What can we do to help oppressed Middle Eastern women?

What can we do to help oppressed Muslim and Middle Eastern and African women?

Shall we sign a petition?

Can we get the fax numbers for the Muslim trade offices in Taipei to send a letter of protest to?

Should we organize an event to visit these offices to show our concern?

Can we call newspapers and tv stations to publicize our event?

Any and all serious inquiries and offers of assistance would be greatly appreciated.

freddy

How many women actually want help? I used to have a Muslim woman friend in Indonesia. She was university graduated, wore t-shirts, Nikes, jeans and a Muslim head scarf. She also supported the Taliban. A mess of contradictions she was.

You might get some inspiration here. (Can’t scroll the pages??!)

I have some insight on this, partly because my ex-wife is Turkish.

Thanks Juba:

Something is wrong with the link though. I cannot scroll down to get any of the information. Is it just me or…?

Thanks for any and all help.

freddy

The oppressed women in the Mideast? How about helping the oppressed ones right here?

The ones who are abused, are battered, are forced into a life of prostitution, the ones whose families have thrown them out on the street because they came down with cancer or AIDS.

Oh, no wait a minute, foreigners can get deported for doing volunteer work here due to the ROC’s draconian labor laws and it might embarrass the gov’t if we flipped on a media spotlight. Nevermind.

Nonsense Flicka:

Call the community services center at 2836 8134 to see if you can get information about the Garden of Eden Foundation if you would like to help.

Or call Paula Voigtman at the Christian Salvation Services about working with abandoned babies or single mothers at 2841 2860.

Finally, you could always try Rotary Club of Taipei at 2381 1886 to see what charities they are involved with.

It may come as a surprise to many, but I am actively involved in several such groups here and you do not have to be full time or even regularly part time, you could work one or two days a month! Now that is something that I think everyone can afford surely? Others interested in other types of charities, please contact me here and I will find something appropriate for you.

Also one last comment, the women of Taiwan may suffer but there are laws that protect them. This is not true in the Middle East so hence the greater interest in activism.

freddy

[quote]Western treatment of Muslim women has been hypocritical at best. Leila Ahmed, who published a study of women and gender in the Islamic world, dubs the Western attitude as

[quote=“Alien”][quote]Western treatment of Muslim women has been hypocritical at best. Leila Ahmed, who published a study of women and gender in the Islamic world, dubs the Western attitude as

[quote=“fred smith”]Nonsense Flicka:

[/quote]

To the best of my knowledge, it is illegal for foreigners to volunteer in Taiwan. I have heard it is illegal and I’ve also heard “I’m not sure”. I’ve never heard YES it is legal, it is positvely OK.

I imagine most CSC and other volunteer work done by expats in the expat-package income bracket is given a blind eye. Donating things to orphanages seems to be OK. Donating money to charity organizations seems to be OK. Having a desk at an AIDS organization or blowing the whistle on animal cruelty violations or standing on a street corner passing out anti-prostitution pamphlets seems to be frowned upon. If anyone has heard different, I’d be very interested in knowing the official stance.

Flicka:

If you are interested, all it takes is a call and you can find out. I know of many people volunteering at these kinds of charities. I think you are talking more about “activism.” If you want to help, there are tons of places that need help. If you want to agitate, then I cannot help you with that.

As to you Alien:

What a load of hooey. The US is not to blame for each and everything that goes wrong in the Middle East. If the US were not around, Saudi Arabia and Egypt would be even more oppressive of women. How do we know? Well were things any different BEFORE the US arrived. Excellent point Porcelain Princess regarding how much better things were in the evil Iran under the evil US-backed Shah. US foreign policy is complex. The US is not capable of maintaining dictators in power if they do not have the support of their people. Otherwise, what happened in Iran? If the people of Egypt or Saudi Arabia ever wanted to foment a revolution, they could. The simple fact remains that most do not and women bear the brunt of that.

How about you Alien? Can I sign you up for some charity work here to help local women? We also have a dental trip going to Orchid Island twice a year to help aboriginal children. Could always use a dental assistant to help hold their mouths open, etc. Wanna come? Also, could use some help wiping asses and helping with bedpans with abandoned old people at a nursing home. How about Sunday mornings or afternoons? You can pick your own shift? Give me a private message and I will put you in touch. Again, once a month, twice a month means that some of the regulars could take off a day and spend it with their families for a change.

freddy

Fred:

I think Alien may be feeling a disconnect, here. As an obvious non-Lefty who has (gasp) supported U.S. policy, you’re not supposed to be the kind of person who helps (gasp) women. Furthermore, even if you were a Lefty, you should not actually be helping people who actually need help. Or, at least, you should be expressing concern for people far enough away from you that those close to you do not fall under your radar.

You’re out of step with the times. To wit:

“Both Althusser and Cantat illustrate the new moral law for modern man: that moral concern rightly increases as the square of the distance from the person expressing the concern.”

http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/22/sep03/marie.htm

(By the way, I’ve just discovered this writer, Theodore Dalrymple. I daresay he is one of the most astute, intelligent and concise writers in English today, bar none.)

Sign them all up for a free lifetime subscription to Cosmopolitan. Would this be considered cultural genocide?

Blueface:

Cosmos indeed! haha

That said, outside of Iran, I don’t want to see any of these Middle Eastern women outside their burkas or veils. We are talking about some pretty ugly merchandise here that would tilt the scales on the upper side of the body mass index. Besides the veils cover up the fact that many have more facial hair than I do. These women look like they smell…

Tick tock tick tock tick tock :smiling_imp:

[quote=“fred smith”]That said, outside of Iran, I don’t want to see any of these Middle Eastern women outside their burkas or veils. We are talking about some pretty ugly merchandise here that would tilt the scales on the upper side of the body mass index. Besides the veils cover up the fact that many have more facial hair than I do. These women look like they smell…

Tick tock tick tock tick tock :smiling_imp:[/quote]
I hear that there’s a movement to classify racism as a psychiatric disorder. If so, Fred, you’d be well advised to contact your insurance company to see if treatment is covered under your plan. . . .

Oh I suppose that wasn’t very nice Mopodofu:

But really… :unamused:

[quote=“fred smith”]Oh I suppose that wasn’t very nice Mopodofu:

But really… :unamused:[/quote]
No, really, Fred. You do come across as being pretty bloody racist about Arabs, and Muslims in general (from that thread that got moved to the “flame forum”). There are a very few Arabs who need to get bombed into oblivion (or the afterlife, or whatever – choose your own metaphysics), but that’s no reason to generalize stench, body hair, blimpiness, general ugliness, or anything else either to Arab women or to Arabs as a whole. As far as fat goes, Americans are still #1 in the world, last I heard, with the Brits not far behind.

The Arabs I’ve known – and there have been many – have almost universally been kind, decent people. You do your causes a disservice by blinding yourself with condescending, racist attitudes toward them.

Unfortunately, there is little we can do for Muslim women that works in the short term.

In the long term only two things can help: globalization - with Western ideas about women’s rights becoming more prevalent - and NGO action, such as international NGOs helping women set up small businesses. Though I doubt Muslim countries will allow foreigners to meddle in that way.

You can try petitions to embassies of Muslim countries - but I don’t think that helps much.
In my (European) country, such action would be not mentioned at all by the media - in the best case - or you would be vilified as a racist, in the worst case. European media are dominated by a multicultural elite which thinks Muslims can do nothing wrong, and practices like genital mutilation and the hacking off of hands are “cultural” customs that Westerners should not preach about.
In the meantime, Muslim women keep suffering.

CNN is going to have a special report on female and child slavery in the Middle East tonite. Should be interesting.

PP wrote:

[quote]You’re out of step with the times. To wit:

“Both Althusser and Cantat illustrate the new moral law for modern man: that moral concern rightly increases as the square of the distance from the person expressing the concern.”

newcriterion.com/archive/22/sep03/marie.htm [/quote]

PP, you are BEHIND the times. Christina Hoff Summers wrote an article back in the 80’s called “Where have all the good deeds gone.” She made the same point as the article you quote (which I also read a few days ago) though with greater persuasive force. Her main point was that since the 60’s, moral goodness had shifted from deeds to thoughts and opinions. This allowed snide, cynical hipsters feel morally superior to their grandmothers (who had shown the greatest moral courage holding their families together during the depression and war) for not being concerned with the plight of dolphins.

A simple article but one that changed me forever.

For someone who is oh-so-sensitive to any slight against Christians, you seem awfully comfortable hurling racist abuse at Arabs and Muslims. You have one of the most audaciously hypocritical double standards of anyone I’ve seen. Be f*cking consistent.