Women in Libya!

Libya is a major topic on all the news channels and radio stations. So I decided to research how the women of Libya are being affected by this up roar of Gaddafi (I have seen his name spelled numerous ways) being kicked out of ruling Libya.

Gaddafi was a tyrant ruler. When he was ruling he had women guards. Gaddafi stated that by having women in a ruling position he was up holding women’s rights and trying to raise their status in Libya. Yet, Gaddafi was trying to change the ideals of the strongly Islamic country in order for the people of Libya to follow his rules.

The women that were Gaddafi’s body guards were often questioned if they were being used for pleasure rather than protection. These women often wore heavy make-up and sometimes did not wear their cultural robes. When Gaddafi left Libya, women wanted to be viewed in a different way. The women of Libya wanted to help out in the fight against Gaddafi’s rebels.

Women are now being trained to be in Libya’s military. Women are not yet being sent to the front lines, but they are helping their country’s military for the first time. Most of the women joining the military are housewives or teachers. They feel the need to take charge and help out their families in the military. By doing so these women are changing how they are viewed in the military.

When reading this information, I was rather excited to learn that women who are strictly monitored in Libya are now able to do something that we feel is normal. It is amazing to see how the roles of these women are changing right before our eyes. I was happy to learn that women were able to fight next to their brothers and help out their country. This article gave me the idea that women are becoming stronger and progressing in their cultural roles in society.

Foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/09/27/libyan-women-train-to-join-national-army/

Women in Afghanistan

                It’s illegal for boys and girls not to go to school in America, yet we take for granted this privilege. In many rural and remote areas of Afghanistan many young girls do not go to school. Resulting that many women in these areas are illiterate. As I read an article from the Catholic Relief Services, about how schools are being built in these areas of Afghanistan, I saw how women viewed themselves in their culture and by how they were raised they don’t see any other way to live.

  In the article by the Catholic Relief Services, they share a story of a young girl, Nisa, and her family. Nisa was nine years old when she wanted to go to school, yet her mother did not approve. Her mother, Bibi Gul, asked her, “Why are you going to school? Education is useless for a girl.” Then Nisa’s father convinced her mother that it was right for their daughter to go to school. This made me begin thinking about our stereotypes of women and men in Afghanistan.

                Us as women have this view that women are oppressed by men in different countries. Yet when reading this article it shows how in some cases it’s the women oppressing the young women. These women do not even realize that they are oppressing themselves, yet by the way that they were raised it has caused this.

                Nisa’s mother, Bibi was raised to believe that women do not need an education. Bibi believes that her role in their culture is to take care of the home and the children. By Bibi being raised in this way it has shaped her and her daughter. With change being brought into these areas of Afghanistan, it will hopefully change the way these women view themselves in their culture.

The Catholic Relief Services

http://crs.org/afghanistan/education-in-afghanistan-changing-minds/

Women in Zimbabwe!

When thinking of a topic that is important to me, I had a few ideas in mind. The one that was most important to me was the cultural roles of women in third world countries. I believe that these women have amazing stories to be told and voices that need to be heard.

While researching I found a picture of women that were protesting in Zimbabwe. I saw in this photo women that wanted their voices to be heard and wanted the cultural roles of women to change. I then read about this group of women called Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza). These women wanted better access to food,health care, and education.

After I had read this article I felt that these women were not granted the simple rights that us women in America are granted. We take these rights that we are handed for granted sometimes. These women of Zimbabwe helped me to feel grateful for the rights that I am given in America. This picture also showed me that they had a lower value in their culture. So I decided to research the value of women in Zimbabwe.

From my research I found out that in Zimbabwe they have co-existing laws with civil and cultural laws. The civil laws are meant to help these women in Zimbabwe to attain the rights that they should be given. Yet the cultural laws make it nearly impossible for all women to obtain these rights.

For example, when a man has a civil marriage he is only allowed one wife and they are allowed to get divorced. Yet when a man has a cultural marriage he is allowed to have more than one wife and the man has to pay a bride price for his wife or wives. Also divorce is not common in cultural marriages. Civil marriages are more common in the urban areas of Zimbabwe and cultural marriages are more common in the rural areas.

This to me shows that women are rising up in the roles they play in society, yet they are being degraded at the same time. Women in the urban areas are given a greater role that they play in society. Yet women in the rural ares of Zimbabwe are not given the rights of other women in their country. Women in rural areas play the same role they have been taught, that is to get married, work on their farm, and take care of their children.

The cultural role of women in Zimbabwe is starting to change, but may take a long time to fully come around.