In Egypt, a woman cannot walk through the streets unmolested. The assault on an unsuspecting female can range from verbal harassment and catcalls, to touching and pinching, and on a really bad day, ripping the woman's clothes off in the street. What's worse is that these innocent women are pressured by the men in their family to keep quiet. The threat of honor killings, not at all uncommon in Egypt, ensure the women's silence.
In a culture in which women are oversexualized in advertising, movies, and music, and women are forced to endure so-called "virginity tests" in which a male soldier inserts two fingers into the vagina, it is hard to believe that this photo has provoked so much outrage. Apparently, in the grand scheme of things, it is perfectly acceptable to use pictures of nude women in advertising, molest a woman in a crowded street, and give her a gynecological exam in the middle of Tahrir Square. But post one nude photo of yourself on your blog, and men are lining up at your door to stone you.
Good thing we live in the United States, right?
It's not like we mass produce songs and music videos, many of which are aimed toward a younger audience, that contain lyrics specifically degrading women. No one takes lyrics like "B!tches ain't sh!t," "hush yo mouth and do the Hellen Keller with yo lips," and "head will pay ya" seriously, right? No one is buying trashy clothes for their ten-year-old daughters, and certainly not crotchless panties.
Certainly, women don't carry siren keychains on their person or Mace in their purses. Mothers don't agonize over letting their daughters go out alone. And we'd never, ever do something silly, such as discredit a Vice Presidential candidate just because she wore a one-piece bathing suit in a beauty pageant in her youth.
And if Americans did do any of those things -- not that we do -- we might see statistics that look something like this:
- 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).
- 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.
- 9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003.
- 7% of girls in grades 5-8 and 12% of girls in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused.
- Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.
- 15 out of 16 rapists will never spend a day in jail.
Those Egyptians, they're so uncivilized. Good thing we live in the States, right? Right??
Hey, Uncle Sam... What's a woman's body worth to you?
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