February 19, 2009, 10:41 am
Do You Know Who Owns Trader Joe’s?
By STEPHEN J. DUBNER
Do you shop at Trader Joe’s?
From what I have seen, the world is divided into three sets of people.
1. Those who have never been to a Trader Joe’s, and perhaps have never heard of it.
2. Those who love Trader Joe’s more than they love their own families.
3. Those who love Trader Joe’s more than they love their own families and are incensed that there isn’t one nearby.
So, let me ask those of you who fall into categories 2 and 3: Who owns Trader Joe’s?
1. Some great California family full of surfers and gardeners.
2. A small band of communal farmers in Oregon.
3. A huge German discount-grocery chain best known in the U.S. for no-glamor stores often located in marginal neighborhoods.
Yeah, it’s No. 3. The company is called Aldi and, though I’d seen one or two of its stores in the past, I didn’t even know it was a grocery store. Then I read this very interesting Wall Street Journal piece about the company’s ambitious new plan for the U.S., which calls for 75 new stores this year. The article claims that Aldi is so good at selling cheap goods that WalMart couldn’t compete with it in Germany. How do they do it? Here’s one way:
Store-brand goods generally make up 22 percent of U.S. food sales in terms of unit volume, according to research by Nielsen Co., while in some European markets, they account for about 30 percent. At Aldi, 95 percent of the goods are the retailer’s own brands.
They are, in other words, not the obvious owner of a chain like Trader Joe’s — which, although it tries to be ruthlessly cheap, also has a very high style quotient and neighborhood grocery store vibe.
I thought of all this when I ran into a friend who used to work at a Trader Joe’s. I asked her if she knew who owned the chain. She said no, then thought about it, and suddenly remembered: “Oh yeah, some Germans!”
She knew this only because some Aldi executives came to look at her store a few times, and as she recalls it, her management asked all the employees to not speak to the Aldi executives. It was unclear why this was necessary.
Then she remembered something else: “The carts we used to wheel boxes up and down the aisles, we called them U-boats, because they were shaped like a U. We were told to definitely not call them U-boats whenever the Germans were visiting.”
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Divorce by Texting
India: Divorce by text messaging and e-mail on the rise among Muslim men
New Delhi, 13 Feb. (AKI/Asian Age) - A rights organisation based in India said that divorces through e-mail, text message (SMS) and telephone are on the rise among India's Muslim population.
A study on "Marriage and divorce amongst Muslim women in India", undertaken by Sahiba Hussain, reader, Centre for Dalit and Minorities, Jamia Milia Islamia, highlights that more and more men are divorcing via SMS and e-mail.
Where women do not have access to mobile phones or computers, men use landline phones to pronounce the divorce declaration. "From 15 divorces that we looked at in 2008, eight were pronounced via SMS, e-mail and over the phone," said Husssain.
"Five divorce declarations were given face to face but amongst these also, only in one case a witness present when the declaration was made," she said.
The phenomenon is taking place despite a decree by the All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board’s which forbids men from divorcing by electronic means.
Most of the SMS’ and e-mails had husbands complaining along predictable lines. They did not find the wife "beautiful enough", "compatible enough" or of having brought "adequate dowry".
Dowry demands are on the rise and the minimum cash payment being made by the wife’s family to the bridegroom is 5,000 rupees or the equivalent of 80 euros.
Even those families which earn as little 10 rupees per day or 15 euro cents are expected to fork out a dowry.
"One woman was so confused after receiving the SMS that she sought clarification from the qazi, or Islamic judge who, on reading the pronouncement, said that it did amount to a divorce.
"The husband was working abroad when he sent it," Hussain said.
Over 30 women have been interviewed so far from Delhi and several other cities in Bihar including Darbanga, Madhubani, Munghyar and Gaya in Bihar.
The idea was to include feedback from women living in both urban and rural India. Only one woman received a registered notice. In 90 percent of the cases it was found that women had to wait, sometimes as long as 27 years, just to recover her 'meher' or dowry, with husbands giving assurance that the "meher would be given to the woman at an appropriate time".
With Islamic judges not being in a position to ensure bridegrooms pay the maintenance or support money, a majority of Muslim women seek maintenance through civil courts, the study concludes.
Women divorcees are among those with the lowest social status in Indian Muslim society.
The report cites the example of one such divorced woman who faces much social stigma while "until today, her younger two sisters have remained unmarried", said Hussain.
New Delhi, 13 Feb. (AKI/Asian Age) - A rights organisation based in India said that divorces through e-mail, text message (SMS) and telephone are on the rise among India's Muslim population.
A study on "Marriage and divorce amongst Muslim women in India", undertaken by Sahiba Hussain, reader, Centre for Dalit and Minorities, Jamia Milia Islamia, highlights that more and more men are divorcing via SMS and e-mail.
Where women do not have access to mobile phones or computers, men use landline phones to pronounce the divorce declaration. "From 15 divorces that we looked at in 2008, eight were pronounced via SMS, e-mail and over the phone," said Husssain.
"Five divorce declarations were given face to face but amongst these also, only in one case a witness present when the declaration was made," she said.
The phenomenon is taking place despite a decree by the All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board’s which forbids men from divorcing by electronic means.
Most of the SMS’ and e-mails had husbands complaining along predictable lines. They did not find the wife "beautiful enough", "compatible enough" or of having brought "adequate dowry".
Dowry demands are on the rise and the minimum cash payment being made by the wife’s family to the bridegroom is 5,000 rupees or the equivalent of 80 euros.
Even those families which earn as little 10 rupees per day or 15 euro cents are expected to fork out a dowry.
"One woman was so confused after receiving the SMS that she sought clarification from the qazi, or Islamic judge who, on reading the pronouncement, said that it did amount to a divorce.
"The husband was working abroad when he sent it," Hussain said.
Over 30 women have been interviewed so far from Delhi and several other cities in Bihar including Darbanga, Madhubani, Munghyar and Gaya in Bihar.
The idea was to include feedback from women living in both urban and rural India. Only one woman received a registered notice. In 90 percent of the cases it was found that women had to wait, sometimes as long as 27 years, just to recover her 'meher' or dowry, with husbands giving assurance that the "meher would be given to the woman at an appropriate time".
With Islamic judges not being in a position to ensure bridegrooms pay the maintenance or support money, a majority of Muslim women seek maintenance through civil courts, the study concludes.
Women divorcees are among those with the lowest social status in Indian Muslim society.
The report cites the example of one such divorced woman who faces much social stigma while "until today, her younger two sisters have remained unmarried", said Hussain.
Increasing divorce rate alarms many in Saudi Arabia
Increasing divorce rate alarms many in Saudi Arabia
Some say men are unable to deal with modern women
By Donna Abu-Nasr
Associated Press
Published: Monday, Dec. 11, 2006 11:59 a.m. MST
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Khulud Abdul-Aziz enrolled in a course on manners, fashion and cooking that prepares young women to be good wives because she does not want to end up another statistic in Saudi Arabia's rising divorce rate.
"I want to be qualified for marriage in every respect," said the 19-year-old university student who is getting married in a few months.
The increasing divorce rate has alarmed many here, but some argue Saudi men can be part of the problem, unable to deal with a female population that is more educated and assertive.
The course Abdul-Aziz takes at al-Shaqaiq Society in the western seaport of Jiddah is just one of the ways social organizations are trying to help curb the number of divorces, which has grown 20 percent in recent years, according to government estimates.
While courts and marriage officials register around 70,000 marriage contracts annually, they also process more than 13,000 official divorce papers, said the Planning Ministry, according to media reports.
Fahad al-Yahya, a psychiatrist who counsels married couples, estimates at least 30 percent of Saudi first marriages end in divorce. The rate is comparable to the United States where, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, 33 percent of first marriages are disrupted either by separation or divorce.
So alarming is the problem that Saudi newspapers often carry stories discussing the issue, citing examples of the trivial incidents that lead to some of the divorces.
For instance, newspapers reported that a man divorced his wife after he found out she'd owned a camera phone for two years. Another left her because she insisted on waiting for a flight at the airport that kept getting delayed instead of returning home — as the husband had suggested.
Experts say the rapid technological change the kingdom witnessed as a result of the 1970s oil boom is one of the major reasons for the rise in divorce rates.
Oil money rapidly turned desert expanses into slick urban centers and gave a boost to women's education, introduced only in the 1960s. But this quick jump into the 21st century has not been accompanied by a parallel adaptation in traditions, tribal customs and attitudes, such as views that wives should be meek and undemanding. Some men, experts say, don't know how to cope with educated women.
"The Saudi woman has joined the work force and has become more educated," said al-Yahya. "This has changed their image from the one that prevailed in the past."
Stringent rules segregating the sexes have remained in place despite the modern facade that has brought malls, satellite TV and the Internet into the kingdom.
Boys and girls are separated once they reach puberty and are often not prepared to live with a member of the opposite sex after they get married. Women, who must wear veils and black cloaks called abayas, are kept away from men who are not husbands, brothers or uncles.
Very rarely do couples go out before they get married, and some don't see their spouses until their wedding night.
Even after they get married, it is difficult for couples to go out together. For instance, a married couple cannot go out to dinner with other married couples because the wives would be in the presence of men who are not their husbands. At family gatherings, women and men sit in separate rooms.
The institution of marriage also has been rocked by the introduction of other forms of marriage, sometimes called weekend marriages, that have grown in popularity in Saudi Arabia after influential clergy issued edicts supporting them earlier this year. These marriages relieve men of financial responsibilities and other obligations, including having to reveal them to family or other wives. Islam allows men to have up to four wives.
The proponents of such marriages say they decrease the number of unwed Saudi women, but critics say such unions destroy the family structure and encourage men to take additional wives who are usually younger "ornaments" rather than older unmarried women.
"I wonder if the virtuous men issuing such edicts do not pause to ponder the effects of such righteous proclamations on our fragile society," wrote Tariq al-Maeena in Arab News recently.
Al-Yahya said one way to save marriages is to make divorces more difficult. In Islam, a man can dissolve a marriage just by telling his wife, "You are divorced." Women, meanwhile, must go to court to get their marriages dissolved and only under exceptional circumstances such as the husband's mental illness.
"If there were strict laws they would make men think twice before divorcing their wives," al-Yahya said.
At a recent al-Shaqaiq Society class, Abdul-Aziz and 17 other young women sat in leather chairs at a horseshoe-shaped table to hear a lecture on "Discovering the Treasures for a Happy Life." The society also offers similar courses for men.
"What do you want out of married life?" instructor Almass al-Hijn asked the group. "Is your goal to find someone to spoil you and take you out to restaurants or to find a man who will protect you and with whom you can build a family?"
One student, 19-year-old Sara Bawahhal who recently got engaged, said she just hopes the course gives her the tools she needs to be a good wife.
"Girls don't know what is expected of them in marriage," she said. "This course expands a girl's horizons so she can go into marriage with open eyes."
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
Some say men are unable to deal with modern women
By Donna Abu-Nasr
Associated Press
Published: Monday, Dec. 11, 2006 11:59 a.m. MST
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Khulud Abdul-Aziz enrolled in a course on manners, fashion and cooking that prepares young women to be good wives because she does not want to end up another statistic in Saudi Arabia's rising divorce rate.
"I want to be qualified for marriage in every respect," said the 19-year-old university student who is getting married in a few months.
The increasing divorce rate has alarmed many here, but some argue Saudi men can be part of the problem, unable to deal with a female population that is more educated and assertive.
The course Abdul-Aziz takes at al-Shaqaiq Society in the western seaport of Jiddah is just one of the ways social organizations are trying to help curb the number of divorces, which has grown 20 percent in recent years, according to government estimates.
While courts and marriage officials register around 70,000 marriage contracts annually, they also process more than 13,000 official divorce papers, said the Planning Ministry, according to media reports.
Fahad al-Yahya, a psychiatrist who counsels married couples, estimates at least 30 percent of Saudi first marriages end in divorce. The rate is comparable to the United States where, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, 33 percent of first marriages are disrupted either by separation or divorce.
So alarming is the problem that Saudi newspapers often carry stories discussing the issue, citing examples of the trivial incidents that lead to some of the divorces.
For instance, newspapers reported that a man divorced his wife after he found out she'd owned a camera phone for two years. Another left her because she insisted on waiting for a flight at the airport that kept getting delayed instead of returning home — as the husband had suggested.
Experts say the rapid technological change the kingdom witnessed as a result of the 1970s oil boom is one of the major reasons for the rise in divorce rates.
Oil money rapidly turned desert expanses into slick urban centers and gave a boost to women's education, introduced only in the 1960s. But this quick jump into the 21st century has not been accompanied by a parallel adaptation in traditions, tribal customs and attitudes, such as views that wives should be meek and undemanding. Some men, experts say, don't know how to cope with educated women.
"The Saudi woman has joined the work force and has become more educated," said al-Yahya. "This has changed their image from the one that prevailed in the past."
Stringent rules segregating the sexes have remained in place despite the modern facade that has brought malls, satellite TV and the Internet into the kingdom.
Boys and girls are separated once they reach puberty and are often not prepared to live with a member of the opposite sex after they get married. Women, who must wear veils and black cloaks called abayas, are kept away from men who are not husbands, brothers or uncles.
Very rarely do couples go out before they get married, and some don't see their spouses until their wedding night.
Even after they get married, it is difficult for couples to go out together. For instance, a married couple cannot go out to dinner with other married couples because the wives would be in the presence of men who are not their husbands. At family gatherings, women and men sit in separate rooms.
The institution of marriage also has been rocked by the introduction of other forms of marriage, sometimes called weekend marriages, that have grown in popularity in Saudi Arabia after influential clergy issued edicts supporting them earlier this year. These marriages relieve men of financial responsibilities and other obligations, including having to reveal them to family or other wives. Islam allows men to have up to four wives.
The proponents of such marriages say they decrease the number of unwed Saudi women, but critics say such unions destroy the family structure and encourage men to take additional wives who are usually younger "ornaments" rather than older unmarried women.
"I wonder if the virtuous men issuing such edicts do not pause to ponder the effects of such righteous proclamations on our fragile society," wrote Tariq al-Maeena in Arab News recently.
Al-Yahya said one way to save marriages is to make divorces more difficult. In Islam, a man can dissolve a marriage just by telling his wife, "You are divorced." Women, meanwhile, must go to court to get their marriages dissolved and only under exceptional circumstances such as the husband's mental illness.
"If there were strict laws they would make men think twice before divorcing their wives," al-Yahya said.
At a recent al-Shaqaiq Society class, Abdul-Aziz and 17 other young women sat in leather chairs at a horseshoe-shaped table to hear a lecture on "Discovering the Treasures for a Happy Life." The society also offers similar courses for men.
"What do you want out of married life?" instructor Almass al-Hijn asked the group. "Is your goal to find someone to spoil you and take you out to restaurants or to find a man who will protect you and with whom you can build a family?"
One student, 19-year-old Sara Bawahhal who recently got engaged, said she just hopes the course gives her the tools she needs to be a good wife.
"Girls don't know what is expected of them in marriage," she said. "This course expands a girl's horizons so she can go into marriage with open eyes."
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company | All rights reserved
High dowry? No, won’t marry you!
By Diana Al-Jassem
JEDDAH – Young Saudi men have started an online campaign to boycott marrying Saudi women because dowries and marriage costs are spiraling.
“Let her become a spinster!” is the theme of the campaign which is attracting a large number of young Saudi men who can’t afford to marry Saudi women and are looking for non-Saudi brides.
The websites leading the campaign want Saudi society to intervene before the cost of marriage gets completely out of control.
The websites are asyeh.com. almgha.com. toyota4arab.com, tomaar.com. alhora.com, and montdiatna.com.
“The theme of the campaign may seem a bit harsh... but these young men have their reasons,” said Abdullah Al-Jefn, an Islamic scholar and researcher.
He said the campaign touches on an important issue which should be studied in universities and schools.
“For most young Saudis, getting married is a dream that is becoming increasingly hard to achieve,” Al-Jefn said.
“Shariah law allows the girl to ask the man for whatever dowry she likes; this is not wrong or banned in Islam,” he said. – SG
JEDDAH – Young Saudi men have started an online campaign to boycott marrying Saudi women because dowries and marriage costs are spiraling.
“Let her become a spinster!” is the theme of the campaign which is attracting a large number of young Saudi men who can’t afford to marry Saudi women and are looking for non-Saudi brides.
The websites leading the campaign want Saudi society to intervene before the cost of marriage gets completely out of control.
The websites are asyeh.com. almgha.com. toyota4arab.com, tomaar.com. alhora.com, and montdiatna.com.
“The theme of the campaign may seem a bit harsh... but these young men have their reasons,” said Abdullah Al-Jefn, an Islamic scholar and researcher.
He said the campaign touches on an important issue which should be studied in universities and schools.
“For most young Saudis, getting married is a dream that is becoming increasingly hard to achieve,” Al-Jefn said.
“Shariah law allows the girl to ask the man for whatever dowry she likes; this is not wrong or banned in Islam,” he said. – SG
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Unmarried Women — Alarming Statistics
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
Monday 25 October 2004 (11 Ramadan 1425)
Depending on the societies they live in, when unmarried girls reach a certain age which differs from society to society, people begin to refer to them as “old maids” or “spinsters”.
Especially in Arab countries, people still look upon a young unmarried girl as though she were to blame for her state. Fingers are pointed accusingly at her regardless of the reasons or her own circumstances. The girl soon becomes the butt of ridicule, accusations, and meddling by those around her and even those closest to her.
The reasons for the girl’s delay in getting married or in not getting married at all are many and varied. There are social circumstances and pressures that drive a girl to study and to work in order to become financially stable.
There are also other reasons such as high dowries. Then there are families which demand that a prospective suitor have certain characteristics or else they will not allow their daughters or sisters to marry him. Omaimah Sanad from Sayidaty, a sister publication of Arab News, examined the problem.
JEDDAH, 25 October 2004 — What do girls in Saudi Arabia say about why they are not married? How much do they suffer because they are not married? Can a girl begin a new life and start a family no matter how late?
Fawzia, who is 38 years old, said: “I tried to imitate some girls in my family by carrying the banner of ‘No To Marriage’ — at least not until I had completed my education, graduated and worked as a teacher. As time passed, I became increasingly involved in my professional life. To be fair, I received many proposals at that time but the men did not meet my standards. And my friends and family agreed with me because they wanted me to have what I wanted in a partner. My mother, however, God rest her soul, disagreed and used to try to convince me to take the proposals more seriously. She told me over and over not to imitate my cousins since they had not received proposals as good as mine in the first place. But I didn’t listen to her and thought that as I was still young and attractive, I had plenty of time to consider different options and choose the right man. The days and months flew by and with the deaths of my mother and father, I was left alone. Most of my friends are married now; I’m still alone and my looks are fading with time. I realize too late that I’ve wasted my life setting impossible conditions for the men who wanted to marry me.”
Dr. Ulfat, a single woman in her 40s, said: “I wronged myself by going along with my mother’s decisions. My mother refused every suitor on the basis that he wasn’t worthy of us. And what made things worse was that my father was so much weaker than my mother that she had ‘the’ say in everything related to my sisters and me for more than 20 years. My sisters and I never had the courage to disagree with her or challenge her. And if the suitor was up to our standards, she would make up conditions that were impossible to fulfill. We never knew what she wanted from a prospective husband. The situation continued until we were no longer young but were still being called ‘Miss’. Now whenever anyone asks us why we are not married, we justify ourselves by saying that we are too involved with our professional lives. Our mother still dreams of a perfect husband for each of us; in her eyes, we are still ‘little girls’ even though we are all highly qualified adults.”
Mona, who is 35 and still single, said: “Yes, it is not easy being an unmarried woman in our society. Girls who refuse to marry don’t do so without a reason. Very often the reason is her family’s attitude and that is the reason in my case. Today I’m 35 and I’ve been getting proposals since I was 14; my father, however, refused them all since he was influenced by my stepmother who accused every man of being a gold digger, greedy for my money and social status. At the same time, she managed to marry off her own daughters to men who were not always up to the standards she set for me. The result was that I focused on my studies since I had no other outlet. I had to dodge the queries about my being single. People pitied me and said how strange it was that with my looks, education and status that I was still unmarried. Even after I graduated and began working, suitors approached my family but all were turned away. We have reached the point where no one will ask for me since it is well-known that everybody will be refused.”
Munira, who is over 30, said: “My love for children surpasses everything in the world. I was so eager to get married and have a family but my mother refused every man who proposed to me or my sister. When I asked my mother why she refused them even though many came from prominent families, she answered that this was in accordance with our late father’s will that we not marry anyone outside our tribe and that we had been betrothed as children to some of our paternal cousins because they could protect us and keep in the family the wealth inherited from our father. For 20 years we waited for our cousins to propose to us but they never did. The years passed by and our younger brothers and sisters got married while we have remained single.”
Hayat and her sister are teachers and together earn more than SR12,000 every month. They say their father refuses to let them marry because of what they earn; if they marry, he will lose access to their money. He treats every man as someone who wants only his daughter’s salary. He does not want to lose it. The fact is that their father allows them only SR1,000 a month and this has forced them to go to a lawyer to file suit against him and to complain of his mistreatment of their mother. If the suit is successful, they can then marry.
Leila, who turned 34 only recently, said: “My chances of getting married are decreasing if not already ended. In this day and age, young men are unlikely to marry a girl they’ve not seen — or at least one which their relatives have seen. After all, this is how girls get married; someone from among the man’s family or friends sees the girl and recommends her. Since I’m not allowed to leave the house or go out or work, no one will see me and so I remain unmarried. These conditions are the ones I have lived under since childhood; my mother didn’t allow me to go anywhere but school and so I didn’t make many friends. In order to have friends, you must be able to come and go and that is what I was not allowed to do. And even after I graduated, I wasn’t allowed to work. This made me ask my family what had been the point of my education and my degree if I was not to be allowed to work? They said both would be an advantage when I raised my children. I have now gone to a matchmaker in hopes that she can find a husband for me.”
Traditions have been a major obstacle to 32-year-old Lamia’s marriage. “My family is the reason I wasn’t able to marry the one my heart chose even though they knew his family well. We had been neighbors for a long time and my brothers and sisters like him which is why my involvement with him was so natural from the start. After we grew up and completed our college education, it was only natural that he should ask my family for my hand in marriage. My family refused even though they have known him for 30 years. He is like a son to my father who likes him and speaks approvingly of his conduct and character. They would not at first tell me why they had refused but I persisted and finally the reason my father gave me was: ‘He isn’t originally Saudi.’ This shocked me because I had no idea my family would refuse someone for such a shallow reason or even that they would think along such narrow lines. This has led me to refuse all other men who proposed in hopes that my family will finally let me marry the person I have chosen.”
Maha, who is 37, said: “My not being married is a matter that is out of my hands even though I’m well-educated and said to be attractive. Many men, however, will not propose to someone who is better educated than they are. There was once a young man who asked to marry me and my family and his agreed on everything. Then he suddenly disappeared without any explanation except that he didn’t want to marry an educated working woman. This scenario has been repeated several times.”
Why Marriages Are Delayed
Dr. Bakr Bagader, an anthropology professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, said: “People differ in the age at which a woman is considered an ‘old maid’. Much depends on the practices and ideas of the society the girl lives in. We often see today that the marriageable age is linked to the stages in education because of the responsibilities of making a living and supporting a family. A man must be able to earn a living and it is even better if both partners can work and contribute to the family’s finances. Two incomes give a family more disposable income and increase status. Completing education is thus seen as important and delays marriage for girls. In fact, in some situations, a degree and a job for a girl is highly desirable. Women no longer feel that their worth or status is dependent upon their husband. Another factor in delaying marriages is that it is now possible for women to delay having children until they want them rather than getting married and getting pregnant the same year.”
According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Planning:
• There are 2,638,575 married women in Saudi Arabia out of a total of 4,572,231.
• The number of unmarried girls over 30 is more than 1.5 million: Makkah: 396,248; Riyadh: 327,427; Asir: 130,812; Madinah: 95,542; Jizan: 84,845; Qasim: 74,209; Jouf: 5,219; Tabuk 36,689 and the Eastern Province 21,543.
Copyright: Arab News © 2003 All rights reserved. Site designed by: arabix
Monday 25 October 2004 (11 Ramadan 1425)
Depending on the societies they live in, when unmarried girls reach a certain age which differs from society to society, people begin to refer to them as “old maids” or “spinsters”.
Especially in Arab countries, people still look upon a young unmarried girl as though she were to blame for her state. Fingers are pointed accusingly at her regardless of the reasons or her own circumstances. The girl soon becomes the butt of ridicule, accusations, and meddling by those around her and even those closest to her.
The reasons for the girl’s delay in getting married or in not getting married at all are many and varied. There are social circumstances and pressures that drive a girl to study and to work in order to become financially stable.
There are also other reasons such as high dowries. Then there are families which demand that a prospective suitor have certain characteristics or else they will not allow their daughters or sisters to marry him. Omaimah Sanad from Sayidaty, a sister publication of Arab News, examined the problem.
JEDDAH, 25 October 2004 — What do girls in Saudi Arabia say about why they are not married? How much do they suffer because they are not married? Can a girl begin a new life and start a family no matter how late?
Fawzia, who is 38 years old, said: “I tried to imitate some girls in my family by carrying the banner of ‘No To Marriage’ — at least not until I had completed my education, graduated and worked as a teacher. As time passed, I became increasingly involved in my professional life. To be fair, I received many proposals at that time but the men did not meet my standards. And my friends and family agreed with me because they wanted me to have what I wanted in a partner. My mother, however, God rest her soul, disagreed and used to try to convince me to take the proposals more seriously. She told me over and over not to imitate my cousins since they had not received proposals as good as mine in the first place. But I didn’t listen to her and thought that as I was still young and attractive, I had plenty of time to consider different options and choose the right man. The days and months flew by and with the deaths of my mother and father, I was left alone. Most of my friends are married now; I’m still alone and my looks are fading with time. I realize too late that I’ve wasted my life setting impossible conditions for the men who wanted to marry me.”
Dr. Ulfat, a single woman in her 40s, said: “I wronged myself by going along with my mother’s decisions. My mother refused every suitor on the basis that he wasn’t worthy of us. And what made things worse was that my father was so much weaker than my mother that she had ‘the’ say in everything related to my sisters and me for more than 20 years. My sisters and I never had the courage to disagree with her or challenge her. And if the suitor was up to our standards, she would make up conditions that were impossible to fulfill. We never knew what she wanted from a prospective husband. The situation continued until we were no longer young but were still being called ‘Miss’. Now whenever anyone asks us why we are not married, we justify ourselves by saying that we are too involved with our professional lives. Our mother still dreams of a perfect husband for each of us; in her eyes, we are still ‘little girls’ even though we are all highly qualified adults.”
Mona, who is 35 and still single, said: “Yes, it is not easy being an unmarried woman in our society. Girls who refuse to marry don’t do so without a reason. Very often the reason is her family’s attitude and that is the reason in my case. Today I’m 35 and I’ve been getting proposals since I was 14; my father, however, refused them all since he was influenced by my stepmother who accused every man of being a gold digger, greedy for my money and social status. At the same time, she managed to marry off her own daughters to men who were not always up to the standards she set for me. The result was that I focused on my studies since I had no other outlet. I had to dodge the queries about my being single. People pitied me and said how strange it was that with my looks, education and status that I was still unmarried. Even after I graduated and began working, suitors approached my family but all were turned away. We have reached the point where no one will ask for me since it is well-known that everybody will be refused.”
Munira, who is over 30, said: “My love for children surpasses everything in the world. I was so eager to get married and have a family but my mother refused every man who proposed to me or my sister. When I asked my mother why she refused them even though many came from prominent families, she answered that this was in accordance with our late father’s will that we not marry anyone outside our tribe and that we had been betrothed as children to some of our paternal cousins because they could protect us and keep in the family the wealth inherited from our father. For 20 years we waited for our cousins to propose to us but they never did. The years passed by and our younger brothers and sisters got married while we have remained single.”
Hayat and her sister are teachers and together earn more than SR12,000 every month. They say their father refuses to let them marry because of what they earn; if they marry, he will lose access to their money. He treats every man as someone who wants only his daughter’s salary. He does not want to lose it. The fact is that their father allows them only SR1,000 a month and this has forced them to go to a lawyer to file suit against him and to complain of his mistreatment of their mother. If the suit is successful, they can then marry.
Leila, who turned 34 only recently, said: “My chances of getting married are decreasing if not already ended. In this day and age, young men are unlikely to marry a girl they’ve not seen — or at least one which their relatives have seen. After all, this is how girls get married; someone from among the man’s family or friends sees the girl and recommends her. Since I’m not allowed to leave the house or go out or work, no one will see me and so I remain unmarried. These conditions are the ones I have lived under since childhood; my mother didn’t allow me to go anywhere but school and so I didn’t make many friends. In order to have friends, you must be able to come and go and that is what I was not allowed to do. And even after I graduated, I wasn’t allowed to work. This made me ask my family what had been the point of my education and my degree if I was not to be allowed to work? They said both would be an advantage when I raised my children. I have now gone to a matchmaker in hopes that she can find a husband for me.”
Traditions have been a major obstacle to 32-year-old Lamia’s marriage. “My family is the reason I wasn’t able to marry the one my heart chose even though they knew his family well. We had been neighbors for a long time and my brothers and sisters like him which is why my involvement with him was so natural from the start. After we grew up and completed our college education, it was only natural that he should ask my family for my hand in marriage. My family refused even though they have known him for 30 years. He is like a son to my father who likes him and speaks approvingly of his conduct and character. They would not at first tell me why they had refused but I persisted and finally the reason my father gave me was: ‘He isn’t originally Saudi.’ This shocked me because I had no idea my family would refuse someone for such a shallow reason or even that they would think along such narrow lines. This has led me to refuse all other men who proposed in hopes that my family will finally let me marry the person I have chosen.”
Maha, who is 37, said: “My not being married is a matter that is out of my hands even though I’m well-educated and said to be attractive. Many men, however, will not propose to someone who is better educated than they are. There was once a young man who asked to marry me and my family and his agreed on everything. Then he suddenly disappeared without any explanation except that he didn’t want to marry an educated working woman. This scenario has been repeated several times.”
Why Marriages Are Delayed
Dr. Bakr Bagader, an anthropology professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, said: “People differ in the age at which a woman is considered an ‘old maid’. Much depends on the practices and ideas of the society the girl lives in. We often see today that the marriageable age is linked to the stages in education because of the responsibilities of making a living and supporting a family. A man must be able to earn a living and it is even better if both partners can work and contribute to the family’s finances. Two incomes give a family more disposable income and increase status. Completing education is thus seen as important and delays marriage for girls. In fact, in some situations, a degree and a job for a girl is highly desirable. Women no longer feel that their worth or status is dependent upon their husband. Another factor in delaying marriages is that it is now possible for women to delay having children until they want them rather than getting married and getting pregnant the same year.”
According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Planning:
• There are 2,638,575 married women in Saudi Arabia out of a total of 4,572,231.
• The number of unmarried girls over 30 is more than 1.5 million: Makkah: 396,248; Riyadh: 327,427; Asir: 130,812; Madinah: 95,542; Jizan: 84,845; Qasim: 74,209; Jouf: 5,219; Tabuk 36,689 and the Eastern Province 21,543.
Copyright: Arab News © 2003 All rights reserved. Site designed by: arabix
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Who's in the know: Women surge, men sink in education's gender gap
December 7, 2009
Who's in the know: Women surge, men sink in education's gender gap
By ELIZABETH CHURCH
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Female students are dominating campuses, a shift that will change 'who does what.' But leaving men behind has its costs
EDUCATION REPORTER
In a red-brick building at the University of Guelph, where veterinarians have been schooled for the better part of a century, a demographic shift is taking place that offers a window into the future of human behaviour.
In the past decade, Ontario Veterinary College has seen its student numbers turned on their head: Women account for more than 80 per cent of its students during that time, and now make up more than half of the province's practising vets.
It's an extreme example of a story that is playing out on campuses in Canada and around the world - and a trend that could have profound social implications. There are now three female undergraduates for every two male students on Canadian campuses, and more women than men graduated with higher education degrees in 75 of 98 countries examined in a recent UNESCO study.
Women are expected to gain more power in public and corporate life and more financial independence.
Faced with a dwindling number of potential mates who are their education equals, however, researchers speculate more women may take a pass on the traditional family, or be more willing to leave it when things don't work. And more men may find themselves tending to hearth and home.
"We are an example of things to come," says Serge Desmarais, Guelph's associate vice-president, academic, and a psychologist who specializes in gender studies. "Imagine 30 years from now when 60, 70 per cent of the people who are educated are women. It has to change the ratio of who does what. And that has huge social ramifications."
Economist Ross Finnie agrees. "It's a whole new world," says Prof. Finnie, who teaches public policy at the University of Ottawa. "This is a complete flip-around from not so long ago. I think the direction of change is almost certain. I don't think it's ridiculous to say women will have the upper hand in a way they haven't in the past."
Today's "gender gap" has been a long time in the making. Women reached parity at the undergraduate level in 1987, at the masters level in 1997, and now account for about 46 per cent of PhD candidates. Women are still the minority in fields such as engineering, computer science and math, but account for the majority of students in most disciplines.
But the economic meltdown and the huge hit taken by traditionally male-dominated industries, such as the auto sector, has brought a new urgency to the debate. Even in the depths of the current recession, when the country shed 330,000 jobs, about 62,000 new positions were created for university graduates in the 12 months up to September, Statistics Canada numbers show.
Some university leaders say the gap is a reflection of a larger societal puzzle that sees boys lagging girls in academic achievement long before they reach campuses, and has led to new approaches for teaching boys, such as boys-only schools. Studies show that as early as Grade 9, more girls plan to attend university, and those aspirations increase as they approach graduation.
"We should be concerned about any group not participating in post-secondary education," says Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy. "We need to ask some tough questions about the graduation rates of men out of high school and why they aren't going to universities."
Others are more cautious, pointing to U.S. research that finds girls historically have done better at school, but were discouraged from continuing their education. And men are still going to university at record levels: 85,000 of them were in Canadian undergraduate and graduate programs in 2007 - about 30 per cent more than in 2000. As for colleges, men and women are going in equal numbers.
At Guelph, first-year student vet Adam Little is acutely aware of his outnumbered status. "I am a white guy and I am in the minority. It is definitely a different dynamic," says Mr. Little, who acknowledges he and his male classmates tend to stick together. While he knows of several men who had ambitions of going to the vet college, they took different paths when confronted with the school's admissions hurdles. "The people who stick with it are mostly women," he adds.
Some attempts to right the growing imbalance have been controversial. When University of Alberta president Indira Samarasekera told local media she was prepared to be "an advocate for young white men," the reaction was quick, including a poster campaign by students mocking her remarks.
"I know a problematic statement when I see one," said student Derek Warwick, a key organizer of the campaign. A Métis student from rural Alberta, he says there are plenty of groups - racial minorities, aboriginals, students from low-income families - who are underrepresented at universities and deserve attention.
And despite the changes anticipated by some researchers, women in Canada hold roughly 5 per cent of top corporate jobs and account for 5.6 per cent of the highest earners, according to the research group Catalyst Inc. Young women still make about 90 cents for every dollar earned by a young man.
A South Asian who was one of only two female engineering professors at the University of British Columbia when she began her career, Dr. Samarasekera says she understands how much ground women and minority groups still need to gain. But she argues society can no longer ignore what is happening to men.
"There is a feeling men can take care of themselves - clearly that is not true. If that were true, we wouldn't be seeing this growing gap." Men's failure to go on to higher education in the same numbers as women is a "demographic bomb," she warns, that will hurt Canada's ability to compete and limit men's potential.
But beyond stepping up recruitment efforts, universities say their hands are tied. "We really have no ability to do anything in the admissions process to give preferential treatment," says David Hannah, the vice-president responsible for enrolment at the University of Saskatchewan. "I've had deans ask me about that as a way to get a better balance in their programs, and the answer is no. It's against the law."
In the United States, favouritism toward male applicants is suspected at some liberal arts colleges, where the absence of faculties such as engineering and computer science puts gender numbers even more off-kilter. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last month began an inquiry into accusations that private schools are discriminating against women to prevent campuses from becoming "too female," fearing this will discourage others from applying.
At the University of Guelph, Prof. Desmarais says simple solutions such as boys-only schools can't be expected to solve such a complex question. The greater problem, he argues, is the still-held belief by some groups that education is a waste of their time.
"The problem is not what happens here, but what happens to lead people here," he says. "If achieving in school earlier in life is not perceived to be important, then I can tell you, they are never seeing university."
At the vet school, Mr. Little says being one of 26 men in a class of 112 has some obvious advantages. Although singlet, at least in one respect, the odds are still in his favour.
CTVglobemedia Publishing, Inc
Who's in the know: Women surge, men sink in education's gender gap
By ELIZABETH CHURCH
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Female students are dominating campuses, a shift that will change 'who does what.' But leaving men behind has its costs
EDUCATION REPORTER
In a red-brick building at the University of Guelph, where veterinarians have been schooled for the better part of a century, a demographic shift is taking place that offers a window into the future of human behaviour.
In the past decade, Ontario Veterinary College has seen its student numbers turned on their head: Women account for more than 80 per cent of its students during that time, and now make up more than half of the province's practising vets.
It's an extreme example of a story that is playing out on campuses in Canada and around the world - and a trend that could have profound social implications. There are now three female undergraduates for every two male students on Canadian campuses, and more women than men graduated with higher education degrees in 75 of 98 countries examined in a recent UNESCO study.
Women are expected to gain more power in public and corporate life and more financial independence.
Faced with a dwindling number of potential mates who are their education equals, however, researchers speculate more women may take a pass on the traditional family, or be more willing to leave it when things don't work. And more men may find themselves tending to hearth and home.
"We are an example of things to come," says Serge Desmarais, Guelph's associate vice-president, academic, and a psychologist who specializes in gender studies. "Imagine 30 years from now when 60, 70 per cent of the people who are educated are women. It has to change the ratio of who does what. And that has huge social ramifications."
Economist Ross Finnie agrees. "It's a whole new world," says Prof. Finnie, who teaches public policy at the University of Ottawa. "This is a complete flip-around from not so long ago. I think the direction of change is almost certain. I don't think it's ridiculous to say women will have the upper hand in a way they haven't in the past."
Today's "gender gap" has been a long time in the making. Women reached parity at the undergraduate level in 1987, at the masters level in 1997, and now account for about 46 per cent of PhD candidates. Women are still the minority in fields such as engineering, computer science and math, but account for the majority of students in most disciplines.
But the economic meltdown and the huge hit taken by traditionally male-dominated industries, such as the auto sector, has brought a new urgency to the debate. Even in the depths of the current recession, when the country shed 330,000 jobs, about 62,000 new positions were created for university graduates in the 12 months up to September, Statistics Canada numbers show.
Some university leaders say the gap is a reflection of a larger societal puzzle that sees boys lagging girls in academic achievement long before they reach campuses, and has led to new approaches for teaching boys, such as boys-only schools. Studies show that as early as Grade 9, more girls plan to attend university, and those aspirations increase as they approach graduation.
"We should be concerned about any group not participating in post-secondary education," says Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy. "We need to ask some tough questions about the graduation rates of men out of high school and why they aren't going to universities."
Others are more cautious, pointing to U.S. research that finds girls historically have done better at school, but were discouraged from continuing their education. And men are still going to university at record levels: 85,000 of them were in Canadian undergraduate and graduate programs in 2007 - about 30 per cent more than in 2000. As for colleges, men and women are going in equal numbers.
At Guelph, first-year student vet Adam Little is acutely aware of his outnumbered status. "I am a white guy and I am in the minority. It is definitely a different dynamic," says Mr. Little, who acknowledges he and his male classmates tend to stick together. While he knows of several men who had ambitions of going to the vet college, they took different paths when confronted with the school's admissions hurdles. "The people who stick with it are mostly women," he adds.
Some attempts to right the growing imbalance have been controversial. When University of Alberta president Indira Samarasekera told local media she was prepared to be "an advocate for young white men," the reaction was quick, including a poster campaign by students mocking her remarks.
"I know a problematic statement when I see one," said student Derek Warwick, a key organizer of the campaign. A Métis student from rural Alberta, he says there are plenty of groups - racial minorities, aboriginals, students from low-income families - who are underrepresented at universities and deserve attention.
And despite the changes anticipated by some researchers, women in Canada hold roughly 5 per cent of top corporate jobs and account for 5.6 per cent of the highest earners, according to the research group Catalyst Inc. Young women still make about 90 cents for every dollar earned by a young man.
A South Asian who was one of only two female engineering professors at the University of British Columbia when she began her career, Dr. Samarasekera says she understands how much ground women and minority groups still need to gain. But she argues society can no longer ignore what is happening to men.
"There is a feeling men can take care of themselves - clearly that is not true. If that were true, we wouldn't be seeing this growing gap." Men's failure to go on to higher education in the same numbers as women is a "demographic bomb," she warns, that will hurt Canada's ability to compete and limit men's potential.
But beyond stepping up recruitment efforts, universities say their hands are tied. "We really have no ability to do anything in the admissions process to give preferential treatment," says David Hannah, the vice-president responsible for enrolment at the University of Saskatchewan. "I've had deans ask me about that as a way to get a better balance in their programs, and the answer is no. It's against the law."
In the United States, favouritism toward male applicants is suspected at some liberal arts colleges, where the absence of faculties such as engineering and computer science puts gender numbers even more off-kilter. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last month began an inquiry into accusations that private schools are discriminating against women to prevent campuses from becoming "too female," fearing this will discourage others from applying.
At the University of Guelph, Prof. Desmarais says simple solutions such as boys-only schools can't be expected to solve such a complex question. The greater problem, he argues, is the still-held belief by some groups that education is a waste of their time.
"The problem is not what happens here, but what happens to lead people here," he says. "If achieving in school earlier in life is not perceived to be important, then I can tell you, they are never seeing university."
At the vet school, Mr. Little says being one of 26 men in a class of 112 has some obvious advantages. Although singlet, at least in one respect, the odds are still in his favour.
CTVglobemedia Publishing, Inc
Saturday, December 12, 2009
What it Means to be a Women
INFERTILTY
What it Means to Be a Woman
In developing countries, where infertility is seen as a personal failing, or even a curse, a woman who can't conceive may face devastating ostracism. But there's hope for more affordable treatment.
By Karen Springen | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Sep 15, 2008 | Updated: 10:20 a.m. ET Sep 14, 2008
Mamta Jhunjhun Wala, 42, of Mumbai still remembers the stigma of being unable to bear children for the first 13 years of her marriage. People ask a woman's name—and then, "How many children do you have?" When the woman answers "none," she says, "they don't know what they can talk to you about." Thanks to treatments at Mumbai's Malpani Infertility Clinic, Wala finally conceived a daughter, now 10, and twin boys, now 8. With her doctor, she started a support group to help give other infertile couples the help she wishes she had had, she says. "There were a lot of emotional questions, and support I needed, and there was nobody for me."
Wala is lucky. "It is very, very difficult for people in the United States to deal with [infertility], and yet, when you go to other cultures, it's even more devastating to people," says Dr. David Adamson, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and a board member of the International Federation of Fertility Societies. Worldwide, the World Health Organization says about one in 10 couples experiences difficulty conceiving a child at some point in their lives.
In some developing countries, the consequences of infertility—which can include ostracism, physical abuse and even suicide—are heartbreaking. "If you are infertile in some cultures, you are less than a dog," says Willem Ombelet of the Genk Institute for Fertility Technology in Belgium. Women are often uneducated, so their only identity comes from being moms. "It [infertility] is an issue of profound human suffering, particularly for women," says Marcia Inhorn, professor of anthropology and international affairs at Yale University. "It's a human-rights issue."
The stigma that infertile women face can infiltrate every aspect of life. They may not even be invited to weddings or other important gatherings. "People see them as having a "bad eye" that will make you infertile, too. Infertile women are considered inauspicious," says Inhorn. Other people simply "don't want to have them around at joyous occasions," says Frank van Balen, coauthor (with Inhorn) of "Infertility Around the Globe" and a professor in the department of social and behavioral sciences at the University of Amsterdam. Their reasoning: "they could spoil it," he says.
Often the female takes the blame even when the problem lies with the man, says Inhorn. The women often keep their husband's secret and bear the insults. In Chad, a proverb says, "A woman without children is like a tree without leaves." If a woman doesn't bear children, their husbands may leave them or take new wives with society's blessing. In some Muslim places, women can't go on the street on their own. "If they have a child with them, they can do their errands," says van Balen.
Childlessness can also be an enormous economic problem in developing countries where Social Security, pensions and retirement-savings plans are not the norm. "If you don't have your children, no one looks after you," says Guido Pennings, professor of philosophy and moral science at Belgium's Ghent University. Religion shapes attitudes, too. "People are supposed to go out and populate the earth," says Ian Cooke, director of education for the International Federation of Fertility Societies and cofounder of the Low-Cost IVF Foundation. In the Hindu religion, a woman without a child, particularly a son, can't go to heaven. Sons perform death rituals. Infertile couples worry that without a child, who will mourn for them and bury them? In China and Vietnam, the traditional belief is that the souls of childless people can't easily rest. In India, the eldest son traditionally lights the funeral pyre. In Muslim cultures, the stigma follows childless women even after death: women without children aren't always allowed to be buried in graveyards or sacred grounds.
In Western countries, it has become much more socially acceptable to be childless, and more American women are hitting their 40s without kids, according to the latest census data. By contrast, in many developing countries, women have no careers—just motherhood—to give them their identity. "The notion of child-free living is not considered an acceptable thing for a married couple," says Inhorn. And particularly in Muslim and Hindu areas, she says, adoption "is not an immediate second path."
Legal adoption is "bureaucratically onerous" and often not socially acceptable, says Elizabeth Roberts, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan, who studied the people of Ecuador. So it's not surprising that even extremely poor people may go into debt trying to conceive. "A family is only a family if there are children, basically," says Roberts. "The biggest stumbling block is money."
Many couples may waste valuable years resorting to "black magic," says Aravinda Guntupalli, a professor at the University of Tübingen in Germany who studied infertility in India. The couples ask so-called sacred people what days they should fast, and they journey to spiritual places. In the tribal area of India where Guntupalli worked, women dry up umbilical cords and sneak them into infertile women's food to try to help them. "They think it creates some fertility juice in the body," she says.
Not surprisingly, infertility treatments are rarely covered by insurance or by government aid. "How do you provide what is clearly a highly technological, sophisticated procedure in a place that doesn't have a lot of money?" says Adamson, a member of the not-for-profit International Committee Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies, a technical adviser to the World Health Organization. Leaders of countries struggling with dirty drinking water, tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS may find IVF expenditures hard to justify.
Infertile couples in developing countries don't publicize the fact that they need help even if they can afford treatment. Children are seen as a gift of the gods, so failure to conceive may be perceived as an indication that someone has sinned or is unworthy. "People aren't willing to go up on [the equivalent of] Oprah Winfrey and say, 'Yes, I'm infertile, and I'm getting treatment'," says Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, an Ob-Gyn who runs the Malpani Infertility Clinic in Mumbai with his wife. "People have actually traveled [for treatment], telling people they're going on holiday," says Inhorn.
Even for couples who do have access to fertility clinics, there are challenges. For example, some cultures consider masturbation evil. Yet it's traditionally the way doctors get semen samples to check a man's sperm count and then to perform IVF. In some cases, doctors can offer condoms that allow a couple to have intercourse and save the sperm. Another cultural hurdle: the Muslim world does not accept egg or sperm donation. "Each child should have a known father and a known mother," explains Inhorn. "Every child must know his own heritage." Adds Adamson: "It's very important to honor and respect the fact that people have these values."
One important approach is to focus on preventing, rather than curing, infertility. A major cause of infertility is untreated reproductive tract infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhea. In places like Africa, the cost of condoms, and taboos against them, contribute to the STD problem. Infection from female genital mutilation adds to the problem. And in some countries, 90 percent of women do not deliver in hospitals, which can also cause complications. And the hospitals they use for birth or abortions aren't always sanitary. Some doctors also believe sperm quality has suffered from toxins like lead, high in Mexico City and Cairo, and dioxin sprayed on crops.
In the developed world, there's sometimes little sympathy for the problem, since the common view is that developing countries are suffering from overpopulation and don't need any more babies. The United Nations projects that the world population will balloon from its current 6.7 billion to 9.1 billion by 2050. But the picture is more complicated than it seems. "We have a fertility paradox in Africa—high fertility rates, and high infertility rates," says Dr. Silke Dyer, an Ob-Gyn in Cape Town and a member of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology task force on developing countries and infertility. (Infertility treatment proponents note that IVF doesn't contribute to overpopulation any more than saving lives with vaccinations does. And both alleviate suffering.)
The good news is that interest in treating infertility around the globe is growing. In 2004, the World Health Organization said people should have access to high-quality services for family planning, including infertility services. Doctors hope to provide $200 to $500 IVF cycles, with cheaper drugs and simplified laboratories, by the end of the year in places like Cape Town and Cairo. Their goal: more happy birth stories, like Wala's.
Find this article at
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158625
© 2008
What it Means to Be a Woman
In developing countries, where infertility is seen as a personal failing, or even a curse, a woman who can't conceive may face devastating ostracism. But there's hope for more affordable treatment.
By Karen Springen | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Sep 15, 2008 | Updated: 10:20 a.m. ET Sep 14, 2008
Mamta Jhunjhun Wala, 42, of Mumbai still remembers the stigma of being unable to bear children for the first 13 years of her marriage. People ask a woman's name—and then, "How many children do you have?" When the woman answers "none," she says, "they don't know what they can talk to you about." Thanks to treatments at Mumbai's Malpani Infertility Clinic, Wala finally conceived a daughter, now 10, and twin boys, now 8. With her doctor, she started a support group to help give other infertile couples the help she wishes she had had, she says. "There were a lot of emotional questions, and support I needed, and there was nobody for me."
Wala is lucky. "It is very, very difficult for people in the United States to deal with [infertility], and yet, when you go to other cultures, it's even more devastating to people," says Dr. David Adamson, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and a board member of the International Federation of Fertility Societies. Worldwide, the World Health Organization says about one in 10 couples experiences difficulty conceiving a child at some point in their lives.
In some developing countries, the consequences of infertility—which can include ostracism, physical abuse and even suicide—are heartbreaking. "If you are infertile in some cultures, you are less than a dog," says Willem Ombelet of the Genk Institute for Fertility Technology in Belgium. Women are often uneducated, so their only identity comes from being moms. "It [infertility] is an issue of profound human suffering, particularly for women," says Marcia Inhorn, professor of anthropology and international affairs at Yale University. "It's a human-rights issue."
The stigma that infertile women face can infiltrate every aspect of life. They may not even be invited to weddings or other important gatherings. "People see them as having a "bad eye" that will make you infertile, too. Infertile women are considered inauspicious," says Inhorn. Other people simply "don't want to have them around at joyous occasions," says Frank van Balen, coauthor (with Inhorn) of "Infertility Around the Globe" and a professor in the department of social and behavioral sciences at the University of Amsterdam. Their reasoning: "they could spoil it," he says.
Often the female takes the blame even when the problem lies with the man, says Inhorn. The women often keep their husband's secret and bear the insults. In Chad, a proverb says, "A woman without children is like a tree without leaves." If a woman doesn't bear children, their husbands may leave them or take new wives with society's blessing. In some Muslim places, women can't go on the street on their own. "If they have a child with them, they can do their errands," says van Balen.
Childlessness can also be an enormous economic problem in developing countries where Social Security, pensions and retirement-savings plans are not the norm. "If you don't have your children, no one looks after you," says Guido Pennings, professor of philosophy and moral science at Belgium's Ghent University. Religion shapes attitudes, too. "People are supposed to go out and populate the earth," says Ian Cooke, director of education for the International Federation of Fertility Societies and cofounder of the Low-Cost IVF Foundation. In the Hindu religion, a woman without a child, particularly a son, can't go to heaven. Sons perform death rituals. Infertile couples worry that without a child, who will mourn for them and bury them? In China and Vietnam, the traditional belief is that the souls of childless people can't easily rest. In India, the eldest son traditionally lights the funeral pyre. In Muslim cultures, the stigma follows childless women even after death: women without children aren't always allowed to be buried in graveyards or sacred grounds.
In Western countries, it has become much more socially acceptable to be childless, and more American women are hitting their 40s without kids, according to the latest census data. By contrast, in many developing countries, women have no careers—just motherhood—to give them their identity. "The notion of child-free living is not considered an acceptable thing for a married couple," says Inhorn. And particularly in Muslim and Hindu areas, she says, adoption "is not an immediate second path."
Legal adoption is "bureaucratically onerous" and often not socially acceptable, says Elizabeth Roberts, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan, who studied the people of Ecuador. So it's not surprising that even extremely poor people may go into debt trying to conceive. "A family is only a family if there are children, basically," says Roberts. "The biggest stumbling block is money."
Many couples may waste valuable years resorting to "black magic," says Aravinda Guntupalli, a professor at the University of Tübingen in Germany who studied infertility in India. The couples ask so-called sacred people what days they should fast, and they journey to spiritual places. In the tribal area of India where Guntupalli worked, women dry up umbilical cords and sneak them into infertile women's food to try to help them. "They think it creates some fertility juice in the body," she says.
Not surprisingly, infertility treatments are rarely covered by insurance or by government aid. "How do you provide what is clearly a highly technological, sophisticated procedure in a place that doesn't have a lot of money?" says Adamson, a member of the not-for-profit International Committee Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies, a technical adviser to the World Health Organization. Leaders of countries struggling with dirty drinking water, tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS may find IVF expenditures hard to justify.
Infertile couples in developing countries don't publicize the fact that they need help even if they can afford treatment. Children are seen as a gift of the gods, so failure to conceive may be perceived as an indication that someone has sinned or is unworthy. "People aren't willing to go up on [the equivalent of] Oprah Winfrey and say, 'Yes, I'm infertile, and I'm getting treatment'," says Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, an Ob-Gyn who runs the Malpani Infertility Clinic in Mumbai with his wife. "People have actually traveled [for treatment], telling people they're going on holiday," says Inhorn.
Even for couples who do have access to fertility clinics, there are challenges. For example, some cultures consider masturbation evil. Yet it's traditionally the way doctors get semen samples to check a man's sperm count and then to perform IVF. In some cases, doctors can offer condoms that allow a couple to have intercourse and save the sperm. Another cultural hurdle: the Muslim world does not accept egg or sperm donation. "Each child should have a known father and a known mother," explains Inhorn. "Every child must know his own heritage." Adds Adamson: "It's very important to honor and respect the fact that people have these values."
One important approach is to focus on preventing, rather than curing, infertility. A major cause of infertility is untreated reproductive tract infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhea. In places like Africa, the cost of condoms, and taboos against them, contribute to the STD problem. Infection from female genital mutilation adds to the problem. And in some countries, 90 percent of women do not deliver in hospitals, which can also cause complications. And the hospitals they use for birth or abortions aren't always sanitary. Some doctors also believe sperm quality has suffered from toxins like lead, high in Mexico City and Cairo, and dioxin sprayed on crops.
In the developed world, there's sometimes little sympathy for the problem, since the common view is that developing countries are suffering from overpopulation and don't need any more babies. The United Nations projects that the world population will balloon from its current 6.7 billion to 9.1 billion by 2050. But the picture is more complicated than it seems. "We have a fertility paradox in Africa—high fertility rates, and high infertility rates," says Dr. Silke Dyer, an Ob-Gyn in Cape Town and a member of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology task force on developing countries and infertility. (Infertility treatment proponents note that IVF doesn't contribute to overpopulation any more than saving lives with vaccinations does. And both alleviate suffering.)
The good news is that interest in treating infertility around the globe is growing. In 2004, the World Health Organization said people should have access to high-quality services for family planning, including infertility services. Doctors hope to provide $200 to $500 IVF cycles, with cheaper drugs and simplified laboratories, by the end of the year in places like Cape Town and Cairo. Their goal: more happy birth stories, like Wala's.
Find this article at
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158625
© 2008
Modern Maternity
PREGNANCY
Modern Maternity
More women are having kids after 40, but whether they did it with medical help or not, the road to motherhood can be rough.
By Joan Raymond | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Sep 15, 2008 | Updated: 10:20 a.m. ET Sep 14, 2008
Jennie Villa wanted to have it all. A great education and career. Financial security. A loving husband. And kids. For Villa, the dream came true, albeit a little later than she would have liked. At age 37, she met that man of her dreams. Three years later they got married. This past August, at age 41, Villa, of Cleveland, gave birth to fraternal twins: a son, Quinn, and daughter Kendall. Her life, she says, is "pretty perfect." And when it comes to her kids, she is over the moon. "I think they're a miracle," says Villa, who got pregnant the old-fashioned way, without the use of assisted reproductive technologies.
Any woman who has had a child after age 40 can understand Villa's hyperbole. That's because, statistically speaking, the chances of having a successful pregnancy at what doctors call an "advanced maternal age" are fairly dismal. By about age 40, a woman's chance of getting pregnant naturally is only about 5 percent in any given month (down from about 20 percent at age 30). The use of assisted reproductive technologies ups the odds—but not as much as it could if a woman were younger. By age 45, a woman's chance of getting pregnant with her own eggs is virtually zero.
Still, some women are defying those odds. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of mothers giving birth at age 40 or older has doubled in the last several decades, partly due to medical assists like in vitro fertilization or the use of donor eggs.
The reasons women become first-time moms or add to the brood later in life are as varied as the women themselves. There are career goals to meet. And bank accounts to grow. Some women waited for marriage. Some never married at all. There are second marriages. And even surprise births.
For those who wait, getting pregnant is a roll of the dice even with the help of science. "Not every egg over age 40 is created the same," says Dr. Karen Ashby, assistant professor of reproductive biology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "Some healthy women will get pregnant without a problem, other women simply won't."
It's clear that even as medical interventions are helping more older women get pregnant, science can't keep up with the increase in the number of women who delay childbearing and then find themselves battling the clock. For every high-profile midlife mom like actress Marcia Cross or Nicole Kidman, there are lots of women who can't get pregnant. The total number of women age 40 to 44 who don't have kids at all is about 20 percent—double what it was 30 years ago, according to a census report released in August.
There's no breakdown of how many of the childless women in that age group chose not to have kids and how many didn't have them because of fertility issues or other circumstances. But choice seems to be the operative word when it comes to how women feel about the lack of children. Women without children who believed it was better to have a child were more likely to report being lonely and depressed in their later years than women who said it didn't make a difference, says Tanya Koropeckyj-Cox, associate professor of sociology at the University of Florida, author of a 2003 study that analyzed data from a survey of more than 3,800 men and women about relationships and family life.
Those women who do get pregnant after 40 may face a laundry list of age-related medical issues. "When you're older you tend to acquire diseases" such as high blood pressure and diabetes, both of which can affect pregnancies, says Dr. Alan Peaceman, chief of the division of maternal fetal medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and professor of obstetrics-gynecology at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine.
And simply being older and pregnant carries a much greater risk of miscarriage. Babies of older moms aren't immune to problems, either. They may be born too small or have underdeveloped lungs. And there is the risk for Down syndrome, which increases with maternal age, a problem that was in the spotlight recently when 44-year-old Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose 5-month-old son Trig has the disorder, became the Republican nominee for vice president.
But "assuming they can get out of the first trimester without a miscarriage, most women can do fine," says Peaceman, who stresses that if women want to get pregnant later in life, it's important to protect fertility. That means quitting smoking, staying at a normal weight and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases.
The problems with later-in-life pregnancies are all too familiar to Terry Runyon, a 41-year-old banking executive from Chicago. Diagnosed with unexplained infertility in her mid-30s, Runyon underwent a series of assisted reproductive treatments. She got pregnant, but miscarried. Then she got pregnant again, and 17 weeks into the pregnancy, she lost one of the twins she was carrying. The surviving twin, Brandon, now 3, is healthy, happy and "completely the love of our lives," says Runyon.
And earlier this year, Runyon got a surprise. She's pregnant and due this October. "Everyone said I was infertile—and then I get pregnant just by having sex with my husband," she says. "I'm astounded."
She admits that the fears of the pregnancy problems like those she experienced in the past made her first trimester difficult. "I know what can go wrong, and I was petrified," she says. "But at the end of the day, I can only change certain things. I can't change the fact that I'm older, but I can take the best care of myself as possible."
That's what Sandy Robertson did. When she was in her late 30s, Robertson, a part-time teacher, went through numerous medical treatments, including fertility drugs, insemination and in vitro fertilization. She did get pregnant with IVF, but miscarried due to an ectopic pregnancy that resulted in the loss of one of her fallopian tubes. Robertson quit using medical assists. Her doctors told her she would probably never get pregnant again.
She refused to accept what they said. She started taking better care of herself by improving her diet and reducing stress with meditation and visualization. Despite the odds, she did get pregnant several times in her early 40s. But the pregnancies ended in miscarriage. At age 44, Robertson got pregnant again. This time she carried to term, and she is now the proud mom of 5-year-old Patricia.
But the pregnancy wasn't easy. "Every doctor I saw put me through every test possible," she says. "But all the doctors could find was that I was a 44-year-old woman with one fallopian tube who just happened to be healthy and pregnant."
With celebrity magazines chock full of photos of famous over-40 moms, it's easy to forget that women like Robertson are the exception, not the rule. Reproduction has its own timetable, doctors caution. "It's not our place to tell women forget your education and career and go have babies," says Dr. Tommaso Falcone, professor and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology at the Cleveland Clinic. "But it's irresponsible to not share information. And it's clear that it's harder to have a child at 40. No one should get pregnant until they are ready to be pregnant, but women need to make reproductive decisions based on facts."
Those facts can't take the glow off successful late-in-life moms. "I said numerous times that I should have had kids earlier," says Villa, who was monitored closely during her pregnancy and was on bedrest for several weeks due to complications. "It can be a rough ride when you're older. I am probably in the worst shape of my life. But I'm also the happiest. I was ready to be a mom." Which is the best reason to get pregnant—regardless of age.
Find this article at
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158410
© 2008
Modern Maternity
More women are having kids after 40, but whether they did it with medical help or not, the road to motherhood can be rough.
By Joan Raymond | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Sep 15, 2008 | Updated: 10:20 a.m. ET Sep 14, 2008
Jennie Villa wanted to have it all. A great education and career. Financial security. A loving husband. And kids. For Villa, the dream came true, albeit a little later than she would have liked. At age 37, she met that man of her dreams. Three years later they got married. This past August, at age 41, Villa, of Cleveland, gave birth to fraternal twins: a son, Quinn, and daughter Kendall. Her life, she says, is "pretty perfect." And when it comes to her kids, she is over the moon. "I think they're a miracle," says Villa, who got pregnant the old-fashioned way, without the use of assisted reproductive technologies.
Any woman who has had a child after age 40 can understand Villa's hyperbole. That's because, statistically speaking, the chances of having a successful pregnancy at what doctors call an "advanced maternal age" are fairly dismal. By about age 40, a woman's chance of getting pregnant naturally is only about 5 percent in any given month (down from about 20 percent at age 30). The use of assisted reproductive technologies ups the odds—but not as much as it could if a woman were younger. By age 45, a woman's chance of getting pregnant with her own eggs is virtually zero.
Still, some women are defying those odds. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of mothers giving birth at age 40 or older has doubled in the last several decades, partly due to medical assists like in vitro fertilization or the use of donor eggs.
The reasons women become first-time moms or add to the brood later in life are as varied as the women themselves. There are career goals to meet. And bank accounts to grow. Some women waited for marriage. Some never married at all. There are second marriages. And even surprise births.
For those who wait, getting pregnant is a roll of the dice even with the help of science. "Not every egg over age 40 is created the same," says Dr. Karen Ashby, assistant professor of reproductive biology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "Some healthy women will get pregnant without a problem, other women simply won't."
It's clear that even as medical interventions are helping more older women get pregnant, science can't keep up with the increase in the number of women who delay childbearing and then find themselves battling the clock. For every high-profile midlife mom like actress Marcia Cross or Nicole Kidman, there are lots of women who can't get pregnant. The total number of women age 40 to 44 who don't have kids at all is about 20 percent—double what it was 30 years ago, according to a census report released in August.
There's no breakdown of how many of the childless women in that age group chose not to have kids and how many didn't have them because of fertility issues or other circumstances. But choice seems to be the operative word when it comes to how women feel about the lack of children. Women without children who believed it was better to have a child were more likely to report being lonely and depressed in their later years than women who said it didn't make a difference, says Tanya Koropeckyj-Cox, associate professor of sociology at the University of Florida, author of a 2003 study that analyzed data from a survey of more than 3,800 men and women about relationships and family life.
Those women who do get pregnant after 40 may face a laundry list of age-related medical issues. "When you're older you tend to acquire diseases" such as high blood pressure and diabetes, both of which can affect pregnancies, says Dr. Alan Peaceman, chief of the division of maternal fetal medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and professor of obstetrics-gynecology at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine.
And simply being older and pregnant carries a much greater risk of miscarriage. Babies of older moms aren't immune to problems, either. They may be born too small or have underdeveloped lungs. And there is the risk for Down syndrome, which increases with maternal age, a problem that was in the spotlight recently when 44-year-old Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose 5-month-old son Trig has the disorder, became the Republican nominee for vice president.
But "assuming they can get out of the first trimester without a miscarriage, most women can do fine," says Peaceman, who stresses that if women want to get pregnant later in life, it's important to protect fertility. That means quitting smoking, staying at a normal weight and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases.
The problems with later-in-life pregnancies are all too familiar to Terry Runyon, a 41-year-old banking executive from Chicago. Diagnosed with unexplained infertility in her mid-30s, Runyon underwent a series of assisted reproductive treatments. She got pregnant, but miscarried. Then she got pregnant again, and 17 weeks into the pregnancy, she lost one of the twins she was carrying. The surviving twin, Brandon, now 3, is healthy, happy and "completely the love of our lives," says Runyon.
And earlier this year, Runyon got a surprise. She's pregnant and due this October. "Everyone said I was infertile—and then I get pregnant just by having sex with my husband," she says. "I'm astounded."
She admits that the fears of the pregnancy problems like those she experienced in the past made her first trimester difficult. "I know what can go wrong, and I was petrified," she says. "But at the end of the day, I can only change certain things. I can't change the fact that I'm older, but I can take the best care of myself as possible."
That's what Sandy Robertson did. When she was in her late 30s, Robertson, a part-time teacher, went through numerous medical treatments, including fertility drugs, insemination and in vitro fertilization. She did get pregnant with IVF, but miscarried due to an ectopic pregnancy that resulted in the loss of one of her fallopian tubes. Robertson quit using medical assists. Her doctors told her she would probably never get pregnant again.
She refused to accept what they said. She started taking better care of herself by improving her diet and reducing stress with meditation and visualization. Despite the odds, she did get pregnant several times in her early 40s. But the pregnancies ended in miscarriage. At age 44, Robertson got pregnant again. This time she carried to term, and she is now the proud mom of 5-year-old Patricia.
But the pregnancy wasn't easy. "Every doctor I saw put me through every test possible," she says. "But all the doctors could find was that I was a 44-year-old woman with one fallopian tube who just happened to be healthy and pregnant."
With celebrity magazines chock full of photos of famous over-40 moms, it's easy to forget that women like Robertson are the exception, not the rule. Reproduction has its own timetable, doctors caution. "It's not our place to tell women forget your education and career and go have babies," says Dr. Tommaso Falcone, professor and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology at the Cleveland Clinic. "But it's irresponsible to not share information. And it's clear that it's harder to have a child at 40. No one should get pregnant until they are ready to be pregnant, but women need to make reproductive decisions based on facts."
Those facts can't take the glow off successful late-in-life moms. "I said numerous times that I should have had kids earlier," says Villa, who was monitored closely during her pregnancy and was on bedrest for several weeks due to complications. "It can be a rough ride when you're older. I am probably in the worst shape of my life. But I'm also the happiest. I was ready to be a mom." Which is the best reason to get pregnant—regardless of age.
Find this article at
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158410
© 2008
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Should dads be in the delivery room?
By Clare Murphy
Health reporter, BBC News
It was once imparted to the father over the phone, yet now it's men themselves who often tell their exhausted partner the sex of the child she has just delivered. But could men be more of a hindrance than a help in the delivery room?
French obstetrician Michel Odent says yes, and even blames fathers for an increasing rate of births by Caesarean section.
At a debate hosted this week by the Royal College of Midwives, Mr Odent will argue against what he dubs "the masculinisation of the birth environment".
The presence of an anxious male partner in the labour room makes the woman tense and slows her production of the hormone oxytocin, which aids the process of labour, so the French doctor contends.
This, he says, makes her much more likely to end up on the operating table having an emergency Caesarean section.
"Having been involved for more than 50 years in childbirths in homes and hospitals in France, England and Africa, the best environment I know for an easy birth is when there is nobody around the woman in labour apart from a silent, low-profile and experienced midwife," he says.
"Oxytocin is the love drug which helps the woman give birth and bond with her baby. But it is also a shy hormone and it does not come out when she is surrounded by people and technology. This is what we need to start understanding."
He will be debated by Duncan Fisher, a leading advocate for fathers, who, while pressing for more preparation for fathers, argues they are there because women want them to be - "and we should trust mothers' instincts".
Here we come
Certainly men's appearance on the labour ward does co-incide with a rising number of caesarean births - although ironically their arrival was in part a backlash against doctor-led, highly-medicalised care in favour of a more woman-centred approach.
In the 1960s only about a quarter of men in the UK attended the birth of an infant, today it is well over 90%.
“ There are many reasons why the number of emergency Caesarean sections has risen ...none of which have anything to do with the presence of dads ”
Patrick O'Brien Consultant obstetrician
It is seen as an important rite of passage for any involved father, as well as a marker of social progress - the less developed a country, the more likely childbirth is to be seen as a woman's business best conducted behind closed doors.
"But I think the other issue is the lack of one-to-one care of women by midwives," says Winnie Rushby of Doula UK, an organisation which provides birthing support from experienced, but non-medically trained women. "Fathers have been called on to provide that help.
"Some of them are very attuned to the emotional and psychological needs of their partner. But if they are shocked by bodily fluids and very agitated by the pain they see her in, this could play on her mind and stop her psychologically entering the place she needs to be to deliver the baby - the birthing 'zone', if you like.
"We've gone from men not being there to virtually all men being there. We need to find a new medium, where there is no shame in discussing whether the father should be there or not. Women need to start asking if they really do want him there - and if so, is he prepared for what will go on."
Staying home
In fact, the greatest advocate of putting men in the mix was US doctor Robert Bradley, who in 1962 published Father's Presence in Delivery Rooms. This was a review of 4,000 cases when husbands were present.
“ Some partners will not feel comfortable themselves in providing physical and emotional support during labour ”
Elizabeth Duff National Childbirth Trust
He concluded, quite contrary to Dr Odent, that the husband's presence as a so-called "birth coach" actually helped the woman to relax. "With husbands coaching, we have more than 90% totally unmedicated births. No other approach comes near to that figure," he wrote.
Iran only recently allowed fathers into the delivery room after the health ministry in Tehran asked doctors to reduce the number of Caesarean births.
At 70% it has been among the highest in the world, and has been explained largely by women's fear of childbirth. Bringing in the men, it was hoped, would provide women with the reassurance they needed to deliver their baby without surgery.
Whether some men do in fact aid or irk in the delivery room is likely to remain a staple - and unresolved - debate, as any clinical trial would be almost impossible to conduct.
"But what we do know is that there are many reasons why the number of emergency caesarean sections has risen - including obesity, older mothers, and fear of litigation - none of which have anything to do with the presence of dads," says Patrick O'Brien, a consultant from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
"Having a baby together is an intense, life-changing experience that most couples want to experience together. The father can be an immensely reassuring presence for the mother.
"And as for the suggestion that men won't cope with the so-called gore - well, most of his role can be carried out at the head-end, talking, mopping her brow, offering sips of water. Of course a man shouldn't feel forced to be there, but I have yet to meet one who said after the birth of his baby - 'I wish I'd stayed at home'."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8377099.stm
Published: 2009/11/25 11:59:42 GMT
© BBC MMIX
Print Sponsor
Advertisement
Health reporter, BBC News
It was once imparted to the father over the phone, yet now it's men themselves who often tell their exhausted partner the sex of the child she has just delivered. But could men be more of a hindrance than a help in the delivery room?
French obstetrician Michel Odent says yes, and even blames fathers for an increasing rate of births by Caesarean section.
At a debate hosted this week by the Royal College of Midwives, Mr Odent will argue against what he dubs "the masculinisation of the birth environment".
The presence of an anxious male partner in the labour room makes the woman tense and slows her production of the hormone oxytocin, which aids the process of labour, so the French doctor contends.
This, he says, makes her much more likely to end up on the operating table having an emergency Caesarean section.
"Having been involved for more than 50 years in childbirths in homes and hospitals in France, England and Africa, the best environment I know for an easy birth is when there is nobody around the woman in labour apart from a silent, low-profile and experienced midwife," he says.
"Oxytocin is the love drug which helps the woman give birth and bond with her baby. But it is also a shy hormone and it does not come out when she is surrounded by people and technology. This is what we need to start understanding."
He will be debated by Duncan Fisher, a leading advocate for fathers, who, while pressing for more preparation for fathers, argues they are there because women want them to be - "and we should trust mothers' instincts".
Here we come
Certainly men's appearance on the labour ward does co-incide with a rising number of caesarean births - although ironically their arrival was in part a backlash against doctor-led, highly-medicalised care in favour of a more woman-centred approach.
In the 1960s only about a quarter of men in the UK attended the birth of an infant, today it is well over 90%.
“ There are many reasons why the number of emergency Caesarean sections has risen ...none of which have anything to do with the presence of dads ”
Patrick O'Brien Consultant obstetrician
It is seen as an important rite of passage for any involved father, as well as a marker of social progress - the less developed a country, the more likely childbirth is to be seen as a woman's business best conducted behind closed doors.
"But I think the other issue is the lack of one-to-one care of women by midwives," says Winnie Rushby of Doula UK, an organisation which provides birthing support from experienced, but non-medically trained women. "Fathers have been called on to provide that help.
"Some of them are very attuned to the emotional and psychological needs of their partner. But if they are shocked by bodily fluids and very agitated by the pain they see her in, this could play on her mind and stop her psychologically entering the place she needs to be to deliver the baby - the birthing 'zone', if you like.
"We've gone from men not being there to virtually all men being there. We need to find a new medium, where there is no shame in discussing whether the father should be there or not. Women need to start asking if they really do want him there - and if so, is he prepared for what will go on."
Staying home
In fact, the greatest advocate of putting men in the mix was US doctor Robert Bradley, who in 1962 published Father's Presence in Delivery Rooms. This was a review of 4,000 cases when husbands were present.
“ Some partners will not feel comfortable themselves in providing physical and emotional support during labour ”
Elizabeth Duff National Childbirth Trust
He concluded, quite contrary to Dr Odent, that the husband's presence as a so-called "birth coach" actually helped the woman to relax. "With husbands coaching, we have more than 90% totally unmedicated births. No other approach comes near to that figure," he wrote.
Iran only recently allowed fathers into the delivery room after the health ministry in Tehran asked doctors to reduce the number of Caesarean births.
At 70% it has been among the highest in the world, and has been explained largely by women's fear of childbirth. Bringing in the men, it was hoped, would provide women with the reassurance they needed to deliver their baby without surgery.
Whether some men do in fact aid or irk in the delivery room is likely to remain a staple - and unresolved - debate, as any clinical trial would be almost impossible to conduct.
"But what we do know is that there are many reasons why the number of emergency caesarean sections has risen - including obesity, older mothers, and fear of litigation - none of which have anything to do with the presence of dads," says Patrick O'Brien, a consultant from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
"Having a baby together is an intense, life-changing experience that most couples want to experience together. The father can be an immensely reassuring presence for the mother.
"And as for the suggestion that men won't cope with the so-called gore - well, most of his role can be carried out at the head-end, talking, mopping her brow, offering sips of water. Of course a man shouldn't feel forced to be there, but I have yet to meet one who said after the birth of his baby - 'I wish I'd stayed at home'."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8377099.stm
Published: 2009/11/25 11:59:42 GMT
© BBC MMIX
Print Sponsor
Advertisement
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
ኢትዮጵያ የዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ሀገር
Sunday, 08 November 2009
በሔኖክ ያሬድኢትዮጵያ፣ ሥነ ጽሑፋዊ ቅርሶቻቸውን በዐረብኛ ፊደላት እየጻፉ ያስተላለፉ 11 ቋንቋዎች ያሏትና በዚህም፣ በአፍሪካ በተጠቃሚ ቋንቋዎች ብዛት የመጀመሪያውን ደረጃ መያዟ አንድ ጥናት አመለከተ፡፡
ጥቅምት 26 ቀን 2002 ዓ.ም. በተጠናቀቀው 17ኛው የኢትዮጵያ ጥናት ዓለም አቀፍ ጉባኤ በሦስተኛው ቀን ውሎው፣ “ኢትዮጵያ አንጋፋዋ የአፍሪካ የዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ሀገር” በሚል ርእስ ጥናት ያቀረቡት፣ አቶ ሙሐመድ ሰዒድ አብደላ እንዳመለከቱት፣ ሀገር በቀል በሆኑት የኢስላም ሃይማኖት ተቋማት የተማሩና ከፍተኛ የዕውቀት ደረጃ ላይ የደረሱ ኢትዮጵያውያን፣ አንዳንዶቹ በዐረብኛ ቋንቋ፣ ከፊሎቹ ደግሞ በአማርኛና በሌሎች የሀገሪቱ ቋንቋዎች የዐረብኛ ፊደሎችን በመጠቀም ድርሳኖችን እየጻፉ፣ ሥነ ጽሑፋዊ ቅርሳቸውን ከትውልድ ወደ ትውልድ ሲያስተላልፉ ኑረዋል፡፡ ዐረብኛ ያልሆኑና በዐረብኛ ፊደላት ሲጻፉ የቆዩ ቋንቋዎች፣ ያፈሯቸው የጽሑፍ ቅርሶች፣ ዐጀሚ ተብለው እንደሚጠሩ የጠቀሱት አቶ ሙሐመድ፣ የአጻጻፍ ስልቱ የአፍሪካና የእስያ ሕዝቦች፣ ቋንቋቸውን በዐረብኛ ፊደል በመጠቀም የታሪካቸው፣ የባህላቸውና የሥነ ጽሑፋቸው መግለጫ መሣሪያ በመሆን አገልግሏል፡፡ በኢትዮጵያ የዐጀሚ ጽሑፍ ታሪካዊ መነሻን የሚገልጽ መረጃ ለጊዜው ባይገኝም፣ በእጅ የሚገኙት መዛግብት ከ18ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን ጀምሮ የተጻፉ መሆናቸው አጥኚው አመልክተዋል፡፡ በሀገሪቱ፣ በዐጀሚ የጽሑፍ ቅርስ በብዛት የተገኙት፣ በሴሜቲክና በኩሽቲክ ቋንቋዎች የተጻፉና ይዘታቸውም በአብዛኛው በሃይማኖታዊና መንፈሳዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ ያተኮሩ ናቸው፡፡ በአቶ ሙሐመድ ማብራሪያ፣ እስከ አሁን ድረስ በኅብረተሰቡ ውስጥ በብዛት የሚታወቀውና በተለያዩ ቋንቋዎች ለሕዝብ የሚደርሰው መንዙማ፣ ሥነ ጽሑፋዊ ይዘቱ በዐረብኛ ፊደል የተጻፈና በከፊልም ቢሆን በአማርኛና በሌሎች ሀገርኛ ቋንቋዎች የተደረሰ ነው፡፡ ብዙዎቹ የመንዙማ ጽሑፎች በኢትዮጵያውያን የእስልምና ሃይማኖት ሊቃውንት የተደረሱት ከምእት ዓመታት በፊት ነበር፡፡ አጥኚው ባቀረቧቸው የሰነድ መረጃዎች፣ በዐጀሚ ከተጻፉት የሴሜቲክ ቋንቋዎች አማርኛና ትግርኛ፣ ሐደርኛና አርጎብኛ፣ ስልጥኛና ወለንኛ፣ ከኩሽቲክ ቋንቋዎች ደግሞ አፋን ኦሮሞ፣ አፋርኛና አላባ፣ ቀቤንኛና ሶማልኛ ይገኙባቸዋል፡፡ የዐጀሚ ጽሑፍ የተጻፈባቸው አስራ አንድ ሀገር በቀል ቋንቋዎች መገኘታቸው ያመለከቱት አቶ ሙሐመድ፣ የሥነ ጽሑፉ ቅርስ ከሃይማኖታዊና መንፈሳዊ ጉዳዮች ጎን የተለያዩ ማኅበራዊ ጉዳዮችን፣ የንግድ ግንኙነትን፣ የጋብቻ ሥርዓትን፣ የሕዝብ አስተዳደርን፣ የንብረት ዝውውርንና የመሬት ይዞታን ወዘተ. በብዛት እንደሚዳስስ አስረድተዋል፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ የዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ፣ ለረዥም ዘመናት አትኩሮት ሳያገኝ በመቅረቱ፣ ትውልዱም ስለሁኔታው ያለው ዕውቀት ውስን ቢሆንም፣ ያላት ቅርስ ከአፍሪካ ሀገሮች ቀደምት ቦታ የሚያሰጣት መሆኑን ከአፍሪካ ሀገሮች ቅርስ ጋር በማነፃፀርም አብራርተውታል፡፡ በሰሜን አፍሪካ የሚኖሩ ዐረብኛ ተናገሪ ሀገሮች፣ እስካሁን ድረስ የቅድመ ዐረብኛ የጽሑፍ ቅርስ በብዛት ስለመኖሩ የሚታወቅ ነገር የለም፡፡ በምዕራብ አፍሪካ ያለውን ሁኔታም ወደ አስር የሚሆኑ ቋንቋዎች በቡርኪናፋሶ፣ በጋምቢያና በጊኒ፣ በሴኔጋልና በማሊ፣ በኒጀርና ናይጄሪያ የሚነገሩ በዐጀሚ የተጻፉ መኖራቸው መረጃዎች ያሳያሉ፡፡ እስልምና ከነቢዩ ዘመን ጀምሮ በኢትዮጵያ የሚገኝ መሆኑ፣ ሃይማኖቱን የተቀበሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከሰሜን አፍሪካ ሕዝቦች በተለየ ሁኔታ ከቅድመ እስልምና ዘመን ጀምሮ ይዘዋቸው የቆዩትን ቋንቋዎች እስከ አሁን እንደያዙ ቀጥለዋል፡፡ ሃይማኖቱን ለመማርና ለማስተማር በስፋት የተገለገሉት ሀገር በቀል በሆኑት ቋንቋዎች ሲሆን፣ ለመጻፍም በዐረብኛ ፊደል ሲጠቀሙ ኖረዋል፡፡ ከቋንቋ ስርጭት አኳያም፣ ኢትዮጵያ ከስዋሂሊኛ በስተቀር በአፍሪካ ቀንድ የሚነገሩት ቋንቋዎች የሚነገሩባት በመሆኗ፣ አሁን ባለው መረጃም በሀገር በቀል ቋንቋዎች በዐጀሚ ተጽፈው መገኘታቸው ከአፍሪካ ጎልታ እንድትታይ አድርጓታል፡፡ በአቶ ሙሐመድ አገላለጽ፣ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ዐረብኛ ተናጋሪ ከሆኑት የግብፅ የሃይማኖቱ ተከታዮችና ተቋሞቻቸው ጋር በነበራት ታሪካዊ ግንኙነት ጥንታዊ የክርስትና ሃይማኖት የጽሑፍ ቅርሶች ከዐረብኛ ወደ ግእዝ፣ አማርኛና ትግርኛ እየተተረጎሙ፣ ለሕዝብ አገልግሎት የመድረሳቸው ድምር ውጤት፣ ዛሬ በኩራት የምንጠቅሰውን ሰፊና ጥንታዊ የኢትዮጵያ ዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ ለማፍራት አብቅቷል፡፡ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ከአፍሪካ አንጋፋዋ ዘርፈ ብዙ የዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ ባለቤት በመሆኗ፣ ከመቶዎች ዓመታት በፊት የነበረውን የሕዝቦቿን ማኅበራዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ፣ ባህላዊና ታሪካዊ ጉዳዮችን ለማጥናት ጽሑፉ እንደ መጀመሪያ ምንጭ ሊሆን ስለሚችል፣ የሀገሪቱ ትምህርትና የምርምር ተቋማት የሚገባውን ግምትና አትኩሮት እንዲሰጡበት አጥኚው ማሳሰቢያ ሰጥተዋል፡፡ “የኢትዮጵያ የዐጀሚ የጽሑፍ ቅርስን በምርምር እና በጥናት ታሪካዊ ዋጋው ግምት አግኝቶ ለማኅበረሰቡ ጥቅም የሚውልበት ሁኔታ ለማመልከት በኅብረተሰቡ ተጠብቆ የቆየውን ሀገር በቀል የሃይማኖትና የሥነ ምግባር የባህልና የሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ በሚገባ ለማወቅ ይረዳል፡፡” የዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ በተለይ የኅብረተሰቡን ባህላዊ ታሪክ ለሚያጠኑ ተመራማሪዎች ጥሩ መረጃ ሊሆን እንደሚችልም ተጠቁሟል፡፡
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Sunday, 08 November 2009
በሔኖክ ያሬድኢትዮጵያ፣ ሥነ ጽሑፋዊ ቅርሶቻቸውን በዐረብኛ ፊደላት እየጻፉ ያስተላለፉ 11 ቋንቋዎች ያሏትና በዚህም፣ በአፍሪካ በተጠቃሚ ቋንቋዎች ብዛት የመጀመሪያውን ደረጃ መያዟ አንድ ጥናት አመለከተ፡፡
ጥቅምት 26 ቀን 2002 ዓ.ም. በተጠናቀቀው 17ኛው የኢትዮጵያ ጥናት ዓለም አቀፍ ጉባኤ በሦስተኛው ቀን ውሎው፣ “ኢትዮጵያ አንጋፋዋ የአፍሪካ የዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ሀገር” በሚል ርእስ ጥናት ያቀረቡት፣ አቶ ሙሐመድ ሰዒድ አብደላ እንዳመለከቱት፣ ሀገር በቀል በሆኑት የኢስላም ሃይማኖት ተቋማት የተማሩና ከፍተኛ የዕውቀት ደረጃ ላይ የደረሱ ኢትዮጵያውያን፣ አንዳንዶቹ በዐረብኛ ቋንቋ፣ ከፊሎቹ ደግሞ በአማርኛና በሌሎች የሀገሪቱ ቋንቋዎች የዐረብኛ ፊደሎችን በመጠቀም ድርሳኖችን እየጻፉ፣ ሥነ ጽሑፋዊ ቅርሳቸውን ከትውልድ ወደ ትውልድ ሲያስተላልፉ ኑረዋል፡፡ ዐረብኛ ያልሆኑና በዐረብኛ ፊደላት ሲጻፉ የቆዩ ቋንቋዎች፣ ያፈሯቸው የጽሑፍ ቅርሶች፣ ዐጀሚ ተብለው እንደሚጠሩ የጠቀሱት አቶ ሙሐመድ፣ የአጻጻፍ ስልቱ የአፍሪካና የእስያ ሕዝቦች፣ ቋንቋቸውን በዐረብኛ ፊደል በመጠቀም የታሪካቸው፣ የባህላቸውና የሥነ ጽሑፋቸው መግለጫ መሣሪያ በመሆን አገልግሏል፡፡ በኢትዮጵያ የዐጀሚ ጽሑፍ ታሪካዊ መነሻን የሚገልጽ መረጃ ለጊዜው ባይገኝም፣ በእጅ የሚገኙት መዛግብት ከ18ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን ጀምሮ የተጻፉ መሆናቸው አጥኚው አመልክተዋል፡፡ በሀገሪቱ፣ በዐጀሚ የጽሑፍ ቅርስ በብዛት የተገኙት፣ በሴሜቲክና በኩሽቲክ ቋንቋዎች የተጻፉና ይዘታቸውም በአብዛኛው በሃይማኖታዊና መንፈሳዊ ጉዳዮች ላይ ያተኮሩ ናቸው፡፡ በአቶ ሙሐመድ ማብራሪያ፣ እስከ አሁን ድረስ በኅብረተሰቡ ውስጥ በብዛት የሚታወቀውና በተለያዩ ቋንቋዎች ለሕዝብ የሚደርሰው መንዙማ፣ ሥነ ጽሑፋዊ ይዘቱ በዐረብኛ ፊደል የተጻፈና በከፊልም ቢሆን በአማርኛና በሌሎች ሀገርኛ ቋንቋዎች የተደረሰ ነው፡፡ ብዙዎቹ የመንዙማ ጽሑፎች በኢትዮጵያውያን የእስልምና ሃይማኖት ሊቃውንት የተደረሱት ከምእት ዓመታት በፊት ነበር፡፡ አጥኚው ባቀረቧቸው የሰነድ መረጃዎች፣ በዐጀሚ ከተጻፉት የሴሜቲክ ቋንቋዎች አማርኛና ትግርኛ፣ ሐደርኛና አርጎብኛ፣ ስልጥኛና ወለንኛ፣ ከኩሽቲክ ቋንቋዎች ደግሞ አፋን ኦሮሞ፣ አፋርኛና አላባ፣ ቀቤንኛና ሶማልኛ ይገኙባቸዋል፡፡ የዐጀሚ ጽሑፍ የተጻፈባቸው አስራ አንድ ሀገር በቀል ቋንቋዎች መገኘታቸው ያመለከቱት አቶ ሙሐመድ፣ የሥነ ጽሑፉ ቅርስ ከሃይማኖታዊና መንፈሳዊ ጉዳዮች ጎን የተለያዩ ማኅበራዊ ጉዳዮችን፣ የንግድ ግንኙነትን፣ የጋብቻ ሥርዓትን፣ የሕዝብ አስተዳደርን፣ የንብረት ዝውውርንና የመሬት ይዞታን ወዘተ. በብዛት እንደሚዳስስ አስረድተዋል፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ የዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ፣ ለረዥም ዘመናት አትኩሮት ሳያገኝ በመቅረቱ፣ ትውልዱም ስለሁኔታው ያለው ዕውቀት ውስን ቢሆንም፣ ያላት ቅርስ ከአፍሪካ ሀገሮች ቀደምት ቦታ የሚያሰጣት መሆኑን ከአፍሪካ ሀገሮች ቅርስ ጋር በማነፃፀርም አብራርተውታል፡፡ በሰሜን አፍሪካ የሚኖሩ ዐረብኛ ተናገሪ ሀገሮች፣ እስካሁን ድረስ የቅድመ ዐረብኛ የጽሑፍ ቅርስ በብዛት ስለመኖሩ የሚታወቅ ነገር የለም፡፡ በምዕራብ አፍሪካ ያለውን ሁኔታም ወደ አስር የሚሆኑ ቋንቋዎች በቡርኪናፋሶ፣ በጋምቢያና በጊኒ፣ በሴኔጋልና በማሊ፣ በኒጀርና ናይጄሪያ የሚነገሩ በዐጀሚ የተጻፉ መኖራቸው መረጃዎች ያሳያሉ፡፡ እስልምና ከነቢዩ ዘመን ጀምሮ በኢትዮጵያ የሚገኝ መሆኑ፣ ሃይማኖቱን የተቀበሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከሰሜን አፍሪካ ሕዝቦች በተለየ ሁኔታ ከቅድመ እስልምና ዘመን ጀምሮ ይዘዋቸው የቆዩትን ቋንቋዎች እስከ አሁን እንደያዙ ቀጥለዋል፡፡ ሃይማኖቱን ለመማርና ለማስተማር በስፋት የተገለገሉት ሀገር በቀል በሆኑት ቋንቋዎች ሲሆን፣ ለመጻፍም በዐረብኛ ፊደል ሲጠቀሙ ኖረዋል፡፡ ከቋንቋ ስርጭት አኳያም፣ ኢትዮጵያ ከስዋሂሊኛ በስተቀር በአፍሪካ ቀንድ የሚነገሩት ቋንቋዎች የሚነገሩባት በመሆኗ፣ አሁን ባለው መረጃም በሀገር በቀል ቋንቋዎች በዐጀሚ ተጽፈው መገኘታቸው ከአፍሪካ ጎልታ እንድትታይ አድርጓታል፡፡ በአቶ ሙሐመድ አገላለጽ፣ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ዐረብኛ ተናጋሪ ከሆኑት የግብፅ የሃይማኖቱ ተከታዮችና ተቋሞቻቸው ጋር በነበራት ታሪካዊ ግንኙነት ጥንታዊ የክርስትና ሃይማኖት የጽሑፍ ቅርሶች ከዐረብኛ ወደ ግእዝ፣ አማርኛና ትግርኛ እየተተረጎሙ፣ ለሕዝብ አገልግሎት የመድረሳቸው ድምር ውጤት፣ ዛሬ በኩራት የምንጠቅሰውን ሰፊና ጥንታዊ የኢትዮጵያ ዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ ለማፍራት አብቅቷል፡፡ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ከአፍሪካ አንጋፋዋ ዘርፈ ብዙ የዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ ባለቤት በመሆኗ፣ ከመቶዎች ዓመታት በፊት የነበረውን የሕዝቦቿን ማኅበራዊና ኢኮኖሚያዊ፣ ባህላዊና ታሪካዊ ጉዳዮችን ለማጥናት ጽሑፉ እንደ መጀመሪያ ምንጭ ሊሆን ስለሚችል፣ የሀገሪቱ ትምህርትና የምርምር ተቋማት የሚገባውን ግምትና አትኩሮት እንዲሰጡበት አጥኚው ማሳሰቢያ ሰጥተዋል፡፡ “የኢትዮጵያ የዐጀሚ የጽሑፍ ቅርስን በምርምር እና በጥናት ታሪካዊ ዋጋው ግምት አግኝቶ ለማኅበረሰቡ ጥቅም የሚውልበት ሁኔታ ለማመልከት በኅብረተሰቡ ተጠብቆ የቆየውን ሀገር በቀል የሃይማኖትና የሥነ ምግባር የባህልና የሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ በሚገባ ለማወቅ ይረዳል፡፡” የዐጀሚ ሥነ ጽሑፍ ቅርስ በተለይ የኅብረተሰቡን ባህላዊ ታሪክ ለሚያጠኑ ተመራማሪዎች ጥሩ መረጃ ሊሆን እንደሚችልም ተጠቁሟል፡፡
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
'Younger wife' for marital bliss
The secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger than you, say UK experts.
These pairings are more likely to go the distance, particularly if neither has been divorced in the past, according to the Bath University team.
The findings predict a happy future for pop star Beyonce Knowles, 28, and rapper husband Jay-Z, 39.
The work is published in the European Journal of Operational Research.
The researchers studied interviews of more than 1,500 couples who were married or in a serious relationship.
Five years later, they followed up 1,000 of the couples to see which had lasted.
For better or worse
They found that if the wife was five or more years older than her husband, they were more than three times as likely to divorce than if they were the same age. HAVE YOUR SAY Not so long ago the husband had to be older than his wife in order to be able to support a family, but such criteria are not so relevant now women have been educated to be able to command good jobs, so I suggest the basis for a successful marriage should be tolerance Marion Monahan, Bristol
If the age gap is reversed, and the man is older than the woman, the odds of marital bliss are higher.
Add in a better education for the woman - Beyonce has her high school diploma, unlike husband Jay-Z - and the chances of lasting happiness improve further.
Those who have never divorced fare better too. But couples in which one member has been through a divorce in the past are less stable than those in which both members are divorcees.
Dr Emmanuel Fragniere and colleagues do say that men and women choose partners "on the basis of love, physical attraction, similarity of taste, beliefs and attitudes, and shared values."
But they say that using "objective factors" such as age, education and cultural origin "may help reduce divorce".
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8325579.stmPublished: 2009/10/26 10:09:07 GMT© BBC MMIX
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These pairings are more likely to go the distance, particularly if neither has been divorced in the past, according to the Bath University team.
The findings predict a happy future for pop star Beyonce Knowles, 28, and rapper husband Jay-Z, 39.
The work is published in the European Journal of Operational Research.
The researchers studied interviews of more than 1,500 couples who were married or in a serious relationship.
Five years later, they followed up 1,000 of the couples to see which had lasted.
For better or worse
They found that if the wife was five or more years older than her husband, they were more than three times as likely to divorce than if they were the same age. HAVE YOUR SAY Not so long ago the husband had to be older than his wife in order to be able to support a family, but such criteria are not so relevant now women have been educated to be able to command good jobs, so I suggest the basis for a successful marriage should be tolerance Marion Monahan, Bristol
If the age gap is reversed, and the man is older than the woman, the odds of marital bliss are higher.
Add in a better education for the woman - Beyonce has her high school diploma, unlike husband Jay-Z - and the chances of lasting happiness improve further.
Those who have never divorced fare better too. But couples in which one member has been through a divorce in the past are less stable than those in which both members are divorcees.
Dr Emmanuel Fragniere and colleagues do say that men and women choose partners "on the basis of love, physical attraction, similarity of taste, beliefs and attitudes, and shared values."
But they say that using "objective factors" such as age, education and cultural origin "may help reduce divorce".
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8325579.stmPublished: 2009/10/26 10:09:07 GMT© BBC MMIX
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Saturday, October 10, 2009
Egypt's sexual harassment 'cancer'
By Magdi Abdelhadi BBC News, Cairo
Sexual harassment of women in Egypt is on the increase and observing Islamic dress code is no deterrent, according to a survey published this week.
The Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR) describes the problem as a social cancer and calls on the government to introduce legislation to curb it.
The findings contradict the widely held belief in Egypt that unveiled women are more likely to suffer harassment than veiled ones.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN EGYPT
Experienced by 98% of foreign women visitors
Experienced by 83% of Egyptian women
62% of Egyptian men admitted harassing women
53% of Egyptian men blame women for 'bringing it on' Source: Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights
Participants in the survey were shown pictures of women wearing different kinds of dress - from the mini skirt to the niqab (full face veil) and asked which were more likely to be harassed.
More than 60% - including female respondents - suggested the scantily clad woman was most at risk. But in reality the study concluded the majority of the victims of harassment were modestly dressed women wearing Islamic headscarves.
ECWR head Nihad Abu El-Qoumsan said that even veiled women who were victims of harassment blamed themselves.
Western women who took part in the study demonstrated a strong belief in their entitlement to personal safety and freedom of movement, she says, but this was totally absent among Egyptian respondents.
No-one spoke about freedom of choice, freedom of movement or the right to legal protection. No-one showed any awareness that the harasser was a criminal, regardless of what clothes the victim was wearing.
Shocking attitude
The centre is campaigning for a new law that clearly defines sexual harassment as a crime and makes it easier for women to report it in Egypt - women like Noha Ostath.
The young film-maker told the BBC she was repeatedly groped in broad daylight by a van driver in a Cairo traffic jam as she walked on the pavement.
His behaviour made her so angry she ran after the van and held on to the side mirror to force the driver to stop so she could take him to a police station.
She was equally shocked by the attitude of other passers-by. Some tried to dissuade her from going to the police - others blamed her for what she was wearing (a baggy sports outfit).
In the end, after a tussle with the man that lasted for more than one hour, the strong-willed Ms Ostath dragged the man to the police station.
But even there, police officers refused to open an investigation and insisted on the presence of her father despite the fact that she is not a minor - she is 26.
Impudent allegation
After Noha's story was published in the Badeel daily, editor-in-chief Muhammad El Sayyed Said wrote that the behaviour of the crowd was characteristic of oppressed societies, where the majority identified with the oppressor.
He blamed the increase in sexual harassment on what he said were "three decades of incitement against women" from the pulpits of some of Egypt's mosques.
"This verbal incitement is based on the extremely sordid and impudent allegation that our women are not modestly dressed. This was, and still is, a flagrant lie, used to justify violence against women in the name of religion."
The British foreign office says Egypt is one of the countries with the highest number of cases reported to embassy staff regarding sexual offences against visiting women.
It warns them to be extra cautious in public places especially when alone because of the risks.
Ms Abou El-Qoumsan says Egyptians need to re-evaluate their value system and school curricula and to ensure that the rule of law prevails and prevents offenders and criminals walking free because of a breakdown of basic notions of right and wrong.
Thanks to surveys like this, one encounters an endless number of newspaper articles reflecting the feeling that Egypt is in the grip of a moral crisis.
Perhaps nothing illustrates Egypt's loss of a moral compass than the responses of some men in the ECWR study.
Some said they harassed a woman simply because they were bored. One who abused a woman wearing the niqab said she must be beautiful, or hiding something.
Sexual harassment of women in Egypt is on the increase and observing Islamic dress code is no deterrent, according to a survey published this week.
The Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR) describes the problem as a social cancer and calls on the government to introduce legislation to curb it.
The findings contradict the widely held belief in Egypt that unveiled women are more likely to suffer harassment than veiled ones.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN EGYPT
Experienced by 98% of foreign women visitors
Experienced by 83% of Egyptian women
62% of Egyptian men admitted harassing women
53% of Egyptian men blame women for 'bringing it on' Source: Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights
Participants in the survey were shown pictures of women wearing different kinds of dress - from the mini skirt to the niqab (full face veil) and asked which were more likely to be harassed.
More than 60% - including female respondents - suggested the scantily clad woman was most at risk. But in reality the study concluded the majority of the victims of harassment were modestly dressed women wearing Islamic headscarves.
ECWR head Nihad Abu El-Qoumsan said that even veiled women who were victims of harassment blamed themselves.
Western women who took part in the study demonstrated a strong belief in their entitlement to personal safety and freedom of movement, she says, but this was totally absent among Egyptian respondents.
No-one spoke about freedom of choice, freedom of movement or the right to legal protection. No-one showed any awareness that the harasser was a criminal, regardless of what clothes the victim was wearing.
Shocking attitude
The centre is campaigning for a new law that clearly defines sexual harassment as a crime and makes it easier for women to report it in Egypt - women like Noha Ostath.
The young film-maker told the BBC she was repeatedly groped in broad daylight by a van driver in a Cairo traffic jam as she walked on the pavement.
His behaviour made her so angry she ran after the van and held on to the side mirror to force the driver to stop so she could take him to a police station.
She was equally shocked by the attitude of other passers-by. Some tried to dissuade her from going to the police - others blamed her for what she was wearing (a baggy sports outfit).
In the end, after a tussle with the man that lasted for more than one hour, the strong-willed Ms Ostath dragged the man to the police station.
But even there, police officers refused to open an investigation and insisted on the presence of her father despite the fact that she is not a minor - she is 26.
Impudent allegation
After Noha's story was published in the Badeel daily, editor-in-chief Muhammad El Sayyed Said wrote that the behaviour of the crowd was characteristic of oppressed societies, where the majority identified with the oppressor.
He blamed the increase in sexual harassment on what he said were "three decades of incitement against women" from the pulpits of some of Egypt's mosques.
"This verbal incitement is based on the extremely sordid and impudent allegation that our women are not modestly dressed. This was, and still is, a flagrant lie, used to justify violence against women in the name of religion."
The British foreign office says Egypt is one of the countries with the highest number of cases reported to embassy staff regarding sexual offences against visiting women.
It warns them to be extra cautious in public places especially when alone because of the risks.
Ms Abou El-Qoumsan says Egyptians need to re-evaluate their value system and school curricula and to ensure that the rule of law prevails and prevents offenders and criminals walking free because of a breakdown of basic notions of right and wrong.
Thanks to surveys like this, one encounters an endless number of newspaper articles reflecting the feeling that Egypt is in the grip of a moral crisis.
Perhaps nothing illustrates Egypt's loss of a moral compass than the responses of some men in the ECWR study.
Some said they harassed a woman simply because they were bored. One who abused a woman wearing the niqab said she must be beautiful, or hiding something.
Gadget to help women feign virginity angers many in Egypt
Conservatives condemn the Artificial Virginity Hymen Kit as technology that will promote promiscuity. Others say the furor over the device raises disturbing questions about double standards.
By Jeffrey Fleishman and Amro Hassan
October 7, 2009
Reporting from Cairo
Whether it's seen as a clever little gadget to help a woman keep a secret or a devilish deception that threatens Islam, the Artificial Virginity Hymen Kit is not welcome in Egypt.The kit allows a bride who is not a virgin to pretend that she is. A pouch inserted into the vagina on her wedding night ruptures and leaks a blood-like liquid designed to trick a new husband into believing that his wife is chaste. It's a wink of ingenuity to soothe a man's ego and keep the dowry intact.Egyptian conservatives condemn the device as technology that will promote promiscuity in a culture that forbids premarital sex. Their protests are arising in a nation that over the last 40 years has gone from miniskirts and secularism to hijabs and religious devotion. But seldom have conservatives faced such brazen advertising."No more worry about losing your virginity. With this product, you can have your first night back any time," states the website of Gigimo, a Chinese mail-order company that sells the kit and other sexual products, including sex dolls and bondage toys, worldwide. "Add in a few moans and groans, you will pass through undetectable."Members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which controls 20% of the seats in Egypt's parliament, have called for banning the kit and arresting anyone selling it on the black market. Cleric Abdul Moeti Bayoumi has issued a fatwa urging that peddlers of the $29.90 device be charged with banditry and punished for spreading immorality and sin."Egyptian girls are normally afraid to lose their virginity before marriage," Sayed Askar, a lawmaker and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, recently told parliament. "A product like that can make it easier and tempting for girls who don't have strong wills to commit such a sin. It will be a crying shame and a blot on the government if they allow the selling of this product in our markets."Lina Samaan, an accountant, said the furor raises disturbing questions about her country and the double standards that often apply to women:"I think it's a shame that we are discussing a product like this. If most girls don't have sex prior to marriage only because they want to keep virginity, then there is something wrong with the way we think," she said. "Sex is a right for every woman but unfortunately we started turning to products like these because men -- even non-religious ones who have sex before marriage -- wouldn't marry a girl if she's not virgin."The emotion over the kit speaks to a traditional society that is increasingly pious, whether it's rich professionals seeking moderate Islam on websites of progressive imams or poor and middle-class families adopting strict religion as a buttress to the influence of Western media and a loss of confidence in a state that has failed to provide prosperity.The government of President Hosni Mubarak is troubled by ultraconservative Islam imported from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Egypt's leading Muslim cleric, Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, is considering forbidding the niqab, or face veil, at the university and schools run by Al Azhar, Sunni Islam's top educational institution. A similar edict barring nurses from wearing niqabs has been loosely enforced.The Egyptian media quoted Tantawi telling a student that the "niqab has nothing to do with Islam. . . . I know about religion better than you and your parents."Many parents, however, did not grow up with the economic and social problems that their children face. Single women have traditionally lived with their families until they found a husband. But today's inflation, joblessness and poverty are forcing many couples to delay marriage until money is saved and dowries are accumulated. With men and women single longer, dating, breakups and natural impulses challenge religion and tradition."Having something like the virginity kit can cause complete mayhem within the Egyptian social life," said Farid Ismael, a member of parliament's health committee. "It can lead to the spreading of vice and the loss of all the good morals and values we had and that totally contradicts with our Islamic beliefs."The kit -- like surgical repairs to the hymen that Middle Eastern women have relied upon for years -- is marketed to offer a sleight of hand. Such secrets keep prospective brides in the graces of their families and avoid what in rare cases are honor killings of women accused of promiscuity.Choosing to have "sex or not is something every girl and woman should decide regardless of the society's perspective toward her," said Samaan, the accountant. "Even if she is religious then she shouldn't do it because of her religious belief and not in fear of other people or fear that she will not get married if she's not a virgin.""If a girl decided to have sex before marriage," she added, "then God already knows it and she shouldn't hide it from anyone else."jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.comHassan is a special correspondent.
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
By Jeffrey Fleishman and Amro Hassan
October 7, 2009
Reporting from Cairo
Whether it's seen as a clever little gadget to help a woman keep a secret or a devilish deception that threatens Islam, the Artificial Virginity Hymen Kit is not welcome in Egypt.The kit allows a bride who is not a virgin to pretend that she is. A pouch inserted into the vagina on her wedding night ruptures and leaks a blood-like liquid designed to trick a new husband into believing that his wife is chaste. It's a wink of ingenuity to soothe a man's ego and keep the dowry intact.Egyptian conservatives condemn the device as technology that will promote promiscuity in a culture that forbids premarital sex. Their protests are arising in a nation that over the last 40 years has gone from miniskirts and secularism to hijabs and religious devotion. But seldom have conservatives faced such brazen advertising."No more worry about losing your virginity. With this product, you can have your first night back any time," states the website of Gigimo, a Chinese mail-order company that sells the kit and other sexual products, including sex dolls and bondage toys, worldwide. "Add in a few moans and groans, you will pass through undetectable."Members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which controls 20% of the seats in Egypt's parliament, have called for banning the kit and arresting anyone selling it on the black market. Cleric Abdul Moeti Bayoumi has issued a fatwa urging that peddlers of the $29.90 device be charged with banditry and punished for spreading immorality and sin."Egyptian girls are normally afraid to lose their virginity before marriage," Sayed Askar, a lawmaker and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, recently told parliament. "A product like that can make it easier and tempting for girls who don't have strong wills to commit such a sin. It will be a crying shame and a blot on the government if they allow the selling of this product in our markets."Lina Samaan, an accountant, said the furor raises disturbing questions about her country and the double standards that often apply to women:"I think it's a shame that we are discussing a product like this. If most girls don't have sex prior to marriage only because they want to keep virginity, then there is something wrong with the way we think," she said. "Sex is a right for every woman but unfortunately we started turning to products like these because men -- even non-religious ones who have sex before marriage -- wouldn't marry a girl if she's not virgin."The emotion over the kit speaks to a traditional society that is increasingly pious, whether it's rich professionals seeking moderate Islam on websites of progressive imams or poor and middle-class families adopting strict religion as a buttress to the influence of Western media and a loss of confidence in a state that has failed to provide prosperity.The government of President Hosni Mubarak is troubled by ultraconservative Islam imported from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Egypt's leading Muslim cleric, Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, is considering forbidding the niqab, or face veil, at the university and schools run by Al Azhar, Sunni Islam's top educational institution. A similar edict barring nurses from wearing niqabs has been loosely enforced.The Egyptian media quoted Tantawi telling a student that the "niqab has nothing to do with Islam. . . . I know about religion better than you and your parents."Many parents, however, did not grow up with the economic and social problems that their children face. Single women have traditionally lived with their families until they found a husband. But today's inflation, joblessness and poverty are forcing many couples to delay marriage until money is saved and dowries are accumulated. With men and women single longer, dating, breakups and natural impulses challenge religion and tradition."Having something like the virginity kit can cause complete mayhem within the Egyptian social life," said Farid Ismael, a member of parliament's health committee. "It can lead to the spreading of vice and the loss of all the good morals and values we had and that totally contradicts with our Islamic beliefs."The kit -- like surgical repairs to the hymen that Middle Eastern women have relied upon for years -- is marketed to offer a sleight of hand. Such secrets keep prospective brides in the graces of their families and avoid what in rare cases are honor killings of women accused of promiscuity.Choosing to have "sex or not is something every girl and woman should decide regardless of the society's perspective toward her," said Samaan, the accountant. "Even if she is religious then she shouldn't do it because of her religious belief and not in fear of other people or fear that she will not get married if she's not a virgin.""If a girl decided to have sex before marriage," she added, "then God already knows it and she shouldn't hide it from anyone else."jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.comHassan is a special correspondent.
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Working mothers' children unfit
Children whose mothers work are less likely to lead healthy lives than those with "stay at home" mothers, a study says.
The Institute of Child Health study of more than 12,500 five-year-olds found those with working mothers less active and more likely to eat unhealthy food.
Other experts said more work was needed to see if the results applied to other age groups.
The study is in the Journal of Epidemiology and Child Health.
About 60% of mothers with children aged up to five are estimated to be in work.
Results
The mothers were asked about the hours they worked and their children's diet, exercise levels and sedentary activities.
“ With many more mums having no choice but to work these days and with government policy actively encouraging it, it is difficult to know how mums can do better ” Sally Russell, Netmums
A third of the mothers had not worked since the birth of their child, but the mothers who were employed were spending an average of 21 hours a week at work.
They took into account factors likely to influence the results, such as the mothers' level of education and socioeconomic circumstances.
They found that five-year-olds whose mothers worked part-time or full-time were more likely to primarily consume sweetened drinks between meals.
They used their computers or watched television for at least two hours a day compared to the children of "stay at home" mothers who spent less than two hours on these activities.
They were also more likely to be driven to school compared to the children of "stay at home" mothers who tended to walk or cycle.
The children whose mothers had a flexible working pattern did have healthier lifestyles but when other factors were taken into account the researchers said there was little evidence that these children behaved more healthily.
'Time constraints'
Professor Catherine Law, who led the study, said they had not looked at fathers in this study because fathers employment levels had not changed whereas the numbers of working mothers had increased dramatically.
She said: "For many families the only parent or both parents will be working.
"Time constraints may limit parents' capacity to provide their children with healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity.
"Our results do not imply that mothers should not work.
"Rather they highlight the need for policies and programmes to help support parents."
The same children took part in an earlier study by the Institute of Child Health (ICH) which found that those with working mothers were more likely to be obese or overweight by the age of three.
In the latest study, many of the five-year-olds were engaging in health behaviours likely to promote excess weight gain: 37% were mainly eating crisps and sweets between meals, 41% were consuming sweetened drinks and 61% used the television or a computer at least two hours daily.
'Controversial research'
Glenys Jones, nutritionist with the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research, said the study was interesting because of limited research so far on the impact of maternal employment on child health choices.
"More work is needed to take into account factors such as how related health behaviours are affected and if the age of the child alters the relationships observed."
Sally Russell, a spokesman for Netmums, said: "The stress and guilt associated with being a working mum is something we are all too well aware of. This report adds to that guilt.
"With many more mums having no choice but to work these days and with government policy actively encouraging it, it is difficult to know how mums can do better. "
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Our Change4Life movement is already helping over 370,000 families eat well, move more and live longer by helping them to understand the harm that fat and added sugar can cause to children's health, and offering them simple yet effective ways to make changes to their diet and increase their activity levels."
BBC website readers have been sending in their comments on this story. Here is a selection of their thoughts and experiences.
I was a lone parent working mum. My son is now 25 and for about half his time at school I worked full time. He always walked to school and ate healthily. He is very fit and a perfect weight for his height. I guess he is pretty typical. Eva McDiarmid, Glasgow, UK
Damned if we do, damned if we don't. Never mind the fact that most of us don't have the luxury of choice in the matter. Thanks for reporting this so widely and making my commute to work just a little bit more rubbish today, BBC. Debbie Newton, Leeds, UK
I'm cross on so many levels, but mainly a personal one! I work, my husband doesn't, he is our daughter's main carer. He walks her to school, he looks after her after school stuff and cooks her meals every day. She has restricted TV time and is not allowed sweets. Why do people insist on saying 'mother' when they often mean 'parent'. It's wrong on other levels too of course, but for me it's the stupidity of assuming a mum should stay at home and a dad should work - are we still in the 50s? Naomi, Sussex, UK
As a lone mum to one daughter, I work full time because I cannot manage financially any other way. I feel like I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't. I get encouraged to work over 30 hours a week and get a financial incentive for doing this through tax credits, but I feel like I am also heavily criticised for not being a 'proper' mum by not spending enough time with my daughter. I leave the house at 8am every day, get home at 5.30pm every day, my daughter goes to bed at 7pm. I'd love to know where I'm supposed to shoehorn in some quality time with my girl! Jane Crabtree, Middlesbrough, UK
This does make me feel even more guilty for working. Being in full-time work and handing over my three year old to childcare is bad enough, and then having to spend a lot of time during the evenings and weekends doing 'house stuff' really doesn't leave me much time to spend with him, doing the things we want to do. I almost wish we could go back to the days when the mother was expected to stay at home, and the father provide. Sadly, this isn't financially possible in my case. Hannah Steward, Oldbury, UK
Well this story is of no surprise. But why should it be mothers who stay at home? Surely in these days of equality fathers should be discussed as well. My wife and I decided one of us would be at home to bring up the children ourselves. We based our decision about who would stay home on earning power. I hear many parents say they can't afford to not work yet they will lavish money on unnecessary extras. It's often about priority not ability. Too many children these days are treated like 'hobby children'. N Bair, Glossop, UK
I can't win. I don't want to work, I want to look after my family and ensure my kids have a good life. But unlike the many teen parents, I was pregnant at 16 and I married the father of my kids. We purchased a house when I was 18 and we work hard to pay our mortgage. I see this as what all parents should do to instil pride in themselves and their children. I don't live off other people's tax, I pay for the lazy people who live off the state. If a mother or father stays at home because their income allows them to then I feel this is the dream for all parents and this is very lucky. Catrina Stephens, Trowbridge, UK
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8278742.stmPublished: 2009/09/28 23:30:23 GMT© BBC MMIX
The Institute of Child Health study of more than 12,500 five-year-olds found those with working mothers less active and more likely to eat unhealthy food.
Other experts said more work was needed to see if the results applied to other age groups.
The study is in the Journal of Epidemiology and Child Health.
About 60% of mothers with children aged up to five are estimated to be in work.
Results
The mothers were asked about the hours they worked and their children's diet, exercise levels and sedentary activities.
“ With many more mums having no choice but to work these days and with government policy actively encouraging it, it is difficult to know how mums can do better ” Sally Russell, Netmums
A third of the mothers had not worked since the birth of their child, but the mothers who were employed were spending an average of 21 hours a week at work.
They took into account factors likely to influence the results, such as the mothers' level of education and socioeconomic circumstances.
They found that five-year-olds whose mothers worked part-time or full-time were more likely to primarily consume sweetened drinks between meals.
They used their computers or watched television for at least two hours a day compared to the children of "stay at home" mothers who spent less than two hours on these activities.
They were also more likely to be driven to school compared to the children of "stay at home" mothers who tended to walk or cycle.
The children whose mothers had a flexible working pattern did have healthier lifestyles but when other factors were taken into account the researchers said there was little evidence that these children behaved more healthily.
'Time constraints'
Professor Catherine Law, who led the study, said they had not looked at fathers in this study because fathers employment levels had not changed whereas the numbers of working mothers had increased dramatically.
She said: "For many families the only parent or both parents will be working.
"Time constraints may limit parents' capacity to provide their children with healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity.
"Our results do not imply that mothers should not work.
"Rather they highlight the need for policies and programmes to help support parents."
The same children took part in an earlier study by the Institute of Child Health (ICH) which found that those with working mothers were more likely to be obese or overweight by the age of three.
In the latest study, many of the five-year-olds were engaging in health behaviours likely to promote excess weight gain: 37% were mainly eating crisps and sweets between meals, 41% were consuming sweetened drinks and 61% used the television or a computer at least two hours daily.
'Controversial research'
Glenys Jones, nutritionist with the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research, said the study was interesting because of limited research so far on the impact of maternal employment on child health choices.
"More work is needed to take into account factors such as how related health behaviours are affected and if the age of the child alters the relationships observed."
Sally Russell, a spokesman for Netmums, said: "The stress and guilt associated with being a working mum is something we are all too well aware of. This report adds to that guilt.
"With many more mums having no choice but to work these days and with government policy actively encouraging it, it is difficult to know how mums can do better. "
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Our Change4Life movement is already helping over 370,000 families eat well, move more and live longer by helping them to understand the harm that fat and added sugar can cause to children's health, and offering them simple yet effective ways to make changes to their diet and increase their activity levels."
BBC website readers have been sending in their comments on this story. Here is a selection of their thoughts and experiences.
I was a lone parent working mum. My son is now 25 and for about half his time at school I worked full time. He always walked to school and ate healthily. He is very fit and a perfect weight for his height. I guess he is pretty typical. Eva McDiarmid, Glasgow, UK
Damned if we do, damned if we don't. Never mind the fact that most of us don't have the luxury of choice in the matter. Thanks for reporting this so widely and making my commute to work just a little bit more rubbish today, BBC. Debbie Newton, Leeds, UK
I'm cross on so many levels, but mainly a personal one! I work, my husband doesn't, he is our daughter's main carer. He walks her to school, he looks after her after school stuff and cooks her meals every day. She has restricted TV time and is not allowed sweets. Why do people insist on saying 'mother' when they often mean 'parent'. It's wrong on other levels too of course, but for me it's the stupidity of assuming a mum should stay at home and a dad should work - are we still in the 50s? Naomi, Sussex, UK
As a lone mum to one daughter, I work full time because I cannot manage financially any other way. I feel like I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't. I get encouraged to work over 30 hours a week and get a financial incentive for doing this through tax credits, but I feel like I am also heavily criticised for not being a 'proper' mum by not spending enough time with my daughter. I leave the house at 8am every day, get home at 5.30pm every day, my daughter goes to bed at 7pm. I'd love to know where I'm supposed to shoehorn in some quality time with my girl! Jane Crabtree, Middlesbrough, UK
This does make me feel even more guilty for working. Being in full-time work and handing over my three year old to childcare is bad enough, and then having to spend a lot of time during the evenings and weekends doing 'house stuff' really doesn't leave me much time to spend with him, doing the things we want to do. I almost wish we could go back to the days when the mother was expected to stay at home, and the father provide. Sadly, this isn't financially possible in my case. Hannah Steward, Oldbury, UK
Well this story is of no surprise. But why should it be mothers who stay at home? Surely in these days of equality fathers should be discussed as well. My wife and I decided one of us would be at home to bring up the children ourselves. We based our decision about who would stay home on earning power. I hear many parents say they can't afford to not work yet they will lavish money on unnecessary extras. It's often about priority not ability. Too many children these days are treated like 'hobby children'. N Bair, Glossop, UK
I can't win. I don't want to work, I want to look after my family and ensure my kids have a good life. But unlike the many teen parents, I was pregnant at 16 and I married the father of my kids. We purchased a house when I was 18 and we work hard to pay our mortgage. I see this as what all parents should do to instil pride in themselves and their children. I don't live off other people's tax, I pay for the lazy people who live off the state. If a mother or father stays at home because their income allows them to then I feel this is the dream for all parents and this is very lucky. Catrina Stephens, Trowbridge, UK
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8278742.stmPublished: 2009/09/28 23:30:23 GMT© BBC MMIX
Cut-throat competition
Sep 17th 2009 PARIS From The Economist print edition
Feeding Europe’s Muslims is a growing business
JUST before the beginning of Ramadan, the month-long Muslim fast which ends this weekend, an unusual advertisement appeared on French television. Panzani, a pasta-maker, was touting its Zakia line of halal ready-meals. In a secular nation it seemed like “a little revolution”, as Le Parisien, a newspaper, put it. The French can presumably take it in their stride. The trade in halal food is growing fast, and is likely to continue to do so.
Big food producers have long catered to Muslims, a market worth some $630 billion globally according to KasehDia, a consulting company that specialises in the trade. Nestlé has produced halal goods since the 1980s; 75 of its 456 factories now have a halal certification. But only recently have big European shops followed suit. Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer, launched a new range of products just in time for Ramadan. Casino, a French supermarket chain, has a halal line, and British outfits Tesco and Sainsbury’s carry halal products. KFC, an American fast-food chain, is conducting a trial of halal food in eight of its British restaurants. All its French ones are already halal certified.
The main reason for growth is demographic. Although many European countries do not tally Muslims or any other religious group (estimates in France range from 4m to 7m) it is clear that Muslim populations have grown quickly as a result of immigration and higher birth rates. Many of the people who sought asylum in Western Europe in the first half of this decade were Muslims from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohammad were all among the 100 most popular baby boys’ names in England and Wales last year.
Although Muslims are disproportionately poor, they spend plenty of money on food. Islam is associated with a strong tradition of communal feasting. Antoine Bonnel, who runs the Paris Halal Expo, reckons that the average French Muslim spends a quarter of his or her income on food, compared with 12-14% for non-Muslims.
Nearly a third of the money goes on meat. That demand, which contrasts with a drop in meat-eating among health-conscious Christians and godless folk, has helped transform the global livestock market. The slaughtering of all lamb and goat meat in Australia for export is now done in accordance with halal custom, which involves killing animals with a single cut and draining their blood. A tenth of Australia’s total meat exports, worth about $570m a year, is halal. Brazil dominates the global market with a 54% share of exported halal meat, according to KasehDia.
As the halal market grows, two problems are emerging. The first is the lack of broad standards. Halal regulations vary widely both between countries and within them. In Australia, all slaughter for halal meat is regulated by the government. In France, by contrast, there are over 50 certification bodies, all in competition with one another. Mr Bonnel describes it as “a huge nightmare” that can lead to charges of impurity. The Malaysian government’s Halal Industry Development Corporation has tried to create a global standard, with little success so far.
The second problem is squeamishness among non-Muslims. Animals slaughtered according to halal custom are supposed to be alive when their throats are cut, a practice that animal-rights groups condemn. Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden forbid it outright. Some governments have reached a compromise that allows for animals to be partly stunned before being killed. But not all Muslims are happy with this. The halal market may be buoyant, but the waters are choppy.
Copyright © 2009 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.
Feeding Europe’s Muslims is a growing business
JUST before the beginning of Ramadan, the month-long Muslim fast which ends this weekend, an unusual advertisement appeared on French television. Panzani, a pasta-maker, was touting its Zakia line of halal ready-meals. In a secular nation it seemed like “a little revolution”, as Le Parisien, a newspaper, put it. The French can presumably take it in their stride. The trade in halal food is growing fast, and is likely to continue to do so.
Big food producers have long catered to Muslims, a market worth some $630 billion globally according to KasehDia, a consulting company that specialises in the trade. Nestlé has produced halal goods since the 1980s; 75 of its 456 factories now have a halal certification. But only recently have big European shops followed suit. Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer, launched a new range of products just in time for Ramadan. Casino, a French supermarket chain, has a halal line, and British outfits Tesco and Sainsbury’s carry halal products. KFC, an American fast-food chain, is conducting a trial of halal food in eight of its British restaurants. All its French ones are already halal certified.
The main reason for growth is demographic. Although many European countries do not tally Muslims or any other religious group (estimates in France range from 4m to 7m) it is clear that Muslim populations have grown quickly as a result of immigration and higher birth rates. Many of the people who sought asylum in Western Europe in the first half of this decade were Muslims from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohammad were all among the 100 most popular baby boys’ names in England and Wales last year.
Although Muslims are disproportionately poor, they spend plenty of money on food. Islam is associated with a strong tradition of communal feasting. Antoine Bonnel, who runs the Paris Halal Expo, reckons that the average French Muslim spends a quarter of his or her income on food, compared with 12-14% for non-Muslims.
Nearly a third of the money goes on meat. That demand, which contrasts with a drop in meat-eating among health-conscious Christians and godless folk, has helped transform the global livestock market. The slaughtering of all lamb and goat meat in Australia for export is now done in accordance with halal custom, which involves killing animals with a single cut and draining their blood. A tenth of Australia’s total meat exports, worth about $570m a year, is halal. Brazil dominates the global market with a 54% share of exported halal meat, according to KasehDia.
As the halal market grows, two problems are emerging. The first is the lack of broad standards. Halal regulations vary widely both between countries and within them. In Australia, all slaughter for halal meat is regulated by the government. In France, by contrast, there are over 50 certification bodies, all in competition with one another. Mr Bonnel describes it as “a huge nightmare” that can lead to charges of impurity. The Malaysian government’s Halal Industry Development Corporation has tried to create a global standard, with little success so far.
The second problem is squeamishness among non-Muslims. Animals slaughtered according to halal custom are supposed to be alive when their throats are cut, a practice that animal-rights groups condemn. Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden forbid it outright. Some governments have reached a compromise that allows for animals to be partly stunned before being killed. But not all Muslims are happy with this. The halal market may be buoyant, but the waters are choppy.
Copyright © 2009 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Fetewa on Virginity
Mufti's 'hymen fatwa' causes shock waves among scholars
By Yasmine Saleh
First Published 2/20/2007
CAIRO: Reconstructive hymen surgery for women who lost their virginity before marriage is halal (religiously permissible), said to Aly Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt.
Gomaa, the highest authority with the power to issue a fatwa (religious edict), appeared the popular terrestrial Channel Two’s talk show El Beit Beitek, where he condoned the controversial fatwa, released by Soad Saleh, the ex-dean of the faculty of Islamic studies at Al-Azhar University and noted scholar.
Shiekh Khaled El Gindy, an Al-Azhar scholar and member of the Higher Council of Islamic Studies told The Daily Star Egypt that he agrees with the new fatwa.
"Islam never differentiates between men and women, so it is not rational for us to think that God has placed a sign to indicate the virginity of women without having a similar sign to indicate the virginity of men," El Gindy said.
"Any man who is concerned about his prospective wife’s hymen should first provide a proof that he himself is virgin," he added.
El Gindy voiced his full support for Gomaa.
Not only did Gomaa acknowledge the fatwa but asked women who will undergo the contentious surgery not to tell their future spouses about it, since this is not a question of honesty.
"If God wants us to know everything about each other, He would have given us the ability to read each others' minds, so why did he not do so? Perhaps maybe someone would have a wrong idea about you now but will change it later," Gomaa said.
Even more shocking to many observers, Gomaa said that if a married woman had sexual intercourse with another man but truly regretted her actions and asked God for forgiveness, she should not tell her husband.
"According to Sharia, if a husband knew that his wife had sexual intercourse with anyone else, he should divorce her, so by not telling him she would be protecting her home and her life," he explained.
The fatwa has led to much controversy within Al-Azhar and Egyptian society as a whole.
In Upper Egypt honor crimes are still committed. If a woman loses her virginity out of wedlock, she is considered a big shame on everyone and deserves to die.
In response to such ideas, El Gindy told The Daily Star Egypt that, "Islam does not care for the feelings of ignorant people, just as the law does not protect the idiots."
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5719
By Yasmine Saleh
First Published 2/20/2007
CAIRO: Reconstructive hymen surgery for women who lost their virginity before marriage is halal (religiously permissible), said to Aly Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt.
Gomaa, the highest authority with the power to issue a fatwa (religious edict), appeared the popular terrestrial Channel Two’s talk show El Beit Beitek, where he condoned the controversial fatwa, released by Soad Saleh, the ex-dean of the faculty of Islamic studies at Al-Azhar University and noted scholar.
Shiekh Khaled El Gindy, an Al-Azhar scholar and member of the Higher Council of Islamic Studies told The Daily Star Egypt that he agrees with the new fatwa.
"Islam never differentiates between men and women, so it is not rational for us to think that God has placed a sign to indicate the virginity of women without having a similar sign to indicate the virginity of men," El Gindy said.
"Any man who is concerned about his prospective wife’s hymen should first provide a proof that he himself is virgin," he added.
El Gindy voiced his full support for Gomaa.
Not only did Gomaa acknowledge the fatwa but asked women who will undergo the contentious surgery not to tell their future spouses about it, since this is not a question of honesty.
"If God wants us to know everything about each other, He would have given us the ability to read each others' minds, so why did he not do so? Perhaps maybe someone would have a wrong idea about you now but will change it later," Gomaa said.
Even more shocking to many observers, Gomaa said that if a married woman had sexual intercourse with another man but truly regretted her actions and asked God for forgiveness, she should not tell her husband.
"According to Sharia, if a husband knew that his wife had sexual intercourse with anyone else, he should divorce her, so by not telling him she would be protecting her home and her life," he explained.
The fatwa has led to much controversy within Al-Azhar and Egyptian society as a whole.
In Upper Egypt honor crimes are still committed. If a woman loses her virginity out of wedlock, she is considered a big shame on everyone and deserves to die.
In response to such ideas, El Gindy told The Daily Star Egypt that, "Islam does not care for the feelings of ignorant people, just as the law does not protect the idiots."
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5719
Friday, May 8, 2009
Democracy and Poligamy hand in hand
Can a democratically elected president be polygamist? Yes. Where? In South Africa. Is it only approved by men? No. Women elected him too. Even his party Women's League approves it. This is the new version of Africans democracy. This news appeared on different news media, the following appreared on Washington post.
Which Mrs. Zuma Will Be South Africa's First Lady?
By Karin BrulliardWashington Post Foreign ServiceSaturday, May 9, 2009
JOHANNESBURG, May 8 -- To the rarefied ranks of first ladies such as Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, South Africa will add Sizakele Khumalo.
Or will it be Nompumelelo Ntuli?
Or Thobeka Mabhija?
Though South Africa's recent general election featured all the mudslinging of a fierce political battle, it was long expected to result in the victory of ruling party leader Jacob Zuma, who is to be inaugurated as president Saturday. The real mystery -- one that has intrigued South Africans for months -- is which of Zuma's wives will be the nation's new first lady.
Zuma, a 67-year-old Zulu traditionalist, is about to become South Africa's first polygamist president. Confronted with the first lady question, spokesmen for his party, the African National Congress, have typically declined to respond or noted that the constitution does not touch on the issue, thus allowing Zuma to choose or alternate. The party, in fact, had stayed mum on just how many wives and children Zuma has -- figures that even his biographer could not nail down.
New clues emerged this week, however. At the bottom of an ANC statement that extolled Zuma's liberation-movement credentials and ballroom-dancing skills, the party casually noted that he is a father of 19 and a husband to three: Khumalo, Ntuli and Mabhija.
On Thursday, local news media reported that all three women were on Zuma's guest list for the inauguration, which is expected to draw 5,000 dignitaries.
But speculation remains rife about what the Times newspaper called the "protocol nightmare" of whether the state will be obligated to cover medical care, jet transportation and security for the entire Zuma brood. And South Africans are still in the dark about who will be Zuma's date to galas and have dibs on the spousal office in the east wing of the president's hilltop residence in Pretoria, the administrative capital.
"As a family they are supportive of each other," said Lindiwe Zulu, an ANC spokeswoman, noting that one of Zuma's daughters has often accompanied him to official events. "That family has got their own unique way of dealing with those issues. If they didn't, I'm sure we would have heard about it by now."
While providing fodder for headlines and comics, fascination with Zuma's polygamy is rooted in deeper dilemmas in democratic South Africa, whose ultra-progressive, Western-influenced constitution enshrines equal rights for women but also protects tribal traditions that were suppressed by the white apartheid government. Among them is the mostly rural practice of polygamy, which was legalized in 1998, though only for men belonging to tribes in which it is a custom.
"South Africa is a very modern, secular country with a great constitution, but it's also an African country. To some extent, Jacob Zuma sort of brings it full circle," said Penelope Andrews, a law professor at Valparaiso University in Indiana who has written widely on polygamy in South Africa, her native country. "And a lot of people are obviously fine with it."
But not everyone. As elections approached, the leader of the African Christian Democratic Party attacked polygamy as "abuse of women." In an open letter to Zuma in the Mail & Guardian newspaper Friday, gender rights activist Colleen Lowe Morna wrote of Zuma's wives: "I doubt you would countenance any one of them having several husbands." One recent opinion poll found that 74 percent of respondents opposed polygamy.
But that survey was conducted in urban areas, and Zuma's backers say that is part of the problem. Critics, they maintain, are elites whose opinions are out of touch with many of their compatriots, particularly those who live in rural areas like the one where Zuma, who grew up herding cows, keeps a homestead. The ANC swept the elections with almost 66 percent of the vote, a resounding victory attributed in large part to Zuma's appeal.
"Jacob Zuma's pride in his culture is what has played such a large part in his hyper-popularity in this country," one reader wrote in a letter to the Star newspaper on Friday, saying Zuma was a victim of "pandering to overseas European values."
Zuma draws vigorous support from the ANC Women's League, which approves of polygamy as long as wives enter into it willingly and the husband takes good care of all spouses and children, said Zulu, the ANC spokeswoman. Though Zulu said she "may not agree with it," she said she is certain the Zuma marriages meet those standards.
"There are plenty of politicians who have mistresses and children who they hide so as to pretend they're monogamous," Zuma once told a television interviewer. "I prefer to be open. I love my wives, and I'm proud of my children."
By most counts, Zuma has been married five times. One marriage, to Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, ended in divorce in 1998. Another wife, Kate Mantsho Zuma, committed suicide in 2000.
Zuma has been married since 1973 to his first wife, Khumalo, who lives at Zuma's country home and rarely appears in public. He wed Ntuli, who is in her mid-30s and often attends high-profile soirees, at a traditional Zulu ceremony last year. Early this year, news broke that he had paid lobola -- a sort of bride price, often given in the form of cattle or cash -- to the family of Mabhija, a socialite in her mid-30s. But there was no confirmation of their marriage until this week's ANC statement. His children range in age from infancy to older than 30.
Zuma's first lady situation is not unique, though his counterparts on the world stage tend to be kings, not presidents. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is reported to have about four wives. King Mswati III of Swaziland is expected at the Zuma inauguration -- most likely with one of his 13 or so wives on his arm.
First ladies in democratic South Africa have not been major figures. Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president and a bachelor for most of his presidency, was often accompanied to events by his daughter. Thabo Mbeki's wife was well recognized but hardly the subject of scrutiny or adoration.
The wife of Kgalema Motlanthe, South Africa's interim president since September, was such an unknown that a newspaper launched an investigation in January to find out who she is. That backfired after the newspaper reported that it had discovered a young and pregnant mistress of Motlanthe along the way, then retracted that after the woman recanted her story.
Even so, pundits and observers do not doubt that each Zuma wife would like the title. One Zuma insider has been quoted as saying Khumalo, as the oldest, is the most likely choice. Other reports predict the younger and more social Mrs. Zumas will vie for the job.
"You know the TV show 'Desperate Housewives'? It's going to be Desperate First Wives," said Andrews, the law professor. "I imagine there's going to be a little bit of controversy for the first year or two."
Which Mrs. Zuma Will Be South Africa's First Lady?
By Karin BrulliardWashington Post Foreign ServiceSaturday, May 9, 2009
JOHANNESBURG, May 8 -- To the rarefied ranks of first ladies such as Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, South Africa will add Sizakele Khumalo.
Or will it be Nompumelelo Ntuli?
Or Thobeka Mabhija?
Though South Africa's recent general election featured all the mudslinging of a fierce political battle, it was long expected to result in the victory of ruling party leader Jacob Zuma, who is to be inaugurated as president Saturday. The real mystery -- one that has intrigued South Africans for months -- is which of Zuma's wives will be the nation's new first lady.
Zuma, a 67-year-old Zulu traditionalist, is about to become South Africa's first polygamist president. Confronted with the first lady question, spokesmen for his party, the African National Congress, have typically declined to respond or noted that the constitution does not touch on the issue, thus allowing Zuma to choose or alternate. The party, in fact, had stayed mum on just how many wives and children Zuma has -- figures that even his biographer could not nail down.
New clues emerged this week, however. At the bottom of an ANC statement that extolled Zuma's liberation-movement credentials and ballroom-dancing skills, the party casually noted that he is a father of 19 and a husband to three: Khumalo, Ntuli and Mabhija.
On Thursday, local news media reported that all three women were on Zuma's guest list for the inauguration, which is expected to draw 5,000 dignitaries.
But speculation remains rife about what the Times newspaper called the "protocol nightmare" of whether the state will be obligated to cover medical care, jet transportation and security for the entire Zuma brood. And South Africans are still in the dark about who will be Zuma's date to galas and have dibs on the spousal office in the east wing of the president's hilltop residence in Pretoria, the administrative capital.
"As a family they are supportive of each other," said Lindiwe Zulu, an ANC spokeswoman, noting that one of Zuma's daughters has often accompanied him to official events. "That family has got their own unique way of dealing with those issues. If they didn't, I'm sure we would have heard about it by now."
While providing fodder for headlines and comics, fascination with Zuma's polygamy is rooted in deeper dilemmas in democratic South Africa, whose ultra-progressive, Western-influenced constitution enshrines equal rights for women but also protects tribal traditions that were suppressed by the white apartheid government. Among them is the mostly rural practice of polygamy, which was legalized in 1998, though only for men belonging to tribes in which it is a custom.
"South Africa is a very modern, secular country with a great constitution, but it's also an African country. To some extent, Jacob Zuma sort of brings it full circle," said Penelope Andrews, a law professor at Valparaiso University in Indiana who has written widely on polygamy in South Africa, her native country. "And a lot of people are obviously fine with it."
But not everyone. As elections approached, the leader of the African Christian Democratic Party attacked polygamy as "abuse of women." In an open letter to Zuma in the Mail & Guardian newspaper Friday, gender rights activist Colleen Lowe Morna wrote of Zuma's wives: "I doubt you would countenance any one of them having several husbands." One recent opinion poll found that 74 percent of respondents opposed polygamy.
But that survey was conducted in urban areas, and Zuma's backers say that is part of the problem. Critics, they maintain, are elites whose opinions are out of touch with many of their compatriots, particularly those who live in rural areas like the one where Zuma, who grew up herding cows, keeps a homestead. The ANC swept the elections with almost 66 percent of the vote, a resounding victory attributed in large part to Zuma's appeal.
"Jacob Zuma's pride in his culture is what has played such a large part in his hyper-popularity in this country," one reader wrote in a letter to the Star newspaper on Friday, saying Zuma was a victim of "pandering to overseas European values."
Zuma draws vigorous support from the ANC Women's League, which approves of polygamy as long as wives enter into it willingly and the husband takes good care of all spouses and children, said Zulu, the ANC spokeswoman. Though Zulu said she "may not agree with it," she said she is certain the Zuma marriages meet those standards.
"There are plenty of politicians who have mistresses and children who they hide so as to pretend they're monogamous," Zuma once told a television interviewer. "I prefer to be open. I love my wives, and I'm proud of my children."
By most counts, Zuma has been married five times. One marriage, to Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, ended in divorce in 1998. Another wife, Kate Mantsho Zuma, committed suicide in 2000.
Zuma has been married since 1973 to his first wife, Khumalo, who lives at Zuma's country home and rarely appears in public. He wed Ntuli, who is in her mid-30s and often attends high-profile soirees, at a traditional Zulu ceremony last year. Early this year, news broke that he had paid lobola -- a sort of bride price, often given in the form of cattle or cash -- to the family of Mabhija, a socialite in her mid-30s. But there was no confirmation of their marriage until this week's ANC statement. His children range in age from infancy to older than 30.
Zuma's first lady situation is not unique, though his counterparts on the world stage tend to be kings, not presidents. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is reported to have about four wives. King Mswati III of Swaziland is expected at the Zuma inauguration -- most likely with one of his 13 or so wives on his arm.
First ladies in democratic South Africa have not been major figures. Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president and a bachelor for most of his presidency, was often accompanied to events by his daughter. Thabo Mbeki's wife was well recognized but hardly the subject of scrutiny or adoration.
The wife of Kgalema Motlanthe, South Africa's interim president since September, was such an unknown that a newspaper launched an investigation in January to find out who she is. That backfired after the newspaper reported that it had discovered a young and pregnant mistress of Motlanthe along the way, then retracted that after the woman recanted her story.
Even so, pundits and observers do not doubt that each Zuma wife would like the title. One Zuma insider has been quoted as saying Khumalo, as the oldest, is the most likely choice. Other reports predict the younger and more social Mrs. Zumas will vie for the job.
"You know the TV show 'Desperate Housewives'? It's going to be Desperate First Wives," said Andrews, the law professor. "I imagine there's going to be a little bit of controversy for the first year or two."
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