Ohhh it was the enlightened UK, not the backwards racist-ass Old Miss south amirite lol har har. Yep, clearly enlightened based on this article, but let's not miss an opportunity to look down from our ivory NYC tower at all the ignorant racists that only exist in the south (that way, we don't have to look at all the…

That's my statement and it's accurate. Please never give me a longer response to this comment or any others because I there's nothing I care less about than your perspective on or emotional reaction to these matters.

HAHA true to your word!

Well, you're less cynical that I then (which is probably a lot more healthy and less knee-jerky!). To me, any cultural analysis that only uses the limited experience of a non-member of the culture and sound bites from academics in the place of the voices of everyday women and activists who experience sexism is always…

LOL are you implying that neither of these regions are one reductive, monolithic experience of culture? Because both these regions are largely populated by brown people, a visual indicator that begs an enlightened, western perspective on their silly, simple cultures (why is there no eye roll emoticon yet??).

Despite your rage, this was very well said. Cultural absolutism is moral absolutism and so overwhelmingly offensive that it detracts from the point of this article which is that sexism exists everywhere but looks different in different places (not better or worse).

Men's biggest fear is that women won't take them seriously. Women's biggest fear is that men will murder them. Fuck this guy and his feelings. What you said was right - normal adults realize that you're talking about men as a system of power, not every individual penis-bearing or male-identifying human on this planet.

I don't know - the fact that a western woman attempts to simplify and validate both cultures through her own (western-informed) experience rather than letting women who presumably experience said sexism speak for themselves and their cultures is off-putting. The headline (which I'm sure she didn't write) majorly fails…

Wouldn't it be awesome to hear female activists in Brazil discuss these issues with female activists in the Middle East? I guarantee it wouldn't come down to WHICH IS WORSE BATTLE OF THE SEXISTS HIGH RATINGS AND CLICKING drama, but would be a nuanced discussion from people who live those cultures. It would also be a…

It sounds like her article was supposed to illustrate to an audience that might assume the Middle East is The Most Sexist Place On Earth that there are other forms of oppressing females than we normally get in western media. Perhaps it was intended to shine the light on practices (beauty, etc.) that often get…

The glue is the real culprit, right? WHAT KIND OF GLUE WAS IT??

Good call! Imagine if she had flipped out: "Hysterical news anchor loses cool on live TV."

Yes, I did. I'm saying the assumptions of the white feminist's burden permeate this thread; I wasn't talking about in the article (though a white western woman writing about Nepali women is not comparable to women speaking to their our mission and experience).

This commenter more eloquently explained what I'm saying.

It's not a straw man. You actually said you had a moral compass that allows you to criticize other cultures. You explicitly said that this moral compass puts you in a position to judge. You implied that people who are part of this culture lack a moral compass, empathy, and compassion. Maybe you didn't mean to use that…

Your viewpoint (or at least the way you explained it) is exactly modern day colonialism. To read an article written by a white western woman that portrays another culture as backwards (compared to the enlightened west) and afterwards imply that you have enough insight into this culture to speak for the people who are…

Maybe it does come down to this. Female livestock actually isn't prized - at any stock show, you'll only see males being auctioned off at high prices. Female sheep/cows are seen as a reproductive mechanism, essentially, that just gives birth over and over. Perhaps how you (and I) derive birth as a power is counter to…

I see a difference in the acts, but your logic in your first comment (where you were speaking more generally on cultural relativism, rather than about specific instances) matches exactly the logic in A) which serves as a justification for B). Colonialists were horrifically violent, racist, and misogynist - I'm a…

I'm not arguing about cultural mores, I'm saying your logic is super offensive.

So you were born with a certain amount of moral and enlightenment that led you to be civilized while the barbaric savages in Nepal are fundamentally wrong (not just in disagreement with you, but wrong - making you objectively right)? Sounds familiar...