Equality

In today’s world it can be seen that women have made considerable progress over the years being treated as equals to men. When comparing the women of today with the women from fifteen thousand years ago, mentioned in Andree Collard’s “Rape of the Wild”, significant differences can be seen. According to Collard, pg. 16, para. 2, under patriarchy, “nature and women are reduced from a position of importance to a position of insignificance”. For a lot of the world this position has been reversed and women now represent as much of an equal force as men do. The Middle East is one section of the world still showing a lot of oppression towards women. In the article “Return of Islamic Leader Worries Some Tunisian Women” (see link below)

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/115291829.html

Cecily Hilleary speaks of how in the Arab country, Tunisia, women have had more than half a century of freedom, including political, legal and personal freedoms which could lead an example for the rest of the area. A code was passed in 1956 which allowed women these freedoms. Since then a vast majority of women in Tunisia have been seen as equals to men, however, now there is a possibility that these freedoms may be taken away with the return of Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi. Ghannouchi supports Sharia, which allows men significantly more rights and liberties than women. Hopefully this country’s government and people will be able to avoid such a hierarchical system, hopefully women will be able to keep their rightful place as equals.