herenow1

If you look at how ME men treat their women I guess you could say hands down that American men are more respectful to their women. Someone brought up a good point on a similar topic of discussion. The point was along the lines that American men overall don't treat women all that much better, especially when you take into account all the womens shelters, the rape stats, the domestic violence stats etc. Do you think we need to take the plank out of our own eye before judging other countries?

Hatuey

Ummm we don't stone our women.....

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jamesrage

Do you think they care about those things in the ME?Perhap the reason they do not have any "womens shelters, the rape stats, the domestic violence stats etc" in the ME is because they don't give a **** if a woman gets the crap beat out of her by her husband or anyone else and they probably think it is the woman's fault when here husband or who ever beats the crap out of her.

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roguenuke

Of course American men treat women better, and not just in the ME. I have been to Australia, and the women and their families were always trying to get the guys from my boat to marry them. At first I thought it was just to get to America, but then when I went to some of the bars there I realized that many of the Austrailian men were very rude to women there. My friends and I believe that many American men are raised with a sense that women should be protected and that even to get a woman to date you, you have to treat her with respect. Now obviously this isn't true for everyone, but I'd say a lot of men feel this way considering how many have tried to stand in front of me if they even suspect a fight is about to start nearby or stand roadside if we were walking together down a sidewalk.

Dragonfly

That's not a "good point".

America is on the verge of electing a female President.
America has Condi Rice.
I believe there are currently more women in college than men.
Oprah. Martha Stewart. Nancy Pelosi.
Women in the military in combat positions.
Women police and firefighters.

The very fact the America has those crisis centers you mentioned point to the fact that we acknowledge those problems and want to offer help to those that need it regardless of gender.

And don't try to label all men in America as violent thugs who beat their wives and daughters just because some small segment of the population does that kind of sh!t. Most don't.

Are you suggesting other countries besides those in the ME treat their women better?

China, India, Japan, Africa, South America,.....??????

Isn't there still a bit of a problem in China with baby girls being killed simply because a boy is more "desirable"?

And what about female circumcision?

Bah.....I can think of many many many worse places to be born and raised a female than USofA.

Can't think of many that are better. Perhaps you could name a few?

Dragonfly

Why is this thread in the "polls" section of the forum?

There is no poll.

Billo_Really

How about the opposite?

I'm still waiting on my free meal and a pony ride.

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rivrrat

Really depends on what you consider "better". Disregarding the extremism that exists in ALL parts of the world, there are many women who would testify that men in or from the ME treat women with much, much more respect than most American born men. However, some women may not agree with that assessment. Some may think it's too much "babying".

An instructor I had laid out the specific reasons why she only dated Muslim men, and preferably NOT American born Muslim men. She stated that ME men treated her with so much more respect that there was just no way she could lower standards enough to allow herself to be treated the way American men treat women. What she described to me was something along the lines of chivalry. That's the best word I can come up with to give an adequate picture. She said that they would never, EVER touch even her hand without her permission. That when they went to dinner, he did not touch his food until she had begun eating herself. When it came time for dessert with one dinner she was having, he stated he'd like dessert but she didn't feel like it. He refused to order dessert and eat in front of her if she wasn't going to be eating as well. It was considered disrespectful. When she stood up at the table, he stood up at the table. These are old habits of chivalrous behavior that have been bleached from our society. Do I necessarily consider such "treatment" better? Not necessarily. But some women do.

While I was in India, I experienced first hand their treatment of women. In some ways I felt as though I was placed on this pedistal and considered so precious and so fragile that great care must be taken to protect me from any possible harm. In other ways, I felt like they were treating like a child that was incapable of doing anything herself. The constant (and I do mean constant) coddling, hovering, etc was - to say the least - annoying. At times I found it amusing, and cute though. But after so long... it became annoying.

But... that was just their way. To hear them talk, I was special. I was fragile. I was worth the constant sheltering and hovering. Women were to be valued and thus protected from any possible harm. This meant, of course, a limit on their freedoms as well. It's very hard to distinguish between "protecting" and "confining" when you go from a culture such as ours to one such as theirs. My initial reaction was a bit offended, but I quickly saw that wasn't their intention by any means. I was just deemed so valuable that I must be protected. It can easily make one feel like a child though, especially having grown up in the US. I can see how many women would find such behavior reprehensible. How DARE they suggest that a woman can't do this or that or she'll get hurt! How DARE they deny ME the choice to do something that may harm myself! How dare they indeed. How dare they value and protect you.

Now, would I sacrifice my freedoms for said protections? Absolutely not. But some women certainly would. Some women would LOVE being placed on a pedistal like that, and have so much attention directed at them.

The thing is, the experience gave me a whole new perspective. And I'm not sure if I'm conveying it adequately. What some people see as a lack of women's rights, as oppression, actually stems from a desire to protect what are considered most valuable and precious members of society. Can that be twisted and warped and misconstrued? Yes. Can it be oppressive? Yes. But at least now I know where it stems from. I have such a greater understanding of the mindset now that I find it so much less offensive. In fact, hardly offensive at all. Noble intentions and all that.

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talloulou

Sure doesn't sound like the column I read entitled Arab men and farm animals. The gist of it was that men from Saudi in particular treat their women worse than farm animals. Hell with all the not allowing women to venture anywhere alone lest they be raped and then have to be killed by their own brother for the erratic behavior of wandering around without an escort I have to say your praise of middle eastern men smells like complete and utter hor$e$hit. I imagine there must be, simply must be, some women somewhere who actually do ENJOY walking three steps behind their man but considering such rot chivalrous? That's at a whole new level. Heck I once read that in Jordan it's not even really considered "murder" if you kill your sister, niecce, daughter, ect in an honor killing. Honor killings aren't really akin to murder and thus they can't really be punished severely if at all. That's how Jordanian society likes it I suppose. Imagine calling that chivalry? In Iran if you are slut, meaning someone somewhere has accused you of even giving a man a boner, you might actually get freaking stoned to death. I personally can't decide if I'd prefer to be stoned to death or sold by my Iranian father to an Afghan man? Tough call.

Yep. Those middle eastern mo fo's are HOT. And BONUS: apparently none of them are homos, at least not in Iran anyway. If only our men were like those crazy bastards....yum

Jerry

...and they call me "evil".....

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