Jayeless

Mali protest against women’s law

The government of Mali passed a law giving women more rights in marriage (among other things). Tens of thousands of Malians protested against this new law. When the article appeared in my feed reader, I thought that meant tens of thousands of Malian men would be protesting against this law. Not so! Women are complaining as well! From the article:

“We have to stick to the Koran,” Ms Dembele told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme. “A man must protect his wife, a wife must obey her husband.”

“It’s a tiny minority of women here that wants this new law - the intellectuals. The poor and illiterate women of this country - the real Muslims - are against it,” she added.

Okay, to me the appropriate response seems pretty clear. IF YOU DON’T WANT YOUR RIGHTS, DON’T USE THEM. You can mindlessly obey your husband without forcing everyone else in the country to do the same thing as you! You don’t have to forcibly deprive “the intellectuals” of their rights just because you don’t want them! I mean, rights aren’t exactly the sole influence on behaviour. Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean you have to. Then it wouldn’t be a right, it’d be an obligation. This law is about rights.

To be honest, I also don’t understand the argument that illiterate women are somehow going to know what the Qu’ran says better than “intellectuals”. Umm, which group can read? Which group is more likely to be able to read Arabic — hence the Qu’ran — if one of the groups can’t even read?!

Even more honestly, even if the Qu’ran does say something about mindless obedience being important, I’d think that would only be applicable to women who care about that part. Regardless of what the Qu’ran dictates, surely, ultimately, the decision about the extent to which an individual wants to follow a religion’s guidelines rests with that individual. Maybe I just don’t get it, because the idea that God could inspire someone to write a book in His Exact Words seems incomprehensible to me. If someone believes that a book is genuinely infallible and divine in its wisdoms, perhaps it makes sense to them that they should force everyone else to obey. But it doesn’t make sense to me! To me, if a guideline seems hideously cruel and unjust and oppressive, it’s not because God knows better than mere mortals, it’s because the guideline is hideously cruel and unjust and oppressive! You can volunteer to be oppressed yourself — that’s your choice — but you can’t make that choice on the behalf of other people! It’s not your choice to make!

In summary, this protest really seems absurd to me. Do what you want without trying to force others to do the same thing, people.

Sun, 23.08.2009, 1pm • 4 Comments • Tags: news, politics, rights, Mali, religion