Intellectuals’ crisis continues to face women

Some intellectuals are still dominant regarding women’s affairs, denying them their legally established individual freedoms. In feminist affairs, even learned men forget their modern knowledge and retreat into old customs which consider the woman as a creature of service and pleasure. The percentages of men who consolidate woman empowerment are small in comparison with those whose views have not moved into the twenty-first century. 

What follows is a set of interviews with various women reveal the deep dilemma of man’s behavior regarding woman rights.  

P. N., says that her father is a lawyer, a man she should be proud of because of his education and the life he provides for her. However, his learning is betrayed by the disrespectful language which he uses to address her mother. He often uses indecent language especially when they have guests. He cuts her mother short, ordering her to shut up because she does not understand and often reminds her that she is good for nothing other than keeping the home. 

G. A. is an engineer’s wife. He is in charge of a company, yet he denies her the right to work. He was forced to allow her to work under the pressures from her and her family. However he invented ways to force her to leave her job. He gets furious when he comes home before her, and always accompanies his friends to dine with him at home, despite his knowledge that she’s busy with collecting her children from school, to the extent that she is compelled to work with her overcoat in the kitchen. She got tired and left her job.

S. A. is a thirty year old woman. Her parents died so she lives with her brother who is a university lecturer. She did not finish school and used to go a nearby society center, however they have little or no activities. Her brother denies her the right to go out, meet her female friends, and it will be a big problem if she is compelled to go out for urgent matters. 

Hana’ H,  a 35 year old lady, said that she married her companion at work because she was fond of his nice treatment with all those around him. However, she was shocked to find a quite different personality in the first months of their marriage. He used to ignore her and seems to remember her only for his special needs. He surprises her with his decisions. For instance, he did not tell her that he had proposed her sister as a fiancé to his brother until she found out when she went to her family. 

Jazim Saif says that man does not offer freedom to others and the woman pays for practicing her freedom while men’s opinions are open for debate. 

Nadia  says that it is natural to find difference of opinion, however a woman is free to choose her partner, and his treatment is often influenced by how he was brought up.

Taghrid, a 34 year old, says that her father is a doctor. He denies her marriage choice. She said that he rejected many proposes, with the repeated pretext that they can not afford paying for her. She insisted on marrying a man from her work, but he refused, telling her that she can go and marry him, however she says that it is a contradiction to her ethics to do so.

Arwa, a university lecturer, said that there are many marriage problems which she tries to avoid and makes concessions for her home and children sake. However, the reward that she received is her husband’s marrying another wife. He replies when asked why he got married by telling people that she neglected him, because she is busy. She says that her answer is that she is now with him though he does not take heed of them and all that matters is his convenience.

To know the public view point of the roots of the problem, Dr. Adel al-Sharjabi, a Social Sciences Professor at Sana’a University is consulted:

He said that the gap between what is said and the practice is the problem, though it is not confined to intellectuals. However, it could question individuals’ credibility if it becomes noticeable. Some people’s opinions could be at the same time their means for a living, but these opinions can not stand in the face of the community and can not change the people’s culture. The cultural change is an individual attitude, influenced by the state’s policy, demanding individual salutations according to the nature of the problems. 

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