In The News

Does the Prospect of Arranged Marriage and Abuse Warrant Asylum in the US?

Warren Richey March 26, 2007
The world has many policies on marriage: Some nations allow multiple spouses, some permit marriages among teenagers or same-sex partners, and others assign more power to one gender or the other. The Bush administration has asked the US Supreme Court to examine the case of a woman who left China and convinced a federal appeals court that deportation would mean she would face her husband’s wrath....

Let's Burn the Burqa

Taslima Nasrin January 17, 2007
Women wear burqas to conceal their faces and bodies from public view. Writer Taslima Nasrin reviews the history and many theories offered about the personal and social motives behind the concealment: The burqa may constrain sexual reactions from other people, or women may simply want privacy, refusing to endure any stares. Some opponents argue that the burqa reduces women to the status of sexual...

Yet Another Problem in the Middle East

December 20, 2006
Arab society as a whole suffers because of the marginalized status of its women. A series of Arab Human Development Reports, from the United Nations Development Programme, explore the many challenges facing Arab societies. Half the women in Arab society are illiterate along with one third of the men. Concern emerges in Arab societies that Western values draw women away from family roles, and yet...

Theologians Battle Female Circumcision

Amira El Ahl December 19, 2006
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 140 million women worldwide are circumcised, most living in Africa, with some also in Asia and the Middle East. Some cultures – mostly in Africa, but also in Asia – have embraced female circumcision for thousands of years, expecting it to decrease sexual desire in women. The practice is common in Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, but not in Iraq,...

Our Moral Superiority About Sex Is Proving Deadly

Saral Boseley November 28, 2006
Western nations like the US and the UK have split personalities when it comes to sex. Western cultures are obsessed with the topic, allowing it to dominate the media, consumer products and everyday life – yet their politicians and professionals are quick to criticize or advise developing nations about high rate of AIDS or promiscuity. A series published in the journal “Lancet” suggests that the...

Family Tree of Chinese Sage Branches Out to Include Women

Jonathan Watts October 9, 2006
The Chinese philosopher Confucius lived more than 2500 years ago, and his teachings about how to live a life of purpose still resonate today. As a code of ethics, Confucianism emphasizes peaceful relationships and benevolent dictatorships through hierarchy, requiring women to obey men, the young to obey old, and subjects to obey rulers. China’s government is promoting Confucius values –...

S. Koreans Search Far and Wide for a Wife

Barbara Demick September 25, 2006
Tens of thousands of South Korean men look to China, Vietnam and beyond for wives, in response to a shortage of brides caused by a generation of gender-selective births. Since ultrasounds became widely available in the 1980s, parents in South Korea could screen out undesirable daughters, resulting in a gender imbalance of 113 males for every 100 females. The countryside’s shortage of marriage-...