Abstract This paper examines how different human societies define romantic love according to specific cultural beliefs about gender-based sex roles and social mores about sexual expression. In particular, it looks at how in the United States (and much of the Western part or the world as opposed to Islamic cultures), these cultural values include a marked difference in the sexual behavior expected of males and females. It discusses how elements of American social psychology promote destructive cultural beliefs about the nature of sex and romantic love that actually undermine human happiness and how gender-based differential sexual socialization virtually guarantees a predatory approach to dating on the part of males, at the expense of fundamental fairness as well as female wellbeing.
Outline:
Introduction
The Western Version of Burkas, Veils, and Forced Female Circumcision
Western Sexual Mores and Fundamental Beliefs about Romantic Love
Conclusion
From the Paper "As early as grade school, boys are encouraged and rewarded socially for popularity with their female counterparts while grade school girls become sensitive to concepts related to being a "slut" even before full sexual maturity or actual sexual experimentation. By the age of puberty, young women wishing merely for confirmation of their physical attractiveness must already be very cognizant of the fine line between attractiveness and insulting pejorative assumptions and crude allegations related to promiscuity. Likewise, by the time young men and women first begin to date, sexual promiscuity is already viewed as a badge of honor in males and a mark of social shame in females. In principle, the psychological motivation for these cultural attitudes is rooted as much in male insecurity as their comparatively extreme Middle Eastern versions employing more overt forms of female suppression. "
Abstract Situation of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Afghani women as victims of "gender apartheid." Taliban regulations based on the Quran. Bans including wearing the burka, speaking loudly, education, leaving home unaccompanied. Violation of women including beatings, stonings, hanging, rape, inadequate health care. Some changes brought about by the Northern Alliance.
From the Paper "Afghani Women Under The Taliban
Long before September 11, 2001, the world community was aware that under the rule of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the situation of women was at best dire and at worst intolerable. Deborah Ellis (10) reported in March 2001 in a series of interviews she conducted with women living under the oppressive and brutal Taliban regime, that what was revealed was a story so horrifying and so terrible that it is difficult to understand why the civilized world allowed the Taliban to remain in power. This report will examine the conditions imposed upon women by the Taliban during their tenure - thankfully ended - and will argue that the distorted version of Islam practiced by this group was focused in many ways upon the containment and abuse of women, who were victims of what Noy Thrupkaew (18) calls "gender ..."
Abstract This paper examines two books,"Living in Two Worlds" by Marcus Mabry and "An Identity Reduced to a Burka" by Semeen Issa and Laila Al-Marayati, to show how misconceptions can be formed and how dealing with these misconceptions can prove to be difficult.
From the Paper "While Issa does not deny that some countries still use the religious aspect of the burka and other matters to control women, this is not the primary reason for wearing or not wearing one. She stresses that some of these tactics are even "inconsistent with Islam" (Issa). Knowledge and awareness is the key to solving this problem. She states, "Dress should not bar Muslim women from exercising their Islam-guaranteed rights, like the right to be educated, to earn a living and to move about safely in society" (Issa). How one dresses should never be the sole determining factor in how these women are treated or how they are perceived."
