The question of gender equality in modern market society

If the traditional family is abhorred like it is in the depicted picture, then perhaps modern free market would be considered as a better place for women to grow or thrive ... What needs to be acknowledged that often women in the modern market society also complain about their unequal treatment (not to mention colossal amount of sexual harassment cases [1] which doesn't seems to reduce with more freedom) like why their wages are not as same as men? Its seems this complain never questions the foundation of free market society which legitimize free competition in a social Darwinian context means the FITTEST WILL SURVIVE/THRIVE [2] ... free unregulated competition eventually create conditions for inequality, which hurt both men and women equally.

Pornification of Women's image in Western Culture

Sometimes backed I watched a few TED talks (by Gail Dines, Holly Baxter, Jean Kilbourne, Ran Gavrieli) on the impact of the image of objectified women in an advertisement in the west is impacting the well-being of women ...

All of them argued that the women in the west are literally forced in the name of freedom of expression to act more like a porn star, and teenage boys (discovering and becoming addicted to porn at an age of 10-12) are also growing up learning the same, with a growing tendency to dominate, oppress, exploit, abuse, humiliate women in their lives ...

Jihad al-Nikah vs Gang-Bang in Porn Industry

There was a news circulating around that many Tunisian girls are traveling to have sex with insurgents in Syria which were raising eye brows for many. If any of such things have happened (lets assume just for the sake of argument as it could be nothing but propaganda to discredit the insurgents in the eyes of public) then justification from an Islamic perspective for this act isn't a point of concern in this article as the concept of temporary marriage does exist which could have been used by insurgents and their temporary wives in Syria.

The intriguing point rather is that the same liberals who were raising their eye brows here, never said any thing about the gang-bag thing which is common practice in porn industry. Can one imagine a women having sex with as much as 919 men in one day to create a world record (Google 'world sex records' to find out)! brothers and sisters this has happened in this world, and another women who had intercourse with 1500 people in two days time... Does the same so called liberals raise their eyebrows when hundreds of thousands of girls have sex with multiple men in porn industry in the name of gang-bag?

This duplicity is a proof that the problem of these so called liberals isn't with a women having sex with multiple men, but the pretext in which it is being justified. When its porn industry then its OK because it's 'freedom of expression', and stakes of millions of dollars (if not billions) are involved, but when a similar thing is done by some insurgents (assuming that they have) fighting in the name of Islam, then boy you would hear lots of liberals saying 'what the f..k is going on'...

Thats just not it, women in the name of self-determination are allowed to bear the burden of raising many children alone out of wedlock, while facing the humiliation of competition in the job market to survive financially; and when their skin is sold and their figures objectified in the advertisement industry, and what not... but all of this is considered OK primarily because its all being done in the name of freedom of expression and right of self-determination, etc.

But so called liberals with their chicken hearts and a hypocritical attire (which they shamefully deny) never gather enough guts to openly denounce religion, rather prefer to attack various seemingly absurd things happening in the name of religion, but when they do so they forget what's really happening in their own backyards.

Those Muslims who take the position of apologists in such propaganda must rather counter this by showing the liberals their own face when they pretend to lecture on morality and values.

Mommy, I am Pregnant!

Can you imagine your 14 year old daughter coming and tell you that I am pregnant with the child of my boyfriend? If this happens, God forbids, then what would be your response? How would you react to it even when Pakistani law also doesn't put any sexual restrictions on those who are less than 16 years of age? Do you anticipate such a scenario in near future? If you don't then you better should in the wake of bombardment of liberal values by Media, gradual removal of religious content from schools, whilst the feminist movements gets a free hand by authorities to brainwash women into the oblivion of freedom, and of course all of this is almost at the verge of being idealized through a new youth Idol called Malala Yousuf Zai...

Freedom for Women, or Freedom to Approach & Enslave Women?

It is often argued that idle women workforce is a great loss to the economy, and by making them work the economic growth can be accelerated. It is also argued that this is the fundamental right of the women to be economically independent. In defense of this argument various reasons are given like a financially independent woman is better able to take care of herself and her children, and that she and her children are healthier, more educated and have better chance of coming out of poverty.

The Architects of Soicety in Suicidal Mode

Mother, Father and the teacher are the architects of the next generation in a traditional Islamic society, but what happens to their roles after modernization?

Naturally a child when is born is supposed to spend two years particularly in the laps of her mother primarily because nature has put his food in her breasts. When he grows older, this initial bond is supposed to remain strongest with her mother, however his father would become the next source of inspiration and guidance... The family is therefore meant to transfer the morals, values, character, dialects, general knowledge about the surroundings etc... When the child grows older, he is made to interact with a teacher who further instructs about various disciplines.

After growing old with these three individuals, a person is supposed to be strong in character and morals, psychologically & intellectually mature enough to become a constructive and productive citizen of the society as a whole, and to develop the next generation on the same foot prints. This person is also supposed to be honest, having high integrity, opposed to corruption, and courageous enough to raise his voice against corrupt elements in the society.

Cultural Influence vs. Cultural Imperialism

By Farhan Noor

Need For Reconstruction of Social Order in the Light of Quran

There is justification in growing taunts and ridicule hurled against our identity—or rather at poor imitation of theirs; when cats bark and cows bray, surely, even a modest man cannot restrain himself from a hysterical laugh. Why do we then dress up like clowns and act like pigs? Surely, this nation has more IQ than that of a donkey-cart and more self-respect and dignity than a pea-sized pumpkin—but then why do we behave the way we do: like downright idiots? Why cannot we be just ‘us’? —but then, who are we? I believe this is our national dilemma: identity crisis! It is rightly said: when man does not know his worth—he simply becomes worthless.

59:19 And be ye not like those who forgot Allah. and He made them forget their own souls! Such are the rebellious transgressors!

Sniff. This blatant imitation of the western (pop) and eastern (hindi) socio-cultural lifestyle is a pathetic attempt to become one of ‘them’ as if the civilizations they represent are any models of excellence. It is tempting to unfold my thoughts the way I do…gradually…but I’d rather declare and proclaim at first instant, in single meaning words, lest I am hanged, what this article is not about: contempt for the leper; and what this article is in fact all about: vilification of leprosy. In context—let not the reader doubt my utmost respect for the Americans, the British, and the Indian people. On the contrary, I feel these nations themselves are victims of the socio-cultural system that has left us all farther and farther away from our innate human nature i.e. need for worship of One God. This only makes it more and more relevant to propose an apt alternative against this organization of artificial ethos.

The Industry of Women Rights (Part 1)

By Editor Critic Magazine

Discrimination of and abuse against women comes in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Pakistan has its own market as exemplified in honor-killings, acid-attacks, the usurious dowry system, and the act of disinheritance. Champions of women’s rights do not champion against these particular varieties of dehumanizing acts simply on case of it being dehumanizing per se, but rather, because, honor-killing is hardly a business venture. Understand that we are all products of this capitalist economic system, and mentality, which regards anything and everything marketable as long as it is profitable, including rights, or as in this case: women’s rights. If not, then, according to Noam Chomsky, why is marijuana illegal but tobacco not, when research and evidence over-emphatically proves the latter to be deadlier?

Answer: because marijuana plant can be grown by anyone anywhere even indoors making it a no-business a no-show. Likewise—though hard-to-digest—honor-killings in Pakistan and elsewhere are condemned simply because not that we should as a matter of principle, or maybe it is, but basically because it is hard to make a business out of it. Again, if not, then why this deafening hoo-hah against honor-killings on the one hand and murderous silence on the business of prostitution and depiction of sexually objectified imageries notably those “adult” programs that run on Cable TV and those readily available pirated DVDs at movie outlets, on the other? Why this double-standard? Is it perhaps somehow ok to see a woman pole and lap dance naked for a man and prostitute for a living than to be killed in the name of so-called dignity and honor? No, the reason being that honor-killing is our marijuana and prostitution and pornography, our tobacco!

Don't get Married, says Media

Indian movies, TV commercials, TV dramas (Indian, Pakistani and Turkish) etc. are all giving a very clear message to young blood of the nation, that if you don't have a girl friend, your life sucks... it’s interesting to compare the theme of dramas coming on various TV channels during prime time and the ads which comes in between... the story in dramas shows horrifying, painful situation, full of miseries post marriage scenario; on the contrary the TV commercials mostly presents a very colorful and enchanting relationship of a boy & girl who are of course not married... they play, dance, giggle, and do all kind of fun whereas the characters in dramas are shown to be in real trouble, crying most of the time with a intensely depressing background music... the subliminal message received is clear... "Don't get married as life before it is full of fun, enjoyment and joyful pleasures, not after that"...

The Murder of Motherhood

Baba meree mama kahan hain? (Dad, where is my mother)

Beta mam apne kam se gae'n hain abhi ati hain... (son she is gone for some work, she will be back soon)...

My 3yr old son often asks this question when her mother, who is a house wife, goes outside for a couple of hours to attend a language class once in a week. The emotions in the question are unexplainable. If I put myself into his place, i would ask in such a way when i would feel that a part of me has gone missing. Parents, specially mothers, make their children feel complete, particularly when they are young, whereas in their absence children feel a terrible sense of insecurity and void within and around themselve (see Stephan R. Covey's 7 Habits of highly effective families and M. Scott Peck's a Road Less Travelled). This I witnessed as well in a young girl, classmate of my son, who had begun to behave aggressively to an abnormal level, to express her frustration which she feel in the absence of her mother, who goes to her job from 9am-5pm, particularly after the maternity leave which she took due to the birth of her 2nd child. This young girl had developed a violent behavior toward her new born son as well.

Adultery not a Crime, UN

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-1-138344-
Adultery-is-not-a-crime-UN

For all those who attempts to find similarity in modern conception of human rights, and that of Islam. Also for all those who expects a this modern conception to respect their rights defined by their religion. What we need to understand is, the foundation of this modern conception of human rights is grounded in human rationality which rejects anything unless it is rationally and empirically verified to have a worldly benefit. This approach toward knowledge is limited as not everything, particularly in the domain of social sciences cannot be explained completely through rational and empirical analysis. Religious doctrines focus on the same social domains of life and provides a methodology with rewards in hereafter for those who comply. This doesn't make any sense from the rational perspective, and the claims about hereafter cannot be tested empirically. Therefore it is senseless to accept this modern way of thinking to understand the standards of religion. Those who will do so, will only get furstrated.

The Women Rights Hoax

By Omar Javaid

Both men and women are living together since the very beginning of history, they have lived and survived in equal proportions throughout, and even today their proportions in the world population of around 7 billion is almost equal[i]. This makes a curious mind eventually asks after looking at the present day mantras from women empowerment and liberation, that how come womankind has survived since thousands of years in equal proportions, despite all the supposed atrocities, oppressions, and wrath of men's domination, if there is any? 

There can be multiple answers to this question: 

1) If the hypothesis of men being 'brutally against women's wellbeing' is correct then definitely we can assume that she has the capacity to survive those hardships as otherwise her percentage in population must have been significantly lower than that of men, which eventually would have increased her importance or value due to scarcity but more men would be left without partners which would have in turn caused frustration, rage and subsequent conflicts and disturbance in the society. If the hypothesis of men being brutal 'in relative terms' is false then we should ask what really the fuss is all about?

2) If the birth ratios of men would have been less than women, which is not really the case in reality[ii]  then we could have assume that men's brutal attitude actually serves a noble purpose rather, i.e. to balance out the proportions among the population of both genders, as otherwise there would have been more women than men on the planet, their value would also have decreased due to abundance; and an even larger number of women would have left without partners (read husbands), 'an even larger' because survivability of male is lesser then women, to be very precise 1.07 male births are there for each female birth but while the babies turn into adults, the ratio is reduced to 1.01 males per female[iii].

So what the fuss is really all about, let us then find out ...

Aafia Siddiqui, a Threat to a Multi Billion Dollar Industry

Amazed with the ease through which she is blasting away the very foundation of a multi billion dollar industry of fashion and other segments which objectifies women as to sell its products. What a threat she would have been to capitalism if she would have been roaming freely in western world, they saw it coming didn't they ...

India: Girls asked to Wear Modest Cloths

"Women in India are now told not venture out late at night, not to travel alone, not to wear certain type of clothes. This is what precisely Islam teaches. In maharashtra Shiv Sainiks are acting as moral police stopping valentine celebrations by force, vandalising shops that sell chocolates, Card and flowers for Valentine's day. Girls were stopped from dancing in the Bars and Anna Hazare activists in his model village stopped all liqicuor trade and Liquor shops.
 

A Wave of Sexual Terrorism in Iraq

Behind the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and her family lies a far larger story of what's happened to women in Iraq since they were 'liberated' by the Bush administration. - It is crazy that these women are sitting there on the floor of a prison cell with a goddamn man and gun standing over them. At the very maximum, these women may have somehow assisted their men to get these brutal soldiers, these beasts in human form, these rapists and sodomists, out of their blessed country. Is that a crime?? It is much more likely that these women on the floor have done nothing at all. They were picked up to be used by animals. - WPA

Going Rogue: NATO War Crimes in Libya

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Is Media Deliberately Defaming Islam

Be wary of the headlines! By Aisha Aijaz

“Muslim beauty stoned to death’’ was a headline on a news website. (7th of June 2011)

The screaming headline is a perfect example of yellow journalism gone wild. Unfortunately these dirty tactics of marketing news have become a norm. The news was picked up from British and Ukrainian newspapers which in summary said,

“Aspiring Miss Ukraine stoned to death under Shariah Law by Crimean Radical Islamist. The man was told to be a radicalised Wahabi extremist and the lady was reportedly a Muslim who was given this punishment by him as it is not allowed for women to take part in a beauty contest in Islam”

Sensational and ‘Masalay-dar’ as it sounds, our heavily funded Pakistani media didn’t bother to carry out any further research before propagating this piece, as it perfectly fulfils the purpose and agenda they are working on.

Porn in USA

By Yvonne Ridley

I wonder what the US Administration makes of the idiom that includes the words pot, kettle and black.
The reason for this recent musing comes from revelations that a stash of pornography was found during the infamous Abbottabad raid in Pakistan by US Navy seals.
Not only did the Obama gang boast that they’d finally got the world’s most wanted man but they gleefully revealed a few days later that among the “millions” of intelligence documents was a pile of porn.
Of course we’ve not seen an ounce of evidence to support either of these claims, so not surprisingly there are those demanding that the Americans either ‘put up or shut up’.
Obama argues he will not release pictures depicting the al-Qaida leader’s death because they are too graphic and could offend and inflame Muslims across the world.
It’s an odd argument since he then sees no problem in allowing people to think the al Qaida leader wiled away his days with his head buried in dirty magazines.
But quite frankly, ever since the WMD lies peddled by the US Government to justify the invasion and war in Iraq were exposed most people hold a healthy scepticism towards any official statements coming out of Capitol Hill.
The gullible truly want to believe their government and so they do, but cynics – and they are growing in number even in America these days - recognise weak, transparent propaganda when they see it.
And the OBL porn revelations were indeed weak, highly predictable but also hypocritical. I say this because if you chip beneath the thin veneer of US respectability and family values the country is awash with X-rated smut.
Had Osama bin Ladin checked in to the Marriott, Westin or Hilton hotel chains in America he could have had his pick of X-rated in-room, movies.
I’m told that demand is so high that the blue movie business generates more money than hotel mini-bars.
In Obama’s Apple Pie America, cable and satellite companies pump pornography into millions of homes where the American Dream has, for some, become X-rated.
And the Americans are keen to share – I remember one of the first things that followed the arrival of US forces in Afghanistan was the sex industry.
Scores of channels promoting straight and gay porn suddenly became readily available on television sets without even the need to subscribe.
Yes, I bet that really helped Tony Blair and George W Bush’s crusade to liberate Afghan women.
The internet is also awash with obscene material which exploits women, and it is downloaded daily from US military bases across the world – some sites are so patriotic they even offer their services free of charge to those serving Uncle Sam.
The scale of the problem is so vast that 12 years ago Congress banned sales of sexually explicit material on military bases to keep the Christian right happy but it was never rigorously enforced.
I can reveal that certainly in Guantanamo the porn industry was very much in evidence when I visited with a documentary crew. You’ll have to take my word for it because the Gitmo PR team that escorted me around the base in May 2008 stopped me from filming the shelf racks at the local shop which was awash with dodgy magazines and videos. I still remember one lurid title “Debbie Does Dallas” sitting next to Penthouse.
I thought it would make a sharp contrast to the filming we’d just done in the library used by the Guantanamo detainees where shelves were filled with English classics, Islamic works and copies of the National Geographic.
Of course the reading material accessed by the detainees was specially selected by the authorities but perhaps the Pentagon should be equally selective over the material its soldiers access because there is a link between sexual predators and their reading and viewing material.
Just a few weeks ago 17 veteran and active-duty soldiers filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon. They accuse the U.S. military of permitting a culture that tolerates rape and sexual assault.
Reports show that as many as 3,250 reported rapes or other sexual assaults took place in the U.S. military, in 2009 alone. Military sources admit the unreported incidents could be as high as 16,000 because 80 percent of the victims may not have reported the incidents for fear of reprisal.
Instead of peddling silly propaganda about the stash of porn found in Abbottabad, I suggest American authorities look closer to home.
Interesting that those briefing the media about OBL’s alleged porn stash did so on condition of anonymity … well I wonder what they have to hide?
Could it be a case of porn, kettle and black?

* British journalist Yvonne Ridley is patron of the London-based human rights organization Cageprisoners and European President of the International Muslim Women’s Union.

"Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a victim of lies", says Yvonne Ridley

By M. Khalid Rehman, Karachi

During Musharraf's rule, the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Mulla Abdus Salaam Zaeef was caught by Pakistani authorities and handed over to the Americans. He was sent to the Guantanamo camp but was freed in 2005. The United Nations removed his name from its list of terrorists in July 2010.

Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, was also kidnapped by Pakistani authorities and sold to the US. She has been convicted in a US federal court of assault with intent to murder her US interrogators. She is incarcerated in New York and is awaiting a likely sentence of life in prison, which will be announced on September 23. Her entire case was built on lies, says Yvonne Ridley, a British journalist and war correspondent to Afghanistan told a group of Pakistani journalists at the residence of Dr Aafia's sister in Karachi on September 14.

Talking to journalists in Karachi, Yvonne Ridely said, "Some lies started wars--like President Bush's war on Iraq; and some lies destroy lives of individuals--like the statement that a frail woman imprisoned in a cell snatched the gun of an American soldier and tried to attack him."

Yvonne Ridley expressed surprise that the American trial judge in Aafia's case was not interested in the Aafia's past record, and had insisted only on knowing what had happened during those few minutes in the cell where Aafia was held in Afghanistan. The entire case is a big farce as it was never proved that Aafia fired any shots or even picked the gun. The British journalist said, "Lying comes easy to Americans."

Ridley interviewed Afghan police chief and other officials. She found that the translation of their statements in the court were distorted. "It was a mis-trial. Aafia is the most wronged woman on the planet in history, She was separated from her children, and so brutally abused that she has lost her mind. How can you try in a court of law a woman who is not in her right mind because of the tortures she was submitted to in military custody and from whom her children had been snatched?. Is this American definition of the rule of law?" Ridley remarked.

This makes one think why can the United States release a Taliban government functionary but afraid of releasing a mother of three little children? 

Bikini or headscarf -- which offers more freedom?

 

Krista Bremer holds her daughter Aliya in the scarf the child decided she wanted to wear.

Nine years ago, I danced my newborn daughter around my North Carolina living room to the music of "Free to Be...You and Me", the '70s children's classic whose every lyric about tolerance and gender equality I had memorized as a girl growing up in California.

My Libyan-born husband, Ismail, sat with her for hours on our screened porch, swaying back and forth on a creaky metal rocker and singing old Arabic folk songs, and took her to a Muslim sheikh who chanted a prayer for long life into her tiny, velvety ear.

She had espresso eyes and lush black lashes like her father's, and her milky-brown skin darkened quickly in the summer sun. We named her Aliya, which means "exalted" in Arabic, and agreed we would raise her to choose what she identified with most from our dramatically different backgrounds.

I secretly felt smug about this agreement -- confident that she would favor my comfortable American lifestyle over his modest Muslim upbringing. Ismail's parents live in a squat stone house down a winding dirt alley outside Tripoli. Its walls are bare except for passages from the Quran engraved onto wood, its floors empty but for thin cushions that double as bedding at night.