KUWAIT: In a casual seminar that took place in the diwan of former MP Abdullah Al-Naibari, Dr. Ebtehal Taher spoke about the political role of women and its relation to religion. The meeting was attended by a number of young thinkers and political activists.
Taher talked about the situation in Kuwait, pointing out at first that Kuwait's society is patriarchal and follows certain rules and regulations that are self-made. "A woman's body is usually used as a board to show the ideology of the nation," she said adding, "In our everyday language we say things like; 'Look at this country. Its people are "free"' and to prove that we say, 'do you see how their women dress?' The case is even similar on a smaller case; people refer to how a family is liberal in its thinking by the way their women dress. Women are contributing more and more in society these days, with two having held the position of a minister. But things are not as advanced as one would think."
"The government's new laws that are allegedly for women are actually against them. Think of the many opportunities that a woman would miss if she is forced into early retirement," said Taher.
She later on referred to a more recent issue, that of the segregation issue in universities. As a professor in Kuwait University, Taher lives the atmosphere first hand. "Students are being pressured to behave a certain way," she said, which she explained leads to total control of their lives. "They are convinced that no matter what they do, they will be eternally damned in hell," she added.
Forcing students to dress a certain way is not only controlling their appearance, but it extends to controlling who they choose to be. Taher talked briefly of the cons of segregation, referring mainly to how it delays students academically, aside from its high cost and the way it makes youth defunct.
By Hussain Al-Qatari, Kuwait Times
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