Wooing Women April 29, 2008
Posted by jewaira in Kuwait, Life, Women.trackback
It still makes me wonder how all those Kuwaiti women who were against women’s suffrage, are now keen to attend candidate gathering and very interested in discussing who they should vote for and why.
It also makes me wonder how all those Kuwaiti men (members of parliament and conservative men in our families) who were staunchly against any involvement of women in politics, are now actively seeking to influence the feminine vote.
And one only has to see how many women’s headquarters are set up for male candidates to meet the female constituencies in all districts to believe how seriously they are taking the female vote. With their numbers, women can certainly sway the vote in favour of certain candidates.
I heard an interesting account that displays the difference between the elections of 2006 and the present elections. In 2006, my friend tells me, her conservative brother influenced all the women in his family of voting age to vote for a certain candidate who represented a certain Islamic group. This candidate went on to win but did not do much in parliament, she says.
This time around, the women in the family have told their conservative brother outright that they will not vote for his friend again; and that they have other candidates to choose from.
It seems to me this is a good sign. Hopefully these women, and others, will make an effort to make up their own minds about who they will vote for on May 17th based on their own sound judgments. If one is looking at candidates who were previous members of parliament, one should find out about their achievements since 2006 and their performance. If they are new candidates, then one should look at their previous political and social record. It is always important to see how involved a candidate has been.
Women can make a difference in many ways if they make educated choices.
Jewaira, women of Kuwait should vote for WOMEN! After you get some women in Parliament, then you can be more choosy. But for now, just vote for WOMEN!
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PhantomMan
In these elections, we have the choice of selecting 4 candidates so it would be really great if people gave women a chance too for a change.
Now the interesting thing is: I heard one woman last night saying she would give 3 votes to selected female candidates and one to a male candidate.
Immediately after parliament was dissolved, in some diwaniyas (it was reported to me
) that the men swore they would only choose female candidates in the next elections as they were sick of what the men had done in parliament.
J
Ah, “Kuwaiti-itis”.
Yes, it is very, very interesting isn’t it LOL? I went to the Democratic Alliances gathering last night to catch the fantastic Aseel Al-Awadhi and Faisal Al-Shaya (a gentleman I supported last elections too) and was amazed (and horrified that I was stuck in traffic for one God-awful hour on Damascus St. trying to get into South Surra!). I was with my cousins and one of my sisters, and all we could do when the talk got dull was look around us at the women: highly overdressed, abaya-ed, conservative, young, modern, older, or even Kuwaiti ladies who spoke with unavoidably American accents and looked like they belonged at an Obama rally like me LOL. Better late then never, and to be frank (and a bit catty - forgive me), Kuwaitis have always had a touch of protesting too loudly for the sake of it in order to hear the sound of their own voices, and then going with whatever the flow is once the side their bread is buttered on becomes apparent… C’est la vie Koweitienne… hathee 7aletna…
But in fairness to my fellow Kuwaities who are not all just sheep following the various shepherds, it was bound to have happened once the barriers broke down and women started entering the Kuwaiti political arena en force. Things have deteriorated to the extent that people are realizing it is time to abandon the wreck-a-holic parliamentarians who got us here in the first place. And any lady who does make it to parliament is going to have her work cut out for her on all levels as a female pioneer. She is going to face unprecedented scrutiny and pressure. May God help her and give her strength.
But let’s get her there and we will be there to help her through inshallah
Go Aseel !!
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The horrible traffic was not due to the rush to the headquarters of the Democratic Alliance candidates but because of the arrival of the participants of the Fourth World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) beginning today. (Security reasons I’m guessing) Hehe, we were stuck in traffic for ages too.
I really enjoyed hearing Aseel Al-Awadhi speak and all the women around me seemed to as well. I kept hearing (يا حلوها) over and over and wishes for her to succeed.
I was impressed particularly at last night’s gathering and the one for Saleh Al-Mulla with the recruited “army” of young ladies who were so active in organizing the people flow.
J
Women can swing the vote any way they want… it is a matter of fact. I think lots of women want Aseel to win, which is a good thing.
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At the Democratic Alliance gathering last , Moudhy Al-Humoud, Ph.D was introducing the candidates. I thought her diction and her presence was more impressive than Khalid Al-Khalid and I thought, why do women like her not run for parliament? There are many women in Kuwait who are more than qualified and there are those who have long being active on feminist issues but I guess it takes a lot of guts to jump into the political arena.
All the best for Aseel.
Jewaira
What about you Jewaira? Why don’t you run? That would be a brilliant idea.
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I’m more of a back seat driver
J
Second Slightly Non-Random - you could bring in the whips and chains and show them what obedience is all about (just kidding!)
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Ah, I’m just realizing that I come across as an aggressive female! Lol..I know I often say whip them into shape but it ’s not literal
J
Similar thoughts on the subject:
الخرس: بعض من رفضوا حقوق المرأة يستجدون صوتها
29/04/2008 تساءل مرشح الدائرة الأولى ايمن علي الخرس عن مدى التناقض من بعض المرشحين وبعض النواب السابقين الذين وقفوا ضد حقوق المرأة السياسية سواء بالترشح او بالانتخاب، مشيرا الى انهم اليوم يقومون بمغازلة الناخبات في دوائرهم بعمل ندوات نسائية وتعيين مفاتيح انتخابية نسائية، وذلك للوصول على اكتاف الناخبات لعضوية مجلس الامة، متناسين مواقفهم وندواتهم السابقة ضد المرأة وحقوقها السياسية وعزلها عن المجتمع دون الأخذ بالاعتبار انها جزء من المجتمع وان الرجل والمرأة كلاهما يكمل الآخر.
وحذر النساء من تلك الكلمات المعسولة والابتسامات لدغدغة مشاعرهن «يا نساء الكويت انتخبن من كان ناصرا لكن واعلمن ان منكن من هي اكفأ من بعض الرجال واقدر على القيادة والاصلاح والامثلة على ذلك كثيرة».