One of the things that struck me watching the crowds tearing down the statues of Saddam Hussein was that I didn't see any women. Another thing that struck me was that no one commented on this -- as if streets without women were entirely normal. Pardon my stereotypically feminist response, but to me a world wiped clean of women is a little disturbing. It seems to say, "Here is the future of Iraq. And people of your gender aren't in it." I don't want to be a party-pooper, but it seems that about 65% of Iraq didn't get its invitation to the party.
I hope that's not the future of Iraq.
It's not just what it says about Iraq that makes me uncomfortable. I don't like what it tells me about my own country either. At some point in my life, I'd like to live in a country where people looked at a place devoid of women and noticed that there was something strange about that, and where I didn't feel like I was committing a faux pas by bringing it up.
Body and Soul nails that one with exactly the right amount of emphasis{abramic religions, occupying every square on this particular chessboard, Islam versus Christianity, with Judaism pulling the strings for the Christian side. all the power involved is abramic, Old Testament, patriarchal. a woman's place is...up to her man to decide just where.}
