The Limits of Tolerance

Mona Eltahawy has a powerful article on misogyny in Arab countries and posits that no argument can justify the violence and subjugation of women in Arab countries.  http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/23/why_do_they_hate_us

I agree with Ms. Eltahawy's position.  As a general philosophical matter, human conduct must be judged pragmatically.  Hence, Ms. Eltahawy can argue persuasively that such relativistic concepts as cultural tradition do not justify violence against women.  If we dispense with the notion that abhorrent behavior can be excused based on tradition or history or any other such justification based on custom, we can set practical limits on ethical behavior.  Without the move to judge behavior pragmatically, we are left to shrug our shoulders and simply concede that while the behavior is abhorrent to us it is within the ethical parameters of the culture in which it arises; therefore, we cannot wholly condemn the behavior.  Ms. Eltahawy demonstrates that ethical behavior may operate on a continuum, but that some behavior can be judged unethical regardless of the cultural milieu from which the behavior arises.

Ms. Eltahawy identifies several unethical behaviors in how Arab countries treat women.  Some Arab countries deny women suffrage.  If we accept the premise that all persons are equal under the law, regardless of gender, then denying women the right to vote is unethical regardless of the tradition or religious text supporting the denial.  Quite simply, no justification of denying suffrage to adult women can render the decision ethical.  In addition, treating the relationship of men and women to sexuality differently is unethical.  Obviously men and women relate to sexuality differently given the fact that men and women are in fact separate genders.  Nevertheless, the requirement that women cover themselves without a concomitant requirement for males can have no ethical basis.  Similarly, the requirement that a man must accompany an adult woman in public but the lack of a reciprocal requirement can have no ethical basis.  If we accept the premise that an adult female possesses the same rights of self-determination that an adult male possesses, then any cultural tradition that limits a woman's rights of self-determination without a reciprocal limitation on males is unethical.

Ms. Eltahawy's piece reaches its most heartbreaking when addressing physical violence against women and the politico-legal complicity in that violence.  Ms. Eltahawy was herself groped by a fellow protester during the Tahrir Square demonstrations, a fact so odious as to defy comprehension.  In a dangerous and fever-pitched confrontation with the martial forces of an authoritarian regime, a protester could be so easily distracted by the mere presence of a woman that he would take the opportunity to cop a feel?  Frankly, this is sad comment on the infantilization of men in misogynistic societies.  If women are stylized as virgin/whore figures, then men are stylized as out-of-control children.  The message to men is that they cannot control themselves in their relations to women and therefore cannot be held accountable for their actions.  What mature man gropes a woman he does not know?  That such an experience would be so titillating that one would act on it demonstrates the infantile quality of the man raised in a misogynistic society.  Imagine the excitement that the explosion of self-determination inspired in the protesters and then the despair at knowing even here someone manages to treat you as a voiceless object, as a mere thing to be touched?

The groping incident is just the tip of the iceberg, though.  The Egyptian police arrested Ms. Eltahawy during the demonstrations and battered her.  While in custody, the Egyptian police sexually assaulted her (on a public street) and broke one of her arms and one of her hands.  The police remain unpunished.  Similar horror stories abound.  In 2002 15 Saudi girls died in a fire because the "morality police" would not allow them to flee the building because they were not covered.  Nothing happened after this incident.  Ms. Eltahawy discusses genital mutilation and minors coerced into marriage who die in childbirth.  The list is disgusting and shocking.

Such violence and the legal and administrative apparatus that allows the perpetrators to go unpunished have no ethical justification.  There is simply no circumstances in which rape can be legitimated.  There is no circumstance where cultural norms regarding modesty can be used to justify forcing girls to die in a fire.  There is no tradition that can claim moral legitimacy that physically maims and injures a girl's genitals.  The only way to judge these acts is against the backdrop of pragmatic morality:  are these acts necessary?  If not, do the acts cause harm?  If the answer is yes, no argument can turn these acts into ethical ones.  Ms. Eltahawy should be commended for reminding us that some things in the world cannot be justified under any circumstances.  Misogyny is one such thing.