So why are the women and men separated to vote?

[DoYouEverWonder]

something about this bothers me. If this is supposed to be a democracy, why is there this separation? I understand in Baghdad and areas that are out of control, you might separate people for 'security' concerns, but I don't think that is the only reason they are separated. Also, in every picture almost all the women now wear the traditional Arab dress. When Saddam was in power Iraq was a secular country. Most of the women wore western attire. It seems to me we are going backward instead of forward? I'm sorry, but is this what George Bush think democracy is supposed to look like? If it is, does anyone have a good source for burkas. I need a size large in purple.





Separate lines of men and women at a school polling station in the At Maeel area of Basra, southern Iraq, January 30, 2005, as the country holds its first elections.




An Iraqi policeman keeps the line of Iraqi women moving as they queue to vote at a polling station in Basra, southern Iraq




Iraqi Shi'ite women wait in a queue to cast their votes outside a polling station in the holy city of Najaf, January 30, 2005.

[rqstnnlitnmnt]

1. that's amazing

where'd you get those?

well the saudis do it, and worse, and we couldn't be better bedfellows with them.

but * and his cronies can make "democracy" mean whatever he wants it to mean

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. They're on Yahoo News Photos

Here's a few more:




An Iraqi woman stretches her arms during a security check as they queue to cast their vote for the national polls in Al Anbar province 23 kilometres west of Baghdad,Iraq





Iraqi Kurds gather outside a polling station waiting to vote in the northern city of Suleimaniya, January 30, 2005.


http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?ei=UTF-8&p=iraq&xargs=0&pstart=1&c=images&b=51

[CindyDale]

2. I read somewhere the other day the religious fanatics are exerting

more control over women. Is this segregation something new with them?

[The Straight Story]

3. perhaps for their own safety and ability to vote without the men telling

them who to vote for. It may be that for so long men controlled a lot of things that this is a way for them truely vote the way they want without interference or undue influence from the men.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Iraq is not Afghanistan

under Saddam women were educated and lived in a more open society than most Muslim countries. I don't think that in 2 years, they suddenly are going to be cowed by their husbands.

Security doesn't seems to be the reason either, since they have the lines of women and men walking past each other.

In some place I am seeing only pictures of women. Does that mean all of their men are gone? I don't know yet.

[The Straight Story]

12. Good points worth considering

And just thinking out loud as well.

[noamnety]

8. The separate lines might be good

I used to live in a Muslim community in Michigan, and in some families we could get together and eat as a group, but in others we couldn't have even a pot luck dinner, because the men wouldn't eat with other women there.

If a mixed line will prevent some of the people from voting for religious reasons, then it's possible this is a more inclusive way of handling it.

I try not to jump to conclusions about what is backwards or forwards when it comes to foreign cultures.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. So much for security and/or religous reasons

Here they show everyone coming together and get jammed up at the entrance to the poll. That has to be the most dangerous place to be and so much for keeping the men and women apart for religous reasons. At least in this situation they blew it.

[DebJ]

4. to keep them from accidentally touching each other? The

articles this week on the sexual torture of Iraqi's by US service women pointed out that they are not supposed to even touch a woman.

[SouthernDaisy]

5. Good points.

Most of the American public won't notice this; they have Afghanistan's and Iraqi customs confused and think that Iraq women have always worn burkas.

You're right, the Shiias are indeed turning the clock back there.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. This is happening all over Iraq

not just Najaf.

Besides, 2 of the 3 pictures that I posted are from Basra.

[suffragette]

13. there are growing comments that Iraqi women are being more repressed

In today's Seattle PI, there was a column by Houzan Mahmoud titled "Iraqi women find election a cruel joke."
She writes about the "sharp increase in the persecution of Iraqi women" and the shift to a "reactionary religious" government.

Part of this shift might help explain the separate lines:

Every day, leaflets are distributed across the country warning women against going out unveiled, wearing makeup or mixing with men. Many female university students have given up their studies to protect themselves against the Islamists.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/209809_iraqiwomanvote.html