Ghulam Haider, 11, is to be married to Faiz Mohammed, 40. She had hoped to be a teacher but was forced to quit her classes when she became engaged. -- NYT
Roshan Qasem, 11, will join the household of Said Mohammed, 55; his first wife; their three sons; and their daughter, who is the same age as Roshan.
So sad. A photo essay from the New York Times on child brides in Afghanistan. This is our problem now, too. If Afghanistan has embraced democracy, will they embrace human rights too? Not sure if we should just look away. These are cultural issues...sad, but a fact of life for these people. Or am I wrong?
Is it the age of the girl or the difference in their ages? Does Jerry Lee Lewis' marriage to his 13 year old cousin get a "yuck" too?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's incorrect to say that during most of recorded human history, the majority of girls in almost all cultures were married-off in their early teens (12-16). Was that yucky? I can't say, since I waited 'til I was 42 to do the deed and my wife was a healthy 34. I tend to think many Americans carry a lot of unconscious and accidental prejudice around with us, so unfamiliar traditions we see in other countries make us uncomfortable. I don't feel competent or qualified to judge the practices and traditions of other societies.
It looks like you may be more comfortable judging others ("In reading the comments on yesterday's post I was appalled by the sympathy that has been expressed for Islam...") I hope you didn't mean that to sound as intolerant as it did. But, of course, it's your blog (and not a bad one) and your forum, so go for it.
yes. I can safely say that an 11 year old marrying anyone qualifies as a yuck in 2006. A 11 year old amrrying a 55 year old? Wretched.
ReplyDeleteNo Sam, the 8 year difference btwn you and your wife is fine...an 11 year old being given over to a 55 year old is criminal. It's a criminal, backward culture that would propogate that kind of filth.
ReplyDeleteI totally am with you, Gay Conservative Liberal (from now on I shall call you GCL), however, such insanity is not limited to Islam.
ReplyDeleteSee: story of a 30 year old bride marrying a snake
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1654386.htm
That said, at least the 30 year old was of the age of consent and was obviously insane. The story about the 11 year old is just child molestation.
Sam:
I didn't see GCL say that somehow Jerry Lee Lewis's marriage was okay. You are putting words in his mouth, in order to portray him as a bigot, which from all I have seen, he is NOT.
Intelligent, yes. Well informed, yes. A comedian, yes. Stylish, yes. A racist, no.
Your attempts to portray GCL as an intolerant show that you indeed at the intolerant one - intolerant towards ideas that differ from your own, you have to label them "racist."
Sad, sad, sad.
I asked him, I didn't accuse him. Work on your reading comprehension.
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to amaze me that anytime someone tries to engage in dialogue on this type of forum, some dim bulb misinterprets the most basic techniques of dialectic as an attack.
And for some inexplicable reason it's bad form to ask a question to clarify a position. I'm clearly in the wrong place and apologize for intruding on your private little party. So long.
Sam I think this is blown out of proportion. Out of respect to your "host" don't leave the party :-)
ReplyDeleteSimply put, it's ritualized child molestation. Notice these pervs never marry extra wives who have actually finished puberty. If its just a cultural issue of marrying girls young, why is it always to some old coot and never the coots son who is the same age of the bride. And this is often wrapped in with kooky religious views. FBI’s most wanted Warren Jeffs is a major case in point.
ReplyDeleteI have nothing useful to add to this discussion, but check out young Miss Haider's expression.
ReplyDeleteIf looks could kill.