So it turns out that two hot toddies did really not put me to sleep … but I feel better. Instead, I ended up spending the night writing a 10 page paper for school on female oppression in Islamic culture. I ended up writing about how the burqa is really focused on too much as the symbol of female oppression. The burqas are what the Western women’s rights activist seemed most concerned about. In my studying the last week, I came to the conclusion that Muslim women could give a shit about the burqa. It’s not a symbol of oppression.
What IS a symbol of oppression of Islamic women in predominently Muslim countries is lack of education, lack of health care, lack of life skills. In progressive Muslim countries, such as Egypt and Jordan, women are allowed to learn. They were allowed to learn in Iraq under Saddam’s rule. In lesser progressive countries, such as Afghanistan and present-day Iraq, not so much. It’s kind of ironic that we went over to Iraq under the guise of “establishing democracy”, and now the Iraqi people are experiencing higher crime and more racial/gender/religious intolerance than ever before.
So I finished that. Drove to Coffee Talk Inside The Bungalow and bought a cup of coffee … edited … had another cup … sent the paper to my professor. Zing. Done. I then did the final edit on a business plan for a freelance client in Minnesota. The final edit for a business plan for a client in New York. Now reviewing a narration draft for a company in Glendale, California. And working on the California Adventure maps. And finishing up an article on Dome of the Rock for a San Diego client. This is why I can’t do freelance writing as my full time job. I wind up an unshaven, coffee-drinking, nocturnal hermit.
But I like it this way.
