Women and the Cedar Revolution

A lot of our male bloggers, when commenting on the Cedar Revolution, have been including in the blogs pictures of the lovely young Lebanese women joining the protest. CDR Salamander, in addition to acknowledging that these women are just nice for men to look at, offers a very thoughtful answer about their importance at the demonstrations:

I have been asked why so many of my pictures from Lebanon focus on young, attractive women. Well, ummmm, I'm a Sailor. What? Beirut is a port town. What? OK, seriously. One of the cornerstones of Islamofascism is a virulent strain of misogyny. They treat their women like property, and force them to cover themselves from head to toe in shame because their men can't control themselves. People need to realize that Arab women are just like your sister, mother, wife, or daughter; and anyone that has been to Senor Pacos in Manama, Bahrain on a Thursday night will tell you they look drop dead gorgeous in a black party dress. Seeing those young women, who arguably have to most to loose if the Forces of Darkness win, willing to go out there and demand the right to be, well themselves, embody all that we are working for. My opinion.

I hadn't even thought about that, but it's quite true: it's really extraordinary that, in the Middle East, unveiled women are thronging to political demonstrations to speak out for their rights as citizens.