Pope urges support for Mideast Christians

Hi Matt,

Yes the male is considered head of household. The father or husband. You are correct.  BUT a child must obey their parents and THE most important person in the family is the mother. In fact one's mother rates 3 times the importance as the father. Basically means, obey your mother and don't make her upset. It IS an obedience culture and one based upon age as rank. The  group and family comes in at a higher rate of importance than the individual. We don't understand it as a society that rate the individual as more important that the whole. But it is what it is.

Gender apartheid: you use this term as if women have inferior position in terms of services? Like what happened in South Africa.. give an example?

Yes they have separate places but in fact believe it or not, women DO appreciate it. And would argue AGAINST having men in their spaces. Its quite funny Matt to live in that world. As the women are pretty happy to not have to put up with male harassment in the same way here. Yes, a few areas need improvements but they go to their own schools, they go to their own malls (they can but their gucci bags without having some guy hit on them). They have their own female/family parts and dining establishments. You makes it sound like the women WANT the men there...  you know little about those women. Yeah, I cannot go into their hookah cafe, and they cannot go to the cafe for women.

What they don't want to deal with is: last night I was waiting for a friend at McDonalds. I was in there just sitting in its coolness and some guy started harassing me. Making comments etc.  It just makes things unpleasant. women deal with this ALL the time.

Often I have friends who have traveled to India. They get harassed, pinched and grabbed. It is humiliating and degrading. That is really less likely to happen in say Pakistan as we have separate seating areas etc.  In fact a woman who was also traveling in Pakistan was in the front of the bus for women, some guy was staring obscenely as her. All the women (Pakistanis) got him thrown off the bus!

And Matt, most women in the US can tell its not all that great being next to men on a bus. They rub up on you, they sit with their legs open, its real fun.

Maybe the gender segregation is not only to keep the women out, but the men out as well.








Edited by Hayfa - 20 June 2010 at 4:16pm

Hi Hayfa,

Okay, let's conduct a little thought experiment here and go back in time. South Africa in the year 1950:

The white person is considered head of the factory. All factory workers have to obey him. But there are also black team leaders with teams made entirely of black workers. The black worker must obey his team leader and of course the head of the factory. But the most important person in his team is his black team leader. In fact the team leader rates 3 times the importance as the factory head. This basically means, obey your black team leader and don't upset him. South Africa in 1950 is an obedience culture and one based upon age and skin color as rank. The teams and the factory have a higher rate of importance than the individual black worker.

Yes, South Africa also has separate places. They have got their own sports teams and restaurants. Many blacks don't want any whites in their sports teams. Many blacks are pretty happy that their white masters bear the responsibility of running the country. It's so complicated anyway and black people would not understand all of it. It was in fact white people who invented the factory and they have been doing a good job.

In 1950 young black kids don't want to enter white residential areas. They stay in their own ghettos. They do appreciate it. And they would argue against having white kids in their spaces. Black kids are pretty happy to not have to put up with white kids' harassment and bullying. Blacks also prefer to visit their own shops. No strange stares from arrogant white shop owners.

So I ask you: Is it fair to take away all the power from blacks or women, because of the misdemeanors of white men? White men not capable of restraining themselves when they see a black person in their white golf club or when they see a beautiful woman and simply have no other choice than pinching and grabbing her?