It’s a (wo)man’s world, babe
Written by Andrey on Thursday, 3 December 2009
Business and Economics, Cross-regional and Blogosphere17 Comments
Business and Economics, Cross-regional and Blogosphere17 Comments
Editor’s note: Translation of publicist’s post (RUS). Read neweurasia’s earlier coverage on gender in Central Asia here.
It is common to hear that women’s rights are being violated. For example, both local statistics and those form international organizations show that women in Kazakhstan earn less than men working comparable jobs.
What if everything is reversed? Would it be fair if women had greater advantages than men in gaining employment?
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Well, look at Europe and the West in general, where they like to profile themselves as the standard of gender relations for Eurasia and for Islamic societies. The reality there is, that despite tough talk and antidepressant-backed façade, many ‘emancipated women’ can not handle their own emancipation once they are confronted with the reality that equal rights also imply equal duties and equal burdens.
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Turgai Sangar Reply:
December 5th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
“Would it be fair if women had greater advantages than men in gaining employment?”
Well to have a real-life answer, look at certain European countries and the US where in some cases the tiranny hàs been reversed: there has never been such unease and such uncertainty with *both* sexes as there is now. Would there be less gender abuse and discrimination when things were reversed? I think there would be more and worse.
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Turgai Sangar Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
The difference is that women who don’t want to wear the hijab, or even those who walk around half-naked and behave loosely, are not persecuted in CA and Europe, whereas those who do want to wear the hijab and have a minimum of dignity are.
Many of the situations that you mention are not an output of ‘Islamic tradition’ but rather of social degeneration and consumerist anomy. If you are interested:
“Does Islam oppress women?”
http://www.khilafah.com/images/images/PDF/Books/Does_Islam_oppress_women.pdf
“An introduction to the Islamic Social System”
http://www.khilafah.com/index.php/the-khilafah/social-system/387-an-introduction-to-the-social-system
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Wow. “many emancipated women can not handle their own emancipation…”
I don’t want to be rude, but such a ridiculously rude statement might be best served with a snarky response.
Maybe it’s because they have to deal with men like you.
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Turgai Sangar Reply:
December 6th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
“Maybe it’s because they have to deal with men like you.”
:))) Well, men who see certain things clear and who are not easily bullied by pcness do create unease indeed. There’s still that thing called ‘real life’ you know…
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This idea that women’s depression in the West is the ‘price’ they pay for liberation is ridiculous. Supposing that it is the emancipation of women that is the problem is bizarre, but it doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter what certain Central Asian men say, because I have seen Central Asia for myself, and anyone with their eyes open can see that it is the WOMEN there that keep the place from falling apart. Too many families have men laying around, refusing to do low-skill labor that is ‘beneath’ them, while the women work their asses off, at home, at the bazaar, at an office, at any job necessary to do the best for their families.
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Turgai Sangar Reply:
December 6th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Mikhaïl, it’s not so much a ‘price’ for liberation as it is for an unexpected and twisted outcome of it as well as of the whole post-68 thing: a tremendous pression to be it all, have it all and do it all under which many are cracking.
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Turgai Sangar Reply:
December 6th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
‘pressure’ not ‘pression’ of course (this is what happens when one thinks simultaneously in several languages). And as several wome have told me themselves, much of it comes from fellow women.
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Turgai Sangar Reply:
December 6th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
“because I have seen Central Asia for myself, and anyone with their eyes open can see that it is the WOMEN there that keep the place from falling apart.”
So did I. What you say is very true for several sectors of society. Don’t forget though that the vital economic lifeline of labor migration to Russia and Kazakhstan is mostly done by men while women indeed keep the fort on the home front.
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Suicide rates of women in Kazakhstan were 3 times higher than in the US in 2007. And to the casual observer women in Central Asia do not seem happier or less depressed than women in the US. Quite the opposite. The women I talk to who have live in traditional families hate the fact that they have no power and say the worst part is that their husbands not only expect them to obey every word of every man but also to pretend to be happy and content which creates a great deal of stress.
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Turgai Sangar Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
See, all these Western and UN(-funded) women NGOs, gender programmes and what all caused a lot of harm in this field and not only in Kazakhstan. They promote completely alien concepts, create illusions and unrealistic expectations, and destroy scores of families by setting up women and girls against the others. They basically contribute to the destruction and dislocation of the social tissue so as to control society better. The tragic thing is, that the women and girls who have been manipulated are eventually dumped by those who used them and are left with nothing in the end.
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For an example of a courageous Kazakh women’s activist and yet another example of the degree of hypocrisy and double standards in the field of women’s issues…
Kazakh Teacher Not Allowed To Wear Hijab At School
http://www.rferl.org/content/Kazakh_Teacher_Not_Allowed_To_Wear_Hijab_At_School/1898762.html?page=1#relatedInfoContainer
Хиджаб начали запрещать и в школах Казахстана
http://www.ansar.ru/rfsng/2009/12/08/344
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KZBlog Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 7:06 am
@Turgai Sangar, Unless it’s because her husband beats her when she goes out without a headscarf and calls her a slut.
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Turgai Sangar Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Bwah, that is again one of these worn-out and moronic clichés: “women who wear hijab do so because they are oppressed by their tyrannical husbands or fathers etcetera.” It’s often the contrary: women who both confront social pressure and the authorities for the right to wear hidjab as part of their identity and dignity are often vocal and convinced.
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KZBlog Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
@Turgai Sangar, As are women who don’t want to wear the hijab. In short, I don’t see why wearing a piece of cloth on your head is a big deal or why not wearing it is. It should be the free choice of every person what their religion is and to what extent they want to practice that religion. The issue I have is that these things are enforced on women far more than on men. For example, in Central Asia, men drink and swear and show off flashy clothes and possessions left and right but then talk about how a good Muslim woman should be. To me that’s hypocrisy. But we’ll probably never agree.
Turgai Sangar Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
BTW I agree with this comment or yours… (rfe blog)
“On the one hand, I think Kazakhstan should be a secular country that promotes no one religion. On the other hand, all religions should be tolerated in a secular country and I just don’t see why wearing a head scarf is harmful. If the teacher were to proselytize to students or give bad grades to students who don’t wear the head scarf, that would be a problem. But I don’t see why wearing a piece of cloth on your head is evil.”
These days, it are *the secularists* and the atheist fundamentalists who agressively impose their views and lifestyles.
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It’s a shame some people here spend so much time disagreeing on the problems. No wonder nothing ever gets done.
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