Femme posted :
this is an appeal to the western women.

please, dont betray us!

we are just fighting our way to the freedom and equality.

some of us have opened eyes from the darkness we were born to, where we were taught that we are less valuable than men.
where we are still not more than a simple cloth or furniture.
if we want to say anything from ourselves, they (the society) immediately condemn us for being rebels or disobeying the customs and traditions set by men and for men.
we are trapped in our culture, our men dont support us (even those who are educated and open-minded).

we dont ask you to do anything for us.
we just ask you to consider before clapping your hands toward traditions that opress us.
we know that you live in free societies where you enjoy your rights, but pretending that you are a loving person tolerating every culture does harm to us eastern women!

please, wear our shoes for a second then leave your ideas.

thank you for your cooperation!

end of quote

Well I wore your shoes for a while today.
I have thought a great deal about what you have said. I read all the posts on the threads and other discussions from past threads with a similar theme. I wondered how any amount of discussions (some of which tend to descend into arguments) could help women in such a terrible predicament.
I thought about how inadequate I feel because I’m not the activist that so many women around the world are. I thought about my female friends from Turkey, Pakistan, India and Iraq (some with scarf, some without) and my female western friends (some tied to the kitchen sink and some not). I wrote many words, citing examples of how my non british origin friends are very strong women and how myself and my white british friends were raised by our parents in an intrinsically male dominated society. I think I was trying to say that women all over the world suffer, obviously some much more than others, depending on where they live. I have personal examples of how my own life has been affected, in the past, by men, both in the home and at work. But in the end I cut this short because none of it is relevant to the plight of the women referred to in the post.
I read the post again and noticed:
“we dont ask you to do anything for us.
we just ask you to consider before clapping your hands toward traditions that opress us.
we know that you live in free societies where you enjoy your rights, but pretending that you are a loving person tolerating every culture does harm to us eastern women!”

I want you to know that I would never clap my hands about such a serious predicament many women find themselves in (this is not an angry tone but a sincere one – I am giving you my assurance). I'm not an activist in the sense that I don't go on demonstrations or belong to some kind of society but I do speak up for the rights of women when the opportunity presents itself.
The very end of your post made me remember something that was once said to me many years ago. I was attending a course about the teaching of Religious Education (I am not an R.E. teacher though). The word ‘tolerate’ was discussed and the course leader warned that this word could be quite dangerous and went on to give an example of someone (I will not say who) whose beliefs/practices/views should not be tolerated. I have always remembered that and it was good to hear you say a similar thing.
I think people who stand up to be counted deserve admiration. Many women in history have put their lives on the line for women like me. And there are probably still women doing it today in eastern societies. I applaud them.
These words don’t seem enough somehow.

Very well said peace train.