Underwear Boycott

I'm just going to say this: the Middle East confuses the hell out of me. Most Middle Eastern countries have incredibly strict regulations on women and their interaction with men. they can't go into public without their husband or male family member, they have to wear veils , and they aren't even allowed to have mannequins with heads on them due to a ban against depictions of realistic women.  I'm sure there is a whole list of other things all to make "protect" women from prying eyes and keep them from looking sexual. 

In this article, it talks about how women are boycotting lingerie stores because most only allow males to work there and they want women-run stores. The women are sick of being embarrassed when they buy underwear and have to ask a man to fit them. Oh, and by the way, they are not allowed to have fitting rooms because they do not want women changing clothes in a public space and in the presence of a man, so they don't even know if the things they buy actually fit them.  It may sound like a silly thing to make a big deal about, but these women deserve the right to buy underwear without feeling ashamed or embarrassed. 

But what boggles my mind is that if they are so incessant on keeping men from looking at women, then why exactly are they letting men work in a store where they sell intimate clothing for women! It really doesn't make sense to me. This is basically just contradicting all of the laws that they have made up to prevent this. 

Women's rights in the Middle East are so far behind what we are accustomed to in the West and although this is just a minor thing, it is reassuring that the women are fighting against it.  

Obama does Leno

       Last night, Obama was a guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, making him the first current president to ever be on late night television. In this candid interview, he discussed the economy, his frustration over the AIG bonuses, as well as some more personal info about his his first 59 days as president. In the article that MSNBC posted, they explained that was Obama's version of a fire side chat. "Obama was seeking to 'get his serious points across," Beschloss said, but “in a way that, presumably, Americans are going to like.”

      Being a huge supporter of Obama , I thought it was great to see him in a more relaxed setting and seeing his more personal side. But my friend, who is from a pretty conservative town, made a very good point. She said that many people she know criticize Obama for trying to be more of a celebrity than a leader, and that by going on the Tonight Show, he is just trying to increase his stardom. 

What do you guys think I was just wondering if you guys think that this was a smart move for Obama? Did this allow him to reach more people that normally wouldn't know what's going on or did this just cause him to seem like he is chasing after fame?

Sad

An article on MSNBC reports how men in South Africa are raping lesbians to try and turn them straight. "They yell, 'if I rape you then you will go straight, you will buy skirts and start to cook because you will have learnt how to be a real woman'." In just Cape Town, they are dealing with 10 new cases a week of lesbians being raped. 31 women have been killed due to hate crimes since 1998, but the number is probably much higher because the courts don't acknowledge crimes having to do with sexual orientation. This honestly breaks my heart to hear how people can be so intolerant and hateful. Although we still have a long way to go in terms of acceptance towards gays, I think America is slowly moving towards the right direction towards acceptance. California finally made a breakthrough and allowed same-sex couples to get marries, but later passed Proposition 8, which banned this as well as overriding all of the marriages that occurred before. This was a huge step back and for gay rights. Seeing how the rest of the world treats gay people so terribly I think it is more important than ever for the U.S. to set an example for the rest of the world that this behavior cannot be tolerated.