by Jessie Yang
It all started last September when I met two girls from Yemen. One was at an international congress where I was serving as a volunteer, and the other, who grew up in Yemen with her Taiwanese mom and Yemeni dad, was living across from me in the dorm. They both impressed me very much, and they changed my perceptions about Middle Eastern women, whose behavior is often severely restricted. On top of that, a Yemeni woman recently received a Nobel Peace Prize for her role in the movement against former President Ali Adullaah Saleh. According to the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index for 2011, Yemen’s ranking was at the bottom of the chart for many years, although it ranked slightly better than Afghanistan in 2012. These indexes measure the economic condition, education, and political participation of women, and Yemen is considered one of the worst countries for women’s rights. In reality, inequality of women’s rights can be found everywhere. But in Yemen, the Personal Status Law, which covers matters of marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance, gives women fewer rights than men. Women are deprived of the opportunity to make decisions as well as access to resources and assets in their marriages. Access to maternal health care is also largely restricted, with husbands deciding on women’s fertility and the treatments they can get. They need their husbands’ permission to obtain contraception or surgical operations. Thus Yemen’s child mortality rate is very high and it is the fourth fastest growing population in the world. According to a report from UNICEF, the contraceptive prevalence in Yemen is only 28%, and prenatal coverage is merely 14%. Moreover, women face sexual assault and violence without any protection. Among all the catastrophes that Yemeni women face, one significant phenomenon stands out—early child marriage. Since Yemen is a poor country, families often sacrifice their daughters. Girls are rarely educated and are married off early. The adult literacy rate for women is only 56%.They can be engaged at the age of 3 or forced to marry to someone old enough to be their father. Terrible things can happen to these young girls. It was reported that one girl was married to her older sister’s widowed husband after her nine-year-old sister passed away. And young pregnancy brings higher risks as well. In Yemen, one in four women has given birth before the age of 18. Also, 80 out of 1000 girls between and 15 and 19 have given birth. Even if these girls survive their arranged marriages, their lives are controlled by their husbands. There are many reasons why child marriages continue, including cultural traditions, economic pressure, social values, and societal expectations. In many tribes it is said that marrying a 9-year-old girl will make both the husband and wife happy forever since it’s believed that young wives are more obedient. When I discussed these matters with the Yemeni girl in my dorm, however, she didn’t really agree with all the viewpoints held by outsiders. She told me that in her opinion those rules were matters of protection and not restriction. However, she lived in a city and admitted that there was a big difference in the countryside. She received higher education and isn’t an exception among her friends in the city. And the population in urban areas only makes up 32% of the whole. Women’s fears are constant. Nevertheless, some of them fought for their freedom, for women’s rights, and for a better and more efficient government in an angry crowd during the 2011-12 Yemeni uprising. One of them was Nojoud Ali, the youngest girl ever to get a divorce and the first to leave her unhappy marriage legally and successfully. She was married to a man 20 years older and suffered brutal domestic violence. Eventually, she got rid of her chains and even published her story, inspiring girls who faced the same situation. More and more women stuck in early marriages have begun to sue for divorce. Nojoud Ali gave them hope, a hope to have an alternative. Another brave woman is Tawakel Karman, the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. Karman is a journalist, politician, and human rights activist. She co-founded Women Journalists Without Chains, advocating not only women rights but also freedom of expression. During the Arab spring in 2011, she redirected the Yemeni protests to support the Jasmine revolution and called for the president to step down. She became a public face for the Yemeni uprising and was dubbed the “Iron Woman” and the “Woman of Revolution.” She and her family constantly received death threats and harassment. Once, a woman tried to stab her at a protest. The Nobel Peace Prize committee spoke of her as playing a leading role in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen. Women’s right is an important issue not only in Yemen, but in many other Middle Eastern countries as well as in other parts of the world. But courageous women from a country with one of the worst records for women’s rights have changed not only their own lives but have made an impact on other women as well. Despite their fearful reality, they never gave up. Hopefully, more women can fight for things they believe in and truly want, and we will hopefully see a better future for women in Yemen. *Yemen (The Republic of Yemen) Capital: Sana’a Population:24 million Land area: 555,000 km2 Religion: Islam Language: Modern Standard Arabic Location: Southwestern end of the Arabian Peninsula with Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east, and the Red Sea to the west. Economic development: $2,306 (GDP per capita) ; Yemen is considered the poorest country in the Arab world. *The 2011-2012 Yemeni Uprising Following the Tunisian Revolution and taking place simultaneously with the Egyptian Revolution in early 2011. People originally protested against high unemployment, poor economic conditions, long-term corruption, and the government’s proposal to make modifications to the constitution. Eventually President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been president for 33 years, was forced to step down, and power was transferred to the vice president after an election. He will oversee a parliamentary and presidential election in 2014 following a new draft of the constitution.
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by Rita Lu
On a savanna a herd of panicked gazelles gallop under the blazing sun, making the earth tremble with the collective beating of their hooves. A flock of migrating birds fly toward their next destination, their shadows resembling a large cloud passing above. You may have seen similar scenes on the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet, where the natural order of predator-prey relationships is vividly displayed. The animalistic urge to escape en masse does not exist only in the wild, however, but within human society as well. In the recesses of our consciousness lies the root of an ancient instinct – herd mentality. Like animals that exhibit a tendency to travel in groups, people are propelled to act in a fashion similar to those around them, especially in extraordinary circumstances such as an emergency. This primitive reaction dates back eons ago when humans lived in the wild as well, still at the mercy of predatory enemies. According to scientists, when confronted by a life-or-death situation, a section of the brain called the amygdala, which is the control center for fear response, kicks in to force a person to react the way our ancestors did – to run and stick together. Loners in the woods had little chance for survival, and this is the signal our brains emit till today. Although in modern society we no longer experience the dangers that our ancestors faced, herd mentality manifests itself in many human behaviors. The broadest and most profound variety are seen in disastrous situations, thus making it crucial to research and design escape strategies. A study at the University of Leeds placed a group of people in the same room, giving only a certain percentage of them a specific pattern to walk while others were free to move about as they wished. Their experiment showed that the crowd will flow naturally into the designated pattern when the entire group begins to follow the few people with prior knowledge. Most astonishing is the fact that the larger the group becomes, the smaller the percentage of informed individuals it needs to lead to the same result. In a crowd of 200 people, a mere 5% were enough to gain control of the masses. These findings could have a significant influence on rescue and evacuation planning of public places, minimizing the damage of fires or earthquakes. In the real world, however, herd mentality is much more complicated and destructive. Many believe that investor sentiment is so closely linked that it is reminiscent of a moving herd of animals, as investors tend to flow with the tide of the majority. Every bubble in the stock market was the result of investors pushing the prices to an unsustainable level. And afterwards, the panicked collective sell-offs only served to aggravate the situation. Another case in point is the riots in Britain last summer, when London was caught up in stormy violence. Street fighting, shooting, vandalizing, and robbery were perpetrated by a few people intentionally, but there were also a large number of unexpected outbreaks that gripped people in the throes of destructive passion. This is why herd mentality is sometimes called mob mentality. Herd mentality exists in many aspects of everyday life, such as shopping. We are drawn to the most populous spot, no longer seeking protection but profits and excitement, a colossal departure fromwhat our innate tendency intended in ancient times. It is said that humans are social animals. We extract a sense of security and comfort being in a crowd. That might be true living in caves, but no more. Unlike animals, solitude has its merits in modern society, protecting us from losing our consciousness to the stampeding mob. Next time when you have to be in the crowd, instead of jumping on the bandwagon and being carried away by the impulses of herd mentality, it might be better to stop and regain control of your mind. Otherwise you will risk becoming a prey of the herd. |
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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