I asked a woman of European descent who was married to a man from the Middle East how women felt about their position in society? This is what she told me.

I asked a woman of European descent who was married to a man from the Middle East how women felt about their position in society?  This is what she told me. 

Although the lady I spoke to had divorced her husband and moved back to Canada, we will not mention her by name.  However, what she told me is worth repeating. 

When I asked her how women felt being treated like second hand citizens, she politely corrected me.  Thank goodness she was a nice white woman.  I met her and family members, including her ex-husband from Canada, at a camping site in an area of Mexico that is only accessible by boat.  

I was doing what you call glamping, and this woman was part of the group staying at the campsite, along with other families from different parts of the world.  

When I asked the question, I could tell that I had become one of those silly people who listened to the news and never bothered to investigate the truth behind what I was being told.  I got away with it because I am African American, and I wasn't expected to understand the truth.  

That upset me, but I upset her first by asking a stupid question, so I bit my tongue and stayed quiet while she explained what happens in the family unit in the Middle East. 

First of all, the woman is rarely, if ever, seen speaking about political issues in public.  However, depending on the pecking order of her husband's position in the community or the government, she has a lot to say about the inner workings of how the country or community is run.  

For instance, women in the Middle East have complete and total control over what happens in the home.  She politely helped me understand women's power in the Middle East. 

Now, I was not about to ask any more stupid questions, so I listened to what she told me.  Repeated what she said, and she usually explained in further detail. 

She did not say, and I repeat, she did NOT say, that the men did what the woman wanted or they might not have marital sex that evening, but I kinda came to my own conclusions.  The women in the Middle East control ALL aspects of the home and family affairs.  

This is likely why women in the Middle East don't get excited about protesting and being heard or listened to. In other words, they feel confident in their role in the home and do not need to be heard or, for that matter, seen in public. Plus, the Isalm religion dictates many roles and rules for women.

But so does the Bible; many American women rarely do as it says!

I came away from the conversation thinking that the Arab women feel as if they are in charge; therefore, there is no need to say anything further.   If their husband is doing well in this work, society, the community, or the government, she is silently given the credit by the other women. 

The woman and her family were nice to me the entire time I was staying at the glamping site in Yelapa, Mexico. However, after our little conversation, I spent more time with her ex-husband and sister.  It was clear that I needed to learn more about the family structure in Arab countries.