Why Do Arab Men Fear Women?

IsraelAmerica calls on all nations to oppose the brutality and suffering imposed on women in the Arab world, and make human rights a primary factor in any support for any regime which results from the riots currently occuring in the Arab world.

All of the Riots in the Arab World are to a greater and lesser degree, motivated in part by a desire to  oppress women.

No Arab country is in the list of top 100 countries that support women's rights.

"Even after these 'revolutions,' all is more or less considered well with the world as long as women are covered up, anchored to the home, denied the simple mobility of getting into their own cars, forced to get permission from men to travel, and unable to marry without a male guardian's blessing – or divorce either," Eltahawy argues in Foreign Policy. "An entire political and economic system – one that treats half of humanity like animals – must be destroyed along with the other more obvious tyrannies choking off the region from its future. Until the rage shifts from the oppressors in our presidential palaces to the oppressors on our streets and in our homes, our revolution has not even begun."

Mona Eltahawy's 'Arab men hate women' article sparks demands for a sea change in engagement between the sexes

guardian.co.uk, Friday 27 April 2012 09.51 EDT

Egyptian women protest against the army's use of violence against them in Cairo in 2011 after images of women who had been brutally beaten were circulated. Photograph: Mohamed Omar/EPA

An explosive call for a sexual revolution across the Arab world in which the author argues that Arab men "hate" Arab women has exposed for all to see the truth about the subjugation of women in countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

"Why do they hate us?", by the prominent American-Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy,  fulminates against "the pulsating heart of misogyny in the Middle East" and builds to an early crescendo by stating: "We have no freedoms because they hate us … Yes: They hate us. It must be said."
Eltahawy is not alone in stressing that a revolution has come and gone, but done little for Arab women. There are only eight women in Egypt's new 500-seat parliament – and not one female presidential candidate. Domestic violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation are still part of the status quo across a region covering more than 20 countries and 350 million people.

Eltahawy draws on anecdotal and empirical evidence for her tirade: 90% of women who have ever been married in Egypt "have had their genitals cut in the name of modesty"; not one Arab country is in the top 100 nations as ranked by gender equality; Saudi women have been prosecuted for daring to drive a car. Eltahawy nails the paradox that it is women who must cover up – because of the sexual impulses of Arab

"I agree with what she said but I think that the one thing that she might be reluctant to admit is that it's not only about men hating women, it's about Islam  hating women," says Joumana Haddad, a Lebanese author and journalist. "Islam continually reinforce patriarchal standards and patterns that have existed long before. There is no harmony possible between Islam and women's rights. The teachings deny women their dignity and rights."

Lina Ben Mhenni, a Tunisian lecturer stated  "The examples cited by Mona are real."

"Lebanese law militates against women in places. "There is no law that protects women from domestic violence," notes Lebanese MP Sethrida Geagea. "A husband can violate his wife and even rape her and there is nothing to protect her. ."

Tunisia may historically have enjoyed the most liberal attitudes towards women's rights, but some fear that may be changing, despite last year's revolution. Saloua Karoui Ounalli, a lecturer in American and English literature at Tunis University, said: "Things have changed in just a few months. I can't wear miniskirts at work now, on the campus, for fear that someone will attack me. I only wear trousers now. This change in environment began a couple of years back, when the number of women wearing the veil started to increase."
She says a sexual revolution is desperately needed.

Part of "the problem with our societies is that the women are in love with their sons instead of their husbands, and the men are in love with their mothers instead of with their wives," she adds. "Men and women don't understand one another due to the fact that their dealings are not at all clear, as they don't spend enough time together or don't engage with each other enough."