected to the Islamic world. Democracy is a two edge sword for women in countries not like us that have aristocratic governments. American tend to think that other countries will benefit if their countries adopt a democratic government.  This is not necessarily the truth for countries in the Middle East and North Africa. In some of these countries such as Tunisia and Egypt that are declining in their political power and there are social tensions that are increasing. Places like this have post-revolt leader, are more religious, and women are affected and bound by traditional laws and are linked to Al Qaeda more visible.  Going from aristocratic rule to Democratic rule is not the same. For some especially women trying to get more freedom is delicate and dangerous. What is going to happen more than likely is strife and terrorism will go up and women are in danger of this more because rape is used to as a weapon of war and intimidation to women in Syria who are mostly affected by this. Due to rape being used as a threat to women there are families fleeing from Syria and that totals up to one million or so people. Ms. Fotini Christia is an associate professor or political science at Massachusetts Institute of technology and have visited Syria to interview women who have been displaced by war. These women have done peaceful demonstrations against their President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. In places like these these women know they have to fight for their own rights. These women keep getting pushed to the side. Women have lost 50 seats in parliament and 9 are only left in Egypt and in Libya women are being reinstituted to polygamy. Soya Boyoumi who lectures at the Faculty of Arts and Science at Harvard’s say these women are experience bad forms of sexual harassment, assault and erosion of their rights and status in the constitution. These women are being removed from their school curricula who are historical figures. Is democracy or universal suffrage necessary for all and if so what will Middle East and North African societies benefit from? Does the unites states want this for these societies. Also when bombings happen in Bahrain aren’t those acts of terrorism like in the US with the Boston explosions, a Bahraini woman argues who is in the US getting her doctorate.

 
This is something that places like the United States should keep into consideration. Is it really necessary for all other countries around the world to have democratic governments? Even though there will be trials and tribulations and this is all delicate and dangerous for lots of women to gain freedom? When has it ever been easy for any to gain democracy? In places like the United States has a democratic government but for centuries several groups of people have been dying from others bigotry and need to oppress others. These people who have been oppressed have fought and died for their future generations. There has been good that has come out for these people in the end. At the same time the same issues keep arising in the US as well in different forms such as end of slavery, women’s rights, integration of blacks and whites in the south, integration of those with disabilities, rights for those in the LGBT community etc. which are few major issues in America that have arisen one after the other that are similar in nature. Democracy in general want have major changes in the beginning but in some of these places over time with new generations change will come about with a major impact and women will enjoy their freedoms that they deserve is what I believe may happen in time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/world/middleeast/17iht-letter17.html?_r=0

Chanel Martin
4/19/13
5:20pm