Feminism and the Middle East

CNN is running in my background.

I am thinking how easy it has been for women in my country for the past 50 years. Not for all of us, of course, and I don't mean to belittle the many, many problems that women in America still face.

Yet, I can't help thinking about how my life would have been different if I had been born in Tel Aviv or Beirut. What if the men in my life were fighting, and what if the cities around me were having to be rebuilt time and time again? What if I had to worry about missiles destroying the safety of my home?

It sometimes takes a major jolt to change my perspective. I do want pay equity, equal representation in my government, a cultural change that shifts the responsibility of childcare away from the female parent, and a language of my own. But while people in the world are still struggling to survive (in the Middle East, in Africa, in Asia, in Europe and Americas), I cannot pretend that these are the only needs that women have.

The BBC reports: Baby girls are abandoned in China because they are female. "For every 100 girls registered at birth, there are now 118 little boys - in other words, nearly one seventh of Chinese girl babies are going missing."

According to Afghanistan Online: "The repression of women is still prevalent in rural areas where many families still restrict their own mothers, daughters, wives and sisters from participation in public life. They are still forced into marriages and denied a basic education. Numerous school for girls have been burned down and little girls have even been poisoned to death for daring to go to school."

According to the Feminist Majority: "Abortion is illegal in most African countries except when the life of the mother is at stake, a condition which requires the agreement of more than one doctor. The World Health Organization Estimates that there are 4.2 million unsafe abortions in Africa each year, causing about 30,000 yearly deaths."

And we all know that the list goes on and on.

I guess I just want to keep this in my mind. I don't want to forget that while I am fighting and struggling in my battles, others are fighting and struggling for theirs.