Men have pulled off the greatest con ever on women!

Something I picked up from yesterday's Gulf Daily News....I liked it and I share his opinion..

Men have pulled off the greatest con ever on women!

By LES HORTON

The war of words continues to rage on our letters page over whether or not women should be covered.

Readers are busy debating whether a woman who is covered is a victim of male subjugation, or whether she is actually enjoying more freedom beneath the veil than her uncovered counterparts.

The pro-covering lobby advocates the view that a covered woman commands more respect and is therefore "free" from being harassed by men's stares or unwelcome attention.

Some in this camp go as far as to say that women who do not cover court disrespect and in so doing deserve anything they get should they be harassed by men in the street or workplace.

This view is not unique to the Muslim community. Take a look at the way rape is handled in the West and you will not be able to escape the fact that society judges women not just by how they behave, but by what they wear.

I have lost count now of the number of times I have heard the phrase "She deserved it" in reference to an assault victim, just because she was wearing something deemed skimpy or provocative.

Societies the world over absolve the male of the species of the responsibility for self-control, by putting blame for original sin on the female.

It is the female who beguiles and seduces the poor, powerless male, who simply cannot control his natural urges.

That's the bit I object to. Forget all the arguments about dress, let's look at the place of the man in all of this.

Almost every society makes excuses for male promiscuity, infidelity, even sexual assault or rape, because it is assumed that man cannot control his primary urges and any woman who ignites them must take the blame for the consequences.

What a lovely cover for us men, the idea that we can't help ourselves and are therefore blame-free.

We cannot think above the waist, so therefore women must cover up.

We cannot control our desires, so women must never walk alone at night and if they do so, then it must be in fear.

We walk away unstained from casual affairs, while women with sexual appetites are dismissed as sluts.

Men sow their wild oats with impunity, then expect the woman they marry to be chaste and pure.

Somehow, somewhere down the evolution line, man pulled off the greatest con ever! lhorton@gdn.com.bh

After reading Les Horton's article, ' Men have pulled off the greatest con ever on women!' in today's paper, I can't help but feel how much better this world would have been if there were more men like him, indeed we even suffer from a shortage of women who think that way. There are way too many cultures in the world that teach their daughters that it is ok to be discriminated, ill-treated and subjected to unfair treatment in all walks of their lives by men. It is lamentable that it is almost always the mothers who impart this lesson in life. It was a very wise person who once said, "Only that culture/country will develop and reach the forefront where a woman is treated with respect and where a woman can live without fear." I often wonder whether the world wouldn't have been a safer, more peaceful and more beautiful place to live in had women managed to retain their rightful position as the superior sex.