The Woman Who waves...

I read about a rather disconcerting reality in a Jordanian travel guide. Several women gave personal accounts of being harassed in Jordan, and yet, what is disturbing about their stories is not the actual harassment (which is obviously always bad), but the expected submission of these women. While supposedly given free and equal rights throughout Jordan, it is not considered proper for women to engage males. It is absolutely out of the question for a “lady” to show any skin, and here’s the cherry on top: men can legally prevent a female family member from leaving the country. This was actually a travel warning for women visiting Jordan who have relatives who are Jordanian citizens. The Jordanian male can tell a female American citizen she cannot leave the country if they are related. The personal accounts I read from American females in the country mentioned how happy the Jordanian women were when engaged by the Americans. Just to be noticed and treated as a human being seemed to make their day.
I for one have had a similar experience. Every day I pass by an old woman who sits in the same place from morning till night selling little bags of what appears to be spinach. She doesn’t speak a word of English, wears the same red and white head covering, and silently chants to herself – presumably Islamic prayers – until a person approaches her for business. While I have as yet see anyone approach her for business, every day she has made a little bit more eye contact with me, and we are on official Ahlan (hello) terms complete with a wave and a smile. It’s hard not to wonder exactly what her story is. Does she really survive on the fruits of pennies a day? Does her husband send her out to sell his garden’s harvest? For how many years has she had the exact same Hijab? At any rate, she waves at me, and I find it to be progress. Regardless, though, I have an extremely difficult time being in a place where women are just all around regarded as inferior, even if in the cultural sense of the attitude, I don’t think the treatment is regarded as inferiority.
On another note, I am continually baffled at how the media treats extremely sensitive issues. This is going to make me sound extremely pro-Israel, but bear with me. An al-Jazeera headline reads, “Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teenager.” This exact same headline could have read, “Palestinian Teenagers Shower Israeli Soldiers With Homemade Bombs.” There is absolutely no justice or necessity for Middle Eastern media to portray Israel as the Big Bad Wolf just as there is no justice or necessity for American media to treat Israel as the Savior of the Middle East. I am still incredibly interested in finding some true, objective reporting on the issue, but that seems to be in the realm of the unattainable.