The Middle East's Lady Macbeth Complex
You might want to keep an eye out for the blaming of the women in Tunisia. Watch for every lavish description of the excesses of Leila.
Tunisia's angry protestors are shedding no tears for the downfall of ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's greedy wife Leila.
The former hairdresser was likened to the Philippines' Imelda Marcos of the Arab world because of her love of wealth and its trappings.
While Ben Ali, 74, was granted refuge in Saudi Arabia, his wife, more than 20 years her husband's junior, was at first thought to be holed up in Dubai - a destination she is said to know well through shopping trips.
The woman who came from a humble background, was branded 'The Regent of Carthage' for her power behind the throne and her love of money, luxury cars and opulent homes.
I've seen a similar phenomenon quite often in Turkey and suspect the same lunacy's at work. There's a remarkable willingness here to believe that a bad man isn't really responsible for his behavior: It's the bad woman behind the scenes who took possession of his soul and made him behave that way. No reason the Western media must go along with this nonsense, is there?
I'm sure it's true that Leila's a real piece of work. But she wasn't in charge.
Meanwhile, there's been another self-immolation--in Mauritania, this time.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: The Middle East's Lady Macbeth Complex
There seems to be a lot of this going on in the region. I understand that Suha Arafat is living large in Paris off the purloined millions, maybe billions, that her terrorist husband embezzled from his people. Plus ca change . . .
Jul '10
Re: The Middle East's Lady Macbeth Complex
A man should not be ruled by his possessions.
Aug '10
Re: The Middle East's Lady Macbeth Complex
Maybe the 3000 pounds of gold bars that were spirited out of the country by the first wife will make an impression.
And another story at Drudge starts out with "The Greed of President's Wife "
Evidently this is wife number two. She sounds pretty bad too.
And this ,on top of Baby Doc returning to Haiti ?
Well, win some ,lose some. Only the lawyers and the Swiss bankers win, eh ?
Edited on January 17, 2011 at 7:37pmDec '10
Re: The Middle East's Lady Macbeth Complex
Claire,
You must always remember that Islam is the most misogynistic faith on the face of the earth. It is not an exaggeration to state that women are being falsely accused then beaten or tortured or mutilated or murdered every day in the Islamic world. We must realize that our own obsessive self critcism over gender issues has left us with the delusion that we are living in a sexist society. The West compared to Islam has always been pro woman. On a world scale our faults measured against our virtues in the field of gender make us far and away the most enlighted society. There is always room for improvement but we need to realize just how lucky we really are to live in the society we do. Although you may physically travel your assumptions about justice and personal rights remain Western. May they always.
Jim
May '10
Re: The Middle East's Lady Macbeth Complex
de Tocqueville talks about that fact that in the USA, the Family hardly exists in the traditional sense, where the eldest male controls everything and wives, younger brothers, and children are totally beholden to him. In such a family, if the wife of the eldest male is clever and can manipulate him, she indirectly, has total power.
In a modern democratic societies, since the Family hardly exists, a powerful wife is not a threat to everyone else, so we can't imagine such a situation.
Oct '10
Re: The Middle East's Lady Macbeth Complex
Hmmm... Imelda is still around. Her son ran a successful campaing for senator in 2010. Her daughter is the current governor of Ilocos Norte.