Culture Clash

From Gulf News:

Academic blasts disapproval of women judges

By Barbara Bibbo', Correspondent Published: January 11, 2008, 23:40

Doha: A renowned Qatari female academic has reacted with disdain to comments by male lawyers in a local debate saying that women are not fit to become judges.
A decision by the UAE to allow women to preside over courts has stirred a discussion in Qatar, which has no female judges and only a few work as lawyers.
"A woman is perfectly fit to be a judge. What matters is not the gender but the skill, qualification and training of an individual. Any comment stating the opposite is groundless," Aisha Al Mannai, dean of the Sharia Faculty at Qatar University, told Gulf News on Friday.
"Only prejudice and traditions, which relegate women to a certain role, can lead someone to state that women are unfit to be judges," said Aisha, one of Qatar's most respected female personalities.
After the UAE Justice Minister announced that women would be entitled to assume the position of a judge, lawyers in Qatar expressed their disapproval for a similar move here.
"A woman is emotionally and physically not geared to fit into the role of a judge since the job demands a balanced disposition," Walid Abu Nida, a lawyer, told local daily Peninsula.
Lawyer Mohsen Al Suw-aidi said justice is "entirely the male domain" and added that women's judgment and balance "can be triggered by the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and delivery".
'Ridiculous'
"Ridiculous," replied Aisha, who believes women's presence on the contrary would improve the performance of the male-dominated judiciary, especially in the family courts.
"I would like to also remind all that our Constitution states the equality of men and women and grants them equal opportunities in all working fields.
"Our judiciary is formally open to have a woman judge. It is just prejudice ... to keep women away from the post," Aisha said.

Its hard to imagine that views such as those expressed above are still held by educated men these days. This is just one example of how fundamentally different the Arab culture is from the USA and Europe.