Opinion

If women ruled the world

By Juliet Hindell

The events of Sept. 11 have led me to reflect on what would have happened if women ruled the world, or even if women had more influence on the world. The alleged hijackers were all men, their alleged leader supports a regime in Afghanistan that suppresses the freedom of women to an extreme degree, and one of the leaders of the attacks said in his will that he did not want women at his funeral or to visit his grave.

Let me start by saying that I am not attacking the position of women in the Islamic world. Any Islamic scholar will tell you that the Koran is full of references to women stating that they should be treated equally. But the Taliban have decided to ignore these teachings and deny the human rights of women.

Not only must women wear a burka, a full-length veil that covers their entire body and leaves only a tiny opening to look through when they leave their homes, but they must be accompanied by a male relative wherever they go . They are not allowed to work, except in the fields of health and education, and even there their activities are restricted. Girls may not go to school. At home, windows must be covered so that a man passing by in the street could not happen to see a woman without her veil. And that's just the basic restrictions.

Some Islamic commentators have tried to argue that Afghan women are happy to live this way. They say that they don't want to be sex objects like women in non-Islamic countries. But that is clearly rubbish. When the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan, women went to university wearing jeans and T-shirts. They were not dressing to be alluring, just to be practical.

Why does this have any influence on what happened on Sept. 11? Women have been terrorists too, as Japan's Red Army proved. Women have led nations into war, as Margaret Thatcher did in the Falklands. Women are not naturally non-violent. But I do feel that if they have a voice in politics and society, they can bring a different perspective to debates. For example, if al-Qaeda and the Taliban had female members, might they not argue for an equal role for women in society?

I can't suggest that women in these groups would have prevented the Sept. 11 events because women might feel as antagonistic toward the United States as men. But do mothers send in their sons to their deaths by choice — I don't think so.

Many commentators have said that the attacks on America might not have happened if there was more democracy and less economic hardship in the countries where the terrorists came from. Democracy includes the voice of women, economies are often more vibrant when women have access to education and play a role in business and commerce. I strongly feel that the attacks might not have happened if those men felt there was something better for them to do — like have a business — and if women were allowed to offer their opinions in the groups that conceived such atrocities.

I can already feel the misogynists reaching for their pens to reply to this column, so I'd like to say I don't hate men. I just think both men and women are better members of civilization if they have the same human rights, including equality of the sexes.

Shukan ST: Nov. 23, 2001

(C) All rights reserved