After meeting with three NGOs on Thursday I was feeling pretty positive about the political opportunities for women in Jordan. There are a lot of problems that prevent them from becoming politically engaged: the tribal system, a very conservative culture, an electoral system that discriminates against them and a lack of confidence amongst women themselves in their ability to take on positions of responsibility.
However, there is also a quota of six seats reserved for women in the Parliament, which is very impressive for the Middle East region and some fantastic NGOs working very hard to support the women who do want to run in elections. Although there are lot of challenges, I came away on Thursday feeling that change is possible.
Yesterday I took a day off from research and went the Petra. The hotel organised a driver and from him I got a real insight into the mind of a Jordanian man. He thought that women's education was a bad thing and that the introduction of mobile phones was dangerous because it meant women could talk to each other and share ideas. He also did not have a problem with polygamy (as long as you did not exceed four wives) because it is sanctioned by "the Muslim religion". "The man is always on top, he always has the last word." The rest of what he had to say ranged from sexist to the down right bizarre.
The point I want to make is that the interpretations of Islam vary widely and some women view it as potentially incredibly empowering. If change is to happen in Jordan, it will occur within an Islamic framework, but when some men use religion at every turn to justify the unfair treatment of women, it feels like an uphill battle.
No comments:
Post a Comment