not so busy any more (perhaps)

whew!

Well I've finally presented my project (a timeline of women in Iran), so hopefully this should allow some more free time and maybe even a good post by this weekend.

The presentation went well, I was a little concerned all of our hard work didn't show as much as we would have liked but I think it came apparent that we had spent lots of time and effort during questions. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a great grade. I think we deserve it.

The whole project really opened my eyes to what life is like for Women in Iran. Not that I'm saying that I 'know' what its like, but it helped me to get a better idea.

The legal age of marriage is 9 (dropped from 13 in 1979 and 18 before that), Women cannot leave their homes or travel without the permission of their husband or father. Gender segregation is becoming more and more common- however it is never in the interest of females. For example, hospitals have become segregated yet there are few qualified women doctors or nurses to run the woman's hospital... And this is due to segregated schools (where the classes that do not have enough women in them are discontinued and the students are told to either drop their education or find a different major) and women not being allowed to continue their education after marriage.

Oh yeah, and then electing a supposedly moderate president in 1997 (although he never did improve life for women as promised)- with a female vice president of environmental conservation- yet she defends stoning women to death and was quoted as saying- "One should take psychological and legal affairs of the society into consideration as well. If the regular rules of family are broken, it would result in many complicated and grave consequences for all of the society."

Gah.

I know all of this information probably just seems random to you, but I've been working on it for a good week now and I guess it just kinda exploded. :)

Anyway, if your interested, I thought this was a great article (better written anyway). It's a quick read and you will become more aware of what's happening around you... And I think we can all use more of that.

Until Later,

Sondra