Are We Really That Frightening?

A news item came to my attention the other day -- I believe from the Manchester Guardian -- that described a mad dash to a hospital in Saudi Arabia. When the car arrived at the emergency entrance, various Saudi medical personnel were stunned to note that it had been driven by a woman. Turned out that it was the sick man's daughter, and had it not been for her quick transport, her father faced almost certain death. To the religious authorities, who were horrified to learn that not only could this young girl drive a car, but drive it with some expertise, there could only be one result -- a goodly number of lashes and a lengthy prison term. Women do not drive in Saudi Arabia. Her dire fate was averted, however, when it was learned that the father was a man with powerful connections in The Kingdom, and these said "authorities" could go fly a kite. Indeed, he wanted to reward her, and when he had recovered somewhat, asked her what she might like. "A Ferrari," she replied.

This is a girl I would like to meet.

Yet the anecdote raises some interesting questions, all of which can be summed up under the rubric, "Certain Muslim men are terrified of women." Hence I can understand the driving ban, which, if lifted, would give women a death-dealing weapon equal to those driven by men.

But this doesn't quite get at the sheer terror felt by those men inhabiting a great deal of the Middle east, to say nothing of those in the tribal areas of Pakistan or in much of Afghanistan. Educating a female, for instance, is anathema -- witness the recent courageous act of throwing acid in the faces of thirteen-year-old schoolgirls, and of course any unprotected girl's school is ripe for bombing, preferably with the inhabitants still in it. And the insanity of their rape laws, where the act must be testified to by four witnesses before any redress can be offered, well, this just beggars belief. I mean, just imagine. There you have four guys standing around, taking notes on the act (more likely a gang bang) and then trotting off to the local mullah to report. Unless of course the mullah himself -- oh, enough. The point is made.

But this is sanctioned in the Qu'ran you say. Like hell it is. All the Qu'ran states is that women should dress and act modestly. Full stop. The rest stems from some asshole "interpreting" the text.

No, the problem goes deeper. I have long held that fear and hatred stem from not understanding the person or thing being beheld. Now it is true that no man will ever understand a woman completely, but at least in civilized society men give women the benefit of the doubt. Most of the time. In the areas discussed above, where we are deep into the ninth century, no such benefit is given. Women are lesser beings, contaminated with evil, and begrudgingly necessary for procreation. Abortion is punishable by death, yet if I have it right, and if it were men giving birth, all the mullahs, imams, and not a few rabbis and priests, would make abortion a sacrament.

There is an answer to this, and it lies in an odd place -- the kitchen. More on that next time.