Or the muslim children can just buy a regular Barbie and put a black sock over her head. It's the same!

They can go to Germany's nudist beach and fulfill their rights to freedom. Of-course you can argue that Jordan not having its own nudist beach is a flagrant abuse of basic human rights of existance.
I'd be unable to argue on that with you

kinzi:

Hello Sana, snark is hard to communicate on screen, I suppose. I really enjoy your writing, hope you don't mind if I respond candidly.

Living in Hashmi Shemali, Amman, is what gave me the association. The women in my neighborhood, after marriage, only left their homes to go to the hospital to have babies. They longed to see their own countries, much less have 'agency'. Work outside the home isn't the only definition of agency. It was assumed they would go have sex with the nearest man if given any level of freedom. They live out the local stereotype and generality that women are only slightly above animals in their ability to control their bubbling sexuality.

They talked about the hassle of wearing the necessary garb when cooking and cleaning, and how nice it would be to feel the wind in their hair outside, to be able to hear conversations without two layers of fabric covering their ears. How hot it can be in summer. Wouldn't this be the most basic of human rights of existence? And this is Jordan, not Afghanistan.

In light of what these women face, calling Barbie an oppressive entity waters down the true meaning of the word, and what women face in the real world here. I wonder how they would define it? At times your words sound like something written in the syllabus of a Western professor in womens studies, rather than reflecting the heart struggle of those on the ground, living lives at 6% of their God-given potential.

I agree that there are women who have succeeded in achieving much. Yet I would venture to imagine they are the ones of a different class of people. Only the privileged have the strength to know they have options and pursue them. The fight of the rest is suppressed too early to see it bloom.

I would be very interested in talking to you when you have more life experience applying what you have learned and see where the silliness of generalities comes from. It must be difficult to have to define and explain aspects of Arab culture to foreigners like me, deal with much ignorance and yet also fight for greater levels of respect for women in the context.

The greatest change will occur when men cease to view women through the worl

Living in Hashmi Shemali, Amman, is what gave me the association. The women in my neighborhood, after marriage, only left their homes to go to the hospital to have babies. They longed to see their own countries, much less have 'agency'. Work outside the home isn't the only definition of agency. It was assumed they would go have sex with the nearest man if given any level of freedom. They live out the local stereotype and generality that women are only slightly above animals in their ability to control their bubbling sexuality.

They talked about the hassle of wearing the necessary garb when cooking and cleaning, and how nice it would be to feel the wind in their hair outside, to be able to hear conversations without two layers of fabric covering their ears. How hot it can be in summer. Wouldn't this be the most basic of human rights of existence? And this is Jordan, not Afghanistan.

In light of what these women face, calling Barbie an oppressive entity waters down the true meaning of the word, and what women face in the real world here. I wonder how they would define it? At times your words sound like something written in the syllabus of a Western professor in womens studies, rather than reflecting the heart struggle of those on the ground, living lives at 6% of their God-given potential.

I agree that there are women who have succeeded in achieving much. Yet I would venture to imagine they are the ones of a different class of people. Only the privileged have the strength to know they have options and pursue them. The fight of the rest is suppressed too early to see it bloom.

I would be very interested in talking to you when you have more life experience applying what you have learned and see where the silliness of generalities comes from. It must be difficult to have to define and explain aspects of Arab culture to foreigners like me, deal with much ignorance and yet also fight for greater levels of respect for women in the context.

The greatest change will occur when men cease to view women through the worldview they assign them, and respect and encourage our different-ness rather than fear and suppress it.