Are Arabs sexist? The institutions, perhaps, but not the people
Arab societies are often regarded as bad places for women and girls. According to many observers, Arabic and Islamic culture can combine to foster attitudes that are inhospitable to gender equality.
The results of a survey experiment we are conducting may challenge common assumptions. Women do face special difficulties in Arab lands, which are reflected in bleak statistics about inequalities in political and economic life. But we find little evidence that popular attitudes are to blame. Our data from Lebanon, with its mix of Muslims and Christians, may be particularly illuminating.
Inequities in political power are actually glaring in Arab lands. According to the Interparliamentary Union, the proportion of seats in national legislatures occupied by women is 24 percent in the Americas, 23 percent in Europe, 21 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, and just 14 percent in the Arab states. Conditions in Lebanon are particularly unfavourable: women hold just three percent of seats in the National Assembly.
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On the question on candidates for office, male respondents tend to favour male candidates for office - but at a lower rate than female respondents favour female candidates. The findings call into question the notion that women are as likely, or almost as likely, as men are to favour male candidates in races for public office in the Arab world.
Furthermore, we find no statistically significant difference between Christians and Muslims. Muslim respondents are no more inclined to favour the male candidate than Christian respondents are. Nor is there a statistically significant gap between Shia and Sunni respondents in their attitudes toward female vs. male candidates.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/07/201371483756428989.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount
Long article but an interesting read
= new reply since forum marked as read
