April 12, 2015

One constant theme we have focused on this semester is the desire for democratization. There has been hope to provide rights to those who have been repressed.  One specific thing that many have hoped to expand is the right of a women to be an individual and seen as her own human being. By doing this many have hoped to end such practices that certain religions have held onto for so long. One specific one I have focused on is Female Genital mutilation. With this practice we have noticed how women have been degraded and devalued throughout time. It has been a practice which has kept women under the radar, mainly because the practice causes psychological effects too not just physical. FGM is a practice that has kept women repressed; as one could say it is a double edged sword. One both sides of the practice, a women is still not considered a complete person. I say this because as previously mentioned, those who don’t want the practice can’t do much to stop it. The cab driver I talked about, didn’t consider mutilated women whole, that’s why he preferred others. On the other hand, the people who support the practice don’t consider a women a whole women or a pure women if they have not under gone the practice. As the article End FMG says, these religious practices are considered to keep a women clean. Those who do not go under the practice are considered unclean and usually not allowed to handle certain things, such as water and food. Although the supporters of democratization tend to focus on ending these practices and help women, they have not had great results. The practice is still done in certain areas of Egypt with almost 27.2 million females having gone through it. Other things in Egypt that have also held women down have been little education, sexual harassment, the Muslim Brotherhood and the societal views on the women’s voice. As the spread of democratization happens though we still hope to get basic human rights to people. As I have been looking at the topic of women’s rights, I have supported democratization because it has allowed women to rise in certain areas. Democratization can provide education as well as healthy communities. Women’s rights movements have sought after social, political, and economic reforms, this is something that has been similar to democratization. Women and Democracy presents to us that a democracy requires all its citizens be involved. A democracy needs its women involved as well as women need a democracy in order to be able to be involved. The article tells us that women are still under-represented. From what we have been learning in class I feel that women will greatly benefit from the Middle-Eastern Revolutions. Because of them, they have been able to get out and start movements.

8 thoughts on “April 12, 2015

  1. Great presentation! You did a really good job connecting the project for women’s rights in Egypt to the perspective of political idealism.

  2. I am not very familiar with female genital mutilation but it is sad to know this is still so prevalent. I feel like FGM is a further way to demean women and make them feel like less of an equal.

  3. I found this presentation very interesting. I knew that women’s rights were an issue, but a lot of things were highlighted that I did not know about. The thing that interested me most was the female genital modification. I did not know that people are frowned upon for not having it, and can be shunned in society. Well put together, very nice presentation.

  4. Great presentation on the overview of your topic. It is a shock to hear about the disposition of women in Egypt and how unequally they are treated. Good job!

  5. Very informative presentation! It was a new topic for me to learn about. It was interesting to see the different perspectives from your presentation to Amy’s even though it was the same topic.

  6. Very interesting topic. I was completely unaware of the female genetal mutilation and I think it is something that may not be brought to light very often due to the sensitivity. But thank you for telling us about it, it is something that cannot be forgotten about.

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