Kuwait's step towards womens rights
Yay! The oil-rich state of Kuwait has made a great step toward democracy when they elected their first female members of Parliament back in May 2009. Rola Dashti and Aseel Al-Awadhi (a U.S. educated woman) were elected in Kuwait in the third district.
This is a huge step for Kuwaiti democracy...its just exciting because the Middle East is always under fire for its so called "backwards" human (woman's) rights policies. However, now that woman have been elected to Parliament, its a leap in the right direction. Womens right to vote started back in 2005, however not much advancement was made but now that Dashti and Al-Awadhi along with two other woman have been elected to parliament it shows Kuwaiti women's desire for change and advancement. This election may just be the beginning of reform not only in Kuwait but in the other Middle Eastern countries that have strict policies limiting women‘s rights.
It is just so exciting that this step is being taken for womens rights because Kuwait is not the only country struggling to reform women’s rights. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is experiencing many of the same struggles. Recently, a young teenage girl anonymously wrote about her desire to be able to drive. For half the population of Saudi Arabia driving is against the law for them. That is right- Saudi Arabia is approximately comprised of 50% male and 50% female. This means that a female always has to wait for a male relative (I.e. father or brother) to return home in order for them to complete such a simple task as getting juice from the store.
I can't wait to see what happens next for women in Middle Eastern countries such as Kuwait. It is hard to conform with Middle Eastern culture and Muslim religious practices when globalization is taking the world by storm and advancements are being made. No one is telling the Middle East to completely westernize because that is just a huge disrespect to their culture; there is no need to. However, making minor adjustments and modernizing society just a bit is not a bad thing at all. Women should be able to drive or be elected to parliament. It is only fair. Women are just as smart and talented as men are and their voices should be heard.
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