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On September
20, President Bush lifted the U.S. trade embargo on Libya, which is now expected
to pay more than $1 billion in compensation to families of the 1988 bombing
victims of Pan Am Flight 103 in Scotland. In July 2004, the U.S. resumed
diplomatic relations with Libya following dictator Moammar Qaddafi's
agreement to give up his nukes program, to acknowledge responsibility for
the bombing, and to renounce terrorism (Qaddafi was one of the first Arab
leaders to denounce the attacks of September 11). Last April, in an attempt
to normalize
relations with the European Union, Qaddafi visited Europe for the first time
in fifteen years. He has also been gracious enough to aver that "It is no
longer acceptable or reasonable to say that the Jews should be thrown into
the sea." Even as far back as July 2002, Libya was elected that year's chair
of the Human Rights commission of the U.N., presumably the United Nations
of Bizarro World.
Indeed, all of the above is part of Libya's ongoing
effort to rehabilitate its image in the eyes of the world, and of the extreme
makeover of its non-elected leader Moammar Qaddafi. It's the political equivalent
of
a
porn
star — a
porn star who kills people — going legit.
But if Qaddafi ever wants his transformation to be complete,
he'll have to do something not only about his country's ongoing human
rights abuses (see Amnesty
International), but also his trademark posse of female
bodyguards. Everywhere he goes, he's surrounded by a badass bunch of Lara Croft clones, usually in matching colored
camouflage (of dubious use in the desert). They've been described
as "wearing their Kalashnikovs like Gucci fashion accessories." (Yes, news
articles always describe that they're wearing. Not like you ever hear the
AP mention the "navy wool, three-button, notched-lapel suits" of the Secret
Service.) On a good day, the bodyguards make Qaddafi look like Hef. On a
bad day, a Bond villain. On every day, a crackpot.
You might argue, hey, at least the "Brother Leader and
Guide of the Revolution" is
employing and arming women, trusting them with the most important responsibility
in the entire nation — i.e., him. Or that female bodyguards, fetishistic though
they may be, are a little higher on the objectification ladder than, say, women
dressed
as schoolgirls. And yes, they do seem to be more than an armed harem:
they're trained in weaponry; they "brawl" with Egyptian security men; they step
into the line of fire. (The woman said to be Qaddafi's top bodyguard reportedly took a bullet for him in Athens
in 1998). Naïve as it may sound, there's reason to believe — as
you'll see — that among Qaddafi's options for sexual companionship,
these are not the women who'd be asked to multitask. And believe it or not,
when it comes to the ladies, some of Qaddafi's policies over the years have,
arguably, been a half-step or so above abysmal. All told, a mini-overview
of Qaddafi's oddly mixed record on women shows the Colonel to be even weirder
about them than meets the eye.
"Qaddafi is progressive on the one hand, and eccentric on the other," Michael Gunter, Ph.D., professor of political science and Middle East expert at Tennessee Tech University says, charitably.
Progressive? Well, a little. When Qaddafi's party seized
power in 1969, its intent was to modernize Libya, at least where expedient, while
maintaining respect for Islamic tradition, at least where expedient. As part
of this goal, women were used as a
The
Lara Croft clones wear matching camouflage
(of dubious use in the desert).
"lever of social change," writes Maria Graeff-Wassink in her essay, Militarization of Women and 'Feminism' in Libya (quotes hers). Today, many urban Libyan women do not wear the Muslim head scarf; they attend university in droves.
Back in the '70s, though, Qaddafi's biggest move was to determine that women should serve in Libya's army and that training should start young. He pointed out — clearly to counter conservative Muslims — that women had actually played roles in war throughout Libya's historical tradition. (He also, perhaps even more convincingly, pointed out that Israel's army had women and Libya, with its similar population, would need a similar number of bodies in uniform.) Graeff-Wassink sees "feminist" motive, or at least result, in the conscription of young women: "Girls at puberty, instead of remaining shut up in the home stuffing themselves with sweetmeats, were to put on uniforms to do the physical exercises of military training."
But apparently, the plan for universal conscription
of women was never fully carried out. A women's military academy opened in Tripoli
in 1979 for "volunteers" (rumor has it that some were coerced) aged thirteen
to seventeen. Qaddafi announced, "Women will not be free or respected or
exercise their rights until they are strong and have taken possession of all
the weapons: firearms just like the weapons of science, knowledge, culture, and
revolution." By some counts, about 7,000 women had graduated from the academy
by 1983 (it's not clear what they "did" with their degrees), but
West
Point
it
never
was. The school closed that year after students
ripped
down fences
to
escape.
Subsequent
attempts to require women's military service never quite took hold.
In any case, Qaddafi has clearly stated that he's determined
his nation — whether through military service or otherwise — be a
society "where there is total equality between men and women." He
must be
at least partly sincere about all this, as that "feminist" position is not necessarily
one that will get him votes. (Not that he needs them. According to the CIA factbook,
Libya is "in theory, governed by the populace through local councils; in fact,
a military dictatorship.)
But in large part, Qaddafi's talking smack. According
to his proposition, there would have to
be "total equality" among his elite bodyguards — half of those ladies would
be out of a job. Then there's the matter of the beauty pageant. In 2002, evidently
not that busy with the UN human rights thing, Libya rounded up contestants via
the Internet and hosted the international "Miss @ Net World" pageant. During
most of the event, the leggy ladies traipsed around Tripoli in matching (and
modest) Qaddafi t-shirts. "Miss @ Net World USA" Tecca Zendik, in Qaddafi's tent
for a photo op, evidently wept at the description of U.S. forces bombing Qaddafi's
home. The Colonel himself comforted her by groping her knee and neck, and later
rewarding her with honorary Libyan citizenship.
Also, did you know about Qaddafi and Princess Diana?
He's obsessed with her. Or, at least, Brother Leader is a sucker for a good love
story. According to the London Sunday Telegraph, he tried to acquire
the collection of Diana's intimate letters to suitor James Hewitt.
Libya does appear prepared to sign the UN's Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination
against Women, and has indicated some compliance with other protocols from the
2000 Women's Conference in Beijing. But otherwise, for better or for worse, women's
rights are not mentioned specifically in Amnesty's most recent reports (they're
a little busy with
torture, unfair trials, and so forth). Still, responses to
queries posted at libyana.org suggest that if Qaddafi meant all this stuff about
women, perhaps he'd dispatch the bodyguards to set some civilians straight. Of
one type of Libyan husband, "shiafti" writes: "He is cool about her driving a
car and going shopping by herself but how can he be assured of her safety when
it is difficult for her to go past the building door without being harassed and
hit on." Another writes: "What amazes me the most is that Libyan men, even after
being educated, living abroad, they still look at the Libyan woman as if she
is an inferior human being, she is an item of pleasure, a cook and a housecleaner." Not
blaming the guys, or saying these opinions are anything but generalizations,
but: it's still pretty clear that in practice, women's rights don't trickle down
into the culture from the pedestal Qaddafi puts them on. (Or, of course, that
as a role model, no one really takes him seriously.)
So, yes, Qaddafi loves the ladies. He digs his Moammar-sketeers.
He thinks they're hot and that they should have power and rights — especially
if
they're protecting him. In other words, "Q" is for Women.
n°
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lynn Harris is author of the satirical novel Death By Chick Lit and its prequel, Miss Media, as well as co-creator of the award-winning website BreakupGirl.net. A regular contributor to Glamour, Salon, The New York Times, Babble and many others, she also writes the "Rabbi's Wife" column for Nextbook.org. Visit her at LynnHarris.net.
or otherwise — be a
society "where there is total equality between men and women." 
, featuring curious yet marvelous infusions of cucumber and rose petal.
